Seeing the Light

  

Text: 2 Peter 1:16-21

Focus: conversion

Function: To see the Spirit moving in our lives

¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Good morning to God’s beloved Children, part of God’s family that is worshiping God across the planet today. It is great to be back together and in community with all the believers everywhere.

I titled the sermon “Seeing the light” because today we celebrate the time when three of the apostles saw the light. They were with Jesus on the mountain when suddenly, Jesus was changed and began to glow like the sun and from heaven, Moses and Elijah came down and met with him.

Read it in Matthew 17:1-9

17^1-3Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him.

⁴Peter broke in, “Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah?”

⁵While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him.”

^6-8When the disciples heard it, they fell flat on their faces, scared to death. But Jesus came over and touched them. “Don’t be afraid.” When they opened their eyes and looked around all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus.

⁹Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. “Don’t breathe a word of what you’ve seen. After the Son of Man is raised from the dead, you are free to talk.”

Three of the apostles were chosen to witness this event, Peter, James and John. They were told to keep it a secret, even from the other disciples until Jesus rose from the dead.

We don’t know why it was a secret and we don’t know why it was given to only three of the the apostles.

But it had a profound affect on them. Immediately, Peter wanted to erect three monuments, presumably because there were three apparitions, to record the event, just like Jacob did when he saw the ladder descending from heaven and he build a pillar of stones. Peter knew something spectacular had happened.

But instead of erecting monuments to the occasion, Jesus told them to keep it a secret.

During the event, we read that God interrupted the meeting and declared to the observers, Peter, John and James to listen to Jesus because he is the beloved son of God.

They saw the light of God and were commanded to listen to Christ.

I suppose that is pretty good for us as well.

See the light in Christ and follow him.

What does it mean for us to see the light?

Well, the text points us to the prophecy of scripture.

To prophesy does not mean only to predict the future. As a matter of fact, predicting the future was something that the prophets rarely did but we emphasize them because they give us some sort of hope or promise for the future.

But a prophecy is literally a quickened word. To prophesy, we listen to, and are led by the Holy Spirit to share something important from God that God wants us all to hear. That is what Paul is telling us in this passage when he talks of the Spirit leading the writers of the OT.

It is a word that is inspired by the Holy Spirit and that is what God has given us in the scripture.

I love reading the scripture because when I do, sometimes I sense the leading of the Holy Spirit helping me to see something that God wants me to see.

So Peter writes this passage about how he is being led by the Holy Spirit and he seems to know it is true because it illuminates his life. Apparently like the transfiguration of Jesus did to him as well when he was enveloped in God’s light.

The scriptures show us the God who loves us and help us find the will of God for us in our lives.

We have to be careful with the scriptures. They are inspired and they sometimes fill us with a connection to God when we are studying them. The Holy Spirit makes a difficult passage clear to us or we see something we have never seen before. God’s Spirit lights our way.

But I say we need to be careful because knowledge of scripture can make us proud of what we know compared to others.

We study not to master the scripture but we study them so that we can be mastered by God.

But God is revealed in more than scripture. As we saw today, Peter saw the majesty of God. He was excited when he saw the transfiguration. He let his spirit see the light.

I find that God connects with us through the Spirit in prayer and contemplation.

The connection to light in the story reminds me of creation and how on the first day, before creating the sun on the 4^th, God created light.

We see the light. Light is the presence of the goodness of God. It is the opposite of evil and it is something for which we can be aware to look for.

And Jesus is the light of the world and he enlightens us through his Spirit. He said that if he leaves us he will come back in the form of the Holy Spirit and we will have the same light inside of us. We get to dig deep and bring it out.

Let us look for the light. We do that here in worship, but I encourage you to do it all week long.

I love our God moments at the beginning of worship and our Higher Power during the service. Both of them remind me to listen to God and to look for God in everything.

It is that looking for God, the connection to the divine, the seeing the light and the good in things that keeps us humble and connected to our faith in the love of God.