Sermon for Sunday 22nd February 2009
Sunday next before Lent

Most of us will remember waking up on Monday morning two weeks ago to see our world transformed. Overnight there had been a huge snowfall. Everything - houses, cars, roads, gardens was enveloped in a deep, stunningly bright blanket of perfect snow. For most, plans for the day were scrapped. There was no point even attempting to get to work, go shopping, visit friends, keep a hospital appointment. Of course there were one or two exceptions. But snow was so deep that most of us decided that the only thing to do was to accept that today was going to very different to every other day.

Ann, Abi and I togged up and ventured out into the deep, snowball perfect snow. We managed to find a couple of plastic sleds buried in our garage and went to find a hill. What was so amazing was how happy and friendly everyone was. People chatted with neighbours they hardly knew. Strangers stopped to talk. In the local pubs there was an almost festive atmosphere. For a short while our daily whirl was stopped by God’s amazing creation.

But it did not take long for the moment to fade. People started complaining that our Councils were hopeless as they ran out of salt and didn’t grit roads properly. Others moaned about buses not running in London. The recession hadn’t gone away. The brilliant white snow turned to black slush, almost in concert with the media’s apparent obsession this year of making our lives miserable.

The transfiguration comes in Mark’s gospel just after Peter has declared that Jesus is the Messiah. And then Jesus, to Peter’s horror, his death and resurrection. The journey to Jerusalem was about to begin, as is our journey through Lent which begins this week on Ash Wednesday. But before they set off on the road to Jerusalem Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain. There the transfiguration gave them glimpse of Jesus’ future glory. Confirmation that Jesus truly was the Messiah that Peter had proclaimed him to be.

Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah. Moses who received the Law from God, that had become so misunderstood and misused. And Elijah, the greatest of all the prophets, whose words had so often not been heeded. Jesus was the fulfilment of the law and the prophets. God had finally given them his son. In Jesus everything was made new and potentially brought to perfection. As with the law and the prophets before him, Jesus would not be understood or recognised. But just for a moment, on the top of the mountain, everything was brought to perfect harmony.

Peter wants to freeze the moment. In a hopelessly unreal intervention he shouts, ‘let me build three dwellings. Then everyone can come to visit the three of you.’ A bit like us expecting the brilliant white perfect snow to last for days and days. Our messy world buried under a blanket of perfection.

But then Peter heard the voice of God – This is my Son, listen to him. Listen to what he is telling you about what was going to happen. Listen to him explain that his destiny is the cross. And listen to his message that if you want to be his followers you have to deny yourselves and take up your crosses and follow him.

Perhaps it is not surprising that Peter was terrified – he had been brought up to believe that to see God was impossible. In the brilliant apparition on the mountain, for a brief moment, he came face to face with Christ in his glory, appearing no different to God himself. After God had spoken the moment was gone.

A cloud quickly came to overshadow them all. Once more Jesus told them not to tell anyone. One of the constant themes of the gospel stories is the lack of understanding of even Jesus’ closest disciples. Again and again they were confused or did not understand what Jesus was saying or what was happening to him. It is easy for us to think we now understand. But the reality is that for most of us the true nature of Christ is also a mystery for us which breaks out from time to time. For a brief moment Peter, James and John had a vision of Jesus that belonged to a post-resurrection time. But since they did not at that stage realise what was going to happen it was hardly surprising they were confused.

As a Christian it is a mystery to me why our society for the most part rejects or ignores the gospel of Jesus Christ. To people of faith it is not that we have got it right and the world has got it wrong. That would be unbelievably arrogant and self-righteous. It is that we know that we will never get it right without the gospel of Christ. Listen to him, God says to the disciples. Listen to him is what we have to do, unceasingly. And listen to him is the message we need to constantly repeat to our world. ‘For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as slaves for Jesus sake’ Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

We can see how misguided the disciples sometimes were. Just like us. But Jesus never deserted them or rejected them. There was one constant message. Come with me; follow me. And of course that is his message to us. Come with me, follow me, listen to me. You will never be deserted.

As we once more start our journey through Lent it can be a bit of an effort to set our enthusiasm going. This period is best known for its sense of abstinence and restraint. And we are all conscious at the moment of the perils of excess.

But the transfiguration reminds us of the sheer beauty and perfection of God that comes to us in Christ. Lent is not a time to be depressed or laid low by senses we may have of inadequacy or failure. Much more Lent is a time to ‘listen to him’. To listen with heightened attention, more carefully and more often. And to remind ourselves just how amazing, beautiful and perfect God is. It may be a bit of mystery to us, and we may only get occasional glimpses of that perfection, made real in Jesus Christ.

We may want to give something up for Lent. But remember that the purpose of giving something up is to stop it distracting us. We give up so that we can better focus on the essentials: hearing the good news that God loves us, trying to believe it for ourselves and spending time attempting to find out what that means. As our journey through Lent begins we are given as our start God’s words to the disciples: ‘This is my Son, the beloved: listen to him!’

© Robert Jenkins February 2009