Super

2 Peter 1:12-18 & Matthew 17:1-9
Transfiguration of the Lord

We don’t usually notice it, but we are constantly being transformed into someone else.  We start life with a certain genetic code and then start changing immediately.  From a word our parents said to us as children, to the friendships we make, to what we eat and drink, to how we slept the night before; everything has subtly shaped us into the people we are this morning.  

And yet, there are some things shape us more than others.  There are those moments we can name; moments in our lives that we look back on, and know that we are no longer who we once were.  We each have those moments in our lives (some good, some bad) when we see how we have been changed forever.  Perhaps those around us don’t see it as well as we do–things others can’t perceive them just by looking at us—but we know that inside, we are not the same.  

I’ve shared the story of my daughter’s birth before (if you haven’t heard the story, ask me about it, it’s a good one).  Her birth was an event like that for me.  I know that I am not the same because of it.  I have a very different perspective on God's plan than I did before.  If I seem sometimes unusually confident that God loves us and cares for us forever, it might have something to do with that event.  

But my point is this: suppose you were on that mountain with Jesus—suppose you saw his radiance and the appearance of Moses and Elijah—do you think that be one of those moments for you?  Do you suppose there is any way that you could walk back down that mountain the same person you were on the way up?  Would that be a memory you carried with you everywhere you went?  

I believe that God gives us those moments for that very reason.  I believe that God gives us these life-changing moments, so that our lives will be transformed and that we will go out into the world sharing this transformation in what we do and say.  

So, to answer my own question, “Would this experience of witnessing the transfiguration of Jesus change you as a person?”  The answer is clearly, “yes.”  We read this morning the words of that same Peter who was one of the three with Jesus that day.  Many years later (now looking at the very-soon end of his ministry) we see that he is still looking back to that amazing day.  Eugene Peterson, from the Bible translation The Message, says: “We weren't, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ.  We were there for the preview!”  

Of course this event changed Peter!  Of course this was a day that he would look back on as a day that shaped who he would then become.  The gospel writers tell us that the three disciples kept this event a secret until after the Resurrection, but you know they talked about it after that!  Wouldn't you?  I know you would!  Some of us repeat the same stories to each other again and again.  Part of it is probably age, but part of it is that they’re good stories.  I know you’ve heard some of my better stories in sermons more than once, but none of them are anywhere near as interesting as the story of the transfiguration!  Maybe that's why it comes up in the seasons of the church every year: to remind us, as Peter says, of things we already know; to remind us that this Jesus, that we worship and follow, was the very glory of God; that by his transfiguration we know that we are transformed as well.  

I’m noticing that Hollywood has figured out that they can make money, hand over fist, with superhero movies.  I don’t know your feelings on the genre, but clearly somebody is watching these films.  For me, I’m not as interested in the explosions and the fighting as I am in the characters themselves.  What would it be like to be one of these superheroes? 

I’ve noticed that there are two major types of superheroes: those that put on a costume and those who take one off.  Here’s what I mean: look at superheroes like Batman or Spiderman.  Batman is really Bruce Wayne… he puts on a costume to become Batman.  Spiderman is really Peter Parker… he puts on a costume to become Spiderman.  But then you have heroes like Superman: Superman is Superman… he’s got to put on a costume to become Clark Kent.  Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman… she’s got to put on her Diana Prince costume to blend in and hold down a job.  

So what kind of superhero is Jesus? Is his glorious appearance on that mountain the superhero costume that Jesus put on for that moment, or was that Jesus taking off his alter ego and revealing who he truly was?  Was the Jesus that the disciples walked with every other day the real Jesus or was that the costume that he wore to hide his true identity?  

As I think about it, I’m not sure it’s either: I don't think the transfigured Jesus is Jesus in a superhero costume and neither do I think that the everyday Jesus was his mild-mannered alter-ego.  In fact, what I think this shows us about Jesus, is a little mind blowing.  Because I think that when Jesus was transfigured, we saw him for who he truly was.  This was the glory of God, shining into the world in order to save us from ourselves.  But unlike Superman, this was not his superhero costume!  Jesus didn't do his work in spandex and a cape, his outfit... actually blended into a crowd pretty well.  He dressed like everybody else.  He lived where normal people lived.  He did many of the things that normal people do.  In many ways, he didn't look very much different than anyone else.  And yet, it was in that outfit that he did the most for us.  

I am struck this morning by the fact that although Jesus at the Transfiguration was Jesus at his most impressive (aside from the resurrection), this is not Jesus saving the world.  This vision of Jesus was so impressive that Peter wants to move in—so impressive that Peter never forgets the vision, yet this is not the Jesus that does the most good.  That Jesus—the Savior Jesus—frankly looked a lot like us.  

Now why do you suppose that was?  Why do you think Jesus' Superman costume... looks a lot like our costumes?  Do you think that it might have something to do with the fact that Jesus calls people who look quite a bit like us, to carry on his work?  Maybe this story of his transfiguration does more than just remind us that we have been changed too.  Maybe it also reminds us that, as we get dressed in the morning, we're really putting on our superhero outfits before we go out and save the world.  

Now, you may not be stronger than a locomotive or faster than a speeding bullet or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but you can do things that the people in this world need quite a bit more.  You can bring that same healing and hope that Jesus brought to us.  For we are no ordinary people: through Jesus our Savior we are transformed into the Body of Christ himself.  

And so he now calls us to put on our superhero suits (which look surprisingly like our own clothes) and go out and be the transfigured people that we truly are.