Transfiguration Sunday
2 Corinthians 3, Luke 9:28-36

Dear friends in Christ,
In our home, we have different types of window shades or blinds to keep out the sunlight. I imagine most of you do as well. In the bedrooms, we have room darkening blinds. They’re designed to keep out as much sunlight as possible, for better sleeping. The only sun that comes in is that which you can see around the edges. In our living and dining room areas, we have translucent blinds. These are the type that allow some sunlight to shine through, but the light is diffused by the blinds. When the evening sun is low on the horizon, you can see it through the blinds, but not very clearly. It’s a kind of fuzzy, round object in the sky. And there are some rooms, such as our sun room porch, where we don’t have any blinds at all. In this room the sun shines through with full force. It is fully revealed, nothing in the way of its full glory.
I thought of these window blinds as I was reflecting on our lessons for the week. This morning is the last Sunday in the season of light we call Epiphany. It ends with what is called the Transfiguration of our Lord, where Jesus is fully revealed to three disciples as God’s son. But this full revelation had not always been the case. The lessons indicate there had been blinds over God, a time when God was not fully known. I’d like to talk about these blinds this morning, as well as the full revelation given on the Mount of Transfiguration. I’d also like to encourage us to look for God at work in our world, for God has been fully revealed, if only we would see.
For much of the history of humankind, since man and woman took their first steps, there was a room darkening shade over God the creator. Just as light is only seen at the edges of that blind, so also God could only be seen in very small part. What people could see was God’s creation, for example, the sun. They knew it was a source of light and heat. They knew it was necessary for plants to grow. They knew it brought day and night. So it was quite natural to see the sun as a god, to worship that which was giving heat and light and life. Perhaps there were people that lived by the ocean. The ocean brought forth fish and other animals they could use for food and in other ways. They could sail on the sea and look at its beauty, so it would be quite natural to see the ocean as a god worthy of worship. God could be seen in nature, but it was a very small revelation. And it gives mixed messages. Nature can be beautiful, but it can also be cruel. The sun that warms the earth can bring drought and death. The ocean with all its beauty and bounty, can swallow up a ship with its raging seas. What can be known about God through nature is relatively little. It’s like the small amount of sunlight that peeks through the edges of the room darkening blind.
Beginning with God’s call to Abraham in the Old Testament, the room darkening blind was replaced by a translucent one. God began to make Himself known more fully. He would gather together a chosen people, the people of Israel. He would lead them to their own land. He would bless their field and families and flocks. And, most importantly of all, He would give them the law. He would provide the rules by which they could live in communion with God and with one another. If they kept the law, they would live in God’s favor.
In the first lesson in Exodus we read about Moses receiving this law on Mount Sinai. After he was in God’s presence, his face shined brightly. The people saw how his face shined, and Moses had to put a veil over his face to diffuse the brightness. The people were not yet ready to see God fully revealed, as Moses had.
In the second lesson, the Apostle Paul picks up on this story, suggesting that the law found in the old covenant with God, functioned as a kind of veil, keeping people from fully knowing God. Some of God’s light came through the law, just as some sunlight comes through a translucent shade, but not all the light. The law was a veil over the minds of the people, in the end blocking out the full revelation of God.
The Old Testament law was a good thing. It partially revealed God. But what happened was that one law led to another, and then to another, and then to still another, so that the religion became and endless series of rules and regulations. It was no longer about God, but about keeping the rules. The law became a veil, blocking out the true God.
In the gospel lesson, we see how Jesus is presented as God fully revealed. He goes up on the mountaintop with Peter, James, and John. There his appearance changes, he becomes a dazzling white. The disciples could see his glory clearly, not darkened by a shade or diffused by a translucent blind, but fully and completely. Moses and Elijah were there, representing the Old Testament law and the prophets. The voice of God shouts from a cloud, “This is my son, my Chosen; listen to him!” And with that, Jesus is left alone. The law and prophets are gone. Something new has come. Jesus stands alone as the final and full revelation of God.
For much of human history God has been hidden or only partially revealed. You can know a little about God by observing nature, but not much. The Jewish people certainly knew more about God when they received and followed the law. But that, too, proved to be inadequate. No one can get to God by trying to follow rule after rule after rule. Only in Jesus are the blinds taken off. It is faith in Jesus, which frees us from the demands of the law, that takes us fully into God’s presence. Because Christ died for us and for our sins on the cross, we no longer have to strive to get to God. Jesus takes care of that for us. All we have to do is rest in this amazing grace, knowing that we are loved and accepted by God, for Christ’s sake.
This transfiguration story clearly says God is now fully transparent. God is no longer a veiled mystery. We don’t have to wonder, what is God like? In Jesus, we know what God is like. We don’t need to wonder, where do we go after we die? We know we get to return home to be with God our maker. We no longer need to wonder, is God at work in the world? For we know, that by the Spirit, God is actively at work in the world.
There are no longer any blinds, room darkening or translucent, over God. The Transfiguration shows that. God is fully revealed in His son, Jesus. But we do have blinds on us. Because of our limitations as human beings, because of finiteness, because of our sinful condition that we can’t escape, we often fail to see God at work right in our midst.
This Thursday, as you’re by now aware, six of us will be traveling to Tanzania in East Africa to visit our sister congregation. As I think back to the very beginning of this ministry in this congregation, I know I had blinds on to this need. Gerry Lidstrom had been part of a teacher exchange with Haran Ngede and as part of that experience went to Tanzania. I clearly remember thinking to myself, I’m interested in what Gerry experienced there, but I’m really not very anxious to get involved myself or to push it in the congregation. Those were my blinds, the shades that covered me. I didn’t want to deal with problems on the other side of the world in a place I couldn’t even point out on a map. I was too busy with all the work that had to be done right here. Clearly God was moving among the people of Tanzania, it was transparent, but I didn’t want to see it. Fortunately, through the gentle prodding of Gerry and others, the blinds began to open that were covering my life, and I began to see clearly Jesus at work in this ministry. By being open to the Spirit, this ministry has changed my life, changed this congregation, and touched countless lives in Tanzania that otherwise would not have been touched. Pray for us as we go, so that we might see God acting in transparent ways in the lives of the people in Tanzania. And pray that we will be able to share what we experience with you, keeping this ministry moving forward.
Closer to home, I’ve been thinking and praying a lot the past several months about where God is leading our congregation. We’ve seen some significant changes in both paid and volunteer staff. We’ve formed a children’s ministry team with lots of creative energy who, along with Joe and youth volunteers have been asking questions about our education ministries, our worship, and the way we schedule and do that. Just this week we ordered the new hymnal resource, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, which will be replacing the green and blue books we are now using. It’s the next generation of worship resources with all kinds of possibilities for us. I’ve thought to myself, does our current worship schedule lend itself to the best use of this new resource for us? Some have been asking about adult education possibilities. How can we incorporate this into our ministries effectively? The question for me is what schedule of worship and education will best serve our congregation now, in this time and place, and for the years to come. God is fully revealed in Christ. But we put on blinds, and sometimes fail to see God’s work and guidance.
When we get back from Tanzania, I want to invite all of you into this conversation about the future of our worship and education, including the way we schedule those on Sundays and other days of the week. In fact, I’ve even scheduled a meeting to have that conversation, Saturday morning, March 17th. The Irish among us can dress up in green and we can talk about some specific possibilities for worship, education, and other questions that may come up. I trust that if we’re open, God will remove any blinds we have about our ministries and we’ll see God clearly at work among us.
Today we have heard the good news that God is no longer covered up or veiled in any way. God is fully transparent in Jesus Christ. By faith in him, we can know God and see God at work in the world. We are called to be part of whatever God is doing in this world. May we be as open to see, as God has been open to be seen. Amen