The text this morning is from the Book of Exodus, the 34th chapter:
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Just as Moses hid his face from the people, so also do we this day hide our Alleluias away. Beginning this Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, and during these next 40 days of Lent, we shall not sing the word Alleluia or say the word Alleluia. We shall hide it away for it is too glorious to see, much like Moses’ face. The word Alleluia means, “Praise the Lord.” And while we indeed praise the Lord, we hide the word away to remind us of the huge debt to sin we owe the Lord.
Transfiguration Sunday is about more than seeing Jesus shine toward the apostles; it is about the glory that we also will share with Christ. Yet, when we see the glory, we know we do not have it yet. Jesus, in His humanity, hid the glory of God behind the flesh, but He never was without it. It’s not like the Transfiguration was about Jesus becoming God, or Jesus revealing God, or Jesus revealing Himself; He had done that all through His earthly ministry. Every time He said, “I am,” He revealed Himself to be God. By all His miracles, He revealed Himself to be God. By equating Himself with the Father, by walking on water, by teaching with authority, by casting our demons, He revealed Himself to be God. And so He was. Therefore, the Transfiguration cannot be about that.
Rather, it is to show the same glory that He promises to earthly sinners like you and like me. It is to show how we shall shine, literally, with the light of Christ. Peter doesn’t know what he’s saying when he tells Jesus he’ll build three tents for them. The word there is “tabernacle,” the very same word that would be used to describe the place where God dwelt among the Israelites on their wandering in the desert, the very place He did business with them, consuming their sacrifices, talking with Moses, forgiving their sins. Peter wants to build three of these, yet He doesn’t know what He’s saying. Jesus doesn’t just desire to dwell among the people, it’s as if He’s the very dwelling place itself.
Yes, Jesus does take on human flesh and come and dwell among us, but there is more. He is the tent in which we meet God. He is the place in which God dwells, in which He does business with us, where He accepts our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, where He talks with us, forgives us our sins. Jesus needs no tabernacle; He is the tabernacle and He chooses to dwell where we are, and not for us to travel to where He is.
This really is it, isn’t it? Jesus doesn’t want the world coming to His tent that they might seek him like a yogi hermit on top of a mountain, dispensing vague wisdoms about life. Rather, God in Christ Himself desires to live where you are, to be in your house, in your heart, in your spirit. The spirit of Christ dwells with you; in your Baptism, He comes to you, He makes His home among you that you might always have Him near you. And as He dwells with you, He changes you.
Lutherans aren’t that great about talking about this stuff, because we think we should just be preaching the Gospel and nothing more. But that’s not really what we do. We preach the entire counsel of the Word of God. We preach the Law and the Gospel. And we also teach that our Lord dwells with us, making us whole, giving us the promise of the glory yet to come, giving us the power and the ability and the desire to do good in His name. This is the thing: it’s not just that we’re sinners, this is true, but God, through His Son, gives us the ability to do good, to cast aside sin, to seek after Him. You have this through your union with Christ.
It’s just that we often don’t do it. We don’t often cast aside our sin, we don’t often seek to do good, we don’t often seek after Him as He would desire. We are sinners. We are saints. We struggle between the two until we die or Christ comes back, whichever comes first.
What we see in Christ on Transfiguration Day is a promise of the same, and what we see in Moses is an example of how it shall be. Moses was the chosen prophet of God. He was the one who dwelt with God for the people were too scared. He was the one who pleaded with God for the people were too scared. He was the one who saw God’s glory because the because were too scared. He went up on the mountain; they worshipped their false god. He received the commandments; the people broke them. He brought the people of God out of Egypt; they grumbled and complained about not having fully bellies, much less being under the yoke of slavery.
Moses is a stand-in for us this day. The access He had to God as He wandered through the desert is the access we have to God through His Son. Though we are sinners, even now, we have access to God through the tabernacle, Jesus Himself. And there, as we sit with God, talk with Him, hear Him, receive His gifts, have our sins washed away, we are changed. We are changed from glory into glory. We are changed from those who dwell in bodies of sin to those who dwell in the light of Christ.
Notice, too, that when Moses goes in and then comes out, his face shining, the people are afraid. They are scared of the glory of God. They recognize how deeply flawed they are, how sinful they are, and whatever part of Himself God has shared with Moses obviously has an effect on him. What if the brightness of Moses face is in his hands, too? What if he grasps my hand? Will I die? Will I cease to exist? Will the unmediated glory that is on Moses’ face hurt me?
Sinners are always scared about the glory of God. Often, I think it’s true that we don’t really know, consciously, that we’re scared, or even what we’re scared of, yet it explains why Adam and Eve hid in the Garden, being scared after their fall into sin. It’s why Isaiah was scared to speak until the burning coal touched his lips. It’s why John was afraid to baptize Jesus. It’s why Paul fell off his horse on the way to Damascus. We’re afraid of God’s glory, that holiness, that righteousness that cannot help but exude out of His pores. We don’t want anything to do with it. But, when Christ dwells with us, we need not be afraid. Christ in us recognizes that which is His own and rejoices in it.
As He dwells in us, as we reflect His glory, as we shine His light into the world, we become more and more like Him. And as we become more and more like Him, the world grows more afraid of us, of the love we have for another, of the self-sacrifice we have for others, of the life-givingness of our faith. We become more like Christ, and the world is scared. We remind the world of their sin and how far they’ve fallen from the righteousness of God and that’s not allowed. Yet, while the world hates us, remember it hated God first. And blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Blessed are you.
Even as the world hates you, we yet are on our way from this glory, this time when our Lord dwells within us, to the next glory, where our Lord will dwell among us. Imagine this like a circus arena, where the audience is seated around the center. Everyone can see, everyone can hear, everyone can feel as if they are in the midst of the action. Everyone is just as much a part as another. This is kind of like what we expect from when our Lord returns. When He dwells among His people it will be such that each person is changed just as the next. We will shine with the light of Christ, not that we have His divinity, but that He shares Himself with us in such a way that we cannot help but shine.
You are a city on a hill, you are the light of the world. Even now, these are true. You shine into the darkness of this world that you might tell others of the Lord’s good gifts. You do not hide your light, but let it shine for all to see. Yet, this light is still not what it will be when we are in the Lord’s bodily presence forever. We shall shine like stars. We shall be so bright, our clothing will look like it is washed in the best of bleach. We have this promise through the Transfiguration, and we have it through the example of Moses. You shall shine with the glory of the Lord, for it is already in you, and you already shine. May He come soon that we may see His light without a veil. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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