​Young at Heart Message
 
Earlier this week while I was driving, I noticed that my back windshield was so dirty, I couldn’t see cars in my blind spot because I couldn’t see through the parts of the windshield that didn’t get wiped by the back wiper.
 
So, I decided that it was time to get my car washed.
 
Everyone else must have had the same idea, because I waited in line for 45 minutes!
 
But, I finally got through the car wash, and promptly moved on with my day.
 
I headed to the gym, worked out, and when I left the gym, it took me a minute to find my car.
 
I didn’t even recognize my own vehicle because it was shining so vividly blue.
 
I had become accustomed to the dirty brownish colour that my vehicle had become over the winter.
 
It was covered with months worth of dirt and grime from the wet and slushy snow and the pickle mix that they tend to spread here in Calgary.
 
After it had been washed, all of that grime had come off. My car quite literally sparkled in the sunlight.
 
Compared to the other vehicles around mine, it was definitely shining the brightest.
 
I have to imagine that if the other cars could speak, they would be jealous of how clean mine looked!
 
In light of the transfiguration stories that we heard today, I started thinking about how brightly my car shined after the dirt and grime and other things that were muting its light had been washed away.
 
I began to wonder what we might be (metaphorically) holding onto or layered with that might be preventing us from shining.
 
For example, Moses held onto a lot of insecurity and anxiety about his ability to speak on behalf of his people.
 
He held onto so much of this insecurity that God tells Moses to have his brother Aaron speak on his behalf.
 
Moses also holds onto uncertainty, along with quite a bit of frustration over the complaints of the Israelites after they leave their slavery in Egypt.
 
So, by the time he climbs Mount Sinai and talks with God on this occasion, he is pretty bogged down with his own “stuff” that’s preventing his light from shining.
 
Moses comes down from Mount Sinai after talking with God and has no idea that his skin is shining.
 
Aaron and all the Israelites are afraid to come near him because of his dazzling appearance.
 
However, we know, from another part of this story, that Moses—tucked away in the cleft of the rock—only saw God’s back.
 
“You shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen” (Exod. 33:23).
 
So Moses isn’t shining because he saw God on the mountain. Moses is shining because God saw him.
 
All of this begs the question, then: what might be bogging us down or holding us back from shining so brightly?
 
What needs to be “washed away,” or what might we need to let go of in order for our light to shine as brightly as Moses or Jesus after being seen by God?
 
I’d like to take a minute to create our own list of the things that might be preventing our light from shining.
 
Our AV people will type our responses in for us.
 
Feel free to just throw your thoughts out.
 
These can be generic things, or something you might actually be holding on to that you feel you could let go of.
 
The Message
 
I wanted to create this list together because, as many of you know, I took a brief personal retreat this week.
 
Some of you may remember during my sermon last week, I shared a story called “Acornology,” in which we talked about acorns needing to be planted in order to become their “True, Oak Tree Selves.”
 
I spent a lot of time thinking about this metaphor during my retreat and wondering about it for my own life.
 
The metaphor asks us to consider what we need to let go of, or what parts of ourselves or the things we hold tightly to do we need to let “die” in order to allow ourselves to break free from the acorn shell and become the mighty oak tree.
 
As I was contemplating this for myself, I thought to myself, “if I only knew what the goal of becoming the Oak Tree was, I could take steps to get there!”
 
But, this is exactly the problem.
 
Becoming the Oak Tree, or “True Self,” is not a goal to be achieved.
 
It is not as though once I become the oak tree, I am done.
 
That’s it!
 
Become Oak Tree – check! One more thing off the to-do list!
 
Instead, I began to contemplate some of the things I need to try to let “die,” or let go of, in order to allow my acorn self to be planted.
 
The list we made earlier is similar in many ways to the list I made for myself.
 
What if Moses and Jesus were offering us examples of what this “dying before we die” looks like?
 
What if it is a foreshadowing of death and resurrection, but not of actual, bodily death and resurrection.
 
What if, instead, it is a spiritual death and resurrection?
 
Moses and Elijah speak with Jesus on the mountain top about his “departure.” The Greek word is the same as the word “exodus.”
 
In other words, they are talking with Jesus about his own death.
 
Peter suggests that they put up tents and just stay together on the mountain. Then Jesus would not have to die.
 
But Jesus knows that he must die.
 
Not only must he die a physical, bodily death, but he must show his disciples and his followers how to die to his acorn self before he dies a physical death so that he can become his True, manifested, spiritual self.
 
This brings us back to the question about what we are grasping on to that we might need to allow to die so that we can be planted and see what will grow from our outer shell – our seed.
 
Perhaps we need to let go of achievement as the ultimate goal, as I discovered about myself.
 
Perhaps we need to let go of worry and anxiety.
 
Some of us may need to let go of past hurts that are keeping our light from shining.
 
Some of us may need to break down the walls around our hearts that we’ve built to protect ourselves, but that ultimately keep us from extending our love outward to others.
 
Perhaps we need to let go of distractions, physical things that clutter our lives, or guilt and shame about something from our past that we cannot change.
 
The story of Transfiguration is an unexplainable mystery.
 
But, that mystery ushers us into the season of Lent with an invitation to die so that we can allow ourselves to be raised to new life.
 
Grasping – holding tight to the dirt and the grime that hides our true colours – prevents us from shining brightly.
 
I’d like you to try something with me quickly.
 
Hold your hands tightly in a fist, as though you are grasping onto something for dear life.
 
How does that feel? For me, it feels tense and uncomfortable.
 
Now, slowly open your fists.
 
Does this feel different? For me, it feels like a comfortable release – an opening up – an invitation to receive what God may be offering me.
 
Lent invites us to release what we are grasping on to and wash ourselves of any grime and dirt so that our light can shine through brilliantly and beautifully.
 
By pointing us toward the cross (and resurrection) the Transfiguration story prepares us to enter the season of Lent with hope rather than fear or doubt.
 
So, as we enter the Lenten season, I invite you all to ponder this question of what you may need to “die” to in order to fully live.
 
It is not an easy question. It is one that you may need to ruminate on throughout the Lenten season and beyond.
 
But it is a question worth asking, and Lent invites us to do so.
 
Moses and Jesus show us what happens when God sees us.
 
This notion of letting go – of dying – so that what God sees in us can shine for the world to see – is the Good News of the Transfiguration.
 
May we wash ourselves of the things that keep us from shining brightly. God can always see beyond the dirt and grime. May we open ourselves up so that we can see what God sees underneath.
 
May we delight in God as God delights in us. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Holy One, today we are grateful for so much. The sunshine, the blue skies, the warmer weather, and even the wind that has helped move the warm air and melt most of the snow and ice. We are grateful for the transformation from cold to warm, from winter to spring-like weather. Even as we know we are not fully through the winter, this transformation gives us hope for the future.
 
In the same way, the Transfiguration gives us hope for the future. We are grateful that you see through the things we are grasping and holding on to. We are grateful that you see our light underneath whatever dirt and grime the winter of our hearts has covered us with. We pray that you would help us let go of or die to the things we hold tightly to such that we could allow our brilliant light to shine for all to see. God, we delight in you just as you delight in us. Amen.

​Young at Heart Message
 
Today is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany, and it is also known as Transfiguration Sunday.
 
I find that a lot of people don’t really understand the Transfiguration, and I will admit that it can be hard for pastors to explain as well.
 
So I thought I would try to creatively elaborate on the scripture story we heard so that we might understand it better. This story is adapted from Gary Neal Hansen’s blog, garynealhansen.com.
 
Here is what happened on the mountain that day…
 
One day, Jesus and his friends were camping at the bottom of a mountain.
 
Jesus said, “Hey! Peter, John, and James – come with me!”
 
Peter asked, “Where are we going?”
 
“We’re going for a hike together,” Jesus said. “Just the four of us. Up this mountain.”
 
“Oh man,” said Peter. “Do we have to? I was looking forward to just relaxing today.”
 
“Look Peter,” Jesus said. “I want to go up there and have some good prayer time. It’ll be like a little retreat. And I want you three with me because you’re my closest friends. OK?”
 
“Alright,” Peter said.
 
So they headed up the trail.

​After a while, when they were pretty high up on the mountain, Jesus said, “This looks like a good place. You guys wait over there while I pray, OK?”
 
James said, “Boy, I’m tired after hiking all the way up here. I think I’m going to take a nap while you pray.”
 
But Jesus said, “I’d rather you all stayed awake. Hey, I know! How about you pray, too?”
 
“Okay,” James said. “But I don’t know much about praying.”
 
“Oh,” said Jesus. “Well, I’ll teach you more about praying another time. For today, just watch me.”
 
So they all tried to stay awake and watch Jesus.

​While they watched, some very surprising things started to happen.
 
First, Jesus seemed to shine with light. Then his clothes became blindingly bright. He was like the sun on a summer day!
 
Peter, James, and John shielded their eyes from the glare, but they kept watching.
 
Suddenly they saw that Jesus wasn’t alone. Two other men were standing there, talking to him.

​“Who are those guys?” asked Peter.
 
“I don’t know!” said John. “Let’s listen and see if we can figure it out.”
 
They missed the start of the conversation, but one of the strangers said, “It will be kind of like the first Exodus – when I led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.”
 
“Right!” said the other one. “You parted the waters of the Red Sea. Just like later, when I parted the waters of the River Jordan!”
 
“Hey you guys,” said Jesus. “You know it wasn’t really you parting the waters!”
 
“OK, fine,” said the first guy. “God did the miracle. But I had to be there and raise my staff, and I had to have faith in God helping us.”
 
“Yeah,” said the second guy. “God parted the waters, but I had to smack the river with my cloak.”
 
“Hey!” said John. “That must be Moses and Elijah!”
 
“That’s right!” said James. “Moses led the Exodus of Israel through the Red Sea, and Elijah parted the River Jordan!”
 
“Shhh,” said Peter. “I want to hear what they’re saying.”
 
“Okay,” said James. “But don’t be so bossy.”
 
“The point,” Moses told Jesus, “is that you’re leading an exodus, too – a NEW exodus. What you do in Jerusalem will lead the people out of their slavery to sin.”
 
“Right,” said Elijah. “You’ll lead them through the waters to freedom.”
 
“Waters?” said Jesus. “Am I supposed to part the Sea of Galilee or something?”
 
“No,” said Moses. “They’ll all go through the waters of baptism.”
 
Just about then Peter stood up and said, “Wow Jesus! This is so cool!
You know what we should do?
We should build three little houses, you know?
One for each of you. Then you could live up here, and the people could come up and talk to you about their problems!
If they get sick, you could heal them. Or if they don’t understand the law they could ask Moses! I mean, he wrote it, right?
And if they’re worried about the future they could ask Elijah, because, you know, he’s a prophet!”
 
John started tugging Peter’s sleeve. “Peter! Sit down!” he said.
 
And honestly, Peter didn’t know what he was talking about. He, John, and James were terrified of all that had happened, and in his fear, he thought staying on top of the mountain would be easier and less scary than doing the work Moses and Elijah had given Jesus to do.
 
But then a thick dark cloud rolled in on the mountain. Everything got so foggy that Peter, James, and John couldn’t see a thing.
 
And from the middle of the cloud came a voice:
What you should really do is listen to Jesus! He’s my son! Jesus is my chosen one!
 
But then the cloud cleared—and Moses and Elijah were gone. It was just Jesus. And Jesus looked normal again.
 
They went back down the mountain. But they didn’t tell anybody what they’d seen. Not for a long time.
 
The Message
 
So, the Transfiguration is clear as mud now, right?
 
It is important to note that just prior to today’s scripture reading, Jesus was teaching the disciples a hard truth about the cost of discipleship.
 
He was predicting his own suffering, death, and resurrection.
 
And this had already increased fear among the disciples. And then this experience of blinding light and seeing figures from the past happens.
 
So it makes sense that the disciples who saw this were afraid.
 
Peter’s suggestion that they pitch tents and just stay on the mountain forever was prompted by his fear – fear of what just happened, but also fear of losing Jesus.
 
If Jesus could stay on that mountain top with Moses and Elijah, protected and safe, then perhaps his death would not come in the way he predicted six days prior.
 
But of course, Jesus knows he must move forward.
 
His disciples may be afraid for him, but he is not afraid of his imminent death.
 
And I’m not sure that his disciples are as afraid of Jesus’s death as they are of the change that his death would bring.
Jesus leaving them would mean they would lose their teacher.
 
And, perhaps more importantly, it would also mean they would have to do the work Jesus started.
 
We are all human here, and we know what this is like. When someone who had done hard work for us leaves or passes away, it can be daunting and overwhelming to try to take over that work on their behalf.
 
In this case, it wasn’t hard labor or task-oriented work the disciples would have to take over.
 
It was a call from God. It was service to God in Jesus’s place.
 
And that was scary.
 
It would be a huge change for them.
 
We can imagine what this might have been like, because it is human nature to resist change.
 
We don’t like it when things change around us, and we especially don’t like it when we are forced to change ourselves.
 
And the disciples were no different than we are today. We are no different than they were.
 
Sometimes, we know we need to change. And sometimes, change is forced on us.
 
We may want to be like Peter – grasping at anything to try to keep things the way they are right now.
 
And yet, we are pushed toward the future – toward change and uncertainty – out of necessity.
 
We can only move forward if we are open to the possibilities of change.
 
This is true for us personally, and it’s true for us as a church family.
 
This church has been in transition and going through change for several years now.
 
And it may feel like we’re past that, and that things will settle down.
 
I hope that is true!
 
But I also hope that we don’t try to pitch our tents on top of the mountain and hold onto this present moment when God may be calling us to continue moving forward and looking to the future.
 
What does that future look like?
 
Well, we aren’t Jesus, so we can’t predict what our future looks like.
 
But we can be open to possibilities, open to change, and excited for the future.
 
We can watch and listen for God’s guidance, and when we feel the push for something new and different, we can choose to lean into that nudge with joy and grace.
 
May we continue to move forward, and may we find joy in change and transformation, both in our individual lives, and in the life of our church. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Gracious and loving God, there are often times when we would rather do like Peter suggested and pitch our tents in the present moment, holding on to feelings of happiness, joy, or contentment, and avoiding the unknown future.
 
But God, we pray for your wisdom and guidance in these moments, and your encouragement to keep moving forward, unafraid of what the future holds for us.
 
Spark in us a flame of excitement for the future, and courage to walk into the unknown with the assurance that no matter what the future holds, you will be walking with us, holding our hands when we feel unsure, and carrying us when we feel weary and ready to turn back.
 
All of this we pray in Your name. Amen.