2/11 Sermon - Hidden Glory

Hidden Glory

Mark 9:2-9

I love lightning storms (If I’m inside and if it’s not TOO windy). It’s relaxing to listen to the rain. When the lightning bolts flashes, just for a split second, it illuminates everything with a bright light. A picture of a lightning bolt gives us a good description of the transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus was ordinary: he slept, ate, drank, dozed, cried. But for a just a split second, we see a lightning bolt, the full radiance and glory of God illuminated. Jesus transfigured: he was whiter than anything else in this world, he was almost too bright to look at, radiant beams shone from him, Elijah and Moses talked with him, God himself spoke. Like a lightning bolt, just as suddenly as it was there, it was gone. Confusing, right? Glory! But it’s hidden.

Jesus was confusing. Jesus confused Peter and the other disciples. They saw Jesus walk on water, cast out demons, heal the sick. They saw Jesus sleep, eat, cry. They believed he was the Messiah, the Son of God, they just didn’t know what that meant. Then the transfiguration happens: Peter, James, and John see the lightning bolt of Jesus’ glory, the sudden transfiguration, the radiance, the voice of God. They like that, “Lord,” Peter says, “It is good for us to be here. Let us build three shelters: one for you, Moses, and Elijah!” This is awesome! Finally, finally, Peter and the others gets to see Jesus’ glory. He’s the Son of God. This is what they’ve been waiting for! Power, glory, might, wonder. Then it stops. Jesus looks normal, and he says, “Don’t tell anyone about this until I rise from the dead.” The disciples were confused, again. The glory of Jesus seems to be hidden.

I have a few critiques. The transfiguration makes me wonder… Why didn’t Jesus do all this stuff in front of more people? He could have shown his radiance to King Herod and proven he was the Son of God. He could have commanded Moses and Elijah to preach to the Jewish leaders to show them he was the promised Messiah. God’s voice could have thundered from on high and forced the Roman armies to kneel. Why didn’t Jesus do all this stuff in front of other people? Why did he go up on a mountain and hide his glory from others?

I have a few more critiques, actually. If Jesus could show so much glory then, on the mountaintop, why doesn’t he do more now? Why couldn’t God put a but more money in my bank account so it wasn’t so tight? Why couldn’t God give me better health than he has? Why couldn’t God thunder from on high and tell everyone in Burlington to come to this church? If God is really on our side, why is church always so empty? Why does God’s glory seem so hidden?

Children dress up with masks at Halloween, people wear them to fancy masquerade balls, and we wear masks in winter to cover our face from the cold. We hide our faces sometimes, and this is exactly what Transfiguration Sunday shows us. For just a split second, like a lightning bolt, we see the glory and power of Jesus. Then it’s gone. To really understand Jesus, to understand who he is and why he came to our world, and when he’s coming back, we need to know this: Jesus has a hidden glory. I want to explore this theme for a little bit.

“3 There he was transfigured before them. 4 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

There is a hidden glory in Jesus. This is what confused the disciple so much and what often confuses us. This man who ate, drank, slept, cried, this is the Son of God? This is the one who took away the sins of the world? We can’t see Jesus, but he promises to be with us always, I can tell you, confidently, Jesus is here right now, in this room, sitting right next to you. He is! But we can’t see him. A hidden glory.

“9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”

There is a hidden glory in the cross. The cross was a torture implement. It was a horrible way to die. People viewed the cross in the same way we view the electric chair or the guillotine. Torture, pain, suffocation, finally death. Our God died. A spotless, innocent lamb of God was taken to the butcher block in our place. But behind that horrible cross, behind the suffering and death of Jesus, is our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, God’s promise to you of eternal life.

- There is a little but of a contrast between these two mountains. On the mount of Transfiguration, we see the glory of Jesus’ radiance… then it’s hidden. But on the mount of crucifixion, on Golgotha, we see the full glory of God, the actual glory of God: The Son of Man, Jesus, God himself, hung up, nailed to the tree, who died in our place. The glory of God is fully revealed to us, not at the Transfiguration, but in the suffering and death of Jesus.

- Transfiguration is in a good spot in the church year! It prepares us for Lent and Easter. We celebrated Jesus’ birth just over a month ago, and during Epiphany we asked, “Who is this?” Now, standing on this mountaintop, we catch a glimpse of God’s glory, and we look ahead to what’s coming: Lent and Good Friday and Easter. The suffering of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and the resurrection of Easter. Coming up, in Lent and Holy Week, we’ll see the full glory of Jesus.

“7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love.”

There is a hidden glory in how God works. Weakness. Failure. Persecution. Distress. Problems. This sums up the history of God’s people. I have plenty of that in my life. Jesus was pretty unimpressive. “This is my Son, whom I love.” God is pleased to work in lowly, ordinary means.

- God still works like today. We look around at our church, at our lives, and it seems like God isn’t present. His power and glory are missing. That’s how God works. Right now, Christianity is the largest church in the world. It’s the fastest growing church in the world. Even if we can’t see it, even if the glory is hidden from our eyes, God is spreading his kingdom of forgiveness to the four corners of the world.

“7 This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him.”

There is a hidden glory in God’s Word. This is just a book. I could throw this in the fire, and it would burn. Plenty of people have tried burning God’s Word to make it go away. You can find this in the library right next to the Quran and the Hindu Vedas. What good could this do me? Listen to him. Listen to the Word. The Word of God is how God is pleased to reveal himself to us, it’s how to chooses. The Word of God is life, light, and salvation. The Word of God is our most treasured possession, no matter how ordinary is looks.

There is a hidden glory in our lives as Christians too. Our lives go up and down, up and down. Mountaintops and valleys. Just like hiking, right? You hike up mountains and it’s gorgeous, then down in the valleys the view is obscured.

- Sometimes, Jesus had mountaintop experiences. He performed miracles, he healed the sick, his glory shone forth. Other times, he was in the valley: he cried, faced persecution. Finally, he suffered and died. Up and down.

- Our lives follow Jesus. We have periods when we are on mountaintops. Our health is great. Things are going well financially. No major accidents or tragedies. Life is good. It seems like God is blessings us with glory. Just like Peter, we are amazed at God’s blessings. Then we have times when we’re in the valley. Life doesn’t go well. Stress. Worry. Problems. We think, “where is God’s glory?” Up and down. Mountaintops and valleys. Glory hidden with suffering.

Just like a lightning bolt, just like the Transfiguration, God does let his glory shine through in our lives sometimes… a lot! But only for a time. Our faith does not rest on the things of this life. Our faith rests on the mountaintop where Jesus fully revealed his glory: on the cross. Jesus’ blood has covered our sin, and his resurrection means we have eternal life. This is God’s glory hidden in Jesus. This is where our glory comes from. No matter what happens in life, no matter how bad or well it goes with us, no matter if right now we’re falling into a deep valley or standing on a high mountain, this is our hope: Jesus died for our sins, Jesus rose to give is the promise of life, and he will come back to take us to live in glory with him.

Why were Elijah and Moses on the mountain? When I preach on this text again, I might spend more time with them! They had lives filled with suffering. Moses dealt with millions of grumbling, sinful Israelites for 40 years. Elijah preached to a stubborn and obstinate people. Both pointed ahead to Jesus, to a hidden glory that God promised. At the Transfiguration, we see God gave them what he promised: They lived forever in glory with Jesus, in a glory no longer hidden.

We have lives of suffering. Our glory is hidden. All we have right now is a promise, a glory hidden in Jesus.  But someday soon, when our souls are in heaven, when God raises us body and soul, that glory will no longer be hidden. We will see Jesus face-to-face and live forever in paradise. But until this, our glory is hidden in Jesus.