“It Happened After Prayer” February 14, 2010

Exodus 34:29-35 & Luke 9:28-36 Stephens City UMC

Transfiguration Sunday

100 Years of Boy Scouting

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I. The Rev. Charles Aaron who has taught courses in Bible and preaching at Duke Divinity School tells the story of a man whose college classmates considered him to be a clown as he was always cutting up and telling jokes, but not this particular night in their public speaking class.

A. They noticed that there was steel in his eyes and grit in his voice as he told a very personal story.

1. The setting was the jungles of Vietnam and he recounted getting cut off from his platoon.

2. As he wandered he wondered if it might be his last night on earth.

3. “What if the enemy found him first?”

4. No one at that point in his life would describe him as a man of faith, but never-the-less he dropped to his knees and turned his face to the overcast sky.

5. Terrified and desperate he somehow choked out a prayer that wasn’t much but it was the best he could muster.

6. Having prayed his plea he looked up to see the clouds beginning to part and the moonlight began to shine through.

7. At that point peace filled his heart and courage began to return.

B. What exactly happened on that particular night in the jungles of Southeast Asia is open to debate.

1. The story teller was of the opinion that God had sent a message to a lonely soldier and that God loved him so much that the Almighty pushed away the clouds for one man.

2. It changed his life as usually happens when God steps into the world and gets involved.

C. For three fisherman named Peter, James and John, God had seemed to step boldly and decisively into their world.

1. A man named Jesus had been walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee and had called them to be his disciples.

2. They had witnessed a miraculous catch of fish and then he called them to leave their fishing boats in order to catch people.

3. Next they observed grace and power in Jesus that was beyond measure.

4. An unclean spirit was cast out of a man, a withered hand restored, a paralyzed man began to walk, a leper was cleansed and a dead girl’s heart returned to beating in her chest.

5. For these three Jewish men who like their family and friends had lived under Roman rule it looked like God was on the move!

6. When Jesus asked Peter who he thought Jesus was it was Peter who announced “You are the Messiah of God!”

D. This recognition of Jesus as the Messiah had taken some time.

1. When Jesus helped them to catch a net full of fish they were intrigued enough to leave their nets behind and begin a new life.

2. And what a new life for they observed healings and wonderful teachings and some amazing feats.

3. These things just seemed to flow from Jesus.

4. This was more power than any of them could handle.

5. But then Jesus began to talk about the cross.

6. “Say what?”

7. And then came the mountain top experience.

E. Scripture doesn’t tell us what the disciples were thinking when Jesus took them up the mountain to pray.

1. Perhaps the invitation itself told them that something was going to happen.

2. For you and me there’s a tip off to this effect because in Luke’s Gospel prayer always accompanies some great event.

3. Only Luke records that Jesus prayed at his baptism and when he did the heavens opened.

4. Only Luke writes that Jesus prayed before Peter’s confession.

5. Only Luke tells us that the Transfiguration occurred after prayer.

6. So if Jesus invited them to climb the mountain to pray then maybe they expected something to happen.

7. Plus the mountain itself should have tipped them off as important things happen on mountains like the giving of the 10 Commandments.

F. On this day as we celebrate 100 years of Boy Scouting in America we are reminded that for many boys like that Vietnam War Vet some important things have happened when they have been off by themselves out in nature.

1. I suspicion that quite a few Boy Scouts would say that something very special happened in their life while they were on a mountain top for it was there that God revealed Himself to them.

2. Mountains have a way of reaching up into heaven, bring people closer to God.

G. For the three disciples long ago things really happened on top of the mountain.

1. While their master prayed, his face changed and his face began to glow white.

2. For a moment the humanity of Jesus took a step back and his divinity more obviously shone forth so that even three ordinary fisherman could recognize it.

3. The manifestation of Elijah and Moses added to this message for it was through Moses that God’s people had received the Law that instructed them in the proper way to live.

4. Moses’ appearance next to Jesus meant that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law.

5. Elijah was a great prophet whoset the standard when he defeated the prophet of Baal so his presence was meant to convey that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophets.

H. But then comes the best of all.

1. A cloud overshadowed them.

2. In Luke being overshadowed is a “God thing.”

3. Remember how Mary was overshadowed by the Most High when Jesus was conceived?

4. Remember how in essence Jesus was overshadowed at his baptism?

5. With this overshadowing comes a booming voice that proclaims, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

I. And as Luke tells this story all this commenced with Jesus praying.

1. Jesus prayed and his face glowed, his clothes turned white, Moses and Elijah show ed up, a cloud overshadowed them, God’s voice rang out clearly and strongly and all of those things togethr affirmed that Jesus was the Chosen One and that the disciples were to listen.

2. They could not mistake that moment.

3. God had burst into the world.

4. God had and waas acting in Jesus Christ.

II. What a glorious story but the truth is that the three disciples almost missed it.

A. Why you ask? Because they fell asleep!

1. God acted dramactically with a revelation that would never come again that provided incredible insight into the activity of God, and they could not stay awake.

B. How often do we miss the signs of God that are present in our lives?

1. Again, one of the roles of Boy Scout Troops is to help young men to be aware of those signs in their lives.

2. And so it is with the church because God may speak to us through another person’s act of kindness.

3. God may be present through an unexpected surprise.

4. God may provide us a feeling of strength just when we most need it.

5. God may wandeer into our life through some small channel that we never notice.

6. Far too many of us literally fall asleep when God shows up.

7. We’ll roll over, turn off the alarm on Sunday morning, skipping through whatever God may have had in store for us in Sunday school or church.

III. In just a few days we will enter into the season of Lent, a season where we particularly focus on what it means to walk with God’s son.

A. It is a season that acknowledges that there is temptation and struggle in life.

1. Because of temptation and struggle we long to know that God is with us to help us and that our suffering can have a good purpose and outcome.

2. The Transfiguration reassures us that God’s presence can happen even when we least expect it.

3. That experience may be dramatic, but more likely, it will be something very ordinary, like coulds parting for the moonlight to shine through.

4. That experience may occur on a Boy Scout Camping trip or at a regular troop meeting.

B. But please know this – that experience in and of itself matters less than what we do with it.

1. We might feel some gratitude or we might be moved to our soul’s depth as was that soldier on that cloudy night.

2. One way to show our gratitude is by seeking to grow our spirits and that is what Christ expects to occur through his call to take up our crosses.

3. Luke, who I indicated earlier is the only Gospel writer to inform us that Jesus prayed on the day of Transfiguration, is the only Gospel writer to include in Jesus’ call to bear our crosses the word “daily.”

4. The Gospel writer Mark, who is always in a hurry, indicates that the call to take up the cross is a call to accept the danger of discipleship.

5. For Luke, the call to take up the cross is the daily task of growing in faith and that among the ways to accomplish that growth is to engage in a routine of prayer, reading scripture and communing with God and other Christians.

6. In the article by Rev. Aaron that contained the story that I began this sermon he concludes that if we nurture our faith then we will better understand God’s presence in something as simple as the parting of the clouds, or an overnight camping experience or a Boy Scout Troop meeting.

7. Let me tell you, it is worth doing because growing in faith prepares us for our next experience of God’s presence.