From Evernote:

2012-02-19 Transfiguration

2012-02-19 Mark 9:2-9 Transfiguration
James McTyre
Lake Hills Presbyterian Church (USA)

Mark 9:2-9
The Transfiguration
2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

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February's a short month, and so today we're finishing up a short series of long messages called, "Healing Words." We've been reading and talking about Jesus' ministry of healing and how ministry and healing go hand in hand. Jesus did many, many acts of physical healing. And that's what a lot of people knew him for. Not his preaching, but his healing. No one called him, Dr. Jesus, because medicine wasn't considered a real profession until attorneys became involved. But if I were ill and I had the choice between lining up for miraculous healing or lining up to listen to a preacher, I know which one I'd choose. So it's fair to say people knew Jesus at least as well for his healing as for his teaching.

We've heard the healing words, "serve," and, "search." Today, the word is, "listen." In our world, we don't usually associate "serve," "search," and "listen," with medicine, and with healing. But with Jesus, serve, search, and listen, were words permanently woven into, permanently fused into, permanently baked into acts of faith. Healing and faith are two sides of the same thing. Jesus dramatized this fact in all his actions. Healing produces faith. Haith produces healing. Does it work every time? No. Not even for Jesus. Sometimes people refused his healing. Sometimes they refused to have faith. But where there is healing, especially where there's healing from serving, searching, and listening, there will be learning, there will be change, and their will be faith. And on the flipside, serving, searching, and listening in the faith of Jesus produces healing, sometimes in us, and sometimes in the lives we touch.

Correct me if I'm wrong - and I can count on the choir to do that - correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there's any instance in the gospels where Jesus heals one of his disciples. I don't believe there's any instance where Jesus performs an act of healing on any of the 12 disciples. He heals Simon's mother in-law. He heals Lazarus, who is the brother of Mary and Martha, who are disciples by proxy. But there's no episode where he heals one of his twelve. 

I find that interesting. I seriously doubt they lived in a germ-free bubble. There's no evidence that being with Jesus gave them super-strong immune systems, any more than being with Jesus gave them any other kind of superpowers. They were ordinary human beings, who were just as succeptible to the sins and the faults and the germs that plague the rest of us. But, there's no account in the gospels of any of them being physically healed. And yet, we know they need healing.

The illness that gets the disciples isn't overtly physical. Time and again, the illness that strikes the disciples is a sickness of the soul. A sickness of the mind. A sickness of the spirit. The illness that strikes the disciples is every bit as virulent and every bit as deadly today as 2000 years ago. Time and again, the illness that strikes the disciples is the disease we call, "fear." Fear is a disease. Fear is a sickness. And no one is immune.

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Fear is a disease that enters through the spirit and spreads through the entire body, entire mind, entire soul. Fear infects our thoughts. Fear infects our actions. Fear infects everything we do. If you live in fear, there is nothing, nothing, you can do that isn't somehow effected, somehow infected. Fear is like a cancer that takes over the healthy cells around it. If you live with someone who's constantly in fear, their fear rubs off on you. If you live with someone who constantly causes you fear, it will grow inside you like a tumor. Some people are victims of fear; some people are carriers. In the end, it doesn't matter which, because fear is THE most highly infectious disease. Fear spreads faster than the flu. Fear is deadly.

If you're a kid in school, and you walk around a corner, and you come face to face with a person you fear, you get symptoms. Physical symptoms. Your heart starts beating faster. Your face flushes. You need to go to the bathroom even though you just did. 

If you work in an office with other life forms who appear human, there's almost always someone in the group dynamics who produces fear. Maybe not on a regular basis, which makes them all the more frightening. Or, maybe the whole goal of your job is to work hard to keep the beast from erupting all over everyone. There are companies where it's not uncommon for people to have heart attacks right there at their desks. Everyone's got a ready supply of Zantac, Xanax, and Zoloft in their center drawer. Quotas, charts, ROI, billable hours, delivery schedules. They're good things, but used to the extreme, they produce fear. This is why at Christmas there was that video of the FedEx guy throwing the flat-screen TV over the fence. His every movement is being tracked by satellite, and evaluated every second for efficiency, and compared to thousands of other delivery people with stronger passing arms.

The past couple of months, I've stopped listening to NPR on my way to work because it seems every piece of news is about fear. Usually, the opposite of the things Fox News says I should fear. I don't watch them, either. Fear of Iranians, fear of Greeks, fear of liberals, fear of conservatives, fear of people who want to get married, fear of people who don't want other people to get married. We've got a lot more to fear than fear itself. That's why I drive around listening to classic Zeppelin, and pay as little attention to the news as possible. I don't advocate a lifestyle of sticking your head in the sand. I'm just saying it's cheaper than blood pressure meds.

What scares you? Health? Debt? Outliving your retirement savings? Having retirement savings? Having retirement? Having savings? Or maybe it's gym class. Or girls. Or the girls in gym class. Or not having a body like the one on the cover of Sports Illustrated. (I'm talking about Jeremy Lin.) 

There are far too many people who are afraid of things no one should ever be afraid of. They're afraid of their parents. Or afraid of their husband. Or even afraid of their own kids. That is so, so incredibly, satanically wrong when the people who are supposed to be the sources of love and comfort and care become carriers of the disease, fear. That is so completely opposite of what the loving, Creator God intended. So incredibly opposite of what God teaches us through the life and example of Jesus. For something that should bring us greatest joy to be twisted backwards so it brings us fear, brings us terror, is not only wrong, it's un-God, un-Christian, and at a physical level, very, very, very unhealthy, maybe even deadly. Maybe deadly on a physical level, but always deadly on a spiritual level. Fear will kill your spirit.

Which makes the story from the gospel today, a healing story. Because it touches and speaks to the horrible disease, fear.

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Jesus takes three of his original four disciples - Peter, James and John - up to a high mountain, apart. He takes them away by themselves. And up on the mountain, Mark tells us, "And he [Jesus] was transfigured before them." What does that mean? Well, verse 3 goes on, "and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them." 

In the Bible, the glory of God is usually described with light. In the beginning, God said, "Let there be light." When God appears to Moses, God appears in bright, blinding glory. So what transfigured means isn't that Jesus changed, or morphed into something else. The brightness, the light means that the shades were lifted, the curtains were pulled back, and the trueness of who Jesus was shined through. Jesus was seen as "more" Jesus, more of his true essence was seen than anyone else had seen before.

The light, the drama, the robes that glowed whites whiter and colors brighter, were not the point. The point was not to make the disciples go, "Wow!" This wasn't like Madonna's halftime show with all the lights and Cee-Lo. The point was not the spectacle. The essence of Jesus was the point. The shades were lifted, the curtains were pulled back, and the true trueness of Jesus, his true nature, his true spirit and purpose was glimpsed by the disciples. In other words, they got it. They got it big time. Amen and amen, halleluia, brother. They saw the glory of God revealed in Jesus, and their human-sized brains, their tiny-little hearts, their distracted souls, got it.

But wait, there's more. Not only did Jesus show through as true Jesus, verse 4 says, "And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus." So, in case there was any doubt what was going on, the two other greatest figures in the history of their faith stood shoulder to shoulder with Jesus. The disciples not only saw Jesus as he was, they saw Jesus in context. Jesus was not a Lone Ranger. Jesus was part of a long history of faith. Again, the miracle isn't so much that Elijah and Moses were there. The miracle is that the disciples' tiny little human brains got it. They got who Jesus really, truly was. And they got who he was in the context of their faith. Jesus wasn't starting something new, off by himself. Jesus was part of the plan. And the disciples got it.

And then, what did they do? They jumped for joy and sang a hymn in 3-part harmony. No. That's not at all what happened. The disciples experienced one of the most mind-bending miracles in all of God's history. Were they happy? No. Were they thankful? No. Mark says in verse 6 what they were. Here were three people who had experienced Jesus in his truest form. And instead of the joy, the peace, the love, and the happiness that should have filled their souls, the Bible in verse 6 says, "...they were TERRIFIED." Terrified? Yes. Terrified. Where the greatest joy should have been, instead there was the greatest fear. Fear took the most magnificent moment of their lives and twisted it backwards, so instead of seeing Jesus, they thought instead of... themselves.

Verse 5 says, "Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us [US!] to be here; [Not good for Moses to be here. Not good for Elijah to be here. Not good for Jesus to be here. Good for US. Yeah, Jesus, good thing your were smart enough to bring US with you. Thank goodness for US. Peter said,] let us [US! again. Let US] make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

The greatest event of their lives, and immediately, the disciples let fear infect it, and twist it. Fear overcame their souls, so the miraculous moment could be about... them. Good for you, they said. Good for us.

Now, here's a preacherly back-story about the Gospel According to Mark. In Mark's version of the gospel, almost every healing story follows the same pattern. Jesus heals the person, or Jesus casts out the demon, or Jesus restores the sight to the blind person. They see and they recognize Jesus. And then Jesus tells the cured person not to tell anyone about it. Which is exactly what happens in this story. Maybe you were thinking, "That's not a healing story." It is a healing story; it's just not about a physical healing. It's about a spiritual healing, an emotional healing of the disciples' disease of fear. 

Mark continues, "Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

"This is my Son, the Beloved; LISTEN to him." Says the voice from the cloud. LISTEN to him.

Now, look. I don't have any doubt there were plenty of voices competing for the disciples' attention. They might not have had as many choices in the voices - NPR, FOX, Zeppelin - but I don't have any doubt they had people pulling them all sorts of different directions. And I don't doubt they feared listening to Jesus, following Jesus, because it was physically dangerous. Listening to Jesus, following Jesus could get you killed, back then. Listening to Jesus, following Jesus could get you kicked out of your family, or your town. Happened all the time. The disciples were smart to be afraid. But here's the thing that happened that day on the mountain. At least, for a while, there was no one else any more, but only Jesus. Jesus was the only one they listened to. At least, for a while, the fear was gone. They weren't worrying about the world. They weren't thinking about themselves. They listened to Jesus. And they listened without fear. At least, for a while, they were healed.

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The disease of fear infects you. It may be such a low-grade, chronic illness that you don't even notice it anymore. But it's there. Fear infects all of us. Fear effects us all. Fear infects our decisions. Fear infects our actions. Fear infects what we buy, how much of it we buy, and fear determines when or whether we're able to ever throw any of it away. And even if you're a supremely confident person, if you venture out of the house and hang out with someone else who's carrying fear, it'll try to rub off on you. That's what fear does. It's communicable. It's infectious. Fear is a Socially Transmitted Disease, an STD, and it mutates. It's a survivor. And it will find you.

So what can you do to protect yourself? It's not like you can stay at home or live in a bubble. Actually, you can, but if you do, then fear's already won. If only the solution was as simple as getting some kind of inoculation. What was it the Great Oz gave the Cowardly Lion? A medal, with the word, "Courage," written across it. (That was in the movie. In the book, Oz gave him drinks of an unknown liquid, which made him temporarily brave. That's another sermon.) The problem with fear is that it won't go away, no matter how many medals or how many drinks. And, the gospels are clear that even though the disciples' fear might have been taken away by Jesus, it came back. Fear is like that. There is no magic bullet. You can be healed for a while, but never cured.

The other day I was writing sermons in a coffee shop and in the comfy chairs across from me were a guy in a 12-step program and his sponsor. I know this because they were surprisingly loud. The guy was in the first steps of recovery and he was telling his sponsor all about it, as if no one else was there. So it's not like I was trying to eavesdrop. Actually, I was trying to ignore them, kind of wishing they were a little more anonymous. The guy starting recovery was kind of blabbering on, pretty much exclusively about himself. How he felt in this situation, or in that situation, or what this person said to him, or what that person said. But, eventually, his bottom line, that he finally got to, after everything else, was that today, at that moment, it was very good for him to be here. And it struck me: that's exactly like what Peter said, when he was blabbering on about building tents, and how good it was for him to be there. The sponsor was very wise. He was very calm. He listened. And he listened. And he listened way past the point most people would want to listen. And then he reminded his friend of some steps. And he reminded his friend of some wisdom. And he reminded his friend that it was OK to be afraid. Because everyone is. And so once you acknowledge your fear, you're not alone anymore.

The Apostle Paul, in another part of the Bible has some advice for a little church that was afraid. He told them this. He said: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8) 

Now, that's NOT a magic cure, but those ARE healing words. No magic bullet. But the message from the mouth of God that day on the mountaintop wasn't all that different. "This is my beloved son; Listen to him." Listen. And listen again. And listen again. And whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about THOSE things. Fill your heart, and your mind, and your actions with those things... and fear will look for an easier target. There is no cure for fear. But there is healing.

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One of the most amazing things Jesus did, in his entire life, was that on the night before he was going to be betrayed to his death, by one of his disciples, he invited them all to supper. On a night when it would have been very normal, very expected for anyone to be overcome with fear, Jesus invited his friends for supper. He talked about his body. He talked about his blood. And as far as we know, they listened. No one talked about building tents. No one talked about running away. They listened.

When we share The Lord's Supper, we're remembering that night. That night when maybe his disciples were afraid, when maybe even Jesus was afraid. We share in a supper that helps us remember it's OK to be afraid. Because everyone is. And that once you acknowledge your fear, you're not alone anymore. We share the feast openly, maybe less anonymously than we might like. But we share it, and we share it together. We share it in the knowledge and in the hope that if the broken body of the Lord can bring healing, maybe our broken spirits can receive it.

The final healing words of today's scripture are from verse 8. Where it says, "Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus." May we see past our fears, and may we look around and see none of them with us anymore, but only Jesus.