Luke 9.28-36     Transfiguration    Hymns: 95, 97, 96, 331

I saw Aaron Copland once. Beth and I attended the Milwaukee symphony years ago. It was an "All Copland" concert. The composer himself, Aaron Copland, was in attendance. As we were leaving the concert hall I saw him getting off an elevator.

I met Leo Durocher one time. I got onto an elevator in Methodist Hospital at the Houston Medical Center years ago and he was already on the elevator. I looked at him and thought to myself, "Is he Leo Durocher?" So I asked him and it was he! If you’re interested I’ll tell you some time what he said to me.

Beth and I were out for dinner at one of Milwaukee’s finer restaurants (it must have been some special occasion). And not ten feet from our table, having dinner, was none other than the actor Ernest Borgnine. He was in town to discuss plans for the 4^th of July parade. He was the parade marshal for many years.

Our son Mark met Ryan Nolan. Mark was an usher at Milwaukee County Stadium. His assigned area was in the visiting team dugout. The Brewers were playing the Texas Rangers. That day Nolan Ryan pitched his 3,000 strike out. When he came into the dugout after the inning was over, Mark congratulated him for his achievement. "Thanks, son," he said to Mark. Special!

I even held down the gallery ropes for Arnie Palmer once at the Shell Houston Open at Champions CC. He hooked his ball off the fairway onto some pine needles right under the gallery rope, which I had to hold down for him so he was able to have a clear path to hit the ball. We had a brief humorous back-and-forth chat; I’ll tell you about it some time, if you’re interested.

If you’re interested! If you’re interested in golf you might ask me about Arnie Palmer; baseball...Nolan Ryan or Leo Durocher; music...Copland. If you’re not interested in these people you won’t bother asking me about my experience. "I SAW JESUS...JESUS THE SON OF GOD!" That’s what Jesus’ diciples told people. Was anyone interested in their experience? Did anyone ask them about Jesus? Some, perhaps.

Jesus went up on a mountain to pray and took Peter, James and John with him. Jesus prayed; the disciples slept! While the disciples were sleeping Jesus revealed his divine nature. A brilliant light, like the white flash of lightening came off his body. The light was so bright that it caused the disciples to wake up out of a deep sleep. They saw that brilliant light and they saw Moses and Elijah standing with Jesus and talking to him about his departure. Before we go any farther, let’s look at some of the details of what is called "The Transfiguration of Jesus."

There was a meeting of church leaders in the year 451 A.D. That meeting is called the Council of Chalcedon. At that meeting the Christian doctrine of the Communication (sharing) of Attributes was established. What that doctrine, the Communication of At-tributes says is this: The characteristics of Jesus, the Son of God and the characteristics of Jesus, the Son of Mary, are joined together in Jesus, the divine and human Savior of the world. That is to say, Jesus is both true God and he is truly human, as we confess in the Nicene Creed. The moment Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, he was both human and divine. Throughout his earthly life Jesus was human and divine. When Jesus died on the cross, it was true God and true man who died. So also when he rose from the dead; so also now as he "sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty," Jesus is still true man and true God. He had to be both human and divine in order to take our place and be the Savior of all people. 1 Tim 2:5-6 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.

During his earthly life, Jesus humbled himself, that is, most of the time he did not reveal himself as God but only as a man, a human being. However, when Jesus caused the storm on the Sea of Galilee to come to an immediate halt, his disciples said, "Surely you are the Son of God." Jesus revealed that he is God by doing the miracle. "Surely you are the Son of God," the disciples said when Jesus walked on water. Jesus revealed that he is God by that miracle. Every time he did a miracle people could see his glory, see that he is God.

On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus’ disciples, Peter, James and John saw the glory of Jesus as a brilliant light shone from his body. Each one of them could say, "I saw Jesus...Jesus the Son of God." They saw Jesus the man. They ate with him and spoke with him. They saw his emotions, even his tears when he cried for the people who mourned the death of Lazarus. And they saw him die; they buried his body in a grave and they saw the nail marks in his hands and side. For the most part they saw Jesus the man; on the Mt. of Transfiguration they saw Jesus who is God. He allowed his disciples to see his glory.

And they saw and heard Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah about his "departure," that is, they were talking about the day he would die on a cross and complete his work of salvation and depart from the earth. And they would have been talking about his Ascension, the day when, again, Peter, James and John would see Jesus ascend before their eyes and return to heaven because he had completed his work of salvation. The disciples saw the glory of Jesus, the Son of God, and heard about the conversation about how Jesus would save the world from sin.

Both John and Peter wrote about this experience (Jn 1.14; 2 Pet 1.16-18). Can you imagine how this would have put an exclamation point on their preaching and teaching? They could say, "I saw Jesus...Jesus the Son of God! I saw his glory on the mount-ain when he revealed himself as God. This is the Savior from sin and death. I can tell you this from my own experience. I was an eye witness!" They would have told stories about him and his miracles as evidence that he was the Son of God.

This is your Savior of whom you can say, "I see Jesus...Jesus the Son of God!" Open your eyes of faith! Don’t take Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross for granted? Open your eyes; he paid for your sins! Don’t just go through the routine of receiving the Lord’s Supper? Open your eyes! You see Jesus’ love and receive his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. And use this sacrament to deal with sin...to give it a harsh blow of Chrisitan reality by sending it away!  Do you see an uncertain future for you, for your children...a scary world out there that doesn’t care whether you live or die. Open your eyes! See Jesus who prepared a place in the mansions of heaven for you, not a comfortable suite in a nursing home. Talk to people about what you see...Jesus the Son of God who loves you, and them.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

2 Peter 1:16 - 18 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.