1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,520 I wanted to tell you just quickly about my love for Renaissance festivals. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:11,120 I've mentioned it a time or two, but Renaissance Festival for me did not start by going to 3 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:16,400 the one up by Montgomery and the one over in Todd Mission. 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:22,440 For me, Renaissance Festival started in fifth grade in the elementary school. 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:27,200 Renaissance Festival for me was that we were all trying to figure out what costumes we 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:31,840 were going to wear and how we were going to participate in this festival. 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:37,480 Now, I had absolutely no idea what a Renaissance outfit would look like. 8 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:42,120 So I tried to come up with what I thought would be the best thing closest to it. 9 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:49,200 But in my mind, Renaissance Festival was kings and queens and royal courts. 10 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:57,480 So I made what I didn't realize was a kingly type of outfit, even including a crown on 11 00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:58,480 my head. 12 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:03,600 Now, I ended up getting to the festival realizing that absolutely nobody else dressed exactly 13 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:04,600 like that. 14 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:09,920 So there I am, the one person presiding over everybody else like the king that apparently 15 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,920 I thought of myself as. 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,960 Now, what was interesting about this though, in addition to the fact that, well, it's kind 17 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:24,360 of ridiculous in my mind, is that I was kind of ashamed of having dressed up as a king. 18 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:30,840 You see, the whole time I kept trying to take off the crown or trying to kind of cover up 19 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:31,840 the outfit itself. 20 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:38,120 Because there I am thinking to myself, what right do I have to dress up as a king in this 21 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:39,120 place? 22 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,920 Not granted, I probably would have had a better time if I just bossed everybody around. 23 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:48,880 But instead, I spent the whole time trying to cover it up. 24 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:55,080 And what strikes me is that in many ways, the Christian life is oftentimes about avoiding 25 00:01:55,080 --> 00:02:02,480 what we should truly find glory and joy in because of what we think is going to somehow 26 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:04,280 stand out even better. 27 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,280 Over the last several weeks, there have been some things that we've gone over that have 28 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,840 been leading up to today, today being the transfiguration. 29 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:18,280 Some of the things that have been there is, one, the story of God, it's going to happen 30 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,520 one way or another. 31 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:25,640 But if it's happening in and through us, then that's because we listen and follow. 32 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:31,640 But as we do so, is that that's really how repentance happens, is that we don't repent 33 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:34,840 because we're sitting here saying, I want to change. 34 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:42,640 We repent because we see and believe in who Jesus is and changes us inside so that we 35 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:46,480 want to be something different. 36 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,960 But that life, definitely not easy by any means. 37 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,440 The Christian life is a struggle. 38 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:00,120 And the thing is, is that if we spend all of our time trying to avoid the struggle, chances 39 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:05,680 are we're probably saying and doing things that are not leading us or anybody else closer 40 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,400 to God. 41 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,440 But who is it that we're actually listening to in regard to that journey? 42 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:18,120 The prophets that we're called to listen to are those where you can see what God is doing 43 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,120 in their lives now and even as they point toward the future. 44 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,440 This isn't just, oh, well, I guess we'll wait and see and hope that you're right. 45 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:31,880 But rather is how is it that God himself is working through them to go in the direction 46 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:36,760 that he wants to go, his direction and not ours. 47 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:43,080 And as we go that route, that does mean that we serve. 48 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:48,920 As much as we enjoy the parts where we get to make the decisions and boss people around 49 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:54,080 with or without the crown on our head, that's not where ministry actually occurs. 50 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,600 It occurs in the places where we're the ones serving. 51 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:04,080 And as we bring those together, I want that to be your background as we're talking a bit 52 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,320 about the transfiguration. 53 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:12,640 Now we had our Exodus passage earlier, and I want to make sure that you know what it 54 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,040 was that went into that passage. 55 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:20,640 See, Moses had gotten the commandments for the second time. 56 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,720 The reason he had to get them twice is because he broke them the first time. 57 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,600 And no, he's not just as clumsy as Pastor Jason. 58 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,800 This was a deliberate anger, we're going to smash these. 59 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:33,800 Why? 60 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:39,960 Because he had come down from the mountain and the people had made a golden calf. 61 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:45,920 Instead of waiting to hear from God himself and see what it is that he wanted to speak 62 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:46,920 to them. 63 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:52,120 Instead, they were like, well, we're used to being in Egypt, and we're used to these 64 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,920 beautiful animals that are in their worship. 65 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,480 So let's just do that. 66 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,280 Because then if people come by and they see us, they'll see this golden calf and they'll 67 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:03,120 really know to respect us. 68 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,160 And let's do all the things that will end up feeling beautiful. 69 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,560 Because all we're doing is just following God out into this wilderness, and here's a 70 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:11,560 mountain. 71 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,720 What's that going to do for us at all? 72 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:23,040 And yet, when Moses went to go back and get those commandments again, because God was 73 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:31,600 merciful enough to speak to a sinful people, when he comes back down, he's shining. 74 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,400 He has been in the presence of God and he's shining. 75 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,960 Now you would think, oh, well, they wanted something spectacular. 76 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,080 Shouldn't they be impressed? 77 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,160 All they could do is say, please cover it up. 78 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,600 We can't handle this. 79 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:52,840 They wanted something beautiful that they could control and construct, but the actual 80 00:05:52,840 --> 00:06:00,240 presence of God, they wanted to hide it. 81 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:08,680 Isn't that in many ways what we end up doing is that the actual presence of God, what God 82 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:14,840 is actually going to do is the thing that we oftentimes run away from the most. 83 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:21,600 Actually, we may be looking for something pretty or nice or beautiful in some way, but 84 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,880 is it real? 85 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:30,480 As you all may not be aware of, once upon a time I had a career in karate. 86 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,560 And by career, I mean I was nine years old and had a green belt because they were just 87 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,080 being nice that day. 88 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:41,040 One of the things with it is that everybody right around my age, we were all trying to 89 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:42,520 be Ralph Machio. 90 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:47,240 We wanted to be the karate kid, although apparently that might have been William Zafka. 91 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:48,680 That's a whole other debate. 92 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,640 But one of the things that struck me is that when you're in karate, what are you supposed 93 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:54,640 to be doing? 94 00:06:54,640 --> 00:07:00,960 You're practicing, you're getting into shape, you're learning different moves, and that 95 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:05,400 really just takes time and perseverance and struggle. 96 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,240 But what was I looking for? 97 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:08,240 Why didn't the karate kid? 98 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:22,840 I was just looking for that perfect move, that one thing that was going to somehow win the 99 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,240 fight for me. 100 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:31,720 But what's amazing about the flashy kick is that if you actually go back, it was an illegal 101 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,680 kick to the face. 102 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:42,000 They were trying so hard to make sure that this movie had a climactic moment, and yet 103 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:47,080 at the same time, if you were to do that, you'd end up being disqualified. 104 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,160 But isn't that oftentimes what it is that we're trying for as the church? 105 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:56,840 We're looking for some moment, something that's going to somehow be flashy and beautiful, just 106 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,040 somehow fix it all. 107 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:06,400 And in reality, the Christian life is continual, piece by piece. 108 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,640 And that's one of the things that we end up seeing here is that instead of being willing 109 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:15,760 to go through the challenge, what it was that God was taking the people into the wilderness 110 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,280 for in the first place, is instead they just wanted to go right back to where they were 111 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,000 originally. 112 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:27,680 And that ends up pointing us to what we see with Jesus. 113 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:35,200 You see, the thing about Jesus being transfigured is that there wasn't anything that it was 114 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,760 supposed to do. 115 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:43,960 Jesus was transfigured because it was just who he was. 116 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,480 There's a bit of background with this. 117 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:53,200 Moses and Elijah are there on this mountain, and the two of them are known as two people 118 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:58,120 who were taken up into the presence of God mysteriously, Elijah because of a chariot of 119 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:04,760 fire and Moses because, well, he left and God buried him up on that mountain somewhere. 120 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:10,040 And so for the people, when they see these two individuals, they know that this must 121 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:16,560 be Elijah and Moses for whom they were supposed to be waiting. 122 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:20,560 And so what is it that Peter comes up with? 123 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,360 He may be wondering, what was up with the tents? 124 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:30,160 Well, you see, one of their festivals was the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of the Tents, 125 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:31,680 the Boons. 126 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:36,280 It was a celebration that they would have that reminded them that God had led them through 127 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,040 the wilderness to the Promised Land. 128 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:42,600 And so whenever they would celebrate, they'd all get into their little tents, almost like 129 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:50,400 a college sort of affair, and they would then be looking toward the future kingdom of God. 130 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:57,640 So there they were, seeing Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah, and what can they think 131 00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,720 of? 132 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,320 Festival of tents, Festival of Boots. 133 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:10,680 How about we set up a tent for each of you, Jesus, you and Moses and Elijah? 134 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:13,000 Was that the point? 135 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,120 Was that what they were up there for? 136 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:23,160 Is that at that moment, Jesus was being ministered to by Elijah and Moses, and he was just being 137 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,600 himself. 138 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:30,800 The glory of Jesus shown forth just because that was who he was. 139 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:37,120 But that's a piece that we take for granted a lot, is that the glory of God shines forth 140 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:43,400 because of how he has transformed us. 141 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,080 Because instead of Peter trying to figure out, okay, what do we need to do? 142 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,680 Do we need to set up a little tent for each of you? 143 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:51,760 Do we need to make sure we're prepared for all this? 144 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:58,120 And it was just, God is saying, listen to him. 145 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,480 Don't we have struggle with that oftentimes? 146 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:05,920 We're trying to figure out the right thing to say or the right thing to do when in reality 147 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:10,360 it always starts with, have you listened to my son? 148 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:16,080 And that's the piece that we struggle with, but it's the piece we need the most with this 149 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:17,080 Sunday. 150 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:26,720 You see, the kingdom of God, the faith that God gives us is what changes us. 151 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:34,840 But it also involves the struggle of this life, and it involves serving him and one another. 152 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:39,000 This moment on the mountain didn't change that. 153 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,880 Jesus had to say, don't tell people about this yet. 154 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:42,880 Why? 155 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:51,080 Because he still needed to get to the ultimate place of his glory, the cross. 156 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:57,680 Would we be willing to see God do his will in this place, or are we more interested in 157 00:11:57,680 --> 00:11:59,760 our own will? 158 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,000 Because I think we're afraid. 159 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,680 I think we're actually afraid. 160 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:13,160 Because I think that we're afraid of what it would actually mean and do if we're genuinely 161 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:19,800 submitting to God and saying, God, you be the one to move through us. 162 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:26,920 If we were to genuinely say, we know that we need to change and not hold things back. 163 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:31,800 If we were to genuinely say that, yes, our lives are meant to be in service to one another. 164 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:32,800 Why? 165 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,640 That might mean that maybe we have to let go of things that we thought mattered even 166 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,120 more to us. 167 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:45,360 I think that we're afraid of the actual glory of God because of where the glory of God actually 168 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:46,360 is. 169 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:51,440 The glory of God is on the cross. 170 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:59,040 So as we look at this, we're not looking at God's glory shining because somehow we've 171 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:04,600 managed to make something perfect or do something in a way that is flashy or amazing in some 172 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:11,440 outward way, but rather is God the one that is leading us. 173 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:17,200 We've got different things that we're making sure we emphasize, and we've been putting 174 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:22,680 out these different newsletters on fasting and prayer. 175 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:27,800 We definitely want to encourage you, if you are able, to consider finding a way to practice 176 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,120 fasting throughout this season of Lent. 177 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:34,200 Not because it's somehow something that we want to take pride in. 178 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:39,960 I'm not going to take attendance on fasting and not going to have you check off anything. 179 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,720 Next week Sunday, if you come in looking all ragged, it's not going to be like, are you 180 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:44,720 hungry? 181 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,040 Do you need a donut? 182 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:52,560 But rather is that as the people of God, if we truly want to be as the people of God 183 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:57,600 pursuing God's will, then maybe we need to spend more time in the places and in the ways 184 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:02,000 that we know God can more clearly speak to us. 185 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:09,080 So as we go to Ash Wednesday, and as we spend this season preparing for the cross, may we 186 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:16,600 take the time to ask how God is shining forth in us and through us, not through the things 187 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:25,560 that we think are beautiful, but through what he finds beautiful, his love for us, the suffering 188 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,440 that it took and what it means to serve one another. 189 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:56,440 Thanks be to God.