Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-37 Luke 9:28-36, The Transfiguration Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a great crowd met them. Prayer: Gracious God, open our eyes that we might see your glory and understand the light you shine on us in this passage of your Word. Amen. Today is Transfiguration Sunday, which we always celebrate on the Sunday before Lent. It is the day when we remember the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is about to journey to Jerusalem and the cross, but he stops to pray, as he does at every important crossroad in his life. He climbs to the top of the mountain for confirmation from God the Father that he is following God's will. Throughout the New Testament we read about power flowing through Jesus to others, healing and strengthening them, but in the transfiguration, the power stays in Jesus and transforms him. He radiates. He is a glorious sight, and Peter wants to capture the moment permanently. In our day and age, we capture important moments with cameras and videotape. We are used to being able to rewind and see the play or event again, as many times as we like. There were no video cameras for Peter to use to capture the moment, but he has an idea more appropriate to his times. He wants to pitch three tents. He cries out, "Let's make three tents: one for you, Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!" And I think Peter is on to something. We often try to pitch tents around Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. The question I want to raise today is "Where do you pitch your tent?" A lot of us church folks pitch our tent with Moses and the law. We want everyone to know exactly what is right and wrong. We know what the law says and we want every one to follow the law exactly as we understand it. Unfortunately, what happens when we pitch our tents with Moses and the law is that we become legalists. Our focus moves to judgment. This past week I had an experience that illustrates what happens when we become legalistic and focus only on the law. On Sunday after church, Sheena Galiani was kind enough to drive a group of children from the church to see the movie Recess. Johnny, my son, was sitting behind Sheena and me. He looked up and saw a speed limit sign. I think the speed limit was 35, but Sheena was going 37 miles per hour. From the back seat, Johnny began insisting that Sheena must slow down; she was "breaking the law!" Of course, on a literal sense he was completely right, but on a practical level, 2 miles above the speed limit is not something to get hysterical about. Johnny was demonstrating a development stage that children go through when they see things rigidly as either right or wrong. As adults, we may not be as obvious about it, but we can get just as stuck in the legal mindset. There were plenty of people in Jesus' time that had pitched their tents with Moses and the law. That group was constantly trying to test Jesus and trick him into giving the "wrong" answer, but Jesus was too wise to get caught up in legalism. The simplest and most powerful example of Jesus' teaching about Moses and the law was his response when the Pharisee lawyer asked him "Which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus explained for him and for us, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all you soul, and with all your mind…and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Jesus transforms our understanding of the law. He moves us from a rigid understanding of the law of Moses to a clearer understand of the law of love. Before Jesus came, we had only a limited and rather inaccurate understanding of God. Jesus came to reconcile the world with God-so that we might know that God is more than a judge, God is our loving Father. Much of the time we pitch our tents around Moses in the certainty of the law. Sometimes, though, we pitch our tent with Elijah the prophet. When we do that we may be looking for the spectacular experience or the charismatic prophet. We want to experience wonderful things. Our faith life becomes an endless pursuit of one spiritual thrill after another. What happens is that we move our focus from Jesus to ourselves. I believe that this continual search for more and more peak religious experiences is at the center of the New Age theology. Years ago, there was a television movie of the story of Shirley MacLaine's spiritual journey. She played herself in the movie. I was curious about her. I didn't know exactly what she believed in, but I knew she had taken some risks and I respect people who are willing to take risks for faith. The story was interesting, but I couldn't quite grasp the foundation for her faith. I couldn't figure out exactly in whom or what she believed. Finally, at the very end of the movie, I understood. The movie ended with a scene I will never forget. It was one of those endings where you want to reach into the television and pull the person out of the scene, shouting, "No!" Here is what happened: Shirley MacLaine was standing on a beach. Her arms were outstretched and she was saying, "God is in all of nature. God is all around me. God is in me. I am God." When we pitch our tent with Elijah and focus on gratifying our longing for exciting, spiritual experiences, we are in danger of losing the solid foundation of our faith-Jesus Christ. We must remember that the transfiguration is about Jesus, not about the disciples. Jesus is transfigured; Peter, James, and John witness the transfiguration. Jesus shines; his light illuminates them. We all hope to pitch our tents with Jesus, but notice that Jesus doesn't let Peter pitch a tent around him there on the mountain. The fact is that Jesus cannot be confined to our little tents. His Spirit goes beyond our boundaries. The real experiences of Christ occur when we respond to his call to come back down the mountain and share in his ministry to the great crowd that meets him in verse 37 of our passage. On May 19, 1953, a New Zealand beekeeper, Edmund Hillary, and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norkay, were the first to stand on the summit of Mount Everest. What is remarkable about Edmund Hillary is what he did after he conquered Mount Everest. He spent the next thirty plus years in the foothills of Everest, in Nepal, working with the Sherpas whom he came to respect, admire, and love. He created the Himalayan Trust to provide funds to help improve living conditions for the Sherpas. He helped build 22 schools, where before there were none. He built a hospital and provided medical care in an area where before the hospital more than half the youth died before they were 20 years old. On the summit of Mount Everest, the only things that Edmund Hillary left were a chocolate candy bar, a few biscuits, and footprints in the snow. His most shining achievement will forever be not his famous mountain top experience, but the less publicized transfiguration of life among his friends in the foothills of Nepal. We want to pitch our tents with Moses or Elijah or Jesus, but Jesus says there is no time for pitching tents. There is too much work to do. We have to keep moving! If we will open ourselves to prayer, we like Jesus, will be given the strength to share in God's work. Amen.