Mark 9:2-9
Do you believe that you can make a difference in the world? Because God uses men and women just like you to change the world. Not always in big, earth-shattering ways; sometimes it is in quiet, more subtle ways. Just consider the story of Glenn Miller. No, not the big-band leader from the 1930s and 40s. This Glenn Miller owned a restaurant in Wichita, Kansas. When Glenn was 63 years old, he suffered a major heart attack, and when he left the hospital, he was very tired and in pain. He didn’t know when or if he would be able to go back to work. If he closed his business, it would ruin him.
One of Glenn’s acquaintances was a woman named Winona Ford, who was co-owner of another restaurant. She asked him what he was going to do about his business, and he told her he didn’t have any idea. So Winona decided that she was going to run Glenn’s restaurant for him until he could come back to work. Together with Miller’s cook, she kept the doors open while Miller made his slow recovery. She just came in and ran the place for him. He was so grateful that Glenn made Winona a part owner of his business. Glenn would tell you, “God sent me Winona.” The light of Christ shone through Winona Ford. And it can shine through you, too.
When Jesus went up that mountain with his three disciples that day, they had no idea what was going to happen. They probably thought that Jesus was going up there to pray. He had been teaching the crowds for a while, and it was his habit to take some time away to refresh and renew on a regular basis. But while they were on the mountain, something remarkable happened.
Suddenly, Jesus was transfigured. What does that mean? Well, according to the dictionary, to be transfigured means to be changed in outward appearance or transformed. Jesus was really changed. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone could ever bleach them. And then, out of nowhere, two men appeared with Jesus: Moses and Elijah. And the three of them began to talk with each other.
You may wonder, why those two men? Of all the characters in the Old Testament, why would God send Moses and Elijah to talk to Jesus that day? Well, Moses was known as the great Lawgiver, the one who was believed to have written the first five books of the Bible, or the Pentateuch. And Elijah was considered to be the greatest of the prophets and was carried up to heaven before he died. Jesus was said to have been the fulfilment of both the Law and the Prophets. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And so here was Jesus, with the representatives of the Law and the Prophets.
Peter got so carried away with the excitement of it all that he wanted to build shelters and stay on that mountaintop indefinitely. Mark clarifies that Peter didn’t really know what to say because he was so frightened. But I can understand where Peter was coming from. This was like the religious high to end all religious highs. It couldn’t get any better than this. The greatest men in the Jewish faith were there with Jesus, right in front of the disciples. Who wouldn’t want to stay there forever? They probably had questions they wanted to ask these men. I can think of a few myself. Like, what was it like talking to God in that burning bush? Or, how did it feel walking between the waters of the Red Sea? Or, did you enjoy that ride up into heaven without dying first?
And then that mountaintop high got even higher. A cloud appeared – which was a symbol of the very presence of God many times in the Old Testament – and a voice came from the cloud, the very voice of God. And God said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” And just like that, as quickly as it had appeared, it was all gone: the cloud, Moses and Elijah. And Jesus looked just like he had always looked. It was time to go back down the mountain and face the real world again.
And yet, for the disciples and for all of us who follow Jesus, there is a message and a mission that goes down the mountain with us. And that is, just as Jesus was changed, just as he shone with a holy light, we are changed by Jesus, and we should have his light shining through us into the darkness of the world. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world … Let your light shine before men [and women], that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” We are to let the light of God shine through us, so that people would see God in us.
You know, it seems like everyone’s car is covered with the filthy salt and ick from the roads since the latest storms. It’s hard to tell what color some of the cars are under all that nastiness. But I was driving down Route 11 last week when all of sudden I saw a bright red, clean car coming my way. I couldn’t miss it; it was the only clean car in sight. It was bright red, and the sun shone off it almost blinding me. And I thought, that’s what it would look like for the light of God to shine through me in a world where everything around me is dark and dirty.
We have the opportunity every day to let our light shine – to let the light of God shine through us – and to make a difference in our world, to make a difference in someone’s life, and to lead people to praise God. We are kind of like stained glass. We may not be much to look at like this, without the light; we are really nothing special. But when we allow the light to shine through us, look at the difference it makes! We become beautiful! Spectacular! Dazzling!
Let the light of God shine through you. You will change the world. You will make a difference in someone’s life. And someone will come to see God through you.
