Vicar Karla Leitzman
3/2/2025 Sermon
One really nerdy thing that pastors and seminarians sometimes do is to ask each other which gospel is their favorite because you can admittedly glean some pretty interesting things about a person based on their answer. As an example, my answer has long been Mark. I like its relative simplicity and how profoundly human Jesus is portrayed to be throughout. I also appreciate that it ends with the disciples being confused and not knowing what to do next and are thus left to interpret together how to wade through that confusion, and let’s face it, I think there are elements of that we can all relate to.
But, I also really tend to gravitate toward the gospel of Luke because in Luke over and over again we are reminded that Jesus has a heart for the outcast, the stranger, the lowly, and that we are all called to share that heart. After all, it is in the gospel of Luke that we hear the Magnificat and Mary’s song about the lowly being raised up. It is here, too, where we see that God chooses to come to a world that is fraught with pain and discord, coming to Earth in human form in a far removed town in a land forcefully occupied by Rome. The gospel of Luke, over and over shows us a Jesus who looks out for those who are overlooked, and we are reminded that Jesus is the earthly embodiment of God’s love.
It is with stories like today’s Transfiguration of our Lord that I often like to look at context like this when I am trying to figure out where to start because as you all noticed, we have a lot going on here. We’ve got Jesus shining in bright light and then he’s talking to Elijah and Moses and then let’s just throw in the exorcizing of a demon in there for good measure, too at the end. Why not? But, it is when I remember who Jesus is portrayed to be throughout the rest of Luke’s gospel, where we get our lesson from today, that I am better able to unpack some of these elements and we can find some excellent context.
This is a pivotal moment for several reasons where we get to glimpse the divinity of Jesus before his death and resurrection when that divinity will be on full display. As we look to the start of Lent, we will soon together share in Jesus’ journey to the cross, to death, and to resurrection. But before we can get there, first we are afforded a peak behind the curtain, so to speak, and get to witness the divinity of Jesus when he is in the midst of his ministry and life here on Earth. The transfiguration described today, gives us a sense of foreshadowing to the bright and beautiful resurrection we will celebrate here together in just 43 days. It also showcases through the presence of Elijah and Moses that there is knowledge and great insight to be found in ancestors who have come before, and that as we have our doubts and curiosities, that even Jesus had those same feelings to bring before these ancient ancestors. One of the lessons we can take from this story is that we are never so enlightened that we should ignore the wisdom and the stories of those who have come before us and we are not the first to yearn for insight and answers.
In one of my trinitarian theology classes, I remember several of us remarking that there is a lot to contemplate in following a God who is all at once in three beings. I have realized though, especially in the last few years, that the story of Jesus is how I make sense of who God in all three parts is. It is because God could have chosen to be enfleshed in human form in any time and any place and yet God chose to come to Earth during a tumultuous time, born to outcast peasants in a far removed hamlet no one had any interest in. That Jesus sought out those that the world pushed the margins and he uplifted them and celebrated them. He went to the hard places, the rough places.
So, it is so profound when God refers to Jesus and exclaims, “Listen to him.” It’s like God is saying, this human is the extension of me on Earth. What he does, who he uplifts, who he loves, that is who I uplift and love. He is the manifestation of my promise and my love for all of you. Do what he says and emulate what he does. Throughout his life, death, and resurrection, we are reminded that Jesus is with us, and as Jesus meets us, so too, do we meet Jesus in this transfiguration. As he is transfigured, we are too. And the beautiful thing is that this doesn’t have to be a one time occurrence, we get to transfigure ourselves back to Christ and to his teachings of love and kindness over and over again. Even if and when we fall short in that call, God’s grace is still abundantly given to us.
A kind of fun fact about me is that I have a deep love and fascination with the Chrstian mystics. There is something about how throughout time and space, we share a yearning for an experience with God like prominent mystics such as Augustine, Hildegard von Bingen, the big names, if you will, of Christian mysticism. Like this clear example of God overtly calling out and recognizing Jesus, the mystics and so many others have sought meaningful and transcendent relationships with God throughout time and space. One of my favorite historical Christian mystics, though, is Teresa of Avila. Teresa was a Carmelite nun and a prominent Catholic mystic in the mid 1500s so during the time of the Protestant Reformation, and she is in many ways a symbol of rebirth and renewal as she reformed the Carmelite order for both men and women. She spent much of her life founding and restoring convents and monasteries which often were the only way that girls and women could receive any kind of more formalized education. One of my favorite Christian readings of all time was written by Teresa and it is titled, “Christ has no Body. It goes,
“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
In the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, of which Faith Lilac Way is a part of, we proudly and boldly proclaim, “God’s work, our hands” which is beautifully synonymous with this writing from Teresa. Jesus is not here physically with us to tell us what to do or to show us where to prioritize our time. He is not standing here in front of the alter with the heavens opening above him and the voice of God telling us point blank, “this is my Son. Listen to him.” But, thanks to the authors of Luke where today’s gospel lesson comes from and the rest of the synoptic gospels, we are shown who Jesus uplifts when the world does not. Jesus shows us where he would be if he were physically here on Earth. It would be with the poor, those who are grieving, those who are doubting, those who are frightened. And, because Jesus is not here in person to do it, we are left to be the hands and feet of Christ in his physical absence.
I know I do not have to tell you how hard it can be to listen for God’s voice amidst the noise and tumultuousness of our current world. In a time of intense polarization, of heated discourse, of fear and doubt and anger and confusion and feelings of helplessness, it can be so overwhelming, so noisy that we can wonder where God’s voice is in the midst of it all. We are here to be Christ’s hands and feet and to do God’s work here on Earth. And each day, we are able, by God’s grace to re orient ourselves back to Jesus’ example. To do our best to push out the noise and distractions to transfigure us back to Christ’s teachings.
In my study of the Christian mystics, I am struck by the similarities I see in those ancient practices and with a more modern pentecostal or born again Christian theology. And truthfully, as mainline Protestants, I think there is a thing or two we could learn. Both the mystics and the more modern born again Christian theology seek communion and profound experiences with God. They both yearn for enlightenment and fortitude. As Lutherans, we get to celebrate that through grace and the promise of our baptism we get to be born anew each time we remember our baptism. Over and over again, we are always being made new and it is never too late to re orient, to trasfigure ourselves back to God. That just as Jesus casts out the demon in today’s gospel story, we are continually called to cast out our own demons. These demons are the things of the world that pull us from God and from God’s call to love our neighbor as ourselves, and not just our neighbors who are very alike to us but those who could not be more different from us. The demons that make us dwell in anger and malice, the demons that allow us to look away in the face of our neighbor’s suffering.
ELCA Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, shared the following message this week on her public instagram profile, and I think it is very fitting to today’s subject of our shared transfiguration back to Christ. She says:
Many in our pews and communities are suffering in silence, wondering if anyone notices, if anyone cares. I want to encourage all of us, our entire church, to bear one another’s burdens. Take a moment to check in on one another. We cannot presume our friends and neighbors are ok. I am reminded of the words of Isaiah when God says, “Do not fear for I am with you. Do not be afraid for I am your God.” We are not alone. We are the body of Christ called to bear one another’s burdens. To be present, to listen, to love. We may not know what tomorrow brings but we have each other, and we have the promise of a god who meets us in our fear, who walks with us in our struggles, and who calls us to be beacons of hope. So church, let’s show up for one another at home and in our communities. Let us remind the world that God’s promise, a promise of love, calls us together and moves us to action. Be well, dear church.
Amen