Last week’s message focused on what is salt and light to the world and how we as Christians must see ourselves as the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Today we recognize a particularly important event in the scriptures which is known as the Transfiguration of Jesus the Christ. In this Transfiguration experience of Jesus, which is described in all three synoptic gospels, three symbolically important things are outlined. First, Jesus goes up a high mountain with three disciples namely Peter, James and John. Secondly, he meets and converses with Moses and Elijah, representative of the Law and the Prophets but the highlight of it all is the physical change of his appearance in the process where his clothing becomes extremely whitened and his face shines brilliantly and at the same time the voice from Heaven is heard acknowledging him as his own dear son. All of these together essentially confirm Jesus’ divinity and his claim to be the Christ.
In light of this the Second letter of Peter, which many scholars doubt was actually written by the Apostle himself, is written nevertheless at a difficult transitional time for believers as a rise in other beliefs and philosophies was beginning to take hold. It is believed that this letter of Peter was written to warn believers of the dangers behind many of these unorthodox beliefs and philosophies which were on the rise by the end of the first century. In countering the imminent challenge to real Christian faith, and the division and persecution that would come with it, the writer of Second Peter highlighted the importance of believers then and now to follow two principles as the guiding light of their faith.
The first is the principle of evidence which is of course the reality of which one can testify. Evidence is what you see and hear and without this there is hardly much room for belief. However, evidence is not always firsthand but often comes through the word of reliable sources. Peter is saying here that his readers or his audience should believe what he told them because he was among those who saw the Son of God himself as he walked among them and ministered to people’s needs and situations wherever they went with him from town to village. Nearing the end of the first century most of the people who had real experiences with Jesus of Nazareth, were either dead or nearing death and so very few people remained who could give verifiable evidence about the life and work of Jesus, himself. Peter would have been one of the few remaining persons who had experience of Jesus personally and as such could claim to be an authoritative witness of events in the earthly life of Jesus including of course, the transfiguration on the mountain top.
Secondly, the writer of Second Peter posits the importance of the word of the prophets. It is believed by some scholars that this letter, which is quite different in style and substance from First Peter, was written to Gentiles but even this is not a certainty. The point that Peter is making in this letter, is that careful and deliberate attention to following the teaching of scripture as given by the message of God to humanity through the prophets was critical to retaining one’s faith in a time of great uncertainty about the various teachings and philosophies which were taking hold at the time. The message from the writer of Second Peter was simply that the evidence presented about Jesus Christ through eyewitnesses and the word of the prophets was the light that believers should follow in a world of darkness.
It was not only one’s personal responsibility to see the light but also to follow it. Peter himself would have seen the light on that mountain top when he, along with James and John, witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration and the acclamation by the voice from Heaven about Jesus, being God’s own son. So marvelously astounding was the experience that he, Peter, being still in a daze, exclaimed that they should build tents or tabernacles there on the mountain to memorialize the event.
We who live today and those who will come after us are far removed from the Transfiguration and the other experiences of Jesus’ earthly life, but what we do have is what Peter exhorts all believers to utilize as our ground of faith. We must look to the evidence of Jesus as God’s own Son who came into the world to save humanity that was lost. That evidence has been passed down to us for generations and indeed Jesus himself said that he would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who would guide us into all truth. (See St. John 16:13) This is why we have the gospels today. They are altogether our evidence of Jesus’ life and work and they, with the Holy Spirit, can guide us into knowing Jesus personally for ourselves. That is the light that we must follow.
We who live today are no less bombarded and even overwhelmed in our modern world with all kinds of ideas and practices, both religious and secular. In fact, we are faced every day with the bright lights of our present worldly living which makes this life and all it offers seem so much more attractive than the Christian life. I would say that the bright lights of the worldly things that attract so many of us are really just a glare that is blinding us thus preventing us from seeing the true light that has come in Jesus. We are in the computer age with internet availability and all the attractions from social media and every sort of available information. The world is literally at your fingertips. We live in the technological age, where every device we can think of is available to us. Yet we still live in a world of great division and misconception on religious issues even within the Christian community. Our treatment of each other as humans is no more humane despite the modernity that we benefit from in all spheres of life. Some would say as people living today, we are no less savage and barbaric in our thoughts and certainly in our treatment of each other despite the vast technological and scientific advances we humans have made. Two devastating World Wars and multiple ethnic and religious conflicts since then including what recently took place in Gaza and in Iran are tragic examples of human barbaric treatment of each other. We live in an age where the gospel message is distorted and twisted by religious and political groups who claim Christianity as their foundation principles, solely for the purpose of gaining power, popularity and economic advantage and in many cases for the sole purpose of dominating other groups of people who are considered inferior. This is why we have had slavery all over the world. This is why we still have elements of slavery in varied and often subtle forms today in our modern world. This is why racism and all kinds of prejudice is alive and well masked often as legitimate human concern and public policy by governments the world over. The Christian message is distorted for political power by those who would take advantage of people’s desire to get closer in their relationship with God. In this regard, it is sad to say that many churches and denominations and Christian movements have existed only to serve political agendas disguised as Christianity. Slavery was one such event that the Christians endorsed because it served the economic interest of the powerful who were aligned to many churches.
We may no longer have heresies about Jesus’ existence or his divinity to concentrate our minds on, but we still need to look closely at the light that we seek to follow because there are indeed many who seem to offer the light but are really workers of darkness masquerading as light. Religious apathy is taking root in our world as well, especially in many so-called first-world countries. These are countries that have for decades enjoyed such economic success and high standards of living that God has now become second place. We see this evident across western Europe and North America, the cradle of technological and economic advancement so to speak. In many of these countries, true Christian faith has been waning as people depend more on their social advances as a true metric of life progress and accomplishments. Faith in God is now less popular than politics and entertainment. Social media is not a means to greater faith but to advance conspiracy theories and many other demeaning ideas about our fellow human beings. Here in Canada, one of the first world nations, sports and family events have taken first place from at least the 1970s onwards and there is not any room at the dinner table for devotions but more so what’s on for the next game or the when’s the next social event to attend. Social life is good and important for family and community. This message is not suggesting otherwise. The problem is that these have replaced God as being more important to our existence and well-being. As a result, many church pews are becoming empty and in our case the hockey stick is replacing the Bible. The light that too many people have seen and are following today is not the true light, the Son of God, but a mirage, a reflection of something other than light, that many of us have mistaken for what is right and important for our existence. We have forgotten who really the light of the world is. Bible study is no longer as important as social advancements. Our social-life discussions are more important than the testimonies we give about God’s blessings in our families. Nurturing our personal faith is not what occupies our time as much as being on social media often following discussions that we see as entertaining but are really weakening one’s Christian faith.
Each of us who call ourselves Christians and are intent on nurturing our faith in God, have a responsibility to take to heart what Paul advised the Philippians to do, which is to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…” (Philippians 2:12 NIV) To work out means to continue to pursue what is necessary to deepen one’s faith in God while fear and trembling here means to do so in awe and reverence to God.
May I encourage all of us to make this your personal mission this year to find what is the true light, which is the Savior who has come into the world as He himself said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (St. John 8:12 NIV)
The Transfiguration on the mount was not a dramatic show for appeal or headline grabbing optics. It was the revelation or evidence of the One who is this world’s true light.
May we seek that Light for ourselves today while we still can and reflect that Light in a world that is full of darkness. If we ever had any doubts about it, just look at the event in Tumbler Ridge recently. As shocking as it is to the nation, it is a reminder that there are many persons who still are without that true Light and as a result of this, many grave and tragic things such as these can and unfortunately will still happen. Other events of widespread violence and conflict that are still happening all over the world from Ukraine to the Middle East to parts of Africa and other places continue to show us why we must continue to work out our salvation in fear and trembling so that we can see the true Light that came to save us and resolutely seek to follow that Light, that is, to make Him our Lord and Savior, our judge and our hope.
Go forth today brothers and sisters with a renewed determination to seek the true Light that the scripture has always revealed which is Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in the way of that Light that we may reflect the true Light in our homes, our communities and wherever in the world we may be. Go out with courage and reflect the true Light. Amen.