Reflection on Luke 9:28-36

Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a]

28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” 36 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. 

[ 37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. 39 Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. 40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was being brought forward, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43a And all were astounded at the greatness of God.]

Sermon

We all sat there, staring at the words of the Bible projected on the wall with the PowerPoint projector, and the word that stood out to me was “pray.”  Asking people to point out the word that seems to speak to them is a good way to enter into the Bible and let God’s word start working on your heart, by the way.  So, often we read the Bible as if it is a chore to get done, like washing the dishes.  Few people like to do it, so you just plow through until the task is completed. 

But, the word of God does not work that way.  It is not a chore that you need to get done, or a simple box that needs to be checked.  The word of God, the Holy Scripture, is meant to stop you in your tracks.  It is meant to make you wonder and explore.  It is meant to mold you and shape you.  It is meant to bring you closer to God.

Understanding this, the leader at my retreat would plaster the word of God in huge letters of light on the wall, virtually surrounding us.  And, the word that God was hoping would speak to us that day was this very text, the story of the transfiguration.

Now, I have to admit that this story has never been my favorite, so a little eye rolling may have occurred when I saw this story surrounding me on the wall.  It is just too glittery.  It is just too trite.  Shiny, glowing, happy Jesus is the basis of a lot of cheap dollar shopping center art.  And, I hate that because Jesus is not cheap.  Jesus gave his life to save a bunch of mess ups and haters like us.  Jesus is like a soldier that takes the bullet fired by one of his own to save his enemy.  That sort of love is the opposite of cheap.  That sort of love is costly.

But at that retreat, the story spoke to me in a powerful way that it had not before.  Plastered huge, in front of my eyes was the word “pray.”  The story goes, that after talking about the difficult road ahead, which leads to his death, “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” (Luke 9:28-29).

And, I do not know why it never occurred to me before, but the shiny Jesus on the mountain is not some sort of gaudy fashion show for the world to see, but rather the scene is more like the children at the door of the bedroom listening in on their parent’s private prayer.  Seeing the shine of Jesus is a peek at what is normally hidden behind. 

And, it got me to thinking that prayer too is not just something that we do to check off the list of things that good, Christian people do each day.  Nor, is it yelling into the fast food drive-through speaker system, giving our requests that we hope and pray will come out close to being right when we pull forward to the pickup window. That is not what prayer is all about. 

As I stared at the words on the wall, as I read about Jesus praying, I realized that prayer is about getting close to God, after-all God does show up in the cloud and talk to everyone in Luke 9:35, but even more than that, I realized that prayer requires being who you truly are.  It is about showing up in front of God as real.

What I see when Jesus prays, is that when coming before his heavenly Father, Jesus allows all that he presents to others to drop away; to be who he truly is.  And, who Jesus is, is divine and pure.  The Bible says that “the appearance of this face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning” (Luke 9:29).  That is who Jesus is at the core.  That is who Jesus is at the heart.  And, that is how Jesus becomes present with his heavenly Father.  Prayer starts with taking off all that we put on in order to be presentable to others, and being truly who we are.

Now, I guarantee that if you were to peek in while I pray that you would not see a shiny glowing servant of God.  Your eyes would not be forced to look away because of the unbearable shine of my life, rather you would look away because of the horrible monstrosity you would see before you.  You would see what my family sees as I wake up in the morning, and even they do not deserve to see that.

But, the truth of who we are is where we start when we pray and come in the presence of God.  After-all, how is God going to shape or mold anything about us if do not allow our true selves to show up?

So, prayer is about showing up as we are, but it is about so much more.  When Jesus prayed, what was on his mind was the road ahead that he knew led to a cross.  I do not know if he had any apprehension or confusion that he had to endure in order to figure out how to courageously move toward the cross, but what I do know is that, while in prayer, Jesus’ heavenly Father gave to him Moses and Elijah.  And, they were not there to just come back and take in the scenery.  The Bible says that, “They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31).  They came to reassure him, that what he was about to do was as important as the Exodus of Israel from the oppressive Egyptians.  They came “in glory” to reassure him that the pain he would suffer was for a reason (Luke 9:31).

And, I cannot help but think that the disciples are allowed to peek in on this prayer because God wants us to see that when the road ahead seems impossible for us, in prayer, God will provide.  A little later, Jesus teaches, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Luke 11:9).  He does not give this teaching out of thin air, he teaches it because he knows.  His road was impossible, he went to God in prayer, and God sent Moses and Elijah!  “Ask and it will be given you!”  He knows!  He knows!  And, because of it, he takes the hard road to Jerusalem, and allows himself to be slaughtered like the Passover lamb.  Because he knows, we are forgiven and freed from the bondage of sin and death like those Israelites where freed from Pharaoh so long ago.

We are saved by Jesus because he took the time to honestly and whole heartedly pray.  He brought his true self, and was open to hear whatever his heavenly Father wanted him to hear.  And, because of that, it made all the difference in the world.

And as I stared at the words, projected and emblazoned upon the wall that day, I was invited to see the power of a deep, honest prayer.  Like one of the disciples, I was allowed to see what it is to have a deep relationship with our heavenly Father, where nothing is hidden, and where I am invited to listen to what God has to say, and go where God wants me to go.  Even the disciples are invited into the prayer.  The great cloud of God surrounds them as they come in honest fear, and God tells them, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). 

You too are invited into the prayer.  You too are surrounded by the cloud of God, invited to come naked, stripped of all the façade that you use as a wall against the world, invited to come, imperfections and all, but instead of Moses and Elijah meeting you, God the Father will send Jesus to guide your way forward.  “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” God says (Luke 9:35).  So, we come as we are and listen.  That is prayer.