F. Harry Daniel
Second Presbyterian Church
Sermons: February 18, 2007

"Too Small! Too Small!"

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What a mysterious encounter this is, this Transfiguration! (See Scripture Reading below.) It is one of those extraordinary places where the distance between God and human beings collapses, and God comes very close in awesomeness, an awesomeness of love and grace defined in Jesus of Nazareth. This is one of those defining moments in the human encounter with God when we re-discover what life, ours, this planet's, the universe's really is. There is here a profound nearness, nearness to what shapes life at its fullest. Coming in the middle of Jesus' story, at least one of its intentions is clear: to move the three disciples and those who follow in their steps to faith in a deeper, broader conception of Jesus.

Scripture Reading:
The Transfiguration

Mark 9:2-8
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!"

Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. (NRSV)

It is a shattering experience for Peter, James, and John, and they don't respond too well. Whatever they thought, it was all challenged and changed. Their interpretations, opinions, evaluations, conceptions, understanding - they were all too small. Their Jesus was too small. They did not have him boxed in a neat package of beliefs and benefits. He was vastly more than they dared think or dream. All pales into insignificance before the scene on the mountain. They observe a Jesus who is the complete representative and plenipotentiary of God, the agent of God's purpose, one who redefines reality for us, yes, and the whole universe.

There is first the vision: Jesus is transformed into the visible glory of light surrounded by cloud, all Old Testament symbols of the presence of God. Here is profound communion that defies our understanding. The disciples never fully understood what took place. The gospel writers found difficulty in even describing it. God is speaking in and through the life of a human being, this Jesus of Nazareth. "Peter, whatever you thought before, whatever you are thinking now, it's too small, too narrow and confining!" There's depth and newness here you have not even begun to grasp.

Then there are the visitors: Moses and Elijah, the greatest prophets, those who communed with God. They know that in this Jesus appears the compassion and the beginning of a new order which the prophets of old had prophesied. "James, whatever you are thinking now, it's too small!"

Finally, there is the voice: God testifies that Jesus is the beloved Son, and exhorts the three to listen to this Jesus. God's very life is embedded in this life, this Jesus. "John, whatever you are thinking now, it's too small!" There is Godness and humanness here. To what end? To redeem what is enslaved, to grace what is graceless, to love what is unlovely.

These three disciples found their stereotypes shattered. Their Jesus was too small. The Transfiguration shattered their conceptions which blocked out the larger reality. The same is true of our conceptions. We form a conception of something/someone and slowly, but surely, our conception replaces the something/someone itself. We mistake the conception for the reality which is always so much bigger, more profound, and more grand.

In the late 1950s J. B. Phillips wrote a book entitled Your God Is Too Small. It had a phenomenal success. Its purpose was to expose and shatter those stereotypes we all have of God. Its goal was to destroy those little gods which infest human minds. It became a pastoral life-saver to those Christians crippled by a limited, distorted idea of God.

The Transfiguration does the same thing to our ideas of Jesus. Far too often our Christ is too small, a pale reflection of reality. Every Christian has to answer the question: What think you of Jesus? Interpretations, evaluations, opinions, and conceptions are necessary. Yet, it is so easy to become prisoners of our stereotypes and mistake them for the real Jesus. Then, we too need to climb once again the mount of Transfiguration and learn that our Jesus is too small too.

Think about it for a moment. Have we not commandeered him for our causes, commitments, needs and wants? Some have made him into one who only loves Christians, or particular kinds of Christians; others have made him into a racist or hate-monger. Others have made him into a liberal or conservative, pro- this, anti-that. Others have made him a blesser of un-holy, unloving, graceless causes. Others have made him their Christ, their possession: "my" Jesus. This Jesus blesses, but does not demand, this Jesus never asks for sacrifice and is always easy-going. This Jesus is compromised and sold-out. This Jesus is eminently useful, a dispenser of cheap grace, committed to blatant favoritism, a solver of problems who indulges rapacious egos. This Jesus is easily conned. But this is not the Jesus of the Transfiguration.

This down-sizing of Jesus so easily creeps into our thinking, and even into our praying and devotion. We bring him down to the level of our own thinking and feeling, instead of allowing him to lift our thinking and feeling and yes, our living and loving, up to his level. He is not ours, we are his.

Somehow the magic and madness of the whole world, the joy and pain of the whole human race, are locked together in encounter with this Jesus of Nazareth. All the pain you and I know about - in us, and in the rest of the world are focused right here. He is the place where the glory and folly of the world is concentrated. This is where the joy and pain of the human race come together to be redeemed, graced, and loved. This is the place where the sin and the shame and the guilt of all the world, of all people, of all history before and since, is concentrated - and is dealt with once and for all. This is where the one true God acted to save and heal the whole world.

This Jesus cannot, and will not be boxed in, managed, or manipulated. What we say and live about Jesus affects our entire world view. To put it bluntly why do we try to fit him into our view and our world when he can lift us to his? There is no such thing as neutrality or objectivity at this point. To get to the heart of it all, you have to live within the story and see what it does to you.

That is what the Transfiguration invites you to do. The voice from the cloud calls us to "listen to him." It is not for us to speak too quick and start throwing titles around to describe him or trying to figure him out so we can trap him in our theology. The voice does not say "get it right, " or "confess him in elevated, articulate language." It is not for us to tell him what we think we need, want or desire, but simply to listen. And we are called to do this not once, but time and time again. We set no conditions, we formulate no agendas. We listen and we learn. Why should we do that? Because in this Jesus we have to do with the decisive loving and saving act of the living God who knows far better than we do what we and this broken world need and who is able to do far more abundantly that all that we ask or think or imagine! This is the God who can call into existence things that do not exist.

It is not easy. For we have a way of hearing and retaining what is congenial to our situation, especially true of the shockproof language into which we think we have boxed Jesus. "Listen," speaks to each of us, as we are right now and where we are in our everyday life. The real answer to our chaotic times is to start listening.

The more we listen, the more we have heard and learned, the closer we come to this God who is ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and who does not forsake

To listen means serious Bible study, especially of the four gospels and the study of how other people have interpreted and understood the Christ. That means unrelenting examination of our stereotypes which blot out the larger reality. It is very clear that the disciples weren't always able to do that. They pass the challenge on to us.

To listen means to commit ourselves to a journey, a journey of exploration into God through exploring Jesus - his life, his teaching, his death, his resurrection. And that journey can be neither private or self-centered. You see, if we start the journey by recognizing the rich, forgiving, healing love of the true God in the face of Jesus Christ, then to continue the journey of faith means to join in God's work of healing and love in the world.

The Transfiguration can bring about the moment of truth between us and Jesus. The Transfiguration in its mysterious way is forever shattering our stereotypes, confronting us anew with the reality of Jesus and beckoning us upward and onward. Always reminding us that our Christ is too small. And yet always transfiguring our commitment, our obedience, and our love. Come into this story, kneel and look and hear once again.

"This is my beloved Son, listen to him." Listen to him. Listen to him.