Sermon – Exodus 34:29-35 – Radiant Faces

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Exodus 34:29-35 – Radiant Faces

Transfiguration Sunday

February 10, 2013

In our worship services since the feast of Epiphany we have been looking at some extraordinary claims from the ancient prophets. They have told us that God, the creator of the world, loves us. And that this God want to be in a relationship with us, a relationship like marriage, where God will bless us richly so that we will be a blessings to others. Last week we heard from Jeremiah, God's command that we share this good news with everyone we meet and invite people to church to experience God's love for themselves. Today we will learn that this relationship we have with God changes us in physical ways that will be noticed by others. We have to be ready for this. So let's get started with prayer.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. ³² Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. ³³ When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

According to J. K. Rowling, author of the extremely popular “Harry Potter” series, tranfiguration is a magical skill that has to be taught. The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry offers a class on transfiguration which focuses on four aspects of this magic. Transformation is the magic of changing something into something else, such as changing your nose into a banana. Vanishment is the magic of making something disappear. Conjuration is the magic of making something out of nothing. And Untransfiguration is the magic of turning a banana back into your nose. Of course all of this is nonsense, purely a product of Ms. Rowling's ample imagination. But as with all good fiction it does have an element of truth. There is transfiguration but it is not magic. Transfiguration is something that God does. And God transfigured both Moses and Jesus.

Moses came down from the mountain after 40 days of arguing with God. God was angry. His people had turn away and built a golden calf to worship. God was ready to destroy them and start over. But Moses went back up the mountain to plead with God to forgive his people. And that is precisely what God did. God then wrote the ten commandments on a stone tablet and sent Moses back down the mountain. When he arrived at the foot of the mountain the people saw that Moses had been physically changed, transfigured, by his encounter with God, and they were afraid.

We don't know exactly what happened to Moses. The Hebrew word that describes his face usually means “horn” as in “the horns of sheep”. This prompted Jerome, the translator of the Hebrew Bible into Latin to say the Moses grew horns. Michelangelo's famous statue of Moses shows him with horns growing from his head. But the word can also mean “something coming out of” and most scholars believe that this refers to God's glory coming out of Moses' face. In other word Moses glowed. His face shined. The glory of God was seen in Moses face.

The same thing happened to Jesus. He went to the top of a mountain and was transfigured. His face glowed. The witnesses there said it was as bright as lightening. It was here that Moses and Elijah, prophets of old, were dispatched from God to tell Jesus what was about to happen. They explained to Jesus that he would be arrested, tried and executed. They told him he would be buried. And they told him that in him, God's plan would be fulfilled in his resurrection from the dead. These words from God caused Jesus' face to glow.

For both Jesus and Moses their transfigurations were caused by their coming into the presence of God. Moses talked with God for forty days on the top of the mountain. Jesus spent forty days with the Spirit in the wilderness. We are about to begin our own forty days with God. Lent starts this Wednesday and will last for forty days, excluding Sundays, leading up to the events of Holy Week including the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I urge you to spent time with God during Lent. During these forty days you should pray and meditate on scripture every day. You have that opportunity to do this every morning here at the church. Every day I am Pitts Creek at 6am to praise God, meditate on scripture and pray for the churches. This is a spiritual discipline that is most important for my role as a pastor. But all people of God must connect with God every day. So choose a time and place where every day during Lent you can get close to God by reading scripture, meditating on it, and praying for yourself, your family and your church. If you do this every day you will begin to change, be transformed, and be transfigured. Your face will begin to glow with God's glory and love.

If you devote yourself to be in God's presence every day for forty days your appearance will change and people will notice. Some people will rejoice when they see the peace and serenity on your countenance. Others will be afraid not knowing what to make of the new you. You will be able to deal with either reaction because you will know that all you are doing is reflecting the glory of God. And you will have the ability to share your faith with others by inviting them into a life of worship, Bible study and prayer.

Moses did this with the Hebrews. After they got over the initial shock of Moses' face shining they became more receptive of what Moses had to say. Moses then shared the intimate details of his forty day encounter with God. Through this the Hebrews received the law of God from which they learned how to live lives pleasing to God. This will happen to you too. As you meditate on the word of God and pray every day for the next forty days not only will your physical appearance change, but you find yourself becoming more obedient to God. You old sinful desires will be washed away and you will find yourself coming closer and closer to God.

Moses knew that people of God could not engage in prayer and worship continuously as he had done for forty days on mountain. People have lives to leads, crops to plant, children to teach, and bills to be paid. It is just not possible to be constantly in prayer. So he covered his face to shield the people from the glory of God. That way they could go about their ordinary lives. But periodically Moses would remove the veil and go into the presence of God. And he would emerge from his prayers and meditation to communicate God's word to the people. This highlights our need for regular worship and prayer. It is just not possible to pray and worship all the time even if you want to. But it is important to pray and worship on a regular basis. That's why you need to set aside certain times each day and each week to come into the presence of God. Daily prayer and regular Bible study and worship is what you need to be filled with the glory of God which people will see as you live your lives and will help you to live your lives as God wants.

So what we learn on this Transfiguration Sunday is that transfiguration is not some kind of magic spell. Rather it is something that happens to anyone who comes into the presence of God in prayer, worship and Bible study. It is a change in the physical appearance where the glory of God is reflected in a way that others can see. This makes other people receptive when you share your faith and the good news of God's love for all of us. So this Lent engage in the spiritual discipline of meditation on scripture and prayer every day and regular Bible study and worship. You will be transfigured. You family and friends will notice what had happened to you and will listen as you tell them the good news of God's love for us. Let's pray.

I pray, O Lord, that my congregations will come closer to you during the season of Lent. I pray that each member of Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek will engage in the spiritual practices of prayer and scripture meditation each day. I pray that they will attend Bible studies and worship every week. I pray that they will be transfigured so that other will see your glory reflected in their faces. All this I pray in the name of our transfigured savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.