Of Light and Darkness - A Message for the Sunday of Transfiguration

Prepared for March 2, 2025 - Transfiguration Sunday

Message: Of Light and Darkness
Based on the readings for the day...  Luke 9:28-36 and 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 

Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and from His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

 
Our meditation for today is on the transfiguration of Jesus Christ…                                 
Luke9:28-31 "And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."
 
There are so many things in this world that we don’t fully understand, that have remained hidden from us, and even through our best efforts to discover, we still have only begun to scratch the surface of what they are or what their makeup is. We live in a world of planets and galaxies. (I’m not trying to overstate the obvious)… You know that we live on planet earth, in a galaxy of other planets that are orbiting our sun. And there are many other galaxies of planets orbiting other suns, that we have discovered through high powered telescopes, yet we know very little about them.

In recent years, we have landed explorer space ships on Mars and Venus, yet we have barely scratched the surface (pun intended) of these planets, in determining their makeup, mineral content, water, atmosphere, or core. Even on earth, we are making new discoveries about the genetic core and makeup of plants, animals, birds, fish, and other beings that God created. We have discovered cures for sicknesses and cancers, and have also caused sicknesses and cancers to spread through the use and misuse of chemical compounds and industrial advancements and the modernization of our world.
 
A saying that I heard growing up still holds true… “The more we know, the more we realize, the less we know.” Every discovery leads to another question or two. Every step toward protecting the environment leads to the potential of doing more harm to the environment than good. We would like to think that we are in control, that we can live on our own without relying on God, but the truth is that we are not God, we lack His foresight, His creativity, and His power and authority, His perfection, His righteousness, His grace or His mercy. He is the author and perfector of life. He is all powerful. … all glorious… and righteous… and we are NOT!
 
We cannot see into the spiritual realm. Yet, it is there. Heavenly beings (angels) serve God in that realm. And fallen angels (evil spirits) seduce and tempt us humans to reject God and trust in ourselves (Satan is their leader). We don't see them, yet they are very real, and they are very actively seeking to destroy any sense of trust in God. They would have us believe that God doesn’t care about us and world we live in, that He is too busy to meet our needs or hear our prayers. They have convinced some that He doesn’t exist. They say, “take a look around you, if there was a god would he allow for this or that tragedy to occur… wars, famines, sickness, heartache, starvation” … and through this argument, they have convinced many to lose hope and reject God. To others they have appeared pretending to bring good news or a message of hope, only to turn people to trust in a false god or a false sense of hope … one that claims that we can be like god if only we try harder, become more pious, and work out our salvation… we become our own savior, and no longer have a need for a god in our lives.
 
Paul had a few things to say about this in our text from his 2nd letter to the Corinthians 4:4-6.. "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
 
When I was in school several years ago, a professor by the name of Dr. Robert Kolb, spoke to us about the hidden face of God. His point was that God does not reveal Himself to us in person in all of His glory, because we are sinners and would not be able to endure the terror of standing face to face with the righteous glory of God… (we would be consumed, judged, condemned, crushed,… and that will happen to all unbelievers in the judgement on the last day when Jesus Christ returns in all of His glory.) By the mercy of God, He has hidden His face from us. Yet, out of mercy for us, He has chosen to reveal Himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ, in His Word, and in the shame of the cross. Luther called this the Theology of Glory vs. the Theology of the Cross.
 
Those who seek to see God and look for signs and wonders or complain about the absence of God in the world have become influenced by the Theology of Glory. They don’t believe in confession or that their sins will condemn them to hell (they may not even believe in hell) … their idea of God is warm and fuzzy, an encourager, a good guide, a coach, but not righteous, judgmental, or condemning.
 
The Theology of the Cross reveals a different side of God. He takes our place in the judgement. He becomes one with us, endures our punishment, breaks the power of sin and death, and covers us with His righteousness. Caring, loving, and willing that no one be condemned. God humbles Himself, hides His glory in the man of Jesus Christ, suffers and dies, pays the price for our sin, and makes it possible for us to approach Him, without the fear of becoming toast. Jesus willingly forgives our sin, He takes it and gives us His glory in return, making possible for us to stand in the presence of God,… and at the time of the judgement we will be declared innocent.
 
This excerpt from the daily devotion of Lutheran Hour Ministries on Friday was written by former speaker Dr. Gregory Seltz. He summarizes what I am trying say, much better than I could…
 
"God does not delight in the death of anyone (see Ezekiel 18:32). He wants all to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:4). So now is the time when He disguises His light. Now is the time, before that final judgment, when He lets our eyes adjust, so that more would turn and trust in Him. Now is the time when He disguises His light in and with His people, in the Word He's given us to speak, hidden in the waters of Baptism that bind us to Him, present in the Holy Communion that binds us together, disguised under bread and wine.
 
"Before Jesus flips the switch in final judgment, He keeps His light out of the visible range, still shining, but disguised. It's light that you can't see but changes how you see. Light that works under the cover of darkness. Light that shows the cracks and stains we try to hide. Light that exposes counterfeits and fakes, and converts slaves of darkness into servants of the light. Jesus said that His greatest glory was not the dazzling brightness on the mountaintop, but rather, His self-giving sacrifice in the dark on the cross (see John 12:23-36). That was His shining moment, when God's love shone on you, exposed you, cleansed you, transformed you to be His light in disguise for others."

(This selection of the Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz, former Speaker for The Lutheran Hour ©Lutheran Hour Ministries, All rights reserved. | 660 Mason Ridge Center, St. Louis, MO 63141.  Lutheran Hour Ministries is an auxiliary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod | Lutheran Church—Canada).