Last Epiphany Year C 3/2/2025
Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-43a
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Today is Transfiguration Sunday…
Always the last Sunday of Epiphany before we move into the season of Lent.
The Gospel reading is always the narrative of the Transfiguration of Jesus.
Jesus took with him his closest disciples: Peter, John and James.
They traveled their way up a mountain to pray.
And while Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed…
his clothes became dazzling white.
Suddenly two men showed up, Moses and Elijah,
And they were talking to Jesus.
The scriptures tell us that they were talking to Jesus about his departure,
Of course that would be his death on the cross, his resurrection and eventual ascension…
Jesus was about to accomplish this in Jerusalem.
It’s a story with mystery and humor…
Intrigue and power.
For Jesus, it was a moment of confirmation and empowerment…
Confirming his sacrifice on the cross…
And empowering him to walk that road.
It has similarities to his baptism…
Which confirmed who he was and empowered him for ministry.
Both narratives, his baptism and transfiguration include words from God the Father, and in our story the voice said:
This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!
The part that I want to focus on today though is the two people who show up during the event: Moses and Elijah.
Moses representing the Torah… the books of the Law.
Elijah representing the Prophets… the ones who spoke the words of God throughout Israel’s history.
This connects Jesus to the whole story of God.
The Old Testament isn’t some disconnected history of Israel.
The Old Testament isn’t just the Jewish scriptures.
The Old Testament are the scriptures Jesus had…
And the expression we have here in the Transfiguration is that Jesus fits into the greater story of God.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament…
He is the one the scriptures point to.
He is the one that the words of Moses, Elijah, and all the writers of the Old Testament have been talking about…
Jesus is the Messiah…
The One who is coming to break the curse of sin and death…
And Jesus is that One.
Jesus fits into the whole story of God.
Both the Old and New Testaments.
From Genesis to Revelation…
It’s all about the redemption story of God and the redeemer, the hero, the protagonist, that is Jesus Christ.
The story is connected with Jesus.
And Jesus is connected with the story.
And here is some good news…
You are connected to this story too.
Through Jesus…
By his cross and resurrection…
By his grace through faith…
We are invited into the story of God.
The redemption story…
The story that is built by the Law and the Prophets…
By Moses and Elijah…
The story that makes sense in the person of Jesus…
The redeemer of the world.
And even our stories are built on people all around us.
People who have taken time and effort and invested into our lives.
God uses people to bring people into the story of God.
I want to tell you about three people in my life…
Whom God used to direct and guide me.
Whom God used to help point me toward him.
Whom God used to show his love toward me.
The first is a man named James Coblentz.
James, who passed away two years ago, was just 15 years older than me.
He died young at 63 years.
Now set up the story…
You need to know that sometimes Priest’s Kids or Pastor’s Kids can have a bad reputation…
They seem to rebel and get into trouble more than others.
That’s the stereotype or reputation.
Well, in my junior and senior year…
Let’s just say, I lived up to that reputation.
I certainly wasn’t following Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior.
At the church where I grew up, every year they would start the year off with a 3-day church fast.
They would have prayer services each night.
And people would give up food, or TV, or something and spend more time in prayer (kind of like we do in Lent).
Well, James, who knew I was going through a tough time in my teenager years, went up to my parents and said that his primary focus during his praying and fasting was that the Lord Jesus would impact my life.
That was in January.
On June 25th I had a conversion experience with Jesus, and my life has been forever transformed by the love and grace of Christ.
The second person is a lady named Leslie Rowe.
During the months before my conversion, God put it on Leslie’s heart to write me a letter.
Now Leslie also had some troubled years in high school and early college…
She is about 15 or so years older than me too.
I remember getting home one day from school and I had a letter from Leslie…
She and her husband were family friends from church.
In her letter she opened up and told me of her own struggles and of how her life was transformed by the power of Jesus.
She encouraged me to give my life to the Lord.
I didn’t in that moment…
But I remember being blown away that she would take the time and write me her story.
I still have that letter at home.
The third person is a man, a missionary, named Piet van Walsem.
He lives in the Netherlands and was a visiting speaker in the church in Sarasota that Tera and I used to attend and where I served as an Assistant Pastor.
This is years later from the other two stories right around the year 2006.
Piet mentioned that he wanted to take me to lunch, because in his prayers God had spoken to him about me.
Now, Piet didn’t know me.
All he knew was that I was one of the staff pastors.
What he didn’t know is that I was contemplating moving from Sarasota, leaving the church where I was brought up, leaving my hometown, and going to Seminary at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada.
Only Tera and I knew about this potential move.
I went to lunch with Piet, and we had some small talk.
And then he told me the reason he wanted to meet with me.
He said that in his prayers he my name came to him and he saw a vision in his mind’s eye of a young bird in a nest, who was stretching his wings, and then took off from the nest for the first time… soaring from its home.
Frankly, I was blown away…
For me it was confirmation that the Holy Spirit was saying that he would be with us on our move to Vancouver.
It was in Vancouver, where I discovered the Anglican/Episcopal Church.
I wouldn’t be here today sharing these stories if it wasn’t for that move and education.
All three of these people, James, Leslie, and Piet, these moments in life are precious to me and are forever part of my story.
And we all have them…
A family member that took time to share life with us…
Someone who helped guide us on a career path…
Someone who spoke God’s love to us…
Perhaps someone who invited us to church where we came to know Jesus.
People who have taken time and effort and invested into our lives…
Even if it was just that moment in time…
Our stories are built on people all around us.
God uses people to bring people into the story of God.
Today, as we contemplate the great story of the Transfiguration of Jesus…
thinking about Moses and Elijah…
Considering the story of God…
Take comfort in the fact that you…
Yes, you!
Are part of that story…
God through Jesus has brought us into that story…
You have been baptized into the story…
And by the power of the Holy Spirit, he has used people to guide your way.
As we remember the people that invested in small or large ways in our lives…
I want to encourage you…
When the Holy Spirit says talk to that person…
When you feel prompted to write that letter or make that phone call…
Do it!
You just might be for someone their James, their Leslie, or their Piet.
God is all about using people for his glory.
His promise to us today is that we are part of His story.
Let’s be people whom God uses to bring others into His story too.
Amen.
