LESSON: Luke 9:28-36, (NRSV)

SERMON TITLE: The Mundane and the Miraculous

INTRODUCTION:

1. Bloopers are the source of a lot of fun. (Consider the program hosted by Dick Clark and Ed McMahon)
1. We have a friend named Ruth who sent us a rather long list of church bulletin bloopers.
1. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.
2. The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water". The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."
3. The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing "Break Forth into Joy."
2. Sometimes personal bloopers are not so funny, but can be rather embarrassing.
   
   Michael Martin, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, submitted this entry to Loyal Jones' collection of Hometown Humor ⁽¹⁾
   1. He wrote:"We have some close friends who spend their summers in the same town in Vermont as does Paul Newman. The lady of the family got up very early one Sunday morning to take a long walk and to go bird watching.
   2. When she got back home, it was just 8 a.m. and the rest of the family was still sleeping, so she decided to run into town and gratify this craving she had for something cold and sweet by going to the bakery shop, which was also the ice cream shop, and get a double ice cream dip.
   3. She hopped into the car, drove into town, which was completely empty at this time, and parked in front of the Ice Cream and Bakery Shop.
   4. "The only other customer there was Paul Newman, sitting at the counter eating a doughnut and having coffee. She thought to herself, this is no big deal, it's his town, too, and this poor man is entitled to his privacy just like anyone else. So I'll not make a big deal out of this. I'll just go up and get my ice cream cone like he is any other person in the world.
   5. "And she did.
   6. "She nodded to Paul Newman, put her two dollars on the counter and ordered her double-dip of ice cream. And after she completed the transaction, she walked on out, got to the car, and realized that she had a handful of change but no ice cream.
   7. "She thought she had just taken her change and left, so she went back inside expecting to see the ice cream cone in a little holder, or in the hand of the clerk, or something.
   8. She went over and was about to tell the clerk what happened, but glanced over at Paul Newman, who broke into this wonderfully friendly, warm grin and said, 'You put it in your purse.'"

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3. Whoops.
1. The mundane had become embarrassing.
1. The first meaning of mundane is: Suitable for ordinary days or routine occasions.
1. This is not ordinary
2. this is not routine.
2. The second definition of mundane is: Preoccupied with the material rather than the spiritual or intellectual.
1. This is preoccupation with the material
2. The is preoccupation with appearance rather than the intellectual or spiritual.
2. What about the miraculous?

MAIN BODY:

1. Similar to the story about the woman and Paul Newman, yet different in this way Peter James and John find themselves in an extraordinary moment.
1. Peter, James and John are in the presence of God yet they do not see the miraculous, only the mundane.
1. Peter has put his ice cream cone in his pocket, and so have James and John.
2. How does Peter, James and John do this?
2. The details of the experience on the mountaintop reveal the answer to the question.
3. Luke 9:28-36, (NRSV)
   
   ²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

   ²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

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   ³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.

   ³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

   ³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

1. It is in this next part that we see how they responded to what they had seen and heard.


³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said.

2. Not knowing what he said.
1. They did not understand it for themselves.
2. They did accept it for themselves.
3. They did not use for themselves.
4. They did not share with one another.
3. While Peter ^34bwas saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them;
4. Now "they were terrified as they entered the cloud."

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5. Then they heard from the cloud a voice that said ^35b "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
6. ³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
7. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
1. What seems so apparent on the surface is embarrassing at any depth.
1. This story is in the Gospel of Luke.
1. Luke is the writer.
2. Luke was not present on the Mount.
3. Someone had to tell him the story.
4. That person was Peter.
5. Peter had to reveal what took place and how He and James and John responded to it.
2. It is only later that he will use the experience to communicate a deep and abiding truth.
3. He will write about his experience in 2 Peter 1:16-19, (NRSVA)


¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." ¹⁸We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

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1. This is now written because Peter has learned to respond to God's revelation.
1. He has learned that Jesus is more than Moses. Jesus is my son.
2. He has learned that Jesus is more than Elijah, a prophet and savior for Israel. Jesus is my chosen servant for the salvation of the world.
3. He comes to understand what Moses and Elijah talking about?
1. They are speaking of Jesus departure.
2. Jesus' Exodus
3. His death and resurrection and ascension.
4. What happened help them to turn the mundane into the miraculous.
1. They had to learn to understand it for themselves.
2. They had to learn to accept if for themselves.
3. They had to learn to use for themselves.
4. They had to learn to share with others.

CONCLUSION:

1. This Sunday of Transfiguration teaches you and me that we also have to understand, accept, use, and share mountain top experiences.
1. They are so few and far between
2. We live most of our lives in the valley or on the foothills.
3. How may we reduce mountaintop experiences to the mundane?
1. We can ruin them with "If only's"
2. We can minimize them by reminiscing.
3. We can dis-empower them by turning them into myths.
4. We can become over-analytical or critical.
2. The alternative is to participate in the miraculous.
   
   Richard Ward, Assistant Professor of Speech Communication at Candler School of Theology, tells about a wall in the Narthex of his church in Atlanta. It was a portrait of Jesus that was donated to the church by some Korean army officers. At first glance he says, you could recognize it as the familiar figure of Jesus the Good Shepherd tending to his flock. ⁽²⁾  If you got up really close, however, you could see that the lines of the portrait were created out of all the words of the New Testament. An anonymous Korean artist had used the medium of words to create this portrait of Christ. You had to get real close to see all the little words but if you did get that close you could no longer see the picture of Jesus!!!  Professor Ward said he became disoriented when he stood so close to the picture. But when he stood back, he became aware of the subject again. He could see Jesus--the caring, healing Christ.

1. This morning Communion is speaking to us.
1. It is a place we have been before.
2. We are familiar with the elements of the liturgy, the bread and the cup.
3. This can be a transforming experience.
4. The danger we face is to see the mundane and not the miraculous.
5. Moses and Elijah, all the prophets and apostles are speaking to us.
6. Let us enter into the cloud and hear again the voice of God.
7. ^35b"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"