The
Music Stopped and No One Noticed
Transfiguration
2
Peter 1:16-19, Mark 9:2-9
Grace
Presbyterian Church
March
9, 2015
Rev.
Dr. Richard E. Miller
The Man and the Violin
The other day, I read the true story of a man who sat at a metro subway station
in Washington, DC on a cold, December morning. For about 45 minutes, he played
six compositions by Bach. During that time it was estimated that a thousand
people passed him on their way to work. A few slowed down their pace but then
hurried on. One man leaned against the wall to listen, but then looked at his
watch and hurried off. In the time he played, only six people stopped and
stayed to listen for a while. Some gave him money and he collected $32.00. When
he stopped playing, no one noticed. No one applauded. There was no recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the finest
violinists in the world. He had just played some of the most intricate violin
pieces ever written, and he did it on a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. In fact,
just two days before playing in the subway, Joshua Bell performed for a sold
out theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each. His appearance in the
subway had been arranged by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment
about perception, taste and priorities of people. The questions explored were
simple. In an ordinary place at an illogical hour, do people perceive beauty?
Do they stop to appreciate it? Do they recognize talent in an unexpected
context? The answer in this case was No.
The fact is that we see only what we
expect to see. The people saw a nondescript man playing a violin in a subway
station. “He’s out of work,” people thought, “and is trying to make a few
dollars. He can’t be very good if he’s playing here.” Obviously, what they
thought they saw wasn’t accurate. And thus when he stopped playing, no one
noticed. We’d probably have done the same things. We’d have been anxious to get
to work and hurried by this superb violinist.
Seeing Better Over the years, many inventions have helped
people see better or in different ways. For instance, about 2,000 years ago,
someone took a 1 ½ inch glass sphere, held it over some words and discovered
that it magnified the letters. As a result, words that were fuzzy before came
into clear focus. People could see in new ways. In 1284, Salvino D’armate
invented the first wearable eye glasses. People could see in new ways. In 1895,
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-Rays. Now doctors could see things in new ways.
Infrared enabled night vision so that people could see in new ways. Geiger
counters, CAT scans, MRI’s, and Thermal imaging enable people to see things in
new ways. In 1990, the Hubble telescope enabled people to see the universe in
new ways. All of these inventions, and many more, have opened up ways of seeing
things in new ways or seeing things we’ve never seen before.
The Transfiguration of Jesus
About 2,000 years ago, something happened on a mountain that enabled three men
to see Jesus in a new way. These three men were Peter, James and John,
disciples of Jesus. They had been with Jesus for some time. And they had seen
him heal Peter’s mother-in-law, cast out unclean spirits, healed a man of his
withered hand, still the waters of the Sea of Galilee, and cast out demons.
They had watched as thousands gathered to hear him speak and teach. But they
had not yet recognized him as the Messiah, the Christ, the one and only Son of
God. However, this all changed when Jesus asked the three men to go with him as
he went up a mountain to pray. Now for Jesus to go off by himself to pray was
nothing new. His disciples gone with him many times as he did this. When they reached the mountain top, Jesus
began to pray. But this time, something quite different happened. As he was
praying, his garments became glistening white. His face began to shine like the
sun. His appearance changed and was transfigured before their very eyes. The
brightness of his face and garments was so intense that Peter, James and John
were frightened. This was definitely not what they were expecting. All they
thought is that Jesus would finish his prayers and that they would walk back
down the mountain. But what they witnessed was a man who no longer was simply a
carpenter from Nazareth. No longer was he just a teacher who spoke in parables.
No longer was he just a miracle worker that healed people.
The Christ of Glory No, now they saw Jesus of Nazareth
transformed into the Christ of glory! Now they knew that the long awaited
Messiah was in their midst! They saw Jesus in a new way. If this wasn’t enough,
Moses and Elijah then appeared and began talking with Jesus. Their appearance
was significant in several ways. Moses was the great lawgiver who gave Israel
the Ten Commandments. In fact, years before, Moses had said to Israel, “The
Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own
brothers. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15] The second man, Elijah,
was the greatest prophet Israel had ever known. In the book of Malachi, God
said to Israel, "I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and
dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:5) The
appearance of Moses and Elijah affirmed and validated that Jesus was the
Messiah, the one and only Son of God.
George got it Wrong
Some years ago, George Burns appeared in the movie “O GOD” in which he played
the part of God. At one point, a man asks, “Tell me about Jesus.” Puffing on
his cigar, George Burns says, “Jesus? He’s one of my boys. He’s one of my sons.
Of course, I have other sons. Mohammed. Buddha. Ghandi. I have had many sons,
not any special one. Jesus? He is one of my boys.” George Burns was wrong on
this one. Jesus was NOT just one of God’s boys. He is not on a par with
Mohammed, Buddha, or Ghandi. Jesus was and is the only begotten son of God. As
John put it, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son..”
[John 3:16] God made this clear on the mountain. A cloud appeared and enveloped
all six of them. Then God said, “This is my son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
His is the only voice we listen to and no other.
Down the Mountain
The experience was so wonderful that Peter wanted it to last as long as
possible. So he suggested building three shelters, one for Jesus, one for Moses,
and on for Elijah. But Jesus and his disciples couldn’t stay on the mountain
top forever. Their ministry was to be carried out in the valley below, not on
the mountain top. They needed to become involved in the daily joys and
struggles of the people. And when they reached the bottom, the opportunity for
involvement came quickly. They met a boy that had been afflicted with
convulsions and seizures from childhood. Jesus immediately healed the boy. As a
result, his life, as well as the lives of his family, were forever
transfigured. If Jesus had stayed on the mountain top, the boy would have remained
as he was for the rest of his life. Now the boy saw himself, his family and his
future in a new light - the light of hope.
Transfiguration Moments Today Of course transfiguration moments happen in
our everyday lives as well. When we have a sudden insight, we might say,
“Eureka! Now I understand!” We see the light. We see that situation in new
ways. Or when we meet people for the first time, they are strangers. But as
time goes by, they may become friends. A little over two years ago, I appeared
in your midst as a total stranger. But as we got to know one another, our
relationship changed from stranger to friend. We began to trust on a deeper
level. We began to laugh together more easily. Our relationship has changed. It
was transfigured. There are many first moments like this in our lives. Perhaps
it was the time you fell in love. Your beloved once was a stranger, then a
friend, now the joy of your existence. It could be the time you became a
parent. The event has forever changed how you saw yourself and relate to
others.
The Dutch Pastor There is a powerful story about a Dutch
pastor and his family who during the second World War got into big trouble with
the Nazis. The Dutch pastor and his family had been hiding Jewish people in
their home to keep them safe from Hitler’s forces. The inevitable finally
happened. They were eventually found out. And one night in the darkness, they
heard the sound of heavy boots and the loud impatient knocking on the door.
They were pulled out of their home, arrested and loaded into a cattle car to be
taken to one of the notorious death camps. All night long the Dutch pastor and
his family rode along in heart-breaking anguish, jostling against one another
and against the other prisoners who were jammed into the train cattle car. They
were stripped of any form of dignity and absolutely terrified. They knew they
were being taken to one of Hitler’s extermination centers. But which one? Would
it be Auschwitz, Buchenwald, or Dachau? Finally, the long night ended and the
train stopped. The doors of the cattle car were opened and light streamed into
that tragic scene. They were marched out and were lined up beside the railroad
tracks, resigned to unspeakable pain, as they knew they would be separated from
each other and ultimately killed. But in the midst of their gloom, they
discovered some amazing good news...good news beyond belief. They discovered in
the bright morning sunlight that they were not in a death camp at all, not in
Germany at all. Rather, they were in Switzerland! During the night, someone,
through personal courage and daring, had tripped a switch...and sent the train
to Switzerland...and to freedom. And those now who came to them were not their
captors at all, but rather their liberators. Instead of being marched to death,
they were welcomed to new life. In the midst of his joy and relief, the Dutch
pastor said, "What do you do with such a gift?"
They
now were able to see life and their future with new hearts and minds. Despair
had been replaced with joy.
Final
Thoughts When we follow
Christ, we are transfigured. We begin to see all of life with new eyes, hear
with new ears, and respond with new hearts. We begin to recognize and
appreciate beauty in loved ones that we had taken for granted. We begin to
appreciate splendor in nature that we had taken for granted.
This
morning, I suggest that many people fail to recognize love, beauty, kindness,
simply
because they’re hearts and minds are not tuned to see and hear and feel them.
Only when we allow the Christ of glory to transfigure us will our ears
recognize the pure beauty of a violin being played in a subway.
Perhaps
Shakespeare said it best. “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds
tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in
everything.” “The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic
experience.” - [Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)]
Moses had many moments that took his
breath away. In addition to hearing God’s voice come out of a burning bush that
wasn’t consumed, or seeing the waters of the Red Sea parted to allow him to
escape the Egyptians, he conversed with God on Mt. Sinai. And when he came down
the mountain with the Ten Commandments, his face was so radiant that everyone
was afraid to come near him.
Remember,
some things have to be believed in order to be seen! Amen.
Mark
9:2-9 NIV After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them
up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before
them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could
bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking
with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let
us put up three shelters——one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared
and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom
I love. Listen to him!" Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer
saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus
gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had
risen from the dead.
2
Peter 1:16-19 NIV We did not follow cleverly invented
stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from
God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying,
"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We
ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the
sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and
you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
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