We are Glory Bearers

Year C
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-43
We are Glory Bearers

Introduction - Earthquake
Did any of you feel the earthquake – on Thursday morning? I felt it and immediately knew what was going on. Well sort of –I was awake enough to know what was happening, but sleep enough not to be sure if it was real or not.
As a matter of fact I was sure that I was dreaming, because there was no way in Illinois that I would be living through an earthquake for the second time in what two / three years.
I remember that moment of thinking that the wind was blowing the house, but the wind was coming from the ground and not the air. It was a rare moment that I never expected to feel again. For me a moment of God moving in my life in special way. A moment that you want to treasure – but which doesn’t last very long.
How do you hold onto those special moments – usually you take a picture, or your write a story – or you find the words to tell someone. You try to do something to hold onto the moment.

How do we Hold onto God Moments? Those special moments?
The gospel story takes place 8 days after Peter has a chance to experience God in his life. He has met a new friend – Jesus , and he realizes that he is not only a special person – he is the son of God. He has been invited to share in a special moment in Jesus life. The time when Jesus is praying with the law and the prophets, and Moses and Elijah come to join him. Like most of us, Peter asks the same question – how do I hold onto the once on a lifetime moment. And like all of us – Peter realizes there is no real way to hold onto God moment. There are no words, no images, no feelings that will adequately hold onto the moment. All you can really do is vow to hold onto that moment in your heart and remember.

Transfiguration Sunday
No moment on life is intended to last forever. The moment for us is transfiguration Sunday. The Sunday when epiphany ends and lent begins. The moment between seeing the light and entering into a time of darkness. I don’t think any of us will voluntary enter into darkness. We don’t chose to be sad, or depressed, or to suffer. We don’t chose to enter into the darkness of lent – we have to be coaxed into it or forced into it.
But it is in the darkness where we get closer to Jesus Christ. What does our relationship with Jesus mean? Who is this Christ for us? What difference does Christ make in our lives? Would our lives really be any different if Christ had not entered into our lives? These are the questions for us to ponder during the time of lent.



The Transfiguration Story
Every year we hear the story of transfiguration – every year we hear a different version of the same story. It is in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The concept of transfiguration is also in John.
In Luke’s version – Jesus brings his newfound friends – Peter, James and John with him on the mountain to pray. It is a mystery to us why Jesus chose to bring them there. Obviously it was a mystery to them also because they fell asleep.
While they are asleep, Jesus prays, and Moses and Elijah appear with him. A voice comes from the clouds and says – this is my son, my chosen, listen to him.
Luke doesn’t say anything about a bright light – or Jesus being transformed by the light. There is no light. The moment is so short and strange – that the disciples decide that they wont say anything to anyone.
But it is the moment for us that Jesus becomes the light of the world. In John Jesus says – I am the light of the world. Transfiguration not only means – change forms – it also means to experience glory – or light of God.
What light was lit your path recently? What illumination has taken place for you to see things more clearly? What shines for you in bright times?
Lent is a dark time, but it is a time for us to glorify God. Paul says that we are free – free to proclaim our love for Christ. It is a time for us to show others that Jesus is the light of our lives.


Story of Three Gold Miners
Three gold miners traveled to Montana territory to find gold. One day one of them found a strange looking stone. He broke it open and was thrilled to find gold. Soon – the miners found gold everywhere. They started to dance, sing and celebrate. They were rich. But soon they became worried – what if others found this place. They would lose their fortune. They had to keep it a secret.
On their next trip into town, they vowed that they could tell no one. They were very quiet in buying supplies, but they soon discovered that as the left, it seems that the whole town of prospectors was following them. Okay - who told – they discovered that no one had betrayed the secret. The prospectors said – you didn’t have to say anything. We saw the truth on your face. We could tell that you had found God. Or Gold – a Freudian slip.

We are Glory Bearers
What do people see when they look at your face? Light or darkness? Good things are sadness? God or the world?

What light do they see? What light has lit your path? What has illumined your dark places? What shines in your bright times?

I cant answer that question for you. I don’t know your dark places in your life? I don’t know your response to darkness. I don’t know the moment in your life when you finally saw the light. I don’t know your response to light. Did you run to it, or choose to keep on fumbling in the dark.
One of the promises of life – no matter how dark things may get – the light always comes. Lent always starts – but it always ends in the joy of Easter. Jesus is the light of the world.
Jesus is the light of my life. Jesus is the lense in which I choose to experience every moment. In Christ, every moment, every experience, no matter how short or how long is a God moment. A chance to see the light. Light is always a challenge to see things more clearly. A chance to see what needs to be done, what needs to be changed, who needs to be loved.
Lent is our chance to sit and wait for the light – and to be still enough to recognize it and respond.
What light do you walk by? What illumines your life? What shines in the midst of your darkness? The glory of God in the presence of jesus Christ.
We are glory bearers – ones who see the glory of God for ourselves. Ones who bear the glory of God in our lives, the ones who know the presence of Christ when we see and feel it. May the glory of God be with you always in all times – let us pray..
Amen.