Matthew 17:1-9 Christ revealed as God’s beloved Son

We answer to one and only one ultimate authority in this life. God. When our time on this earth comes to an end it will be His decision, not our own and it will be Him we answer to in the end.

Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the day set aside in the Christian calendar to recognize the identity of the one we follow. Jesus’ disciples bore witness to a physical manifestation God in Jesus Christ. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light. He was no longer the Son of God but a part of God Themselves.

God the Father stepped in to realign His Son’s disciples. Remind them of his role. “This is my Son, whom I love;” and to remind them that he approved of all He was doing, “with him I am well pleased.” And to remind them to stay in their lanes, “Listen to him!” Note the exclamation point. In my mind his voice rolls like thunder, the kind you can feel vibrating through the earth. “Listen to him!”

The disciples were scolded. They were not treating their savior with the respect he deserved. They were chasing after false idols and images and human ideals, failing to recognize the truth before them. If the disciples had truly been listening, it is unlikely God would have to had made this grand appearance.

Our lectionary does not to pair the passage about the transfiguration of Moses where his face becomes super shiny, with that of Jesus’ transfiguration. The two are not symbolic of the same type of event. It is paired with Exodus 24:12-18, where Moses delegates authority to Aaron and Hur. He tells the Israelites that they are the ones to settle any disputes that arise until he returns.

A good leader, you see, doesn’t take up the whole road. A good leader delegates authority to others and then lets them do their jobs. They allow their followers to take on responsibility, and they allow them to fail. Aaron and Hur fail, and that’s okay, it doesn’t mean Moses never leaves them in charge again. Hopefully, it means they learned something and will do better next time.

If we watch the story of Moses and Aaron unfold, most of their problems arise when one or both of them doesn’t stay in their lane. Aaron trying to take over Moses’ responsibility results in the construction of a golden calf and the smashing of the first set of the Ten Commandments. Aaron and Hur were left to be the judges of the people while Moses was away. When they stay in their lanes, great things happen. Like in Exodus 17:8-16, when together, Aaron and Hur hold up Moses’ arms so that Moses could continually stand with his arms outstretched holding the staff of God high, allowing Israel to prevail over Amalek. Aaron and Hur’s job was to support Moses, not do Moses’ job.

If we watch our disciples’ story unfold, most of the problems they have occur when they don’t stay in their lane. There’s the continual argument about which one of them is the greatest (Luke 22:24). Their inability to heal a man because they are unable to distinguish that it is not actually them that heals but God (Luke 9:37-41). And, they all betray him in the end from Judas’ treachery to all the others just flat out deserting him. But when the disciples stay in their lanes, followers of Jesus Christ joined in by the thousands.

In our passage today, Peter tries to take over a lane that is not his. Rather than paying attention to what is going on, Peter makes assumptions about what someone else in a different lane needs. Rather than watching where he is going, Peter sees Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah and thinks he needs to butt in and build them a tent. Imagine that, a disciple of Christ assuming they know what someone else needs and attempting to give it to them without even bother to ask if they actually want it… Know of anyone who likes to tell others what other people need without asking them?

God has granted each and every one of us a purpose. We all have very special gifts and talents for serving. We are all assigned different jobs to do for which we are uniquely suited. When we receive the gifts and talents given to us for the glory of God we are happy. When we start trying to take over someone else’s lane however, we become quite unhappy. They become unhappy. God is annoyed. We’re all unhappy.

When I first started writing this sermon it was going to be about invading other human beings lanes. Butting in and worrying about someone else not doing their job or the way they were doing their job. Spending so much time being nosey and a busy-body that you do not do as good of a job or maybe even fail to complete your own job because you are more worried about someone else doing theirs. Wasting too much time ridiculing, criticizing and butting in where you have no business being but as generally happens, life happened’ and God came in and showed me what really needed said.

While irritating the people around us in life is problematic it stems from something much deeper, much more problematic. The root of our problem is not that we’re not trusting one another; we’re not trusting God. If we trust God… I know weird concept it’s not like he made a list of ten commandments and made the first one thou shalt have no other gods before me or something… if we trust in God, we don’t have to worry about trusting one another, He’s got us.

I am responsible for one person and one person alone on this planet. Me. I am not responsible for you. Sure, I am responsible TO you as a spiritual leader but I am NOT responsible FOR you. As parents, grandparents, friends, and family, you are responsible TO your children, grandchildren, friends, and family but you are NOT responsible FOR them.

Just like the Israelites wandered out of their lanes, the disciples wandered out of their lanes, we wander out of ours and into God’s. God gives us a nice lane, a path to follow, and even a GPS that repeatedly shouts one simple direction at us “LISTEN TO HIM!” He knows where you are going. You don’t. Sure, sure, you know you want to go to heaven, so you might have a name for the final destination, but I am willing to bet not one of you knows the way to get there from here.

When we swerve into other people’s lanes, not only do we not really know for sure they are going, or where we think they are, but we have a tendency to swerve into oncoming traffic. We ignore all the WRONG WAY! TURN BACK! Signs plastered everywhere in bright colors, and we run into them. Aside from the massive invasion of personal space, we have left our own lane vulnerable to problems because we’re not there to travel it.

Every time we leave our lane and try to take over God’s, problems arise. Conflict ensues. War breaks out. While your ego may be big enough to take up the whole road, rest assured God did not give you the brain-power or the ability to live up to your inflated sense of self-worth so high that you can handle not just your own life but someone else’s too.

God will eventually have to step in and scold you. This is Jesus, my Son whom I love. This is His lane. I am happy with his lane because He is in it, doing what I ask of him, taking care of it. I am not happy with your lane, because you’re in his and not your own. Get back to where you belong. You have more than you can handle because you are stealing from others, you are coveting others, you are bearing false testimony against them, you are killing their souls, you are in their lane, breaking every commandment I have made to you, and somehow you are expecting me to uphold my end of the covenant I made to protect you and guide you? “Listen to Him!” I gave you a guide and you’re not listening to him so don’t blame me if you get lost!

Moses had a lane. Aaron had a lane. Hur had a lane. Jesus had a lane. You have a lane. Stay in it. Sure, you can look at other people’s lanes, but not if you can’t drive in a straight line while doing so. Not if it is going to cause you to judge, have ill will, or desire what they have. Outside of your lane is sin. Inside our lane is salvation.

Inside your lane is a relationship with God that gets deeper and deeper the further you travel down it. Inside your lane are tasks you can handle, obstacles you can overcome, and mountains you are capable of climbing. Inside your lane is love, happiness, joy, peace, contentment, serenity, beauty, and did I mention God? Don’t make him reach his arm into the backseat and smack you alongside the head like my mother did to me as a child.

If you stay in your own lane, others are more inclined to stay in theirs too and travel along harmoniously with you and beside you until your lanes part ways. Traveling in your own lane, following God as your guide means trusting he is taking you to heaven which means going in any other direction besides the one he created for you means you are not. You’re going somewhere else because heaven is found through following him in your own lane, not someone else’s lane.

On Transfiguration Sunday, Jesus’s path is revealed for all to witness and see. This is Jesus’ role, not Peter’s, not Moses’, not Elijah’s, Jesus’. Jesus does not walk this part of his path alone, he has many traveling companions. Those companions however often fail to stay in their lanes. So, they get scared.

There is much to fear when you leave your lane, safety lies inside yours where God has sent Jesus to guide you and protect you. That is not to say as there won’t be obstacles, rest assured, there will be. But, like any path in the wilderness, staying on the path is the safest way to get to where you are going. And all you have to do is “listen to him!”

May, the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you
And give you peace.