Delivered by Rev. Ellen Brantley

February 3, 2008

SERMON: God in a Box

TEXT: Matthew 17:1-9

I love the new organizational shows on TV, where they come into someone’s cluttered, chaotic, unorganized house and get them organized. They redecorate the place making it beautiful, while also making it fully functional, with shelves and cubbies and drawers and baskets. They create “a place for everything” and they put “everything in its place.” If someone would come into my house and do this, it would be a dream come true.

I used to think I was good at organizing things. When I was a kid I used to reorganize the pantry or the garage as a surprise for my mom. And for years I’ve tried to teach that philosophy of life to my husband and my children: “a place for everything and everything in its place.” But apparently their dreams are different than mine. They haven’t quite caught on to the concept. It’s three against one in my house (not counting our pets), and if you saw it today you’d know that I’ve either given up or been soundly defeated. Not only is everything not in its place, but there’s not necessarily a place for everything anymore.

Not only is this an aesthetic problem for me, it’s a control issue. You’re thinking perhaps I should be talking with a therapist about this, instead of my congregation. But trust me, there is a theological connection on its way. When I’m in the midst of a chaotic, unorganized mess, I feel overwhelmed, out of control. Some days I can’t even function because I’m so anxious and uptight about the disorder of my home and my life.

Okay, here comes the theological connection: I can relate to how Peter must have been feeling the day that Jesus was transfigured up on the mountain. It was a chaotic and confusing event, to say the least. First, Jesus’ face begins to “shine like the sun, and his clothes become dazzling white.” Then Moses and Elijah, who’ve been dead and gone for centuries, suddenly appear and begin talking with Jesus.

It’s no surprise to me that at this moment Peter begins to feel anxious, overwhelmed, and out of control. Jesus suddenly looks different, and Moses and Elijah are not in their proper places. Nothing makes sense anymore, and Peter can’t think straight. So, he begins to organize. “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Allow me to translate: “A place for everything, and everything in its place.”

If you ask me, Peter is trying to find some control in a situation that is clearly out of his control and far outside of his understanding. He’s trying to find some way in which he can manage the unmanageable. You know how young children can get over-stimulated, particularly on their birthday or at Christmas, when there are so many presents surrounding them and so much activity going on that they can’t take it all in. Very often what happens to them in these situations is they have what is popularly referred to as a meltdown. They wig out. They lose it. They have a tantrum or begin to cry and scream uncontrollably because they are on sensory overload. They can’t handle the chaos. Peter’s the same way when he finds himself with too much to see, too much to take in. But instead of throwing a tantrum, he’s trying to narrow the vision and frame the picture to provide some focus for himself. Three dwellings? Peter is trying to put GOD IN A BOX.

You know where I’m going with this: We do it, too. We don’t like unsolved mysteries or unanswered questions. So we put GOD IN A BOX. Usually, it looks like this, and has the words HOLY BIBLE written across the front cover. Now, I’m not trying to portray the Bible in a negative light in any way. But what I am trying to say is that God is bigger than this one book. God cannot be limited to less than 2,000 pages. If we were to write down everything there is to know and understand about God, it would take more pages than all the Bibles in the world. And we have to allow that there are some things we will never understand until we meet God face to face.

Remember what Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians? “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

Does this mean we should give up asking questions, trying to figure out who God is and how God works? Since the transfiguration of Jesus – the glow of his face, the dazzling white clothes, the appearance of Moses and Elijah – is likely to remain an unsolved mystery, should I not even bother to preach on it?

No. The more we question, the more we learn; the more we learn the more we grow; the more we grow, the stronger our faith becomes. And the story of the transfiguration, mystery though it is, can teach us a lot about who Jesus was and about our foundation of faith.

For instance, you might have always wondered why Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus on that mountain. Here’s what one commentary said: “…The simple mention of their names (Moses and Elijah) reminds the reader of the connectedness of Jesus with a long history – a history of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt and the giving of the law at Sinai, of God’s sending prophets to call unfaithful people to grace and obedience.” Not only does the transfiguration point back to history, but points forward to the future as it foreshadows the dazzling white clothes in the glory of Christ’s resurrection.

So, the transfiguration story enlightens us (if you will) on the connectedness of the Old and New Testaments and of God’s continuing work of salvation and deliverance in Jesus Christ.

There are so many things we can learn from this story – we could talk about mountaintop experiences; we could talk about the glory of God; we could talk more about Moses and Elijah, or Peter, James, and John; we could talk about what it means to listen to Jesus; we could talk about what it means to be transfigured or why Jesus told his disciples not to tell about their experience until after his death and resurrection. The possibilities are virtually inexhaustible – and this story uses only nine verses out of the whole Bible! Not to mention the things we learn from each other and from our own life experiences about who God is and how God works.

You can’t put GOD IN A BOX. You can’t put boundaries or parameters or limits on God. So, what’s left for us to do when we don’t have any more answers than when we started? Keep studying, keep discussing, keep asking questions. “Listen to Jesus.” “Get up and do not be afraid.” Trust in God.

To the glory of God! AMEN.