This morning is Transfiguration Sunday. We heard in our Gospel reading the story of a mountain top experience during which three of the disciples saw Jesus transfigured into a Being of Light who communed with Moses and Elijah. They heard the voice of God testifying to the divine sonship of Jesus.

This is obviously the account of a mystical experience, but the question is, what does it have to do with your life or with mine? What difference does it make that those three disciples saw Jesus transfigured and walking with the Hebrew prophets if we’re not disciples who are somehow, in some way transfigured ourselves by our walk with Jesus? What difference does it make that they heard the voice of God if we don’t hear the voice of God? A genuine mystical revelation is universal and timeless.  There is a truth embedded in the particulars of the story that has the power to make a transforming difference for your life.

First, the voice of God assured the disciples that Jesus wasn't just another guy with a philosophical gift of gab. There are a lot of gurus around these days, but they aren't saviors, they aren't Jesus Christ. A lot of people believe in Jesus as a great man, perhaps even an inspired prophet, but stop short of believing that he is the Christ.  According to that reasoning, Jesus said a lot of beautiful things, but when all is said and done, beautiful words don't provide much comfort to someone dealing with terminal cancer, a heartbreaking divorce, stress in the workplace or alienation within the family. But, if Jesus Christ is Lord, as the voice of God declared, then his gospel of shalom and sacrificial love transfigures you and me, empowering us to recognize that love triumphs over all and death is not the end. We can have faith that peace and joy, reconciliation and life eternal are God's gift to us through faith in Christ. If that's true, then the mystical vision of 2000 years ago takes on the power to offer comfort and reassurance to us today.

Secondly, what does it mean to you or to me that Jesus walked and talked with Moses and Elijah? These two figures epitomized the ancient and time honored Covenant of the Law and the Prophets, and in this mystical encounter with Jesus, they confer their blessings upon the New Covenant which is about to be established through Jesus Christ, a Covenant that will offer God's unconditional love to everyone, embracing the alienated, accepting the forsaken and healing the broken hearted.

So many people have been wounded by religion. It is tragic, but understandable that Christianity is often perceived in negative terms because of a negative kind of judgmentalism that excludes many of those who need love and acceptance most desperately. That’s why it’s up to you and to me to be gracious and loving, accepting and welcoming disciples of Jesus Christ, seeking to communicate the essence of this beautiful, mystical vision of the Transfiguration. God's healing love is universal and unconditional.

Finally, Peter's response to the vision was his desire to build booths, to stay on the mountaintop. If you've ever had a mountain top experience, you'll understand his thinking. When you're feeling on top of the world, who wants to come down? It feels so good to feel good, why would anyone return to the valley where people feel bad? And yet that's precisely what Jesus directs us to do, return to the valley. Why?

In a Gallup poll, 85% of the people interviewed said that they had had a mystical experience of God that had become the touchstone of their faith, giving them the assurance of God's presence and sustaining them through the dark and difficult times of their lives. But, what difference does it make to anyone else that you or I have experienced the unconditional love of God in a very direct and personal way?

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.  Dwight L. Moody was an American evangelist in the 1800's and he wrote about meeting a man at one of his meetings who testified that he had "lived on the Mount of Transfiguration" for 5 years. So, Moody asked him, "How many souls have you led to the healing light of Christ?" The man said, "I don't know."  "Have you saved anyone from the pit of despair or the sting of death?" Moody asked him. "I can't say that I have," the man replied. "Well, that’s not the kind of mountain top experience that makes any difference," Moody said. "When we get so high that we can't reach down to other people, there is something wrong."

Our worship together is about community and communication, both with God and with one another. If you have been to the mountaintop, if you have experienced the healing love of God, share that love with another. That's why we're here this morning. That's what worship is all about. That's what it means to be a part of the Body of Christ.

I'll close with a story. It takes place in the Middle East. The people in a certain village heard that there was a prophet passing through their area, so they asked him to come talk with them. He began by saying, "Do you know what I am going to tell you?" "No," they all said, to which he replied, "People can only learn what they already know. If you don't know what I'm going to tell you then there is no use for me to speak," and he left. The village people were very puzzled about this, talked it over, and asked him back.

So he came back and said, "Do you know what I am going to tell you?" They all answered as one, "Yes," to which he said, "Then obviously there is no reason for me to speak." Now they were really confused. Once again they talked it over and asked him back one last time.

Many gathered in the village square, and when he said, "Do you know what I am going to tell you?" the people on one side of the square said, "Yes," while at the same time the people on the other side of the square said, "No." To which the prophet responded: "Will the people on this side of the square who said yes please communicate with the people on that side of the square who said no." Then he left and didn't return.

But, that’s not the end of the story.  That night a woman had a dream. The next morning she gathered the village folks together and said, "I know what the wise man taught us. Wisdom is found in the experience of community and not in the words of some prophet from afar."

And that’s the lesson of the Transfiguration.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about community and communication, with God and with one another. When we gather for worship we're being re-minded by the Mind of Christ, and we’re meant to continually reach out with the Good News of God’s love, re-minding one another with the Mind of Christ. We are re-membering ourselves as the Body of Christ. We are celebrating the unconditional love of God as revealed through the Transfigured Body of Christ, a love that is meant to be shared with all. Thanks be to God.  Amen.