I’ve linked an audio file of the sermon I preached on the Feast of the Transfiguration on Sunday, 6 August 2017: Transfiguration Sermon.
The lesson of the day are here: Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Peter 1:13-21, Luke 9:28-36, Psalm 99:[1-4], 5-9.
The lesson of the day are here: Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Peter 1:13-21, Luke 9:28-36, Psalm 99:[1-4], 5-9.
I started writing a manuscript sermon but stopped after the introduction. Even though I ended up preaching an extemporaneous sermon, I decided to include the written introduction below.
In Christ’s Peace,
Jeff+
In Christ’s Peace,
Jeff+
“Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray” (Luke 9:28 NRSV). I love that sentence. At first glance, it simply looks like a typical day in the life of Jesus and his disciples. But it is actually full of potential and the promise of something spectacular. First of all, Jesus didn’t take the multitude up the mountain to pray. He didn’t take the Twelve up the mountain to pray. He took Peter and John and James. He took the inner circle of the inner circle.
His closest associates.
His most trusted colleagues.
His best friends.
It wasn’t a typical day at all; it was an extraordinary day. But it isn’t just Jesus’s choice of companions that gives us a clue about what kind of day it is; it is also the setting. They went up on the mountain to pray. Mountain tops were sacred in ancient tradition. The Temple in Jerusalem was at the top of Mount Zion. Elijah heard the still, small voice of the LORD on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19). Moses spoke with the LORD and received the tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34). (Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai are actually the same place, by the way.) So with just one simple sentence, the author of the Gospel of Luke has careful readers expecting—-something wonderful.
The Reverend Jeffrey K. Evans 
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