In the first 5 weeks of this year you have journeyed through the highlights of Jesus' ministry: In the first week of the new year we looked at the baptism of our Lord, perhaps were reminded of our own baptism in obedience to the Scriptures which repeatedly command that believers be baptised; then we saw Jesus calling the first disciples and were reminded of our call to obedient discipleship; then we looked at the beginning of Jesus' teaching ministry and His description of the life of discipleship in the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount; last week we continued through the Sermon on the Mount and heard Jesus reminding us that we are salt and light; this week, the week before the season of Lent begins, we find ourselves on the Mount of Transfiguration, where Matthew records:
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
That word transfigured is metamorphoomai, from which we get our English word metamorphosis. A dictionary definition of metamorphosis is: a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one.
Peter, James and John witness Jesus being transfigured, changing before their very eyes ... and they are awestruck ... overwhelmed. It was a beautiful thing to see.
Transfiguration ... metamorphosis ... it's a beautiful thing to see ... and we see it in the world around us, don't we?
In 2 Cor 3:18, Paul uses exactly the same word to describe the work of the Holy Spirit in the born again Christian:
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
How is that process going in your life?
Is there more of the image of Christ in your life today than there was a year ago?
And don't trust your own answer, ask the people who know you.
And if you don't trust them ... take me out for a coffee and ask me if I've noticed you being changed into Christ's image with ever increasing glory over the last year.
As we saw last week, Jesus Himself says that this shining light, this glory, cannot be hidden.
Shame on us if we are not more Christ like today than we were a year ago. And all glory to God that by His Spirit (but only if we let Him) so many of us are being transformed.
This isn't about whether you are butterfly or not, or a beautiful ladybird, or a full grown bloated toad ... this is about whether you are transforming, changing, or whether you are just comfortably staying where you are. Because this transformation, transfiguration, metamorphosis, can be painful, ... it constantly calls for change ... and by and large, human nature avoids pain and avoids change. Your inner self rebels at becoming more like Jesus, rebels at His call to forgive, rebels at His call to love.
You will have heard the joke about the two caterpillars who see a butterfly flying overhead and the one says to the other: "You'll never catch me going up in one of those!"
So this isn't about whether you are a butterfly or not ... it's about whether you are changing and whether you are embracing the next BIG step. Evidently when the moth passes through the cocoon it is extremely stressful and painful (in the way moths feel stress and pain, which scientists can now measure) ... and it has been shown that if we make it easier for the moth by cutting a hole in the cocoon, or softening it ... then its wings don't form properly and it will never fly properly ... its growth is stunted, something in the struggle of transformation , something in the pain of transformation is actually good, and if avoided, stunts us.
You need to change and you know it ... I need to change, and you know that too, don't you? I need to change and I know it?
Give me some life application Cedric: find someone who will hold you accountable to ongoing transformation ... it'll change you, your marriage (if you're married), your family life, your work environment, etc.
A word to every church that is represented by the people who are part of my online community ... I am now speaking to many people across 5 continents (for some reason South America is not represented on my latest map of followers). Think carefully before you answer this question: Does your church, your local faith community, need to change?
Can the answer ever be No? We're not necessarily talking radical change every week ... but ongoing transformation. Yes, every now and again, as I study church history, every church does go through the occasional metamorphic change ... egg becomes larva ... (40 years pass) larva becomes tadpole ... (40 years pass) ... tadpole loses its tail ... (100 years pass) ... legs appear ... etc. Ongoing gradual change ... occasional seismic change.
Now another question: Do you want your church to change? Peter wanted to stay on that mountain ... Jesus said: "We can't Peter ... we must move on ... I've got to get to Jerusalem ... I've got to enter into the darkness of the cocoon ... so that I can emerge. And Peter says: "No!" Jesus says to Peter: "Get behind me Satan."
We resist change ... we fear change ... we fear the unknown ... we fear the darkness of the cocoon.
So to my worldwide congregation: Does your church need to change? Do you want your church to change? Yes, the process can be frightening, the temptation to resist transformation can be huge ... but remember the Christmas promise: He is Immanuel ... He is with you ... journey with Him as He seeks to change you, your church, your world, from glory unto glory.
