Episode 1520: Astounded at the Greatness

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1520 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] Stephanie Olson: I'm Stephanie Olson. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to develop.

[00:00:24] Real resilience is key. And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:45] Scott Maderer: And when we see those depths of love and sacrifice every once in a while, then we can climb that mountain and see, see what we're truly called to be, see what we're truly called to share, [00:01:00] see how we're truly called to love.

[00:01:06] Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:39] In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about Luke 9, verses 28 36. I share how we are all called to change through transformation, and I also share how it calls us to follow in wonder towards love. Luke 9, verses 28 36 says, [00:02:00] Now, about eight days after these sayings, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

[00:02:07] And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Suddenly, they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

[00:02:33] Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us set up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Not realizing what he was saying. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.

[00:02:51] Then from the cloud came a voice that said, This is my son, my chosen. Listen to him. When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found [00:03:00] alone. And they kept silent, and in those days told no one of any of the things they had seen. The passage says, the appearance of his face changed. The appearance. At that moment, Jesus didn't look like what they were used to seeing, what they were used to looking at.

[00:03:20] He didn't look the same. He looked different and somehow he looked more. This Sunday is called transfiguration. Sunday transfigured is the word that you normally put in that sentence instead of changed and transfigured somehow sounds fancy. It sounds holy, it sounds theological, but the word really just comes from the same Greek root that gives us metamorphs or change.

[00:03:51] It just means different, changed in some way. So what happened on this mountaintop six days [00:04:00] after they had a conversation about suffering and death? Something happened. It's really hard to say exactly what it was, other than saying the appearance of his face changed. What the disciples were used to seeing, they no longer saw.

[00:04:19] And something that they hadn't seen before became evident to their eyes, to their moment. It probably frightened them, it scared them a little bit. And what they saw is really something that doesn't seem to be able to be described. Instead, there was two other guys there, Moses and Elijah. And you've got to wonder how the disciples recognized them.

[00:04:48] How did they know who they were? Did they have on name tags, did they have the gamer tags in the video games where there's a name above their head? Or was it just one of those they just knew who they were? [00:05:00] Maybe Moses had a staff and they recognize that and Elijah had those wilderness desert clothes on and so they recognize that.

[00:05:09] Maybe it was the look in their eyes. Maybe Jesus called them by name. I don't know. But those two are there to set the scene for Jesus. They were there in supporting roles. It really isn't about them. They're there to represent the history, the law and the prophets and the story of the people of God up to this moment.

[00:05:32] They were there to also draw attention to Jesus, the one who was the word of God, the presence, the Emanuel, the God with us. And Luke is the only one of the Gospels that talks about a conversation among these figures on the mountaintop. These three that appear in glory, yes, Elijah and Moses also appeared there glowing in glory, [00:06:00] transformed in a way.

[00:06:02] But Luke mentions that they're having a conversation there about the departure. The word Exodus means the departure. It means to leave. It means to go somewhere else to become something more. You have to wonder if Moses is the one talking here because he knows a little something about Exodus. And he knows that those moments change everything you knew and everything you were.

[00:06:31] Even in a moment of an uncertain future. And Moses knew that you could embrace that change even through fear. That sort of seems to be what this little moment at the top of the mountain is about. Embracing change. Trusting in the one who brings us through it. More than that, trusting in the one who calls for us to change.

[00:06:58] Calls for us to be [00:07:00] transformed. Calls for us to become more. To become more like him. At least that maybe is what the voice is saying, the voice that spoke because Peter seems to miss the point again. Peter wants to stand and not go back down the mountain, not accept the change, but rather set up camp, sit here, dig in our hole, dig in, hold this moment.

[00:07:30] To stand against the change. And I think that's a moment that we all feel when we're called by Christ to change, to become more loving, to love our enemies, to love those who hate us. We push back against it. We go no. We've come far enough. We've changed enough. We need to just stay where we're at.

[00:07:51] But the voice seems to be saying, no, you're still changing. You're still becoming, you're still transforming. You still have to become [00:08:00] a little bit more than you are today. A little bit more like Jesus than you are today. You have to continue to undergo this metamorphosis. Remember, metamorphosis is the same thing that we talk about when we talk about butterflies and moths and these sorts of things.

[00:08:18] Things changing from a little caterpillar, an ugly worm, into a beautiful butterfly. Or when we talk about metamorphic rock that is melted by the heat of the core of the earth and changes, flows from one form to another. But if you think about it, we talk about metamorphosis change, but really which is real?

[00:08:40] The caterpillar or the butterfly? Which is real? The form of the rock before it melts or after? Or is it both? Because before and after are both part of the whole journey. It's a matter of perspective and timing. It's a both and moment, not an either or moment. [00:09:00] Where you are and when you are allows you to see one truth, but not another, and not all truths.

[00:09:09] What happened on that mountain was not so much a change into something different, but rather a revealing of the essence of the one who was changed. Jesus became who he was on that mountain. He became who he was supposed to be on that mountain. He became and was who he always is. It was a moment when we glimpsed the fullness of his being.

[00:09:36] See, we can only see parts of Jesus, parts of God. And often we only see the part we need at that moment. We experience a piece, a fragment of the reality of that. And we get used to it because it becomes familiar and we want to stay there. But what God is calling us to do is see something [00:10:00] larger, see something deeper, see something more profound and have that word that calls to us in our soul and begins to tear us down and build us up all at the same time.

[00:10:13] And when we see those depths of love and sacrifice every once in a while, then we can climb that mountain and see. See what we're truly called to be. See what we're truly called to share. See how we're truly called to love. Thanks for listening.

[00:10:39] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen. But act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to Facebook. [00:11:00] com slash Inspired Stewardship and like our Facebook page and mark it That you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there.

[00:11:22] Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.