Motivation

Have you ever thought about what exactly it is that motivates us? What is it that drives us? What is it the drives people to do the kinds of things that they do? I think one of those things can be fear. Fear is an interesting thing, isn’t it? I mean talk about a motivator. Fear will either make us do something or will prevent us from doing something. Very few things influence people like fear. Now I can’t prove this, but I’m convinced that fear is what brought about superstitions. I would have never thought of this before I had kids, but now I understand. I can hear some poor mother, a long long time ago, who has spent all day trying desperately to get her kid away from the big expensive mirror. Finally she says, “If you break that you will have seven years of bad luck you know.” Fear motivates.

Love can also be quite the motivator. Think about all the stories that you have heard or maybe even experienced where love was the motivation. We hear stories of parents doing amazing feats out of love for their children. We hear of men and women going through outrageous lengths in order to be with someone they love.

Last year, in my own house there was a great quest we went on for the sake of love. A dearly loved member of our family went missing. It was probably a combination of fear and love that drove us, but we searched. And we searched high and low. We looked everywhere we could think of; under the couch, between the cushions, and finally the search ended at about 2:30 when Mindy found our beloved remote control under the sink in the upstairs bathroom. The reunion was beautiful. Now before you ask how it got there, just remember we had an 18 month old at the time. The point is that love can and does really motivate people to do some pretty amazing things.

Today is a good day to talk about motivation because today is Transfiguration Sunday. This is the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany. The season of Epiphany has been a time we were focused on the glory of God being revealed in Jesus, and Jesus in our lives, in our world and ultimately through God’s people through the church. We heard Jesus talk about this in the Sermon on the Mount. This is where we hear Jesus calling us to a new way of life. This life is truly blessed. It is life in the kingdom of God and better than anything we can imagine. So today is the perfect day to talk about love and fear. Because today we see both.

Our text begins with these words. “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James.” And maybe you were wondering to yourself, “six days after what?” This lesson is in Chapter 17 of Matthew’s gospel and there are a lot of important things that take place in the preceding chapter. First we see Jesus being tested by the religious leaders of the day and warning against them. Then we see Peter confessing Jesus as the Christ. Then Jesus predicts his death, and then he says that any who would come after him, must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. So our lesson for today begins with the words “and after six days …” So that those things Jesus said about who he is and what those who are to follow him are to do would echo in our minds as we witness the next scene.

Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him up a mountain to pray. Now imagine yourself in the story. Picture this in your mind. Here is Jesus praying. And as he is praying the appearance of his face is altered and his clothes become dazzling white. I love this because we tend to have this after-the-fact way of looking at things. And so we kind of picture Jesus and Peter and James and John standing there, looking all pious and holy. Praying and the transfiguration happens and they calmly and patiently stand there because that’s what holy people do when holy things happen, right?

But that’s not what happens here. No instead Luke tells us that Peter and James and John are heavy with sleep. So they don’t necessarily notice right away that Jesus has been transfigured, or that Moses and Elijah have shown up. Moses and Elijah are now speaking with Jesus about his departure which was about to be accomplished at Jerusalem. So this is all taking place and here are Peter, James and John heavy with sleep. But they, for some reason become fully awake and they see the glory of Jesus and Moses and Elijah and well… can you relate?

Have you ever had a moment where you spoke but didn’t know what you were saying? I believe it is what is known as foot in mouth disease. Peter comes down with a wicked case of it, and he says “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish I will make three tents here. One for you one for Moses and one for Elijah. And as Peter is speaking a cloud comes and overshadows them. A voice comes from the cloud and says, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” After that there is no one else but Jesus, Peter, James and John. And they fell on their faces terrified by what they had just witnessed.

And Jesus touches them and tells them to rise and have no fear. He doesn’t yell at them or get angry at them. But he doesn’t leave them where they are either. He touches them and in a sense restores them. And as they are going back down the mountain he tells them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the resurrection.

I think that it is easy for us to hear a story like this and our scientific minds begin going to work. What did Jesus look like exactly? How did the disciples know that Moses and Elijah were Moses and Elijah? Why were Moses and Elijah there and not other people? And while asking questions is never a bad thing to do, if we get too caught up in the questions we miss the point.

As I said before the season of Epiphany is a season where we see God revealing himself in Jesus. So in the transfiguration we see God’s glory revealed in Jesus. And so it culminates here is this story. The season of Epiphany is ultimately a season of love because in that time we focus on the work that God is doing to restore the creation back to himself. It is a season of mission and this mission is ultimately motivated by love.

The disciples didn’t get it at that point. They are probably relieved that Jesus told them not to say anything. I know I probably would have been. They wouldn’t understand until after Jesus is raised from the dead. And even then they don’t do much until the Holy Spirit comes on them with power at Pentecost. It is then that they boldly go out into the world that God loves so dearly in order to make that love known.

So what does this text then mean for us? What do we do with it today? Is it simply a cool story? Is it merely a text to convey theological truth? Now it is those things, but it is also more. Because in this text we not only see a glimpse of the glory of Jesus who is truly 100% God and truly 100% a human being. But we see the one who comes to us. We see Jesus who loves you and me so much that he gave up his life that our sins would be forgiven. We see Jesus who loves the people around us so much that he would send us to them to show that love to them. We see Jesus who is with us always and will never ever leave or forsake or give up on us. No matter what we have done. Because that is who he is. And how big his love for us.

This Jesus sends us his Holy Spirit and his Holy Spirit works to make us more and more like Jesus. This doesn’t mean that we will always be perfect, not on this side of the second coming anyway, but it means that we will always have what we need to do the things that God has given us to do. Even the hard things.

So when we consider where we are in our lives whether that is as individuals or together as a congregation, there are many things that can be motivating us right now. There are many things that can cause us to be afraid and scared. There are so many unknowns that if we tried to begin figuring out all of the possible situations that we begin to feel as if we were drowning in a sea of uncertainty. And when we do that we tend to focus more on ourselves and what we want and what we need to ensure our own survival.

Yet our God does not call us to ensure our own survival, but instead to make his love in Jesus known to the world. He is with us and he is worthy of our trust and hope. For me, I seen in the transfiguration the comfort hope and strength of knowing that no matter what comes our way, no matter what happens in our lives, that it is not too much for our God. I see in the transfiguration the comfort hope and strength of knowing that no matter how hard the things that God asks us to do seem, that they are not too much for our God. So that when our God tells us that those who would follow him must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him, that we can say, “Amen.” And get going.

His love, mercy and forgiveness in Jesus are overflowing in abundance for you and for me, and indeed for the whole world. He has chosen us to show that. Is it scary? Perhaps. But because we have our God, who is able to forgive our sins and defeat the powers of sin, death and the devil, we can be confident that nothing else is more powerful than our God.