Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.  But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.”  And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Matthew 5:1-11

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  And he began to speak and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Today is Transfiguration Sunday, which means this is the last Sunday in Epiphany and we begin Lent this Wednesday. So this morning we have a reading on the Transfiguration of Jesus from Matthew’s Gospel. And you will notice that both of our readings are from Matthew, and that is because I am stepping away from the lectionary to take a closer look at the Sermon on the Mount. So that is what we are doing this morning, talking about both of these things, the Transfiguration and the Sermon on the Mount.

As we continue our in-depth study of Matthew’s gospel this year, recall that Matthew wrote for an audience of Jewish Christians in the early church. Matthew took Mark’s Gospel and revised it for his particular audience. I know I have mentioned this before, and I’m reviewing it with you now so that you can prepare for the exam at the end of the semester.

Jesus with Moses and Elijah

Last week we talked about the Five sections of Matthew, and how this five-part organization was one of the author’s techniques for connecting with his Jewish-Christian audience. Now, here we see another way he connects with them. In the transfiguration, Jesus is up on a mountain top with Peter, James, and John, and he is transfigured before them. The disciples witness him transfigured, and they see him in a new way: suddenly, his face shines like the sun and his clothes become bright as light. And then there appear Moses and Elijah.

Remember we talked about how Matthew wants to identify Jesus as a prophet-king, divine, the Messiah, the King of the Jews and the Son of God. So here, we have this powerful image on the mountain top that does exactly this. The disciples see Jesus standing right there, talking to Moses and Elijah! Jesus shines as purified and divine in this picture that Matthew paints. We see Jesus as holy and pure, and in the line of the holy ancient prophets. So this is a very powerful image.

Garbage in, Garbage out

Now, there is a lesson here for us as Christians. Who we associate with matters. Not only who we talk to and who we let influence us, but what we ingest, you know, what we take in, matters. What we read matters. And what we watch on tv matters. And here I’m talking about all the stuff that is going on in the world right now.

 You’ve heard the expression, garbage in, garbage out? We are, in some ways, as human beings like a computer. Our brain, and our heart, you know, the spiritual heart, is like an invisible computer. And how we program that computer matters. Whatever we put into this spiritual heart is what we become. If we fill up our computer with a bunch of garbage, then that is what we will become.

Blessed are the Pure in Heart  

Blessed are the Pure in Heart. It really is important to guard our hearts and minds against garbage. We need to purify our hearts. And how do we do that? By choosing to focus on the good. By choosing to focus on everyday ordinary goodness. You know? Go for a walk and look at the sky. Make a cup of tea. Start to plan your garden for this spring. Read something that inspires you, for example, read scripture. Do something that helps others. Say thank you often. Be grateful for your blessings.

 Depravity

You know, our world is really quite a mess. When I read the news, there is often a word that comes to my mind. “Depravity.” Depravity. It means “evil.” Morally corrupt. Bad. Wrong. Evil. Depraved. There are some things that are just simply evil. And we need to name evil where we see it. And yet so much of our world has normalized depravity, normalized evil. That is, in some ways, we have become immune to things that are so offensive, so horrible, that they are almost unspeakable.

Even in watching shows on television, you know, streaming tv shows, for example, I have noticed that the level of garbage has increased. Things that would not have been allowed on television when I was a kid are now commonplace. I find this disturbing. And I realize that saying so makes me sound like an old-fashioned prude. So be it. As I’ve gotten older, there are some things I simply cannot watch anymore. There is so much violence and perversion on television, and on social media. I do not want that garbage in my consciousness. So, I turn off the TV, and I am careful about what I take in.

We really need to be careful about this. Guard your hearts and minds. Purify your heart. Feed yourself what is good and true and wonderful, and avoid the garbage. In this way, we can stand with Jesus and Moses and Elijah on the mountain. We can shine in God’s brilliant light. We can be transfigured with Christ.

The Good life

What is a successful life? How do we live a good life? Where you go, where you spend your time, who you hang out with, what you think about, all these things all matter. They matter because every day we are either feeding our soul, or we are not. We are either purifying our souls, or we are filling ourselves with garbage. So, let us stay on the straight and narrow. Time and time again, the straight and narrow has proven itself as the best path, the path to a good life, a wholesome life, a pure and righteous life.

And reading the Bible is a wonderful way to feed the soul, a wonderful way to purify our soul. Take, for example, today’s reading from the Sermon on the Mount. It’s the very opening section of the Sermon at the beginning of Chapter 5. The very beginning of the sermon. Remember, we said that in this sermon, Jesus is instructing his disciples on how to live and how to be his disciple. So, in general, we can read the Sermon on the Mount as instructions on discipleship. How to be Christ’s disciple. How to live as a Christian. So the Sermon on the Mount is very important reading for anyone who wants to follow the path of Christian discipleship.

Our reading today, as I’m sure you all recognize, is the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are a collection of blessings and sayings. And they are quite wonderful. These are words that feed the soul. These are words that purify the heart. This week, it would be wonderful if you could spend some time with this scripture. Take some time to read it slowly and carefully and then reflect on it. You could even read it out loud to yourself, read it like a prayer. These are words that bear wonderful fruit. When we read these words, the Kingdom of God is manifested. It shows up, right here, when we read these words.

The Nine Beatitudes

There are nine beatitudes, that is, nine blessings. “Beatitude” means “supreme blessing.” These nine beatitudes are statements that declare God’s favor. The beatitudes describe the people that God blesses, the people that God favors, and what we notice right away is that God’s favor is found not among the powerful and prestigious, but among the humble, the powerless, and the poor.

Remember, Jesus is speaking during the Roman occupation. This great, powerful Empire, the Roman Empire, has invaded Judea and taken over the country. The Romans dominate Judea with their power. But in the nine beatitudes, Jesus presents an alternative to the power values of the Roman Empire. He presents the opposite of Roman power. God’s blessed people are the humble, the poor, the depressed, the meek, the grieving, the suffering, the downtrodden, the fearful, the lowly, the poor in spirit, the ones who yearn for God, the ones who hunger for righteousness, the pure in heart. These are the one who are dear to God. These are God’s beloved.

The Kingdom of God

The nine beatitudes describe the Kingdom of God. Can you see it? It’s the exact opposite of the Roman Empire. The Kingdom of God is the Roman Empire turned upside down. It’s an inverted social structure. God’s favor is found among the humble, not the arrogant. God’s favor is found among the persecuted, not the proud and powerful.

This is how Jesus introduces his Sermon on the Mount. Right at the beginning, he sets up this alternative value system, an inverted society, an upside-down value system, the opposite of the status quo, the opposite of the Roman value system.

And so, dear people, this is where we find ourselves, right here and now. Can you see it? Christianity, that is, the true Christianity, is a counter-cultural movement. It is a non-power movement, a peace movement, a love and compassion movement. Christianity has nothing to do with power and domination. And as we watch these days, as we watch our world get more and more brutal, more and more depraved, it is important to remember the core values of the Christian faith, that this faith stands opposed to the values of the world, this faith is an alternative to cruelty and domination. This faith is based not on hatred but on love and compassion. And it has always been so, from the very beginning, from Christ’s opening words in his Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

May it be so for us. Amen? Amen.