SERMON: Matthew 17:1-13, Transfiguration Sunday, And Christ's Glory

I should probably set the stage to help you understand where I'm coming from today.

This was my Twitter rant following this morning's church service...

Service started w/song followed by 15 min of "announcements" before service resumed w/barely 5 sec of "silence to confess your sins" #Ugh
— LutheranLayman (@LutheranLayman) March 2, 2014

 

Visiting Pastor then made Matt 17:5 a sermon about "Vision Casting" for each and every one of us as well as for the congregation! #Ugh
— LutheranLayman (@LutheranLayman) March 2, 2014

 

Much talk of "Mountaintop Exper" and did you know Jesus needed to "renew His vision" or that "our glory is defined in our service"? #Ugh
— LutheranLayman (@LutheranLayman) March 2, 2014

 

Christians like me are the "problem" in the LCMS today though because we want to insist on pure doctrine from our Pastors (Acts 17:11). #Ugh
— LutheranLayman (@LutheranLayman) March 2, 2014

The sad reality? I have to come on Twitter/FB to find faithful brothers/sisters. Bringing this up at my church is "D-I-V-I-S-I-V-E" #Ugh
— LutheranLayman (@LutheranLayman) March 2, 2014

Yeah, that all really happened at my church this morning.

I should've known I was in for a treat when the Visiting Pastor with 40+ years of experience in ministry began his sermon by admitting to us from the pulpit...

"I still don't quite understand this text at all after all these years."

Commence eye roll, head shake, sigh, and face in palms.

Forgive me, but today's text and the sermon based on it should be one of the most comforting and freeing presentations of the Gospel (and easy to deliver as such!), IMHO.

It's just so heartbreaking, because I left church feeling M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E (my wife even noticed!) over the thought that His Word and the Divine Service can be perverted in such a way so consistently week-after-week, and yet, it's the only LCMS Church I can find in the area that actually has kept the Creeds and still administers the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

What is a Lutheran layman like me to do!?! I tried bringing all of this up in casual conversation recently with another dear brother in Christ there and was promptly given the "You're being D-I-V-I-S-I-V-E!!!" reply. Of course, if I ever chose to keep my family home to listen to Biblical sermons each week, then I'm depriving them of the Lord's Supper and will surely be accused of being a "Lone Wolf" I'm sure (again, Christians like me are the "problem").

I know I'm not alone in these circumstances, but it's just sad that I can only find fellowship with faithful brothers and sisters in Christ (who are also not afraid to confess that they are Lutherans) on Facebook and Twitter.

Ok, so I will be the first to admit that sounding off on Twitter and Facebook probably isn't the best course of action like I did as evidenced by my embedded Tweets above.

At the same time, I'm kinda glad that I did because I tripped over a sermon that someone else shared on Facebook by Pastor Tony Sikora for this Transfiguration Sunday and it was EVERYTHING that I needed to hear!

To put it another way, it was EVERYTHING that my dear brothers and sisters in Christ at my local church need to hear too after this morning's mess, and so below is what I posted on my Facebook page hoping and praying they'll (and you'll) check it out.

SERMON: Matthew 17:1-13, Transfiguration Sunday, And Christ's Glory

This is an EXCELLENT sermon by Pastor Tony Sikora that I wish we all would've heard this morning on this "Transfiguration Sunday" because Matthew 17:1-13 is not about "Vision Casting" much less about our glory (a "Theology of Glory") as it is about Jesus Christ's glory (a "Theology of the Cross") for you. You will be broken, built up, and comforted by the Law and the Gospel, and also encouraged to go out and serve your neighbor in love by the faithful Lutheran preaching in these 19 minutes!

I apologize that it links directly to my Facebook page where the sermon is highlighted, but I'm still waiting for a hyperlink and/or an embed code that I can use so that you can access it from here without having to go through Facebook.

By the way, please feel free to connect with me on Facebook and to chime in on some recent discussions you find there too.

In a Lutheran layman's terms, Transfiguration Sunday is all about Christ's glory and not our own.

[NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Finally, you might discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog definitely fall into that category since I was a Lutheran-In-Name-Only at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. I decided to leave those published posts up only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time and help. Grace and peace to you and yours!]

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