The sermon for January 16 was based on Matthew 17:1-9.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Confession, they say, is good for the soul. So I'm going to confess. I'm a control freak but... I'm a recovering control freak and, as such, I know a little something about the levels of this malady. At the very bottom are those who are so desperate for control that they seize control of the world around them. These are the people who come into your house as guests and rearrange your furnishings to suit themselves. You all know such people, some of you are such people. These folks seem always to be unaware that there other people on the planet.

Less desperate but more aggravating than these are the kind of control freaks that are always trying to control other people. They leave your couch where it is but tell you not to sit on it. You don't have to be in charge of anything to be this kind of person. If you are in charge you tend to micro-manage your subordinates. If you aren't in charge you tend to complain and second guess and backseat drive your neighbors nuts. In the next echelon are those of us who have managed to overcome the impulse to recreate the world and manipulate its inhabitants and have thereby confined our need to control to ourselves. We are the driven and self-disciplined. We are exploiters of opportunities. We leave your couch where it is and let you sit wherever you like but on the way home we think about what we might do to improve the state of furniture manufacture and design. There is no higher level. We are all control freaks at some level. We have different areas of obsession and different levels of intensity but we all want to make the world in our image.

We gravitate toward things that we can fix and affix. We want to control and establish things that will not change very much or will change only in ways that we desire. We see it marriage all the time. The women choose men they believe that can change in ways they desire and men marry women whom they hope will not change at all. In any event we prefer to deal with things we can manipulate. People with more emotional maturity prefer to work with feelings rather than reason. People with well developed intellects prefer to thoughts to feelings. People paralyzed by grief and anxiety prefer to eat or drink or exercise rather than make tough decisions. People who are socially insecure prefer to work with systems and institutions rather than relationships and so on. The point is that we prefer to deal with things we can control.

St. Peter, who is just like all the rest of us, did, on the Mount of Transfiguration, what all of us would do and have done. He got fixated on something beyond his ability to comprehend and tried to control it. He was in awe of Jesus' revelation and tried to capture that moment in time, to make it last forever by... building booths, little tabernacles. In hindsight it seems ridiculous and St. Mark and St. Luke do Peter the favor of recording that he didn't know what he was saying at the time. How could the majesty of the Transfiguration be captured by the construction of a hut?

Peter had missed the point of the Transfiguration. He was right to be awed by what he experienced. He was right to be reverent. He was right to want what he'd seen there to affect him forever. But he was so amazed by what he saw that he didn't take note of what he didn't see. In this glimpse of heaven on earth there aren't any buildings. There aren't any roads paved with gold. No one is described as wearing any signs of rank or authority to indicate the establishment of institutions. Jesus does not converse with Dr. Moses or Bishop Elijah. He simply speaks to His friends about His coming crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Six friends on a hilltop, that's all.

In what ways are we tempted to reduce the kingdom of heaven to a collection of mere huts? In other words, what is the kingdom of heaven all about? For some of you it's about big numbers, high attendance. For others it's about having the right kind of people in the pews. For a few of you it's about liturgical etiquette. For many it's about singing your favorite hymns and feeling those old familiar feelings. For some it is about the preservation of institutions and the creation of personal legacies. "I was a charter member of the parish. During my tenure we accomplished this and that." You recognize yourself in these descriptions don't you?

When we start doing things for the sake of other things we've missed the point. The kingdom of heaven is about Jesus Christ and the work He did to restore our relationship to Himself. Congregations come and go. Schools come and go. Synods come and go. Budgets and plans and rites and traditions are all tools with finite life-spans. To dedicate one's life to any particular institution or tool is as foolish as trying to capture the transfiguration with a booth. Tabernacles crumble, synods fragment, schools close, parishes disperse, traditions fade.

What never passes away are the people. God, in three persons, is eternal. He has always existed and will always exist. Human beings are immortal. We live in this world for a while and then we move on to the next world and live there forever. You need look no further than our Gospel to see proof of that. Both Moses and Elijah had been dead for many hundreds of years before they were seen, in person, by Peter, James and John. The relationship between God and His people is likewise unending. God's Word is not only inerrant but also unchanging.

I've often said that Peter was on the right track with his suggestion to build tabernacles. It's just that he was headed the wrong way. He wanted to capture the moment in a way He could create and control. He would build tabernacles and decorate them and interpret them for visitors. He would enshrine his experience and, whether he would admit it or not, himself. He wanted to cling to the promise of immortality offered to him on this mountain. He wanted to preserve the sight of Jesus in His glory. But it was God who was building something lasting in James and in John and in Peter himself. As always, Peter was tempted to do for himself what only God can do.

Jesus took Peter, James and John up on this mountain for a reason. He understands that we humans are physical beings. Unlike the angels, we are made of earth and breath air. Jesus became human Himself and knows what it is to want what we know in our hearts to be expressed in the substance of the world around us. Rocks crumble and wood rots. Jesus directs our attention elsewhere. He sets the air aquiver with the sound of His Holy Word proclaimed by human tongues. He gives us His own Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. These things are permanent. When the last of the cathedrals has collapsed, when the last synod is forgotten forever in the maelstrom of the final judgment, Jesus' Word will still ring out and His Body and Blood will still be in us and working for us.

He directs us away from the rusting and collapsing works of our own hands with the running water of Holy Baptism. Whether at the font or in the river or at the bell of a ship of the line God gives those who are baptized into His name a saving faith that even tough it cannot be seen can last for all time and is of more comfort to those who know what they have received than even the roof over our heads. In His own person, in His own Flesh and Blood Jesus has given us something tangible that will never perish. By giving us faith He extends that immortality to our own bodies. We who believe His promise that our sins are forgiven by grace through faith for His sake alone are promised a resurrection in which we will see Him in glory, face to face and with our own eyes. Just as did Peter, James, John and their fellow servants Moses and Elijah.

Today we receive into our midst three lovely new people. Today we also gather to tend to the affairs of the parish. We who have received and been reminded of our Baptism and been given the Body and Blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins should have no trouble remembering what is lasting and what is sure to pass away.

Whatsoever helps the people of God receive His Means of Grace according to His will is good for us, however unsatisfying it may be to the control freak in each of us. Whatever hinders the faithful proclamation of His Word and distribution of His Sacraments must be set aside, no matter how old and venerable the tradition surrounding it. All that matters to us are the people. Amen.

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008