Hero of the Faith

Sailing on open water is one of my favorite adventures. When you’re under full sail and no motor it’s as if the very breath of God is pushing you along. You can feel the power of God as the deck moves beneath your bare feet, and it’s at once exhilarating and relaxing.

Unless you’re in a storm like the one my wife and I were caught in a few years back in the Florida Keys.

A large storm front predicted to be farther north changed direction and suddenly the power on display beneath my bare feet was not at all relaxing, but cry-for-your-mamma frightening. The boat was slamming the water hard and dramatically listing (leaning left and right for you landlubbers) as we rode the eight foot swells. The sails slapped, the mast moaned, and the rain came in sideways. Fun was suddenly folly. “Relaxing” soon became “sea sick” that took two weeks to wear off. All we could do was curl up in the cockpit hoping for leviathan to dine while the captain and first mate chuckled at us. Some sailing super hero I was.

That trip is a living story for me about how God’s power is sometimes pleasant, but up close it can be terrifying. We Christians sometimes say that we’d like to have the clarity of the burning bush experience of Moses, but I wonder: Do we really want to be that close to the utter and annihilating power of the deity? Would we know what to do with that experience if it happened to us?

Peter, James, and John got to answer this question.

In Matthew 17 we’re told about how they went up the mountain alone with Jesus and had an amazing experience wherein Jesus was transfigured and the utter power of God was all around them. Not surprisingly, the disciples don’t know what to make of it. They saw Jesus talking to their Jewish heroes, Moses and Elijah, and that Jesus’ face was lit up like the sun. They watched the blinding power of God in the transfiguration of Jesus and these disciples gained a new hero in their rabbi Jesus.

They witnessed the deity of their rabbi, and much like my experience with the power of the wind and water, they saw the raw power of the gentle shepherd. Appropriately, they fell down to the ground afraid. But Jesus didn’t leave them there, take note! His first post-transfigured act is to go to them, and touch them, and say, “Get up and do not be afraid.” By going to his closest friends who are fallen in fear, Jesus seems to be saying that a hero of the faith is one who extends care to others caught in fear.

And by doing so, it leaves me to wonder: was the transfiguration all about Jesus, or could it also be about the real power he gives to his followers – then and now – to conduct acts of love and care on behalf of the transfigured One? If so, how can we use that power in heroic fashion? I’ll try to answer that question this Sunday in a sermon called See a Hero – Be a Hero. Come worship with us at 10:45 and be encouraged. You just might find you’re more heroic than you think.

I see your cape,
Pastor Gary

Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly column by me, Gary Long. I write this as a part of my duties as the pastor of a great community church called Willow Meadows Baptist Church. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to this email by contacting me directly at http://webmail.logixonline.com/images/blank.png.

Matthew 17.1-9 – New International Version

1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."