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First delivered Feb. 23, 2020
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr
This summer is the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Young people from around the world will watch the spectacle of the parade of nations at the opening ceremony. They will see the display of sheer joy of accomplishment on the faces of athletes who set records and win competitions. They will watch the majesty of the award ceremonies, when the bronze, silver, and gold medals are draped over the necks of the champions and the national anthem of the gold medal recipient is played. And as these young people watch the Games unfold, some of them will sense a stirring deep inside, a vision will be cast, they will find themselves dreaming that perhaps one day they will compete in the Olympics. They want the vision of the Olympics that unfolds before them to become their lived reality.
And so, for these young dreamers, these future athletes, they begin the grueling pursuit toward the vision of competing in the Olympics. It is that vision, the parade of nations, the joy of victory, the splendor of the awards ceremony, that keeps these young athletes motivated during the tough slog of training, of all the competitions, the losses, the injuries, the sacrifices, all in pursuit of experiencing the vision of the Olympics for themselves. Honestly, without having witnessed the Olympics for themselves, perhaps in person but most likely by watching on a screen, these young people would never have ventured on the path of Olympic glory. They needed to be captured by the vision before they would dare to step out on that journey of struggle.
As we watch these athletes perform at the 2020 Summer Olympics, often you will see them pause with their eyes closed. They may be taking a deep breath, or getting themselves centered. But I have heard also that just before they jump off the diving board or do that gymnastics floor routine, the athlete is playing in their mind the routine. They are imagining themselves doing a perfect run. It is as if they are conjuring up a vision of what they set out to perform, they see in their minds a flawless performance. Then they execute and hope that they perform just as they envisioned it to go. First the vision, then the execution.
Obviously, not all of us have the same ambition, drive and ability to pursue the vision of becoming an Olympic athlete. But as we make our journey through life, we all take on some major challenges, some dreams, that will require a good deal of work and sacrifice. Maybe the dream is to graduate from college or pursue a professional career. Maybe the dream is to serve in the military, or to start your own landscaping business. Maybe the dream is to purchase some land in the Smokey Mountains and build a log cabin to where you can escape from time to time. We all have dreams, significant life-goals that can be quite demanding. I have found that before starting on that quest, that pursuit of great ambitions, it helps to have a vision of what you are aiming for. You want to envision yourself running that landscaping business, or envision the life of a marine, or envision walking across the stage to receive your diploma, or envision what that little cabin in the woods will look like. It’s those visions of what you aim to achieve that motivates us to keep pushing through, knowing that al the pain and suffering, the risk and the failures, are all part of the process of achieving, making real, what you envision. It is the vision that motivates us not to give up when it’s hard.
Jesus and his disciples had been on a journey together for perhaps three years. They had been all through Galilee, stopping from town to town, where Jesus taught in the synagogue, went to dinner parties, visited people in their homes, healed the sick, cast out demons, worked miracles, you know, just an ordinary life. Having been together for a few years, Jesus wanted to know from his disciples what they thought of him. He asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” They replied, “Some say you are John the Baptist, others call you Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” And then Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?” Peter says, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus tells everyone to keep it among themselves, to not tell anyone that he is the messiah. That’s pretty curious. And then, Jesus starts talking about how they are going to go to Jerusalem, where Jesus will undergo great suffering and be crucified. Well, that’s too much for Peter to stomach. So, he pulls Jesus aside to rebuke him, saying “God forbid! This must never happen to you!” Jesus then rebukes Peter for trying to prevent him from fulfilling his purpose. Up to this point, the disciples’ journey with Jesus had been pretty cool. But now, things were going to get ugly. This journey was moving into a new phase that would test the disciples like they had never been tested.
Maybe, as a way to respond to the anxiety that Peter expressed, an anxiety that was likely shared by all the disciples after Jesus shared a description of what lay ahead, Jesus decided to take Peter, James and John with him and climb up a tall mountain. This was not a walk to clear their heads. Jesus was planning to reveal to these three disciples a glimpse of where all this was headed. Jesus decided to give them a vision.
What a vision it was! For a brief moment, God removed the veil between this world and the other world. The disciples got to see Jesus in his heavenly body, full of light, as he spoke with Moses and Elijah. It was a glimpse of the post-resurrection reality, that future time in which death has been vanquished. It was a moment outside of time really, a full-immersion vision of eternal life. Wow!
I can’t help but think that after having experienced this vision, Peter, James and John never saw Jesus the same way again. Whenever they looked at Jesus as they were walking down the road, or when Jesus was teaching, or joking around with the neighborhood kids, or having a heated conversation with Pharisees, that they would recall that vision, of how Jesus looked when he was filled with light. That vision was firmly planted in their minds. And when they saw Jesus beaten, abused, and hanging on a cross, and then watching his body being wrapped and placed in a tomb, surely that vision on the mountain top forced them to try to make sense of it all, to know deep down, hope beyond hope, that what appeared to be defeat was part of the journey to everlasting life. They knew that vision that Jesus gave them had to become reality. Not even death would stop it. Still, I can only imagine that Peter, James and John, and perhaps the rest of the disciples if they went on ahead and told everyone anyway, still struggled to make sense of how it was that the man they saw teaching, healing, casting out demons, who stood before them filled with light and having a conversation with Moses and Elijah, could die on a cross. How difficult it must have been to put the glorified Jesus and the crucified Jesus together.
As you may know, in a few days will come Ash Wednesday, a day that marks the beginning of our annual pilgrimage through Lent toward Easter. These forty days are set aside for us to take a journey inward, to explore how we are doing spiritually. And it is a journey outward, inviting us to especially be intentional to respond to the needs of others around us. This is a season that calls us to prepare ourselves so that when we arrive at the Passion week, when we relive the drama of that week, we can enter into that week wholeheartedly so that God can speak into our lives, so we can be reminded of the extent to which Jesus was willing to go so that death could be destroyed and we could be redeemed.
It seems fitting, then, that as we begin this journey toward Easter we are reminded of this vision of Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain top. This vision of the heavenly reality is what lays ahead of us, a vision of our own destiny, the experience that awaits us to have our bodies filled with light, when we will have our own conversations with Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and all our ancestors. It is this vision of the transfiguration that reminds us of what awaits us all.
These visions I have been talking about are clearly positive visions of the future: winning a gold medal, performing a perfect dive, getting a glimpse of heaven. These are visions that can’t help but motivate a person to push forward, to work toward that vision with patience, determination and hope for the future. These are visions that uplift and encourage. They are life giving.
Such positive visions are not automatic. Negative and depressing visions can also be conjured. Dystopian visions are available to us. For example, the vision that climate catastrophe is inevitable, that the planet will not be habitable by the end of this century. Or the vision that there is no ultimate meaning to life, that when we die, our light goes out and we fade into nothingness. Or the vision that nuclear annihilation is inevitable. There are all kinds of visions of despair available for our choosing.
Have you ever thought that the vision for the future we choose to embrace impacts how we live our lives now? Consider how you would live your life if you chose a vision of life beyond death or a vision of life as meaningless. How would you live if you held to a vision that was full of possibility or a vision full of doom and gloom? Absolutely, the vision we choose to live in to impacts our resilience when life gets hard. It impacts how much grit and determination we can call upon to push through. It influences our attitude toward life itself, either a pessimistic or optimistic attitude, depending on what we envision for the future.
Someone once said that when setting goals, begin with the end in mind. What are you aiming for? What does where you want to go look like? When planning for the future, setting those goals, mapping out our lives, it helps to have some clarity about where you want to end up. If you envision yourself helping people who are sick, then you can start mapping out the steps of how you will achieve that vision for yourself. If you envision living in a world where racism has been overcome, then you can ask yourself what one step you can take to contribute to the realizing of that vision. Making plans, setting goals and intentions, are all about achieving the vision you have placed before yourself.
This morning, as we remember the vision that Jesus gave the disciples, a glimpse of what post-resurrection life looks like, I invite you to take some time today and consider what visions you hold. Have a conversation with God. Ask God to reveal to you what God’s vision is for you. Perhaps God will use your imagination to give you a glimpse of what post-resurrection life looks like for you. In other words, ask God to stir in your imagination images of what heaven might be like. When I imagine heaven, I am always drawn to this image of a large meadow that you get to by walking through a forest of giant trees. The sky is dark blue and the sun is vibrant. On the horizon are snow capped mountains. Gathered in the meadow are countless numbers of people wearing white robes. The air is warm with a gentle breeze, pulsing with life. What images of heaven do you hold?
Whatever images you have received, hold them close. Bring them back up from time to time. Let those images work their magic on you, to stir the depths of your spirit, to give you some perspective of what matters, to trigger within you a sense of hope. It is our visions of what lies ahead that pulls us forward, that helps us make our way through the ups and downs of life until the time comes when our visions become lived reality.
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