Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

Mark 9:2-9

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them, ³ and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. ⁵ And Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁶ For he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid. ⁷ And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." ⁸ And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only. ⁹ And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead.

Focus and Function

Summary: Sin is disobeying God’s Law. Loving God and neighbor is the summation of this Law. So, whenever we do something that is not loving towards God and neighbor, we sin. This sin separates us from God. It breaks our relationship with God.

The Old Testament reveals the old way of re-establishing our relationship with God. God gave the ancient Israelites the Law which told them exactly what they needed to do in order to love God and neighbor. As long as they obeyed the Law, their love relationship with God would be re-established and maintained. The problem with this old way is that no one can live up to God’s standard of love on his/her own power. At some point, our sinful nature will get in the way. Our bitterness, anger, jealousies, prejudices etc… will keep us from fully loving God and neighbor. We can’t do it on our own. This old way did not work for the ancient Israelites and would not work for anyone. A new way had to be established.

The New Testament reveals the new way of re-establishing our relationship with God. This new way is grace through faith in Jesus Christ. As fully human and fully God, Jesus showed us what it looks like to live a sinless human life. He then went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. On the third day, He rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and evil on our behalf. Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, we are able to receive God’s forgiveness and have a restored relationship with Him. As people with a restored relationship with God, we receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts. The Holy Spirit begins the process of changing us and enabling us to fully love God and neighbor.

The story of the transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:2-9) demonstrates how the new way supersedes the old way. Moses and Elijah represent the old way and Jesus, who is Lord, brings in the new way. We no longer have to depend on our own power to live up to God’s Law of love. Embrace the new way. Repent and place your trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to transform and empower you to live up to God’s Law.

Function: To encourage the congregation to trust solely in God’s grace for their salvation and to allow God’s grace to transform them into the people God created them to be.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: People can’t always do things on their own

A. Often times, little children want to do things on their own that they are not capable of doing. They try as hard as they can but just can’t do it.

· My two year old son tries to sweep the floor. He succeeds in holding the broom and rubbing it on the floor, but that’s about it. The dirt is still on the floor when he’s through.

· My two year old son also tries to put on his own shoes but he can’t seem to get his feet lined up with the shoes. He is not yet able to do it on his own.

B. Sometimes, adults act like little children and try to do something on their own that they are ill equipped to do.

· When my infant daughter passed away I, of course, took some emergency leave. When my leave was over, I returned to my duties as an Army Intelligence Officer.

· When I returned to work, my unit was in the middle of a training exercise. My intelligence section was required to give a briefing on the enemy situation. Although I was still distraught and had no idea what was going on, I still insisted on giving the briefing myself. It turned out to be the worst briefing I ever had the displeasure of giving.

· I should have laid my ego aside and allowed my assistant to give the briefing. Like a little child, I was attempting to do something on my own that I was not capable of doing effectively.

C. When it comes to obeying God’s Law, we are like the little child who wants to do it him/herself.

· God’s Law is summed up by the two greatest commandments

1) Love the Lord God with all your hearts, souls and mind

2) Love your neighbor as yourself

· No matter how hard we try, we’ll never be able to perfectly follow the Law. We can be successful for a time, but at some point our sinful nature will get in the way. Our bitterness, hatreds, jealousies, prejudices, selfishness, greed, arrogance etc. will prevent us from totally following the Law.

· In order to successfully follow God’s Law, we must receive God’s empowerment. We must allow God’s grace to take the reigns of our hearts. In this way, God will change our hearts and empower us to overcome our sinful nature.

· This utter dependence on God is clearly shown through the difference between the Old and New Testaments.

II. The different ways of the Old and New Testaments

A. First, we must understand what sin is and what sin does

· What sin is: Sin is disobeying God. God’s Law is summed up by loving God and neighbor. Sin is doing something that is not loving towards God and neighbor. Oh, by the way, we all have sinned.

· What sin does: Sin separates us from God. It breaks up our relationship with God. We all have broken our relationship with God.

· God, however, still loves us and wants a re-stored relationship with us.

B. The Old Testament and the Law: The old way of restoring our relationship with God.

· God gave the ancient Israelites the Law which told them exactly what they needed to do in order to love God and neighbor. As long as they obeyed the Law, their love relationship with God would be re-established and maintained.

· The problem with this old way is that no one can live up to God’s standard of love on his/her own power. A new way had to be established

C. The New Testament: The New way for God to re-establish His relationship with us

· The new way is grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

· As fully human and fully God, Jesus showed us what it looks like to live a sinless human life. He then went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. On the third day, He rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and evil on our behalf.

· Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, we are able to receive God’s forgiveness and have a restored relationship with Him. As people with a restored relationship with God, we receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

· The Holy Spirit begins the process of changing us and enabling us to fully love God and neighbor.

III. Today’s passage, Mark 9:2-9, reveals the transition from the old way to the new way

· Moses and Elijah represent the old way and Jesus, who is Lord, ushers in the new way.

· When Peter offers to make tents for all three of them, he puts Moses, Elijah and Jesus on the same Level. God, however, corrects this misconception.

· God proclaims Jesus as His Son and commands Peter, John and James to listen to Him. At this point, Moses and Elijah disappears. Jesus is now the way to go.

IV. Conclusion

· We have a choice between the old way and the new way. Which do you choose?

· We no longer have to depend on our own power to live up to God’s Law of love. That’s the old way.

· Embrace the new way. Repent and place your trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to transform and empower you to live up to God’s Law.