“Connecting with Jesus, One Another, and Others in the Unconditional Love of Our God (Together, in a variety of ways)” “Being Clear About Our Love Identity” – Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Luke 9:28-36
On the campus of Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, there is a statue of Booker T. Washington standing over a slave and lifting a veil “…so that the light of education can strike his face.” The slave has a book in one hand and uses the other to help lift the veil. In the eyes of the slave, one sees hope. The caption under the statue reads, “He [Booker T. Washington] lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry.”[1] Yes, connecting with Jesus, one another, and others in the unconditional love of God lifts the veils that blind humanity from displaying the glory of God in word and deed. Yes, the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 25 come alive in human lives.
Like Booker T. Washington, followers of Jesus are to lift veils and live with unveiled boldness. Michael Horton in his book A Better Way writes, “Today people want to see God. Not content with hearing God’s Word, they want to see God’s glory.”[2] Today is Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday. The glory of God was shown to Peter, James, and John that day twenty centuries ago. Like then, but today even more so, people want to see the glory of the Lord.
In Luke 9:28-36, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than any amount of bleach could produce. Elijah and Moses were talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” But a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.”[3] The disciples looked and only Jesus remained.
In 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Paul utilizes the Old Testament story about the veil of Moses as an analogy to talk about the Christian life. He focuses our religious memory back to the scene where Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the tablets of stone on which were chiseled the Ten Commandments. You recall this story in Exodus 34:29-35. The people focused not on the tablets, but on the face of Moses. Moses’ appearance had been shaped by his experience with God. Just as the Hebrews looked at Moses and knew he had been talking with God, so people should be able to see in the face of Christians evidence that we have been with Jesus.
Unfortunately, that has not always been the case. Many of our doctrines have become veils which systematize the faith and often hide the love of God. Christians must not hide behind the veils of doctrine and practice. In a country where the disparity between rich and poor is growing and children die of the effects of poverty, a veiled faith will not work. We must do more than discuss hunger, deliberate on the crises facing immigrants and refugees, debate the ethical demands of being homeless, explore the reasons presented for why members of the LGBTQ+ community are the way they are, and pay lip service to racism, sexism, and ageism.
The lesson of the Transfiguration is this: if we have experienced salvation in and through Jesus Christ, then we are to live with veils removed, engaging the needs of society, and partnering with others to make systemic change. The Transfiguration teaches us that when captivated by the very presence of God we are not to veil that experience and hide it from others. To the contrary, we are to go into Wichita with the good news that in Jesus Christ life is inclusive of people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, the rich, the poor, the mentally and physically challenged, the hungry, the immigrant, the refugee, and the homeless.
Look at the Table. See the body and blood of Jesus given and poured out for you. Look at the Table and see unconditional love not held back, but freely shared. Live with boldness characterized by love for God and others because you have been changed and continue to be changed by the Word, living, and written. Veils come off, one by one. The poor, LGBTQ+ community, wealthy, immigrant, refugee, hungry, homeless, racist, sexist, and ageist are encountered by God. Live out your love identity. Yes, you are the best Jesus someone sees. Amen!
This sermon was preached on Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday,
2 March 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary
at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas
Copyright Ó 2025
Steven M. Marsh
All rights reserved.
[1]Adapted from Robert Warden Prim in David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1(Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 451.
[2]Michael Horton, A Better Way (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2002), 36.
[3]Luke 9:33 and 35
