Have you ever felt out of place? In 2020, a true story emerged when Bill, a services supervisor at a local Golf club was called to the scene of an errant driver out of place on the golf course. Thinking it was an actual golf club that was lost or misplaced, it was to his surprise that the errant driver was an actual human behind the wheel of an Amazon delivery truck that got stuck in a tunnel just large enough for a golf cart and nothing more. It’s obvious the Amazon driver wasn’t familiar with the golf course, let alone using common sense, but Bill, laughing while walking to the driver said, “You are most definitely between a rock and a hard place.” The driver ultimately blamed the GPS which led him to this location, and although this driver was definitely out of place, he was not only embarrassed in front of strangers, but he also received it more harshly from those who knew him at work. Laughing, calling him all sorts of humorous names. The driver truly felt out of place even to his friends and co-workers.
Humorous as this story sounds, it does pave the way to today’s message titled Its So Good To Be Here! Without a doubt, each of us, on this earth, both past and present, have and had a purpose and plan developed and even implemented for each of us, by the living God of all creation. And when God’s plan goes out of sync with our plan, then we start to experience what happened to the Amazon driver—getting lost, feeling out of place, and ultimately getting stuck. To be honest, it’s only natural to feel out of place when we are somewhere we either shouldn’t be, or are not ready to be! However, what we seem to forget is when God places us somewhere, it’s all in His ultimate plan for us to succeed in the end. Always remember, we serve a God who does not set us up for failure. And it’s this same emphasis that we find in todays scripture from the Gospel of Luke, on this Transfiguration Sunday of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In paraphrasing, we have Peter, James and John. Three disciples whom Jesus chose to go with Him upon the mountain to pray. They all got prepared to meditate, pray, make themselves ready to commune with God. So as Jesus Himself was praying, they saw something that has never been seen before! In scripture, there are two other places that have an account such as this, just in a different context, but the point here is to remember, what these three disciples are about to witness, no eyes has ever seen! Verse 29 says and while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. Now the word used here in Greek, metamorphothe, which is transfigured. Jesus’s face became different to the disciples. Not something they were expecting. Now their senses are heightened, maybe they are sort of afraid or even weary with excitement; whatever their feelings, they now are experiencing something else not expected in verse 30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Two heavy weight patriarchs of God have now come before them out of nowhere, speaking to Jesus, their master. This all is just hard to swallow! So much has happened and so much not understood.
Not too surprised, the disciples are becoming weary and tired; full of excitement, wonder and awe. Their carnal bodies just can’t seem to take it all in. Yet as scripture tells us, when they were fully awake, they saw Jesus Glory and the two men standing with Him. So up to this point, we have Jesus whom has been transfigured right before the eyes of the disciples. Two Patriarchs of the past talking with Jesus and then we have three disciples, humble servants of God, witnessing this awesome splendor of an event! And what happens next my friends, is what I would like for you to remember most of all in today’s message. Verse 33 And as these two men were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here?”
Let me ask you this question. Why would they ask such a thing? Jesus himself took them with Him to the mountain. This stands to reason that God already knew what was going to take place in the presence of these disciples, even if the disciples themselves had absolutely no idea. So why did they ask Jesus that question? This I believe we start seeing doubt, not so much in Jesus’ ability, but in God’s planning and purpose. In other words, who are we, forgiven sinners, to bear witness to such a tremendous event! Should we even be here?
But then, as if what had already happened wasn’t enough for the disciples, as Peter was speaking, verse 34 a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him! And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.” Notice again, Listen to Him, was God’s direct command!
This transfiguration stands for the test of time for all people, us included, as Peter himself wrote in his second letter For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a declaration as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” 18 and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. This gives us a clear declaration friends, that whatever we encounter, no matter how unsuitable we may feel or be, when God places you in that event or circumstance, “Listen To Jesus.”
Just think how beautiful it is to witness God’s miracles or even hear others talk about His loving grace to others. I have to tell you, we don’t have to go far from our homes to see God at work do we? Just look outside and see His handiwork and beauty. N. T. Wright says, “Our ordinary experiences of beauty are given to us to provide a clue to give us a starting point, a signpost, from which we move on to recognize, to glimpse, to be overwhelmed by, to adore, and so to worship, not just the majesty, but the beauty of God himself.”
In closing friends, if I was to ask you do you feel out of place in doing God’s work? Being in God’s house? Serving others even when you may be shunned, stared at and even ridiculed? The answer I would like for you to always remember, ITS SO GOOD TO BE HERE in serving and worshiping God, no matter where its at! You see friends, when we experience Christ in all His glory, even in our everyday lives, we are seeing the curtain being pulled back. The movie being presented before us. Even if we witnessed Christ’s own transfiguration before us, we need to always remember, ITS SO GOOD TO BE HERE! Never be ashamed of Christ. Never be absent from Christ. Never being alone without Christ. Sometimes in worship, we get more than we bargained for. Some Sundays, we come seeking some godly help with our very real earthly problems only to be surprised to receive something better that help with earthly problems. We receive nothing less than God.
“I came to church this morning seeking some support and friendship, expecting to spend some time with my friend Jesus. After that service, the music and all, I’ve realized that my Jesus is more even than my good friend.”
It’s awfully easy for our practice of church to morph into church being just a sort of sanctified ethical improvement society. We come here to church on Sunday mornings to receive instruction on how to be better boys and girls tomorrow on the playground. Church is where we come for a bit of an inspirational boost to help us make it through the week.
But then, by the grace of God, we are given certain precious moments when church becomes more than that. It is as if a veil is lifted, and for some bright, shining moment, we are given the ability to see that this gathering of thoroughly human people that we called church is nothing less than where God is. So no matter what my friends, every area of your life where God is, count it a blessing because ITS SO GOOD TO BE HERE with our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.