Peter Didn't Want Him to Go

Scripture Lessons: Exodus 24: 12-18 and Matthew 17: 1-9 Sermon Title: Peter Didn’t Want Him to Go Preached on February 19, 2023 Many of you know Robert Hay, Jr. He is a child of this church who now works for the Presbyterian Foundation, a financial institution that serves Presbyterian Churches throughout the Southeast and helps them finance building campaigns or plan for their next stewardship seasons. He is also one of Rev. Robert Hay, Sr.’s two sons. Many of you know Robert Hay, Sr. He was an associate pastor here, working with our youth group for several years back in the 1990’s. If I were to name the top five people who shaped and changed me so that I became the person I am today, Rev. Robert Hay, Sr. would be at the top of that list because of the influence he had on me while I was in this church’s youth group. That’s what I was telling a man sitting next to me a few years ago at a conference that Robert Hay, Jr. and I were both attending. I wanted this man to know how Robert and I knew each other and that we’ve known each other for a long time. Then Robert said, to introduce me to this man, “If we were to look back on that time and name the top five kids from that youth group who we thought were least likely to become Presbyterian ministers, I’m not saying that Joe would be at the top of that list, but he would certainly be in the top five.” Now, how could I go from Robert’s list of the top five least likely to become Presbyterian ministers to becoming one? Well, people change. I’ve changed. You’ve changed. The revival in Kentucky happening right now reminds me that God acts in our lives, and if we step out in faith, we may move away from the people we were and toward the people we’re called to be. Remember, though, not everyone wants us to go. It’s been said by old country preachers that “God loves you as you are, but God loves you too much to want you to remain as you are.” God’s love calls us to change. God loves us too much to allow us to stay right where we are, and this morning I want to preach about the problem this change causes in our relationships, for the minute we start changing, we often hit a wall in the form of people who are afraid they’ll lose us if we change. I remember Rev. Robert Hay, Sr. once saying that sometimes for high school students to turn over a new leaf, to get out of trouble, and to get away from drugs or alcohol, they must change their playmates and find a new playground. Surely their old playmates didn’t want to see them go, but this is the cost of change, this is the cost of discipleship, stepping away from people who don’t want us to grow and change. I’ve told you before that years ago I would skip confirmation class. My friends and I would get dropped off by our parents, walk through the glass doors, wait for them to drive off, and walk back out of the church to socialize along the railroad tracks. There wasn’t much to do, but it was fun to be with my friends. In fact, at some point, I started to feel guilty about not being in confirmation class; however, going to class would mean risking my friends’ acceptance. If I walked away from them and went to class, would they still like me? If I walked away, would I still have a place in their circle? Likewise, Peter didn’t want Jesus to go, and surely there were some of my friends who didn’t want me to go either, so I told them I was going to use the bathroom and would be back, only then wandered back into confirmation class. Bob Bomar, one of the confirmation class teachers, welcomed me in, no questions asked. I’ll never forget that. When he died just weeks ago, I thought about how he had been there to help me make the hard choice to be changed, to be transfigured, to do something different from what my friends wanted me to do, and to be someone different than who my friends knew me to be. I want you to know that Peter didn’t want Jesus to change; Peter wanted Jesus to stay the same, but God provided Moses and Elijah to help Jesus become who He was called to be. Jesus was up on top of a mountain with Peter and James and His brother John. While there, Jesus was transfigured before them, His clothes became dazzling white. Next to Him were Moses and Elijah, both known to be long dead. I heard a Sunday school teacher ask, “How did the disciples know they were Moses and Elijah?” And someone from the class shouted out, “Maybe they had on nametags.” I don’t know that they did, yet while this story is supernatural, and while you may have never heard of Transfiguration Sunday before today, think with me about how many movies have copied this exact scene where the hero must do something that takes great courage. In Harry Potter, right before our hero goes to face the evil Voldemort, do you remember who shows up to help him? He’s all by himself, prepared to turn himself over to the Dark Lord in the hopes of saving his friends. Alone in the woods, he says the words, “I’m ready to die,” and out from a golden ball comes the resurrection stone. His mother, long dead, appears to say, “You’ve been so brave, Sweetheart.” He asks the godfather who slipped away right in front of him, “Does it hurt, dying?” He hears his father say, “You’re nearly there, Son.” One final look at all of them, he pleads, “You’ll stay with me?” and one points to his heart, saying, “We never left.” The same thing happens in Star Wars. Do you remember? Before Luke Skywalker goes to fight Darth Vader, who shows up to encourage him? Dead people. Obi-Wan Kenobi, long dead, shows up glowing and dazzling white, but before I go on to reveal how many more sci-fi/fantasy movies I’ve paid too much attention to, let me get to the point: When heroes face impossible tasks and the encouragement comes from people long dead and dazzling white, remember this moment from the Gospel of Matthew, this Transfiguration. That’s where the authors and directors got it from, for just before Jesus takes His first steps towards Jerusalem, Moses and Elijah show up to encourage Him. Why them? Why Moses and Elijah? I tell you, someone had to help Jesus because Peter certainly wasn’t going to do it. Peter didn’t want Him to go. Something about the whole experience made Peter say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, up on top of this mountain, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Why would Peter say such a thing? What I assume is that suddenly it became obvious to Peter that Jesus was even more than a teacher, even more than a miracle worker, and perhaps He would even have to do what He just said He would do: go to Jerusalem to be crucified. If you notice, our second Scripture lesson began: “six days later.” Six days later from what? If you look up this passage and read just two paragraphs up, you’ll read that the Transfiguration occurs six days from the moment Jesus told them He’d have to go to Jerusalem to be crucified, and they, if they were really His disciples, would take up their cross right with Him, so suddenly, it seems to Peter that Jesus is who He says He is, that He will be going through with this plan to be crucified, and if he, Peter, is really one of the disciples, he must go face death along with Him. Whoa! Wait a minute! Peter didn’t want Him to go. Once Peter realized that Jesus was serious, Peter didn’t want Him to go. It was about the same with Moses. Moses takes center stage in our first Scripture lesson. I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “Even Moses started out as a basket case.” That’s true. He did. Born into a family of enslaved Hebrew people, Moses was placed in a basket by the mother who loved him so much that she made every effort to save him from an early death by the hand of his people’s oppressors. He floated down the river in that basket and was saved by Pharaoh’s daughter. Through a series of other miracles, he became a leader of the Hebrew people, leading them from slavery and into the Promised Land. In today’s first Scripture Lesson, he was up on a mountain with God for forty days and forty nights. Maybe you remember that he came down from the mountain changed by this experience. His skin was glowing. He was transfigured. The way he looked was different just as it was with Jesus. However, maybe you remember that while Moses is changing, so many of the Hebrew people are staying the same. Will you be changed? Peter wanted Jesus to stay, asking, “Why don’t we just stay right here? I’ll build three dwellings: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Come on, Peter. No one gets to stay on the mountain top, do they? No. We all must be changed. I have five friends from college I get together with for one weekend every year. One is a lawyer. One is a counselor. One is in sales. One works for BMW. Two of us are Presbyterian ministers. Every time we get together, I remember sitting in our old townhouse for the very last time. We had just graduated. We had to clear out, and I knew that nothing would ever be the same. Peter didn’t want Jesus to go. Do you know why? My dad told me that he remembers the moment I drove out of the driveway at 16 years old. He said he thought to himself, “There he goes.” Peter didn’t want Him to go. Do you know why? My mother helped her father move from his house to independent living at the Presbyterian Village, then from independent living to assisting living, and then from assisted living to memory care. Every move, there was less stuff to take. Every time he moved, he was closer to the end. Peter didn’t want Him to go. Do you know why? I remember at the end of the school year having friends write in my yearbook, “Don’t ever change.” Do you remember that? Do you remember wishing that nothing would ever change? Yet everything changes. Change is the constant. We cannot make for ourselves and the people we love shelters on mountaintops because the world keeps on spinning, the Spirit keeps on calling, and our hearts push us onward, so Jesus walks down from the mountain. Peter didn’t want Him to go. Yet Jesus walked down from the mountain, and every step He took from this point on brought Him closer to His death. More than that, every step He took brought Him closer to His purpose. While Peter didn’t want Him to go, Peter needed Him to go. As He moves toward the cross, He proves to us that the death we fear is not the end, but our destiny. Our salvation. Our redemption. Forward and not behind is the pathway to eternal life. But will you have the courage to go with Him? Amen.