Second Sunday of Lent, March 13, 2022 – Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:20-4:1; Luke 9:28B-36

Once upon a time. And they lived happily ever after. Those literary gimmicks are called tropes. The first one tells us what we're about to hear, that it's a fairy tale. The second one tells us the story is over, even if it's really not. The “Peanuts” comic strip used to use a goof on one of those tropes. Every now and then there'd be a series of comic strips where Snoopy would decide to write his great novel. But it would always begin the same way with him at a typewriter the balloon would say, “It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly a shot rang out. Somebody screamed.” In the westerns of the 1940s and 50s, there were tropes that were embedded in the visuals. Bad guys almost always wore black hats, especially in the days before colored movies. And good guys almost always wore white hats. But the other tell was the bad guy almost always had a small bristly mustache and all the good guys in all the Western movies were almost always clean shaven in the forties, fifties, and sixties. That told you, when you looked at the screen, who to root for and who to hiss at.

As you might expect, there are tropes in scripture as well. We have a whole bunch of them in today's gospel. Before we talk about what the tropes are, we have to understand where this story is placed in the bigger story. What has just happened before today's reading is that Peter, speaking for the other eleven, has testified to the fact that they all believe Jesus is the expected Messiah. But for devout Jews, the expected Messiah would have been a political and military hero. So, immediately after Peter’s bold statement, Jesus tells them He’s going to Jerusalem to die. Not only do they object, but they don't understand what He’s talking about. It doesn't fit their trope of Messiah. Then in comes today's story. And after today's story, as they go back down and join their comrades, they walk into a hornet's nest of dispute. Someone has brought a person possessed, hoping that Jesus will cure him. In Jesus’ absence, the other eleven took a whack at it and were unsuccessful. When Jesus arrives, the man's family begs Him to do what the disciples could not do, and Jesus gets angry. He says, “How long do I have to put up with you people? Bring him here to me. And just with a word He cures the man. The disciples gather around Jesus and say, “How come we couldn't do that?” And Jesus says, “Because some things can only be accomplished by prayer and fasting.”

So now, what are the tropes in the Old Testament? Whenever there is an encounter between the divine and the human, it almost always takes place high on a mountain. The person who has the encounter almost always is changed in appearance. Moses, whenever he came out of the tent of meeting, was so shining that people had to look away, or put gauze over their eyes, before they could talk face-to-face with Moses. The person that has the divine encounter almost always does some great thing, but almost always ends in tragedy. And so, Elijah and Moses are two tropes for Jesus because Moses won a victory over the most powerful overlord in ancient history at that time, the pharaoh. And yet, after forty years of dithering around in the desert, and the people finally found the place they wanted to live, they left Moses behind. His great heartbreak is how he ended his life. Elijah confronted King Ahab and Queen Jezebel for their infidelity and won a great victory and had all of the prophets of the Baal slaughtered, a great massive victory, a bloody victory, but Elijah wound up having to hand over his mantle of power to a mere servant, Elisha. He was taken up in a whirlwind of fire. No one knows where he went. No knows where Moses went. No one knows where Jesus is going. That's the story.

 I said last week that I wanted you to walk with Jesus during Lent, rather than intellectualizing the things and scriptures, imagine that you're part of them. And so, on this particular occasion, Jesus invites you to take a walk with Him. Almost always, in scripture, divine events take place in high places. And so, you're walking up a hill. As you walk, you're talking. Maybe talking about the mysterious thing that Jesus has said about His dying that you don't understand. Or maybe arguing about what exactly is going to happen for Jesus to conquer the Romans. Who knows what you’re talking about. But as you walk and talk, you begin to be aware that your friend, Jesus, seems different somehow. You come to a spot that's a natural resting place and you all sit down. And, all of a sudden, there are two strangers in your midst. Now, you don't know they’re Moses and Elijah. Nobody knows who they are except Jesus, as the divine Son of God. But Jesus doesn't turn around to Moses and say, “Moses, this is Peter, James, and John. Elijah, I want you to meet Peter, James, and John. Peter, James, and John, Elijah. Peter, James, and John…” There's no introduction. We're just expected to know who they are. And what they talk about is Jesus’ death. They call it his Exodus. Just like Moses had an Exodus that began in triumph and ended in sorrow. And Elijah had an Exodus that began in triumph and ended in sorrow. They tell Jesus that His trip to Jerusalem will end in sorrow. And maybe, maybe, even Jesus does not really understand what they're talking about. He only recognizes that tragedy lies ahead. But you and I, we do not recognize that.

In each of the accounts of the Transfiguration, the disciples become afraid for a different reason. One story says that they become afraid when Jesus changes in appearance. Well, that would do it for me. One story says they became afraid when they entered the cloud. This story says they became afraid when they heard the voice. And the voice says, “There is only One to listen to. Just one. My beloved Son.” And then they are able to see Jesus clearly. He’s there alone. And He’s just like they are. He’s just like you and me. He’s the man filled with courage, filled with a plan, filled with doubts, filled with fear. And we all go walking back to our comrades. And they too are confused, because life is difficult, and prayer is difficult, and faith is difficult. Each of us also has an Exodus. Each of us will have, in every part of our life, a time of triumph that will almost always end in sorrow.

And so, as we move deeper into Lent, let us continue to walk with Jesus and try to hear only Him.