Luke 9:28-36

Last Sunday, when Pastor Paul preached on these verses (as well as others that follow), God’s word was revealed to me in a new way. I always knew that disciples Peter, James and John were sleepy during the Transfiguration but I never thought that they were actually asleep when the change happened and when Moses and Elijah appeared. Wow! They slept through it! The scripture says that when they were “fully awake they saw his glory and the two men standing there.” The three disciples were left to try to put the pieces together of what had just happened.

You may have experienced this feeling before; startled awake only to not be sure where you are or what just happened. Probably no incident on earth expresses this better that the sudden appearance of flashing lights in you rear view mirror. You glance at the speedometer. “What did I do? How fast was I going? How long has he been there? Where is my registration? Should I pull over or just wait to see if he passes?”

Perhaps like the disciples you were caught napping. Can’t you imagine the disciples startled awake saying, “What is that light? Is that Jesus? Why does he look different? Who are those guys standing with him?”

Highway patrolmen will tell you that they have heard extremely lame excuses when they pull over a car. “Officer I was speeding because I was about to run out of gas; I’m late for my wedding; I thought you wanted me to speed up.”   Peter’s response was pretty lame too: (paraphrasing) “Hey boss, good thing we’re here. We can set up camp for you and Moses and Elijah.” Then when the cloud descended and God spoke, the disciples (wisely, I believe) kept quiet. 

Jesus gave these three disciples the unprecedented opportunity to witness His preparation for the events that would soon come. They missed the conference between Jesus and these revered prophets. They missed this because they gave in to their bodily desire for sleep.

What are we missing because we give in to earthly desires? Are we missing the glory of God shining in our everyday lives? Get up early one morning to watch the sunrise. Don’t schedule a meeting the same time as you kid’s ball game. Give up a day of fishing for a day at the soup kitchen. While writing out checks for your bills write out one for the Mexico Mission. Pause between the car and the house at the end of the day and listen to the sounds of the neighborhood. God’s glory shines like a blinding light all around us. We just need to wake up to see it.

Dear Father, open my eyes that I may see your glory. Give me strength that I will not be caught napping again; that I won’t give in to the temptations all around while there is work to be done for your kingdom. Lord, open my eyes that I may experience the beauty of your world. Amen

--Ben Ball