The sermon title was determined when I planned the sermon series. Originally, the sermon was supposed to tie Valentine's Day, Transfiguration Sunday, and the last sermon in the sermon series on Paul's letters to Corinth. My thinking then was to start with how Valentine's Day often feels like a "prove it" day, we are supposed to prove our love. Then, I was going to segue into the resurrection as proof of how Christ is the light in the darkness. In doing the sermon prep, I dropped the Valentine's Day part of the sermon and ended up with a sermon that has little to do with the title.
Due to weather issues, this sermon was also preached on Zoom from my house. Knowing that, I tried to shorten and simplify the sermon to just a couple of images. I think it tightened up the sermon and improved it.
“Prove It” February 14, 2021; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp; 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6; Mark 9: 29-39
2 Corinthians 4: 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Introduction:
An image from the mountaintop; and a couple of images from Corinth on Transfiguration Sunday and the final Sunday of our sermon series from Corinth.
Move 1: Glorious transfiguration
a. Amidst the shining glory, the mountaintop has it all.
a. Moses and Elijah are often thought to represent the law and the prophets;
1. Let’s face it, Moses ascending Mt. Sinai to encounter God and receive the Ten Commandments and Elijah being swept up God on a chariot of fire are two of the lasting images from the Old Testament
2. WE might also note that and in Jewish tradition the mysterious circumstances of Moses’ death on Mount Nebo (Deut 34.5–6) and Elijah’s being taken up to God on a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2.11) earned them the title of ‘the deathless ones’. (https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/what-is-transfigured-in-mark-9/; February 10, 2021 by Ian Paul)
3. On the mountaintop described in the Gsoepl fo Mark today, add the image of Jesus transfigured before the disciples very eyes.
4. A hint of what is yet to come for Jesus, who has just been declared God’s Beloved Son.
5. An image of glory, revealing from the heavens the truth of whom Jesus is and setting the stage for what was yet to come - crucifixion and resurrection.
b. First, Peter suggests they remain the mountain.
1. Build some booths and stay awhile amidst all the glory.
2. But Jesus takes them down the mountain, back to the world that must be served and saved.
c. Surely, the disciples cannot wait to share with everyone what has happened on the mountaintop.
1. But Jesus commands them to remain silent until….until after his death and resurrection.
2. the disciples do not understand his words in the moment, but after the resurrected Christ appears, they will have their “aha” moment.
3. The glory of God in Christ’s resurrection outshines Moses and Elijah.
4. The glory of God transforms the law and the prophets into grace and salvation.
5. The glory of God in Christ Jesus shines light into the darkness of the world.
Move 3: Back to Corinth, where Paul is trying to help these early Christians understand what God has done.
a. God has shone in our hearts the light that cannot be overcome.
2. In Christ, we see God’s glory as never seen before.
3. Paula Works, a New Testament scholar, gives us the image I shared with the Young Disciples.
4. The law, the rules, the things the Jewish tradition put forth that needed to be done as God’s people was like a flashlight shining in the darkness.
The law gave some light; the law revealed some of who God is, but in the darkness of the world the flashlight was just a single beam of light.
A single beam of light easily kept out by the veils the world puts over our eyes.
5. But the light of Christ is like all of daylight, transforming the darkness of the night into the glory of God.
6. Suddenly, the single beam of law is seen for its limitations, its fading light that cannot sustain itself in the darkness of the world.
7. But the glory of God in Christ lights the darkness of the world with a light that cannot be overcome.
8. The light of Christ that grows as witnesses like those Christians in Corinth, like we today, who are being transformed into Christ’s likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18).) (Carla Works
Associate Professor in New Testament
Wesley Theological Seminary
Washington, D.C., USA; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/transfiguration-of-our-lord-2/commentary-on-2-corinthians-43-6-3
Move 3: Our obligation once we have seen the light of Christ? To proclaim the gospel in the world.
a. Speak the truth of light in the darkness.
1. The world has many who are blinded by the veils.
2. We can name numerous veils:
the lust for power the sees others as tools to be used
the concern for only ourselves
the inability to believe we can be loved
the racism and prejudice that separate us from others
the refusal to accept God’s grace
the unwillingness to believe that God has enough love for everyone, so we do not need to keep it to ourselves
3. We see the shadows and darkness that arise in our world.
b. And to the darkness we invite the light of Christ.
1. The light of Christ fueled by the power of God to resurrect and God’s power to transform us into new creations.
2. We proclaim not ourselves, but Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the resurrected one, whose glory still shines.
Conclusion: As we sang in our first hymn, “now is the kingdom, and now is the day.”
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