On
the Way
Matthew
17:1-9[1]
It’s no secret that
there are many different views of what the Christian faith is all about. That’s
why there are so many different kinds of churches. One area where this is most
apparent concerns how one becomes a Christian. There are many who insist that a
person must experience a dramatic, perhaps even emotional, change like the one
St. Paul had on the Damascus road. Those who embrace this viewpoint will
typically ask you if you can point to a specific date when you were “saved.” If
you can’t, you’re not a Christian in their eyes. There are many people out
there who would say that whole branches of churches are full of people who
aren’t truly Christian because their commitment to faith in Jesus didn’t happen
this way.
On the other hand, I
would have to say that the spiritual guides I’ve found to be most reliable
speak of becoming a Christian as a process that lasts a lifetime. They
understand faith more as a journey than a one-time commitment. And, in fact,
when Jesus called his disciples to deny themselves and follow him, in Luke’s
version he says “take up your cross daily” (Lk. 9:23). That certainly points to
more than a one-time commitment. I think the truth of the matter is that
different people have different experiences with faith. The important thing is
to keep faith growing.
Our gospel lesson for
today recounts one of the steps in the faith journey of Jesus’ own disciples.
We might be tempted to think that, since they walked and talked and ate and
drank with him, they had everything they needed in the way of faith right from
the start. But if you read the gospels carefully, you find that they were on
their own faith journey. In some of their earliest encounters with Jesus, we
find the apostles asking themselves “who is this man” who did and said the things
he did. At times they tried to fit him into the box of their idea of what a
“Messiah” was supposed to be. There were, however, a number of times when it
seemed that the “light came on” for them. They got a clear glimpse of Jesus,
and began to have an understanding of who he was and what he was about.
The story of Jesus’
transfiguration is one step in that journey. Peter, James, and John literally
got quite an “eyeful,” seeing Jesus’ physical appearance actually changed and
seeing Moses and Elijah speaking with him. I don’t think they understood what
was happening at the time. Peter even wanted to “camp out” on the mountain.
Later, they remembered this experience as a kind of “preview” of Jesus’
resurrection. Even though they were amazed and baffled by it, the
transfiguration was a major step on their way to faith in Jesus.
As hard as it may be
for us to grasp, the gospels show that Jesus’ own disciples didn’t fully
understand who he was and what he was about until after he had risen from the
dead. He warned them that he would be rejected and killed, and their faith
wasn’t strong enough to even hear his words. He warned them that they also
would suffer for his sake, and that they would all abandon him. But I doubt
they could even process what they were hearing at the time. They were on their
own faith journey, and it was one that would lead them their failure to
stand by him, and to witness his death on the cross. But it would also lead
them to become eyewitnesses of his resurrection!
These days, even many
of us who profess that faith is a journey have a strange view of how that takes
place. We seem to think that once you’ve completed confirmation class you’ve
learned everything you need. We view Christian education, Bible Study, and
Sunday School as primarily for children. But life teaches us that faith doesn’t
work that way. Faith isn’t something that you learn as a child and then tuck
away in a keepsake box somewhere. It’s a journey that lasts our whole lives. We
never stop needing to continue to learn what it means to follow Jesus. We never
stop needing to grow in our faith. Like Jesus’ own disciples, we often have
“high points” in our faith journey. They are steps that help us grow stronger
in faith as we are “on the way.”
I think it’s entirely appropriate for us to call those high
points “conversions.” In fact, I would say that it’s probably more the norm to
have numerous “conversions.” I would say that I’ve had a number
of “conversions” throughout my life, and I’m grateful for them all. Each time
my faith and my commitment grew stronger. Those who study faith development
have even identified multiple “stages” of faith. I don’t know how helpful it is to
try to “peg” yourself or someone else in one of those stages. I think the point
is that we’re all on a journey: a journey that 2 Peter calls “growing in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).
Like Jesus’ disciples, we’re all on the way to
faith—continually. Sometimes the growth we experience on that journey just
comes to us “out of the blue.” I would say that more often, we make progress on
our journey of faith by practicing it. Even if it means “going through the
motions” until we reach the next level, that’s often how we reach a
breakthrough. If we’re all “on the way,” that means we have to recognize that
none of us has “arrived.” We all still have room to grow in our faith. But more
than that, we’re all “on the way” together. That’s why we meet for Bible Study,
and fellowship, and worship: because we can encourage each other as we all grow
together in our faith, just like Jesus’ own disciples did.
[1]
©2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 2/23/2020 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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