 |
| Anton Ego in Pixar's Oscar-Winning Ratatouille |
“You know what I'm craving?
A little perspective. That's it.
I'd like some fresh, clear,
well seasoned perspective.”
+ Anton Ego
Whenever Someone Turns to the Lord
Sermon Manuscript
Transfiguration Weekend
March 1-2, 2025
2 Corinthians 3:16-4:2, NLT
3:16 Whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image. 4:1 Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
Main Idea
Whenever Someone Turns to the Lord,
Perspective Changes
Story
This past week, I overheard my oldest daughter, Zoey, talking with her boyfriend, Andrew, about an essay he had to write. The prompt was, “Describe a moment in your life that changed your perspective.” Zoey shared with me that Andrew’s answer involved a moment on the road when the driver of a van he was riding in stopped to help someone who had just experienced an accident. This moment inspired Andrew to pursue becoming an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Andrew saw a life helped in a moment of crisis, and now he wants to help others in their moments of crisis.
In multiple ways, this story of a perspective changed reminds me of why we are here together in this moment right now. This service of worship comes at a key moment on the road of life, and wherever we are in the wreck of the world, we’re invited to recognize again that Jesus is the One who stops to save us when we lose control. He meets us in the crises of our lives. And He can change our perspective on death and life today. That’s why the message is called, “Whenever Someone Turns to the Lord.”
In the Christian calendar, this weekend focuses on the Transfiguration, which is about a powerful moment in the life of Jesus that changed some people’s perspective. The transfiguration is when Jesus’ closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, saw Him in a new way when Moses and Elijah appeared on a mountain with Him and God said, “This is My Son. Listen to Him.” Listen to Jesus in the face of Moses and Elijah. Peter, James, and John experienced a perspective shift with Jesus. If Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest prophets in these Jewish men’s history, with Moses representing the loving rule of God in the writings of the law and Elijah representing the reign of God through the justice writings of the prophets, were looking to Jesus, and God said listen to Him, than He must be the true Word of God, the fulfillment of everything God had to say.
But our verses today are not part of a Gospel biography of Jesus. 2 Corinthians includes the writings of a man named Paul, who was born Saul, a Jewish man who had his own transfiguration moment, not on a lofty mountain, but on a dusty road to Damascus. And in many ways, his life was a bit of a wreck (like the one on Andrew’s road), and Jesus pulled up to stop Saul in his tracks. Jesus revealed who He was to Saul on that road, and Saul had a change in perspective that transformed him from a terrorist of Christians to a messenger of Christ. The veil that covered who Jesus is was taken away. Saul, now called Paul among the Corinthians, experienced a new freedom to live his life, not in pursuit of imprisoning others, but in setting people free to love others like Jesus. He was changed by Jesus to be like Jesus. And in light of Jesus, Saul never gave up, even when people mocked him, stoned him, whipped him, imprisoned him, and left him for dead. Why? He had met the Way, Truth, and the Life, and there was nothing Paul could twist about the death and resurrection of Jesus anymore. He was someone who had turned to the Lord. And whenever someone does that, sight, freedom, change, perseverance, and truth are made available to them. The ability to see what’s real, freedom, change, endurance, and truth are offered to right now like they were offered to the Corinthians. All this can seem to be too good to be true. In fact, when I hear the word, “perspective,” I’m reminded of the critic and cynic in the 2007 Pixar film Ratatouille, Anton Ego, when he says, “You know what I'm craving? A little perspective. That's it. I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective”. The Corinthians needed perspective. So do we.
Prayer
So let’s pray now and ask if Jesus will freely give us something fresh and clear. Let’s turn to the Lord whose word frees us, trusting His Spirit will change our perspective if needs be …
Whenever Someone Turns to the Lord
… the Veil Is Taken Away
Vv. 3:16-18
When Paul writes to the Corinthians about the veil being taken away, he’s referring back to when Moses went before the Lord on Mount Sinai to receive the good law of God. In God’s presence, God’s glory lit Moses up so much, when he came down from the mountain, people couldn’t look at him because he was glowing so bright. He had to wear a veil to dim the shine. But Paul is saying, if we look at Jesus, we don’t need a veil between us and the glory of God anymore. When we turn to Jesus, He shines on us. His holiness lights us up. And when you have an encounter like that with Jesus, you shine His light and love on others freely. You don’t have to hide that you know Him. There is freedom with this Lord who is the Spirit to fill you up with abundant life now and in the days to come.
There Is Freedom
Vs. 3:17
What’s this freedom like? It’s like being a bride who knows her husband will keep his promises to her. That in poverty or riches, in sickness or in health, in youth and in old age, for as long as life binds you together, you are wanted, known, and loved.
The moment where Moses received a veil on the mountain is often referred to as a wedding ceremony where God’s marriage covenant to Israel was to solidify that they had been truly set free from the slavery of Egypt. Free to be His family. They weren’t slaves to be used. They were God’s treasured people to be loved. That is the Story of God. He sets His people free. It’s why Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King is known by the words, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Did he get to see all the freedom he wanted before he was murdered? No. But he trusted God would keep His promise to set free His beloved.
We Are Changed
Vs. 3:18
When you’re loved by someone who keeps their promises, that changes you. You become what you behold. When we take off the veil and look into the eyes of Jesus, we see the One who loves with a binding promise of grace and forgiveness. And when we walk with Him, we begin to become like Him. As one recent popular book says, “Be with Jesus. Become like Him. Do as He did.” That’s what happened to Paul. The people in Corinth he was writing to tried many times to shake off Paul’s promises to them. But Paul suffered their insults like Jesus. He pursued them like Jesus. He forgave them and loved them like Jesus.
Questions + Pause
Do you want your perspective changed? Do you want to be freed by the love of this Lord whose Spirit can do more to free you than anyone or anything? Are you tired of the self-help empowerment project that often leaves so many of us proudly belittling others or hopelessly burned out? If so, take a moment to ask Jesus to meet you on your road wherever you might be in a crisis. Like a beloved bride, dare to ask Jesus to pull the veil back so you can see Him fully, the One who keeps His promises to you in life and in death and in life after death.
Whenever Someone Turns to the Lord
… (In) This New Way, We Never Give Up
Vv. 4:1-2
What a new way to live. Fully known. Fully loved. Fully freed. And changed, transformed to become like Jesus. That’s why Paul can say we never give up. Because Jesus never gave up on Saul / Paul in life and in death and in life after death. Jesus kept pursuing him when he was murdering Christians, when he was persecuting Christ’s beloved. Jesus kept His promise to love His enemies like Paul into life. There’s nothing underhanded about Jesus or His word. So Paul says we don’t have to try to manipulate Jesus’ message. There’s no need to trick anyone. This isn’t fake news. It’s the timeless truth for a people like us and a world we’ve wrecked that’s topsy turvy in tricks and distortions. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ remains to be told plainly. We pray the veil is removed from those we share it with. And we never give up. Why? Because Jesus never gave up on us. He still hasn’t. He keeps His Word. Won’t He do it?!
Vulnerability
I need to remember this now more than ever. A man in his 40s. A husband married for more than two decades. A father with three teenagers and a pre-adolescent. A neighbor who’s still wanting to see a friend turn to Jesus. A pastor in the city of Worcester who wants to see His beloved people never give up on being Jesus’ Church who welcome, worship, witness.
We Tell the Truth
Vs. 4:2
Author Ann Voskamp’s words met me in my need this week as she shares why I need to turn to the Lord to reveal Himself on this Transfiguration weekend:
“I'll need my own transfiguration to enter a Kingdom where the Prince is born into a manure- smeared feed trough, where Holy God touches leper sores, breaks bread with cheats, where God wounds Himself through with nails on a cross and we wear the symbol as beauty. ... The God of the Mount of Transfiguration cannot cease His work of transfiguring moments — making all that is dark, evil, empty into that which is all light, grace, full.”
“ … The God of the Mount of Transfiguration cannot cease His work of transfiguring moments — making all that is dark, evil, empty into that which is all light, grace, full.” That’s what Jesus does when He meets someone like Saul on his road, the Corinthians on their road, and when He meets someone like us on our roads. That’s what He does in Worcester. That’s what He does in Boston. Jesus meets people in your neighborhoods, in classrooms, at schools and hospitals, and in your workplaces. That’s what He does in Massachusetts and New England. That’s what He does in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada, Ukraine and Russia, Gaza and Israel, China or Korea, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Cameroon, or Afghanistan. You name the place. Emmanuel is God with them, God with us. Whenever someone turns to the Lord, there is freedom and promise-keeping love and life even where there only seems to be slavery to fear, violence, greed, and death.
We can turn away from this Emmanuel who promises to never leave us nor forsake us. But I’m asking myself and I’m asking you today to turn to the Lord Jesus who takes the veil away, who offers freedom from slavery, who transforms and changes our perspective to join Him in a life in which we never have to give up on what He can do. He promises to tell the truth that the veil over this world will one day be taken off to reveal a new heaven and a new earth in which all the selfishness, erosion, and destruction will be wiped away. Because the truth is, until He returns to make all things new, Jesus cannot cease His selfless and restoring work of transfiguring moments — making all that is dark, evil, and empty in that which is all light, grace, and full. Including you. He is freeing us to be God’s family of servant missionaries right here and now.
Hope in Action
Do you want your perspective changed? Do you want to dare to believe that whatever is dark, evil, empty in your life can became light, grace, and full? Turn to Jesus now. He can remove the veil. He’s telling you the truth. You can be free. He’s not given up on you. My prayer is that whatever road you are on right now, wherever you are in life right now, wrecked, lost, or at a crossroads, you’ll see that you are found on your road and loved.
Prayer
Holy Spirit of the living God, free us. Free us right now. May we turn to Jesus. May we repent and believe His Kingdom of heaven is near. May we believe this good news for us, for our congregation and community, for this sin-sick world. God, You never give up on us. You are a holy God, which means You can never sin against us. Let Your justice and mercy roll today. And thank You that You desire mercy more than sacrifice and that Your mercy and grace is more than our sin can quench. Holy Spirit, fall afresh on us to believe this. Break any walls of our pride or bitterness or apathy down. Revive us, Lord! We want to see Your Kingdom here. We want to never give up. Help us, King Jesus. If we’ve been blind to You and what You are doing, we want to see You now and follow You. Amen.
Songs
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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