Transfiguration is about Jesus and our Lives as well. Luke 9

 Transfiguration of our Lord and our View.  ( this is more of a topical sermon on our Christian view of our lives actually)

 Luke 9:28-36

   You have heard the story about the big rock that slammed into our front windshield I believe---on a road in Andalusia .....  This got me thinking as I was meditating on the Transfiguration of our Lord---He was changed before them, and another Matthew's Gospel says transfigured,..Luke says he was changed, a different view ; He showed His glory and Divine nature.  Do we have a transfiguration?  If we are Christians we are to have a new windshield if I can say it that way.  A replacement for our wicked heart and a heart of stone is the spiritual view that God gives us when we see our new and now eternal life and have a new view is the answer.  But there are some things... Not all our days are mountain top experiences....Point 1. 

   1. First of all rocks are coming.  An article I read hit the nail on the head about our short lives...."Why Does God Allow Suffering?"

by James R. Murphy--"-I’ve staunchly defended in public, while agonizing over in private, Christians answer to what, in my opinion, is one of the most troubling questions of our times.

One day, reading in the Bible, an unexpected answer blazed like a lightning bolt in the darkened sky of my understanding. The Gospel of John recounts:

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:1–3)

“Now wait a minute! Here suffering is not, Lord, as your disciples assume, the judgment of God against sin. Why then did you say this happened? ‘So that the work of God might be displayed in his life’? You mean to tell me that the purpose of a lifetime of blindness was that God might open his eyes in a moment?

“But just for this one special circumstance, right? I mean, you weren’t teaching a general principle here, were you?” Yet I found a few pages later that Lazarus’ death occurred “so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (John 11:4).

“Let’s make sure I understand this correctly: You allow pain and suffering and heartache in this world so that God may be glorified? So that the love of God might be revealed on the earth? Do you mean to say that every instance of suffering is also an opportunity for God to move, to show his love, to demonstrate his works of mercy and compassion and grace?”

If this is true, it follows that what we are to see when we behold suffering is the glory of God. But can the world see the glory and love of God directly? No, they see it in the body of the Messiah – his church. It is in our lives that the love of God is to be shown forth. And it is through us that he desires to work.

The purpose of God in suffering is that the world might see the love of God in action through his people – in response to the suffering. The first thing an unbelieving world should see as it contemplates its suffering is the hand of God outstretched towards it. And we, as the body of God on this earth, are those hands.

What an awesome calling: to manifest the love of God to a suffering world! What an awesome responsibility, for if people don’t see God’s love in us they may not see it at all.The almighty God has chosen to work on this earth through his people: through our prayers, our actions, our gifts, our hands. "

2.  As new people in God and in Christ, we have a windshield too.  Is it cracked?  Well not as bad as it used to be we say.  We do have a new life....old things are passed away the Apostle says.  Therefore, if anyone is iin Christ, he is ja new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, lwho through Christ reconciled us to himself ESV 2 Cor. 5:17

What about our mirrors?  Are we looking forward?  Or are we looking backward more than forward?  Is our windshield looking cracked still?How are the side mirrors?  Phippians 3:"

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Why do we dwell on the past?

"People may dwell on the past for different reasons. One reason is to learn from mistakes and take the knowledge gained into the future. Another reason is because they feel unable to move on, due to a lack of closure from an event, or just because they feel stuck. Dwelling on our personal memories not only helps us as individuals ....However, dwelling on the past can have negative consequences such as rumination and persistent negative thinking which are linked to social anxiety, symptoms of depression, elevated blood pressure and increased amounts of cortisol (a hormone associated with stress) in our blood2. It is important to understand what makes us more likely to dwell on the past considering these numerous negative consequences." psychcentral.com

3. And  lastly, we are to be transfigured people here for others.  No, we are not Divine as our Lord, but because of our new nature in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit who has changed us. So which way are our eyes looking?  I will admit I am a side mirror guy and often look in the rear view mirror.  

We all need to stop that,( unless we are driving) and look forward.

What are we doing? How are we living?  Physically, mentally, and spiritually?  Take a break. Get a new view.

Are we His Ambassadors? 2 Corinthians 5:20  ---The word is interesting in the Greek--SR Elder it means.  presbeúō (a verb derived from presbys, "an older, venerated person" – properly, to be elderly or mature, "to be the elder, to take precedence and hence act as an ambassador" .

4243 /presbeúō ("act as an ambassador") means to act as an established statesman (diplomat) – a trusted, respected ambassador who is authorized to speak as God's emissary (represent His kingdom

Use the mirrors and windows of God's Commandments to love Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and our neighbors as ourselves.  No one can do that perfectly here.  We must rely on God's Spirit to get our minds right.

" To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." Lewis Smedes

Conclusion:

We believe, we act , and we pray as did our Lord on the Mount .  We go down to the valley and interact with people, starting with ourselves.  God trusts us to do this as His ambassadors.  We know about who Jesus is, the Only Son of God.  Hear Him through our windows of approach to ourselves and others, mentally, spiritually and physically.