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Super Heart
Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Peter 1:16-18; Matthew 17: 1-9
February 6, 2005
The Rev. Kong NamKung

The first Super bowl was on January 15^th, 1967 between Green Bay (35) and Kansas City (10).  Tonight at 6:30 PM Philadelphia, eagles, and New England, Patriots, will play the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.  Super Bowl XXXIX is the main concern for many Americans tonight. The question among us is “Who will win the Super bowl?”   

Each team has a strong desire to get the title.  Each coach and each player have the heart to win the game. Each player will do his best for winning the game tonight.  I am sure that when they play, the players leave everything behind them such as their families problems, their salary, their reputation to be called a great player, and so on.  They put all their energy into the game.  Their goal is to win the game.  Their heart is only for the title.

What about your heart?  Where does your heart want to be?  In order to find the purpose of your life, meaningful and abundant life, and eternal life, what is your heart seeking? 

Today’s sermon title is “Super Heart.” What is the Super heart?  When you open the dictionary, you will not find it because I made it.  The definition of the word “Super Heart,” according to my opinion is “to have the heart of Jesus Christ, who has the biggest heart that loves everyone, who loved his enemy at the point of death, who gave up his life for others, and who asked the Father to forgive the people who were killing him. 

Super Bowl players at least tonight their goal is to have a heart to win the game. Likewise Christians’ goal is to have the heart of Jesus Christ, as we sing one of our favorite songs, “Lord, I want be like Jesus, in my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be like Jesus, in my heart, In my heart, in my heart, Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.” 

The question is how can we have the super heart?  Today’s gospel lesson indicates us how.

I.  To Be with Christ.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain where the event took place. Jesus’ personal appearance and that of His garments were changed.  To have a new appearance was a new Jesus.  They never saw this kind of Jesus.  The disciples had seen the great miracles that Jesus performed.  However, they did not know preciously who Jesus was, “Is he the Messiah, or do we need to wait another one?”  As Jesus changed his appearance on a mountain, Jesus revealed his true identity.   The transfiguration revealed Christ’s divine nature.  

There are three persons in the Bible who had transfiguration.  Jesus, Moses, and Stephen.  In our Old Testament lesson talks about the transfiguration of Moses in Exodus 34:29-35, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. [30] When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. [31] But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. [32] Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.  [33] When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. [34] But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, [35] they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

Stephen.  Acts 6:15, “All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”  

Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights with God on the mountain of Sinai.  When He came down from the mountain, his face shone.  But Moses’ face fade away as time went.  Stephen who had full of the spirit was changed his face before others. 

Jesus, who is the equal to God, revealed his true identity by changing his face, even his garment.

The place of the transfiguration was probably Mount Hermon, and not Mount Tabor, as is commonly supposed.  Mount Hermon is one of the highest mountains in Israel.  A mountain in the Bible is often a place of revelation. Moses and Elijah represented the law and the prophets. Moses and Elijah themselves were heralds of the Messiah.  Deut. 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”  Malachi 4:5-6 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. [6] He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

The height of Mount Hermon is over 9,000 feet.  We do not know exactly where Jesus and three disciples were.  One thing we know it is not easy for us to go up to the mountain.  There are many Christians, who want to be with Jesus when they are walking on the easy and wide, down hill road. But when Jesus asks us to be with him, we push ourselves to be with him.  Many Christians want to come to worship God only Sunday morning, but God want us to worship every day and every where.  Jesus wants us to go up to the mountain with Him.

When we are with Jesus Christ on a mountain, where we have to push ourselves with him, Jesus shows us who Jesus really is. It is easy for us to offer $1 whenever we come to worship Jesus.  It is not easy for you to offer $10 whenever you come to church.  It is hard for you to offer 10% of your income to Jesus.  It is hard for all of us to give whole our lives to Christ.  It is a challenging!  But Jesus wants us be with him always in our lives.   

II.             To Hear the voice of God. 

Peter, James and John were very happy to be with Jesus on the mountain.  They saw that Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah.   They might think that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were equal to them.  But there was a voice.  God spoke from the cloud identifying Jesus as His Son saying, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”(17:5) What the Father said to the disciples was “do not listen to anyone, anybody, but only listen to Jesus because whatever he says to his disciples, they need to listen to him. 

When Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” then people who are poor in spirit are blessed.  If you are poor in spirit, people may say to you in the world, “You do not have a high self –esteem, or you are lack of confidence” No matter what people say in the world, you are blessed when you are poor in spirit because Jesus says to us.  When Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn,” then people who are mourning are blessed because Jesus says so.  When Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” then people who have pure heart are blessed.”  Maybe the people in the world may say they are unwise, or even stupid.  But whatever Jesus says, God wants us to hear Jesus, not the world. 

Therefore, the people, who hear the voice of God, are different from the people in the world.  Are you different from the people in the world or are you the same with the people in the world.  Do you think exactly the same way people in the world?  Do you value money exactly the same with the people in the world?  Do you treat the poor exactly the same way the people in the world?  Then, you have not heard the voice of God, who asks us to listen to Jesus Christ. 

Many voices try to tell us how to live and how to know God personally. Some of these are helpful; many are not. We must first listen to Jesus, and then evaluate all other authorities in light of the word of Jesus.  Listen to Jesus!

III.  Put Christ above all others.

Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were talking in the cloud.  When the cloud lifted, Jesus was alone with the disciples.  Moses and Elijah were gone. God’s voice exalted Jesus above Moses and Elijah as the long-awaited Messiah with full divine authority. Moses represented the law, and Elijah, the prophets. Their appearance showed Jesus as the fulfillment of both the Old Testament law and the prophetic promises.  Jesus was not a reincarnation of Elijah or Moses. He was not merely one of the prophets. As God’s only Son, he far surpasses them in authority and power.

Once in a while we confess our faith with a song: Jesus, name above all names, beautiful savior, glorious Lord, Emanuel. God is with us. Blessed assurance, living word.

The transfiguration of our Lord on a “high mountain apart,” is described by each of the three evangelists (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). John seems to allude to it also (John 1:14). Forty years after the event Peter distinctly makes mention of it (2 Peter 1:16-18). In describing the sanctification of believers, Paul also seems to allude to this majestic and glorious appearance of our Lord on the “holy mount” (Romans 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).   When we are with Christ, when we listen to Jesus only, and when we put Jesus above all names, we will remember what we have see, the true Jesus, and what Jesus has shown to us, will lead our lives, and it will help our spiritual journey for the rest of our lives.  Like Peter who shared his experience forty years later because it was the turning point of his life, as we experience this new Jesus, it will lead us into the strong conviction of our faith that leads us to confess faithful servants. 

The players of the Super Bowl put their heart to win the game.  When they win the game, the players, their families, peoples in the town, and their fan have a great celebration for the next few days.   One player of the winning team them will be chosen as MVP, last year Tom Brady QB of New England was chosen, which is the greatest honor for NFL player. 

Likewise we Christians put our heart to have “Super Heart.”  When we have super heart, our lives are pleasing God, we are loved by God and others. And God’s power is transformed us.  Jesus’ transfiguration is inside out.  Jesus showed his divine nature to his disciples.  As we show our super heart God, God is glorified.

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Exodus 34:29-35

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.
NIV

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2 Peter 1:16-18

16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
NIV

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Matthew 17:1-9

17:1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."

5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
NIV

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