What does it really mean to listen to Jesus? From radiant mountaintops to real-world challenges, this sermon unpacks hope, transformation, and bold faith. Tune in and be consider how you can live it out.
To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify or deepcreekanglican.com and check out the website for more info about what’s happening.
We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Read the transcript
Scripture Readings
Exodus 34:29–35
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 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, 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.
Luke 9:28–36
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
It is wonderful to be able to join you so soon after November as Sean, Lina, Emily, and Siena have been baptized. Together with Sam, who has confirmed the promises made on his behalf, they are confirming those promises now in my presence as Bishop (representing the wider church). They are publicly saying yes to Jesus’ call to follow him on our journey through life and publicly declaring, “I want to belong to the church. I want to stand up for what I believe, representing Jesus Christ in the world.” This is because we’re Christ’s ambassadors, God’s co-workers in the world. We also receive Lindell and Heidi as they publicly commit to living out their baptismal promises now at Saint Philip’s Deep Creek Anglican Church as part of the Anglican Church.
Our reading this morning is Luke’s account of what is known as the Transfiguration. It’s a great reading for today because I was thinking—as I heard your different testimonies—how much it resonated with that account and what we can take from it. We’re reminded of the word that came from the cloud on that day in Galilee: “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him.” As you have said yes today to following Jesus, let’s be asking ourselves: What did it mean for Jesus to hear those words? What did it mean for his disciples? What does it mean for us?
Firstly, what did it mean for Jesus to hear those words?
“This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him.” Verse 28 says that about eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. (About eight days after Jesus said this—what had he said?) Verse 22: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and he must be killed, and on the third day be raised to life.” And verse 23: “If anyone would come after me, they must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
So the events on the mountain that we call the Transfiguration has the cross in view. Jesus went up the mountain to pray, knowing he was facing the cross, knowing he had asked his disciples to take up their cross daily. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Jesus was transfigured—strengthened (as was mentioned in the testimony)—enabled with a glimpse of his future resurrected life (the life your mother is experiencing) to face the cross and all that entailed. It’s why we often choose to celebrate the Transfiguration (as Meagan has chosen for you) before the beginning of Lent. When I was last here, I encouraged you to take part in Hope 25: Hope in an Uncertain World, an intentional season for Anglican churches from Easter Day to Pentecost—to be sharing the hope we have in Jesus in whatever way is best for you, being ambassadors for Christ together. In other words, as we look to share the hope of Jesus in an uncertain world, let’s remember that at its heart hope is about choosing to hold on to a vision of the future. And what a vision for the future today’s reading gives us to hold on to: two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus. Moses and Elijah were speaking with Jesus about his “departure,” which he was going to fulfill at Jerusalem. (The Greek word for “departure” is exodus.) The Gospel writer Luke means us to understand that in several senses. It can mean, like the Exodus in the Old Testament, a departure or going away. It can also serve as a useful euphemism for death—like when someone says, “When I’m no longer here… when I have died.” But the reason Luke chose this word (not least in connection with Moses)—and to be honest, I don’t think it hurt that we had the two readings, because the first reading was part of God’s work in preparing a vision (through the building of the temple, which helped the Israelites of that day hold on to the vision)—is that in his death Jesus will enact an event just like the great Exodus departure from Egypt, only more so. In the first Exodus, Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and home to the Promised Land. In the new Exodus, Jesus will lead all God’s people out of slavery to sin and death and home to our promised inheritance. So here in Luke 9, Jesus experiences all that happens on the mountaintop, knowing that it was preparing him to follow where the Law and the Prophets (represented by Moses and Elijah) had pointed—down into the valley to the place of despair and death, the place where the Son of Man would be betrayed into the hands of the Gentiles. That’s what it meant for Jesus to hear those words.
What does it mean for the disciples to hear those words?
“This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him.” The disciples were overwhelmed by what took place on the mountain. Seeing Moses and Elijah together with Jesus transfigured, they blurted out things that they didn’t mean: “Master, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s put up tents—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He doesn’t know what he’s saying, does Peter?) Maybe it’s another version of Moses’ veil—maybe a way of saying, “Let’s hold on to the moment, keep you here forever.” But things don’t work like that. The disciples were unable to understand how it was that the glory glimpsed on the mountain—the glory of God’s chosen Son, the servant carrying in himself the promise of redemption—would finally be unveiled in the cross, essentially in a rubbish dump outside Jerusalem.
Verse 34 says that while Peter was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son whom I have chosen. Listen to him.”
What does it mean for us to listen to God’s Son, God’s chosen one?
The Transfiguration gives us a glimpse of what that means—what it means to be transformed, what we are being transformed for. As disciples today, we look to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Yet all the Gospel writers follow the Transfiguration with the story of a boy who is desperately ill—so sick that the disciples (Jesus’ followers) haven’t been able to cure him. They seem to be telling us that the two go together: the mountaintop experience and the pain of the world. We’re not to try and stay on the mountaintop. The mountaintop experience—whether that’s today or a camp you talked about—we’re not to try and stay there. Great worship, a profound time of prayer, Bible study, an amazing conference, camp or retreat—whenever it is that God has seemed close and powerful—these experiences are not given for their own sake as an end in themselves. They’re given to equip us, strengthen us, and resource us, so that God can use us, you and I, within the world—a world that is so needy, a world that can be so hard and so challenging. Each week, the people of God gather to encounter God. Each week, the people of God—you and I—are sent out to love and serve the Lord, to share the hope of Jesus in an uncertain world, not just in the Easter season of 2025, but beyond. Hope is a choice. It’s actually a very practical habit—a decision to focus on a vision for good and embrace it, no matter what uncertainties or challenges are thrown at you.
Emily, Siena, Sam, Sean, Lina, Lyndall, and Heidi — you are making that choice today, as you stand to say (you promise to live out your baptismal promises):
-
I turn to Christ.
-
I repent of my sins, selfish living, and all that is false and unjust.
-
Renouncing Satan and all that is evil.
That’s what you are promising. You continue to make that choice as you look for ways to share the hope you have in Jesus. You continue to make that choice as you—and together with all of us—love God and love our neighbor as we would ourselves, with all our heart, mind, and strength, serving others and working for good.
The fact is, like the disciples, we often find it very bewildering to understand all that God is doing and saying, both in our times of great joy and closeness to God and in our times of great sadness, hardship, and challenge. It can sometimes seem much better just to be on the plateau of, frankly, the level ground—undramatic and unexciting. But the word that comes to us, leading us to follow Jesus even when we haven’t a clue as to what is going on (think of what it would really have been like for Peter, James, and John), is the word that came from the cloud on that day in Galilee: “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him.” As we come to this season of Lent, as we all, together with those baptized, confirmed, and received today, continue to follow Jesus, his is the voice we listen to as we gather, and we are to be listening both here and as we go out in his name.
“This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him.”
Let me promise you: Jesus will speak to you.