The last couple of weeks have brought us a full plate of pictures from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya. Can any of us ever forget the images from Cairo’s Tahrir Square? Or the monstrous Muammar al‑Gaddafi, also known as Colonel Gaddafi, speaking to his people from the back seat of an automobile holding a white umbrella?

But the one that may stick the longest is the human ring of ordinary men and women standing guard around the Cairo Museum, making a barrier of bodies all the way around the perimeter of the building. Word had spread that the night before a small but clumsy gang of looters had broken into the museum, stealing some objects, stupidly destroying others. 

The youthful crowds of protestors responded by rushing to protect the building and the priceless items it housed. Why did they do this? It is doubtful there were very many worshipers of Amon Ra or any of the other ancient Egyptian gods and pharaohs that those museum relics celebrate. So why did they protect the museum with their very bodies?

The Egyptian people did not rally simply around religious reliquaries. They were protecting their own history, the stories and symbols of who they were as a people, of where they had been, and what they had done. They were guarding their historic identity. Every item in that museum had its own special “provenance,” its own place in the story of their world. That provenance was the treasure they banded together to protect.

Any “Antiques Roadshow” addicts here? Am I the only one? If you’ve ever seen just one episode, you know that it is the “provenance,” the verifiable stories of the persons who interacted with the items brought in, that makes an item valuable or a possession priceless. An antique gold ring is literally “worth its weight in gold.” But an antique gold ring given to your great grandmother by Pablo Picasso as a “thank you” for doing such a good job cleaning his studio? That’s called “provenance,” and with such a “provenance” that gold ring is worth much, much more than it’s weight in gold. It is the gold ring’s story that adds value and luster to a simple piece of jewelry.

What’s your story? What’s your provenance? God established Jesus’ “provenance” at the Transfiguration. But each of us has our own “faith provenance” that we need to know and share and celebrate.

What is your “provenance story”?
What is the provenance of your life of faith?
What experiences have you had and who have you encountered that made your own faith “priceless.”

This week’s gospel text is Matthew’s version of Jesus’ provenance, the pivotal “transfiguration” event that marks the beginning of a new phase in Jesus’ mission and ministry his movement towards Jerusalem and the cross. Taking with him a select group of Peter, James, and John, Jesus heads for the mountaintop, where something wholly new will occur.

This new experience gives Jesus a perfect, unimpeachable provenance. Every word and image evokes the history of Israel and reveals the power of God’s covenant promise to the Hebrew people. Like the greatest prophets of the past, Jesus journeys upward first. Mountaintop experiences involve high altitude to increase divine amplitude. As the disciples watch in amazement Jesus’ face and clothing take on all the classic features associated with heavenly beings. His face “radiates” and shines with light. His clothes glow with “dazzling” whiteness.

Suddenly Jesus and the disciples are no longer alone. Two of the most important figures in Israel’s history are with Jesus, engaging him in casual conversation. Moses, the one who led Israel out of Egypt, who climbed Mt. Sinai and brought the Torah to the people, now stands on the land he was prohibited from entering at his death. Also standing before them is Elijah Israel’s most powerful prophet, the one who was mysteriously transported to heaven without suffering death, the one who must return before the final days of judgment will occur.

As if the presence of Moses and Elijah weren’t enough, the all-encompassing cloud of God’s glory, the “Shekinah,” settles down on this mountaintop meeting place. Even as Peter, James, and John found themselves being “overshadowed” by that Shekinah glory, they heard nothing less than the voice of God—-a voice proclaiming “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased: Listen to him!” (v.5).

What better provenance for Jesus’ mission could ever be offered? The pricelessness of that pronouncement is so great that its magnitude and magnificence drove the disciples to their knees and filled them with fear and awe before the power of the divine.

But before God’s presence and glory overshadowed the mountain and overwhelmed Jesus’ disciples, Peter responded to the appearance of Moses and Elijah with what appears to be a quaint suggestion. Since Jesus and Israel’s two greatest dead prophets were pow-wowing on the mountaintop, shouldn’t he quickly put together some sort of shelters for them? Peter doesn’t skimp on facilities. He offers to build three shelters — one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

But perhaps Peter is more savvy than we give him credit for. This is an event steeped in symbols and studded with the most important people in Israel’s past. Keeping memories alive was one of Israel’s strengths. If this was to be a new milestone along the way of faith, it needed to be marked in some way.

When the ark of the covenant finally crossed over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land, Joshua commanded the priests carrying the ark into the Jordan River to pause in the middle of the river. As the waters pulled back on either side of them, the people once again could cross through a waterway on dry land. God also commanded Joshua to have a representative of each of the twelve tribes go out “mid-stream” and collect a plain stone from the miraculously dried up river bed. (See Joshua 4:1-7). The reason for this rock-hounding was “so these stones shall be to Israelites a memorial forever.” These stones would remind the people of the miracle that brought them and the ark into the promised land. Once the people reached the other side of the river, Joshua oversaw the erection of all twelve of these stones at Gilgal, making a permanent marker to commemorate the miracle and to serve as a reminder to the people.

Have you ever walked through a garden that has “cairns” stacked throughout it? “Cairns” are symbolic stacks of rocks, marking a place or a pathway that is significant in its beauty or importance. You can spend a bunch of money to get a “cairn” lamp or fountain feature these days. Or you can just stack a half dozen flat stones by yourself, perch them on your coffee table and call it a day. The “cairn” tradition is Celtic, but such rock-stacking behavior has been with human beings ever since we first began to yearn to remember and recall the important places and moments in our lives. Gilgal commemorated a pivotal moment in the history of Israel, the moment the people and the Ark of the Covenant finally entered into the land that God had promised to them.

Biblical scholars often associate Peter’s offer to build “shelters” or “dwellings” for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, with the Feast of Tabernacles. This was the annual Jewish festival during which small, temporary shelters were built in order to celebrate and remember the years of wilderness wandering. If building “tabernacles” and not Gilgal remembrances were Peter’s impetus, they too would be powerful symbols to “remember this place.”

But the person of Jesus, the moment of Transfiguration, is too unique, too unprecedented, to be commemorated in such a way. Both the monuments at Gilgal and the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated the journey and arrival of God’s people at a particular “place.” But the moment Peter wants to domesticate Jesus’ divine presence the glory and voice of God comes down to reveal a greater revelation. God’s presence comes down at precisely the moment Peter suggests tying Jesus to a location.

God’s command is not to commemorate a place.

God’s command is to connect to a person — “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”

God’s command is to respond to that person: “Listen to him.” Jesus is the new ark of the covenant.

One of the stickiest quotes I ever read in Larry Crabb’s writings is this one: “Our passion for Jesus is the only passion that will not destroy us.”

The greatest moment in your life and my life comes when we say from the innermost depths of our being, “Jesus Christ, You are the messiah, the son of the living God. I shall listen to you in all I do.” When you can say that, and mean that, you will have discovered the pearl of great price. You will have found the buried treasure you have been searching for. You will have fulfilled your fondest hopes, your wildest dreams.

Will you fall in love with Jesus, stay in love with Jesus, and die in love with Jesus? Jesus Love is the love that determines our destiny, both in the here and now and in the world to come.

“Hear him”
He speaks the truth

“Hear him”
To know the truth

“Hear him”
To obey the truth

“Hear him”
To dispel your doubt and find everything you need

“Hear him”
To calm the tumult of your soul

“Hear him”

All you who labor, and are heavy laden
“Hear him"

Say to all of you, “I am with you always, even to the end”
“Hear him”

You who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and be filled
“Hear him.”