On this day before Lent begins, I want to share a few more thoughts with you on the Transfiguration and Peter’s memory of that event.

2 Peter 1:16-21 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.  19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.  21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

This passage begins with we did not follow cleverly invented stories… Some translations have “fables” or “tales” or “myths” instead of “stories.” What Peter is referring to is all the other religions of his time and their reliance on the teachings of men and unsupported myths. Peter is basing his confidence on the prophecies of God’s Word, and those prophecies being fulfilled by Jesus, the Word made flesh.

Over 40 years ago the artifacts from King Tut’s tomb toured this country. One of the artifacts in that exhibit was the ancient Egyptian “Book of the Dead,” which gives us an example of what Peter called a “cleverly invented story.” This book gives you instructions as to what you are to say when you are confronted by the judges as you attempt to enter the next life. I guess that goes along with the world’s idea that you will stand before St. Peter at the pearly gates and try to convince him why he should let you in. According to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, this is what you should say:

“I have always shunned evil; I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a ship to the stranded; to the orphan I was a father, to the widow a husband, to the roofless I gave a home.”

The cleverly invented story is really not all that clever. It speaks of getting your eternal reward on the basis of your own actions. Now you might think those words sound an awful lot like what Jesus says in Matthew’s Gospel when He is talking about separating the sheep and the goats on the last day, and you would be right. The big difference is that when Jesus was listing all the good deeds of the righteous, they were not done in order to be saved or offered as the reason for salvation. The list Jesus gives is what the righteous do because they are saved. The salvation Peter proclaimed was the one that comes only through faith in Jesus.

The promise of God was to rescue us from our sins. That promise was kept in Jesus. Living in a world where broken promises are the norm, it may be hard to accept that God is totally committed to you and wants only what is best for you. He made a promise. Not only do you have His Word on it, you have it in writing. And we have the ultimate assurance of God’s rescue in the cross, where the Blood of Jesus was shed in your place, earning your forgiveness. You want it made more certain? Think of your Baptism. Consider Holy Communion. These sacraments are extra-added assurances that the death of Jesus was for you.

…we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place.

 Just as Peter saw the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus, you and I have that light shining on us through the Word and Sacraments, making God’s promise of life and salvation more certain for us.