“Farewell to Hallelujah”

Matthew 17:1-9

Pastor Tom Johnson, Mar 2, 2014

Today we have sung and spoken our last “Hallelujah.” It’s not entirely clear even to Hebrew scholars how this word developed. It’s an unusual word. It appears to be a combination of two words: hālal “to praise” and a shortened form of the tetragrammaton YHWH. And so we believe it means “Praise the Lord.” Hallelujah rang in the ears so clearly in Hebrew that the Greeks simply adopted it as their own. They didn’t even botheri to translate it but used this Hebrew word in their Greek worship.

Roman Christians also adopted this word into their Latin scriptures and worship. Hallelujah with an h is a good, Germanic transliteration. Alleluia with no h is the Latin form it takes. That is why we have the two forms of the word. Hallelujah is the song of angels in heaven, who day and night without ceasing shield their eyes to the light of the glory of Christ and eternally praise our resurrected Lord. “Hallelujah,” they cry. They call heaven and earth to join them in worship.

This morning we’re saying “farewell” to both forms of the word. If we are consistent, we should also say farewell to the phrase “Praise the Lord.” Why do we do this? Why send our Alleluias on a lententide sabbatical or vacation? Why lay Alleluia to rest for a while? We say goodbye to Alleluia as a kind of liturgical “see you later.” It’s a traditional discipline that helps highlight Resurrection Sunday. We lay our hallelujah to rest with full confidence and anticipation that our hallelujah will come out of its liturgical grave with renewed vigor and power.

When Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to the high mountain, he is, in a sense, giving one, last, big shout of “Hallelujah!” He reveals his true light and glory to them. They have a peek into his future resurrection. They have a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb to come. But then Jesus leads them down the mountain. They curtain falls. The glory and light of Christ is veiled again. Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem. And it is there that he will be arrested, tried, and beaten. Instead of shouts of hallelujah, the crowds will cry, “Crucify him!”

By our fasting from our alleluias, we recognize the fact that our sin, this broken world, the devil, and death all remain obstacles to the praise our Lord deserves. The reality is that we say farewell to alleluia every time we sin. Our thoughts, words, and deeds are keep us from living lives of praise. Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we acknowledge this. We pray “Hallowed be thy name.” We pray for our lips to open in praise to the Lord. We pray that our sinful farewell to alleluia would come to an end. We pray that a renewed hallowing of his name and praising the Lord would be reborn in our hearts and mouths.

For Peter, James, and John, their hallelujahs will be reborn when they see Jesus raised from the dead. The guilt, sadness, and despair will dissolve away. And gratitude, joy, and praise will well up in their hearts and mouths.  And so it is for us. We know that our unhappiness is only temporary. Weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes in the morning. There is an end in sight. We know that Easter is coming on April 20^th.  It is a healthy discipline to take a break from this familiar but strange word. Hopefully, we can discover a deeper meaning. Perhaps we will have a renewed appreciation for the privilege we have in celebrating the glory of Christ our Lord.

Maybe we will fulfill God the Father’s command “Listen to him!” It is helpful to stop our mouths if we want to hear better. We are more attentive to the words and teachings of Jesus when we explore the darker side of his suffering and death. Like Peter, we would all like to bask in the light of Jesus’ glory in the company of Moses and Elijah. We don’t want to come down from the high mountain. It’s our nature to not want a beautiful and pleasurable experience to end.

But that is what is so encouraging about Transfiguration. It is not the end but a foretaste of the resurrection to come. “Tell no one about the vision,” Jesus says, “until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” Jesus asks the three disciples not to speak about his glory on the mountaintop until after they see him in his resurrected body. This is a kind of farewell to hallelujah. Jesus asks them to have a little self-discipline now so that their joyful proclamation will be all the more timely and powerful later.

Food tastes much better when we are truly weakened by hunger. There is much more pleasure in a cup of plain water when we are genuinely dehydrated. So our shouts of hallelujah will be that much more sweet and rigorous on Easter Sunday. And, so, alleluia, we bid “adieu” and “fare thee well.” We will miss you. But we know we will see you again. Like a faithful, old friend we know that you will return. We sow you into the ground but we know you will spring up again. We now commit our alleluias to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who will change our cries of repentance into shouts of praise to the Lord, by the power that enables him to subdue all things to himself.