So, this is Transfiguration Sunday, which in the Christian calendar, is the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It was serendipitous (providential?) that our Bible in a Year readings for the week included Mark’s account of Jesus’s transfiguration.

I thought it would make good sermon fodder (it being Transfiguration Sunday and all), though Luke’s Gospel is the Revised Common Lectionary‘s chosen text for 2025. I’m committed to preaching from one of the texts we read in a given week, so Mark’s account it is.

As part of my preparation, I always go back and leaf through my sermon files to see what I’ve preached before. I found a sermon from Luke’s Gospel that I preached in 2007 (see it here). I had three points in that message from 2007:

• Jesus was unique in His person.
• Jesus was unique in His mission, and
• Jesus was unique in His message.

Why am I telling you this? Because of what I did later in my preparation. I went to ChatGPT and put this in the chat box: “Sermon on Mark 9: 2 – 10.” Do you know what ChatGPT returned? A three-point sermon. What were the three points? In order, they were:

• A Revelation of Christ’s Identity,
• A Confirmation of Christ’s Mission, and
• A Call to Christ’s message.

It was, basically, my sermon from 2007 sans the illustrations. Needless to say, I was as speechless as Peter was on Mount Tabor that day. It made me think ChatGPT has been reading my mail! Then I thought, “Well, yeah, that’s exactly what Artificial Intelligence does!”

As I understand it, Artificial Intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence by computers. Admittedly, I don’t really understand it, but this much I know: AI is a machine, and a machine can only spit out what is put into it (I’m sure some computer geek out there will correct me), and someone, somewhere has somehow input all the information that’s ever been published online, so that when I put in “Sermon on Mark 9: 2 – 10,” it spit out a sermon very close to the sermon I wrote in 2007, and that countless other preachers have probably written, too over the centuries. Because that’s what AI does.

I’ll admit, AI is special. It is (and will be going forward) life-changing, maybe even earth-shattering. We might even call it a glorious discovery. AI is not, however, nearly as glorious as the discovery Peter, James and John made on the mountain with Jesus that day–that day they discovered God’s glory in human form.

Of this much I’m certain: Even if AI takes over the world (some say it will), it will never overcome the glory of God. One day, even AI will bend the knee (hypothetically speaking) to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let AI take over the world, for His Kingdom is not of this world. This world and all its wisdom will one day pass away and its glory will be gone, but the glory revealed on Mount Tabor will shine for all eternity.

So, yes, I have a sermon for today, and yes, it is from Mark 9: 2 – 10, but no, it was not written by AI. If you want to hear it, you’ll have to come to Haughton Methodist Church at 10:30 a.m.

Until next time, keep looking up…