The reading
Luke
9:28-45
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus
took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of
his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah,
talking to him. They appeared in glory
and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at
Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions
were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his
glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to
Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and
overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found
alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things
they had seen.
On the
next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just
then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son;
he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks.
It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely
leave him. I begged your disciples to
cast it out, but they could not." Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse
generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your
son here." While he was coming, the
demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean
spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of
God. While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his
disciples, "Let these words sink
into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands." But they did not understand this saying; its
meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they
were afraid to ask him about this saying.
The
message
Happy
Transfiguration (The church word for the
event reported today, about Jesus change in physical appearance and meeting
with Elijah the great prophet and Moses who brought the law of God to the
people). This is one of those church
days that you will not find greeting cards for, no one ever says this day is
too commercialized, there are no campaigns or bumper stickers to keep Christ in
Transfiguration. At the same time, it is one of the days that
help shape our faith and understand God’s love revealed by Jesus. Many different churches around the world are
celebrating this event today on the last Sunday before Lent. We are at the end of a church season called Epiphany.
This part of the year starts with the visit of the 3 magi or wise men, who
bring gifts to the newborn Jesus. Each of their gifts reveals that Jesus, that
Child born on Christmas, is God with us.
Gold revealed power and royalty, Frankincense revealed worship and
divinity, Myrrh revealed suffering and death.
The other major events that reveal this child born on Christmas is God
with us include Jesus baptism by John, where God’s voice announces “you are my
son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased” and the wedding at Cana (Jesus first miracle in John’s gospel, where
water is turned into wine, not exactly a profound and vital event but God
acting as necessary in the world, helping fix mistakes and interfering with
things). As we have gone through the
Gospel of Luke this year, we missed those stories but we have seen Jesus
revealed as God with us through healing the sick, casting out demons, raising
the dead, forgiving sins, teaching with authority and welcoming all people into
the kingdom of God.
With the
Transfiguration the question is no longer who was born on Christmas, It is not
even really who will face temptation in the wilderness, (despite this story
always happening right before lent), it
is “who will suffer and die on the cross”, who will endure these things for the
salvation of all people. Right before
the Transfiguration there was great confusion over who Jesus was. Herod thinks Jesus is John the Baptist, back
from the dead and very pissed at his murderer (Herod is tricked into having
John killed against his own better judgment). Others say Jesus is the return of
the prophet Elijah who was taken into heaven centuries earlier or another of
the ancient prophets. Even Jesus
disciples seem to be unclear about Jesus identity
Right
before going up the mountain, Peter proclaims who Jesus is, declaring that
Jesus is the messiah of God. In
response Jesus points out this was
revealed to him by the Holy Spirit and sternly ordered and commanded them not
to tell anyone, saying, “The Son of Man
must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and
scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
After
this, the disciples are more confused, each one afraid but desperate to ask
“wait a minute, if you are the Messiah, how can you suffer and die”. As Peter, John and James go up the mountain
with Jesus, they have no idea what to expect.
Once there, they witness the Transfiguration, the revealing of Jesus
glory. Like Jesus being the Messiah and
suffering, they now face another hard question they are afraid but desperate to
ask “wait a minute, why not go and share this in the heart of the city, in the
center of the temple, show the people who you are, and take over the
world”. (Today, we would say put it on
youtube or instagram, it’ll go viral, be something lots of people look at)
Instead,
Peter’s plans to capture and keep this experience is dismissed. You get the sense that Peter wants to use
this event as the centerpiece of the great Messiah marketing campaign. After
all, lots of people could help the sick, many teachers were floating around,
there were other claims to being the messiah, but the Transfiguration, that was
special, that was proof that Jesus was the Messiah. There will be no booths, not even a mention
of this event. No, after the
Transfiguration, Jesus is back to the daily grind. Jesus is once again greeted
by a great crowd, who all want something from him and do not understand his
words.
I want
to explain away Jesus frustration and anger with the crowds but that is a very
human moment. It is like coming back to work after a long vacation, seeing all
the things that piled up, sorting all the emails, returning calls and realizing
the things you avoided before you left did not get magically resolved on their own. After all, Jesus just experienced this
profound moment of power and glory and the next morning was back to being
misunderstood and asked for stuff. The Transfiguration is a reminder of God’s
glory, it is reassurance of God’s power but it is also a reminder that God is
present is suffering, not offering easy escape to all those who believe, or a
get out of pain free card, it is a reminder that God is with us in this world.
(I added this Sunday morning
after reading Chris Hedges book, American Facism during the week) We have to keep in mind that for millions of
Christians in the United States, this idea of Jesus suffering, or being with
the suffering, walking with the outcast and showing power in weakness is ridiculous.
There are many churches that center around Jesus as power, as having dominion
over all things (power he gladly gives to their leaders since they are so
awesome). People see Jesus as being with the rich and strong, rewarding faith
and punishing the other. These churches
take advantage of people, isolate members from truths and have gained a great
deal of wealth, power and influence in our nation with their manipulative, non-biblical
story. It’s our work to show another way
of understanding God’s revelation to the world.
Yes, God has dominion over all things, Yes Jesus is the way, the truth
and the life, but Jesus always used that power to help, unite, heal, forgive
and welcome all people. He never became
emperor or showed any desire to (he outright rejects any suggest of it). He never struck it rich (again, nor did he
show any desire for it). Jesus did not
teach us the secrets of being rich, healthy, powerful and conquer our enemies,
he did not show his followers how to be great at getting worldly things, he
invited us to care about Godly things.
I wanted
to end with looking at 2 different perspectives on the Transfiguration, where
someone elses words say things better than I can. In his second letter, Peter
in chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, writes
For we
did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 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.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with
him on the sacred mountain.
Here,
the Transfiguration takes on its role in telling the story of revealing God’s
love for all people through the birth, life, death and resurrection of
Jesus. The one who raised the dead is
the one who died, the one who healed the sick is the one who suffered, the one
who was Transfigured died a shamed criminal, The messiah endured all suffering
and defeated sin and death. It points away from great signs of power and points
to Christ’s death and resurrection as the way of our salvation.
In the
Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, the prayer for Transfiguration is:
O God,
who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the
holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his
countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his
likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
As we
start Lent, we are invited to take these gifts, to offer each other the light of God.
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