Today is Transfiguration Sunday, one of those turning points in the church year where we move from one season to another. Actually, everything in the church year so far can be seen as leading up to this moment. All the waiting in advent, the celebration of Christ’s birth on Christmas, and the many large and small revelations of God in our midst during Epiphany have been moving us towards this day. In today’s scripture we see, for a brief moment, Christ’s identity as fully as we are able to. Christ as human and yet as light radiant, God with us. Not only God with us but God for us.
Then as quick as we see it, the moment is gone and we move forward in the journey of Lent. Jesus, God for us is at work for our redemption but that redemption is still a long road ahead. There’s still much ministry to be done, and the shadow of the cross still lingers over the road ahead. Redemption will not be achieved while Jesus shines in glory on the mountain. Instead it will be the result of a long road of suffering. Yet today we get a small glimpse of how this story turns out. We see past the suffering, past the cross and we get a little glimpse of the resurrected Christ in all his glory.
This passage is a wonderful reassuring gift to us. In this story we see God’s commitment to the resurrection and are assured that the suffering which lies ahead will not overcome the light of God in our midst. But this passage is a hard one for many of us to understand. That’s due in part to the large amount of symbolism wrapped up in this story. There’s the mountain top which reminds us of God giving Moses the law on top of
There’s so much symbolism that it is easy for us to get bogged down in it as we read this story. But even without such rich symbolism, I think this passage would still be hard for us to understand. I think that’s in large part because the event itself, transfiguration, is difficult for us to imagine. Occasionally the movies will help us imagine what transfiguration might look like but even then, transfiguration seems to happen only as the rare exception. In movies, we see ordinary people transformed into angry hulks, superhero-crime fighters with spider traits, or even an occasional princess turning into a loveable ogre. In movies transfiguration is the exception rather than the rule.
But transfiguration also happens in real life, right in our midst, and often we just don’t recognize it as that. Each year, right in our own congregation we see youth and mentors transfigured before us as they journey through confirmation. The confirmands and mentors come to know God on a deeper level, and they begin to form a faith that is their own, that’s not simply their parents’ faith, or even their pastors’ faith. We see transfiguration each time a group comes back from a mission trip and is on fire with the Holy Spirit. These groups have experienced the powerful ways that God is at work around the world, and in desperate situations. They have experienced the deep, passionate faith of others, and as a result something inside them changes. Those who are involved in intensive bible study inevitably find themselves face to face with the word of God, and wrestling with it as they try to figure out how to live their lives in light of their new found knowledge of God. There are countless other ways that transfiguration happens right here in our midst because for Christians, transfiguration is not something that happens only to an elite few.
Based on the reading of this scripture passage, it’s easy for us to think that transfiguration is something that only happens to Jesus. After all, Jesus is the one who is transfigured and we don’t witness much immediate or obvious change in the disciples. It is Jesus who is transfigured, not the disciples. So what does this passage have to do with us, Christ’s modern disciples, and our transfiguration? After Christ’s resurrection and ascension to heaven, the church is the body of Christ in the world. And as such, the transfiguration of Jesus points to the transfiguration of each one of us.
Our transfiguration is not the exact same as what happened to Jesus on that Mountain with the disciples. Most of us will probably not become all radiant and shiny and most of us will probably not find ourselves talking with Moses and Elijah. But each one of us was made in the image of God, and with each transfiguration we go through, the light of God shines that much stronger through us.
Transfiguration happens often, and in a variety of ways. But one thing that is true of all transfigurations, is once you’ve changed. There’s no going back. Those who have been transfigured will never be the same. Something has changed in them, and it is a change that is intended to propel us ever deeper into God’s mission in the world.
That’s the real importance of every transfiguration. The importance of the experience on that mountain-top or the experience of confirmation, or mission trips, or bible study or any other transforming experience lies not in the experience itself but rather in the way that experience affects the rest of our faith and the rest of our lives. While we don’t see any instantaneous change in the disciples in this passage, I do think it is striking that the same disciples that were present for the transfiguration are the ones Jesus takes with him into the
And so it is with us. Our transfigurations help prepare us for the work of God’s mission in the world. In fact, the transfigurations not only prepare us for God’s mission but propel us ever deeper into God’s mission. One whose life is the same after confirmation as it was before has missed the point of transfiguration. And one whose life is the same after a mission trip as it was before, has missed the point of transfiguration. The same goes for those involved in intensive bible study. If our life is the same after the study as it was before, then we have missed the point. None of these activities, and the transfiguration that happens in us as a result, is an end in itself. Instead all of these things should lead us into caring for the sick, declaring justice and righteousness for all, and proclaiming the freedom and forgiveness we find in Jesus.
But for some of us, that is not our immediate response. Sometimes we, like the disciples, would simply rather build monuments to honor and remember the transfiguration. It certainly is easier to try to live in the glory of that moment than it is to live out the costly discipleship we are called to.
Yet these transforming experiences are not intended to be a monument, a sign of our achievement, but rather are intended to provide us with greater momentum in serving God and our neighbors. The excitement, and energy, and enthusiasm that we get from transfiguration moments should be channeled into the serving God in the world.
As we enter into the season of Lent, I encourage you to look back over your life and try to identify some of the moments of transfiguration you have experienced or witnessed. But don’t just stop there. Once you have identified them, consider what those moments of transfiguration have prepared you for, and what aspects of God’s mission in the world you are being called into. What aspects of God’s mission in the world are you being called into?
Amen.
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