Gospel text for Sunday 26 February 2017

Matthew 17:1-9        Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

Reflection       On Monday evening I witnessed a transfiguration, a great change in the appearance and form of some two hundred people sitting on the pews of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Tucson, present for "Welcoming the Stranger" A Multi Faith Prayer Service." It was an exalting, glorifying and spiritual change as the painter’s palette of faces; dark and light, middle eastern and western, prodigies, refugees, immigrants, the privileged and asylum seekers sat together, prayed together and sang each other’s songs while climbing the mountain together to reach the pinnacle of our prayers, “Welcoming the Stranger.”

On Monday evening as I was privileged to sit with other religious leaders and see and hear and worship with Moses, and Abraham, Noah and Jesus, Mohamad and the One that has no name,  "the glory of the Lord settled on the mountain.” Like night and day music perfumed the air; from the penetrating notes of the Sikh rabab, to the perfectly harmonized hymn of the Latter Day Saints, the driving rhythms of the African Baptist choir, to our Jewish and Muslim brothers’ redolent chanted prayers. Yes, this is the Kingdom of God. Yes, this multifarious congregation has been transfigured in my sight. And the wonder and glory of God’s kingdom was present. 

Here is the thing. Mountaintop moments do not last. Rather they give us a glimpse of what is possible. In order to sustain the kingdom of God we must allow ourselves to be transfigured by choosing to live our lives in imitation of Jesus. Like Jesus we are  servants of our God sent to love and care for all people, especially the foreigner, the stranger, the alien, the enemy, the outcast or the least among us. It is time to allow ourselves to be touched by Jesus, to take his counsel to the disciples and us to heart, “Get up and do not be afraid.” It is good to come together to pray. And it is time to come together and act without fear. It is time to take our mountaintop moments into the ordinary moments of our lives. 

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Gospel text for Sunday, 7 February 2016

Luke 9:28-36       About eight days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God, 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.

Reflection      Isn’t this what we all want… to peek behind the ‘veil,’ have a mountaintop experience, catch a glimpse of the unseen? When Moses descended from his forty day mountaintop experience Aaron and the Israelites saw “the skin of Moses face was shining… because he had been talking to God…” (Exodus 34.30,29) They saw beyond the ‘veil’ that separates humanity and divinity. Likewise, when Jesus took his companions “up the mountain to pray,” Peter, John and James, were awake and witnessed that “…while (Jesus) was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white…” The ‘veil’ separating humanity and divinity was lifted and the three disciples heard a voice from a cloud that left them speechless,  a fitting response to encountering the divine.

When we hear the story of Jesus’ transfiguration generally our attention is glued to the supernatural spectacle of neon Jesus glowing on a mountaintop.  If we reorient our attention to the disciples, our eyes are opened to see beyond the extraordinary to the presence of God with the ordinary. When, like the disciples, we wait with Jesus in prayer, our hearts and minds are open to see beyond the ‘veil’ and experience the transforming glory of God with us, with all of us, right here on earth.

As long as we allow our attention to be captured by the supernatural details of Jesus’ transfiguration story (arguing pro and con, did this really happen? is this hyperbole?) we hold the radically transforming power of the story safely at arms length. But when we choose to turn away from the noise and distractions of neon signs and debates, follow Jesus up the mountain and give our attention to God in prayer, there is every chance our hearts and minds will be opened to experience the radically transforming presence of God with us. I wonder if this is what Paul is thinking when he writes to the Corinthians, “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit?” (2 Cor 3.18) The veil between humanity and divinity is torn. Nothing is hidden when we stay awake and follow Jesus.

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Gospel text for Sunday 2 March 2014

Matthew 17:1-9        Six days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Reflection        There is something about mountains. They have an uncanny allure. Throughout history humans have been drawn to mountains seeking wisdom and inspiration, hoping against hope to draw closer to God. That was the case for Moses and Elijah, both mountain men of the first order. 

Moses climbed Mount Sinai hoping to defend the people of Israel who had sinned against God by making a golden calf while waiting for the forty days that Moses was on top of the mountain receiving God’s commandments to govern the life of the Israelites whom he led out of slavery from Egypt. Unlike Moses,  after forty days of traveling through the wilderness, when he finally ascended Mount Horeb the prophet Elijah complained bitterly to God about the unfaithfulness of God’s people. At the top of the mountain both Moses and Elijah experienced the presence of God with them and were sent to continue God’s work in the world. 

Centuries later Jesus takes his three closest friends to have their mountaintop experience of God present with them. On the mountain they have the insight that humanity and divinity are revealed in the person of Jesus. Although it appears that Jesus is transfigured, it is the vision and the understanding of Peter, James and John that is illuminated and transformed. They “see” the unity of humanity and divinity in Jesus. They “hear” the transcendent voice of God instructing them "listen to" (and presumably be guided by) Jesus. I believe this is the key to understanding this enigmatic text. Listen to Jesus, the one who instructs his friends and us in incomprehensible ways; the one who told his friends he must suffer, die and be resurrected in Jerusalem. 

Like Peter,  when we have our mountaintop experiences we want to “build tents,” we want to cling to them or go back to them. But Jesus leads us down the mountain and heads straight for Jerusalem. If we listen to Jesus we take our experience of God with us into our world which is full of suffering and death. If we listen and follow Jesus, we touch the people who are afraid and suffering and say, “Get up. Do not be afraid.” Life does not end with death. God is with us, always. 

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** image is Mt. Lemmon, Arizona