Gospel text for Sunday 27 February 2022

 Luke 9:28-36       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       With a full on war erupting in Ukraine and the balance of global powers hanging by a thread, today we are chilled to the bone and the image of a mountaintop moment in the company of Moses, Elijah and Jesus seems remote, if not irrelevant. But, is it?

Is it not our faith that hidden in the cleft of every brutal breech and war torn wound is the Presence of that which can never be ravished or ruined? Is it not our hope that Jesus’ promise “I am with you always, even to the end of the world,” (Matt 28.20) is trustworthy and true? Do we choose to plant our feet in the sure and certain love that St. Paul proclaims to the Romans as they suffer in their present time? ^“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God?  (Romans 8.38-39) 

Do we not choose to live by faith, with hope in love?

Only hours after reading the dark and dire news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday morning, I met with a woman whom I will call Karen. Eighty year old Karen’s hands were trembling as cold wrapped her from the inside out. Karen had spent the previous four hours trying to recover from a computer hack that invaded her contact list and sent messages to hundreds of family, friends and colleagues requesting assistance in her name. 

After spending a fair amount of time breathing deeply to restore a modicum of peace, peace that is more than the absence of the disruptive invasion by a hacker, peace that is more than the quelling of emotions in the face of an alien incursion and technology overload, peace that exceeds comprehension. Karen sought peace that prevails over evil. Karen breathed into the depth of her wound until tears carried these words from her heart to her lips. “All of these people, all of these people love me. They received the hacker’s message and keep calling and coming and buying gift cards to help me. I had no idea how much I am loved.” Surprised by grace, Karen found love in the depth of a wound inflicted by malevolent hackers.

An evil invasion by Russians or a malicious attack by hackers cannot and will not prevail. This is our faith and this is our hope because we are people who live in love; original, unmitigated abiding love. As people who choose to live by faith, with hope in love we can experience all of life, the good, bad and abhorrent, as sacrament. But to do so we must stay awake. We dare not be weighed down and unconscious if we are to experience every daybreak as well as every dreadful wound as sacrament, a manifest opportunity to experience Divine Presence. In Luke’s text, “Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw (Jesus’) glory and (Moses and Elijah) who stood with him.” The three disciples experienced life as sacrament.

Here is the thing. God is active in our world and in our lives but we must stay awake to experience God’s glory. We dare not allow ourselves to be weighed down by the news of war and threats of global disruption. To experience life as sacrament we must not be distracted by gruesome images or anger mongering words that trip us into fear and the sleep of unconscious reaction. 

Today, every day, we stand on a razor’s edge of choice. Do we choose to capitulate to evil and live in fear? Or do we choose to live by faith with hope in love? Let me suggest that if we choose the latter, that we must do whatever we do deliberately. Rather than muddle through each day slipping from routine to habit to unconscious reaction let us put our heads in our hearts and hold the purest of intentions. Let our intention be to experience all of life as sacrament, to find God in every moment, even and perhaps especially in our wounds and the wounds of the world.

Living our lives with the intention to find God in all things, like Peter, James and John we experience what theologians call a theophany. A theophany is a personal encounter with Divine Presence, nothing more and nothing less than the tears of a woman who had no idea how much she is loved.

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Gospel text for The Transfiguration 14 February 2021

Mark 9:2-9        Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Reflection      For years  I read  Mark’s gospel text with my eyes darkened by Jesus’ glowing religious experience. The image of Jesus’ changed face and dazzling clothes blinded me to Peter, James and John’s phenomenal mountain top experience. I was swept away by Jesus’ special status, the chosen one with direct access to the wisdom of the prophets.  Like Peter, I wanted to build a church around Jesus, proclaim a glow in the dark theology and make Jesus separate, sovereign and special. I struggled to capture Jesus with words and creeds, doctrine and denominational politics. But something was missing. 

Thankfully the cloud of unknowing finally descended upon me and opened my eyes to recognize Peter, James and John’s indubitable religious experience and finally hear the voice from the cloud… “Listen to him.” It did NOT say "look at him."

One of my favorite contemporary scripture scholars is the Jesuit Dr. Sandra Schneiders. Pointing to the poignancy of listening Schneiders writes, “To see another is to encounter a person’s “surface,” to “stand before” or “be in the presence of” another. But speaking/hearing (the one always implies the other) is a mutual entering into interiority. By speaking/hearing, the two persons open the walls surrounding their inner selves, and their heretofore incommunicable experiences are put in common. They both now live in a different world, a world they share, rather than in two separate worlds (Schneiders, 34-35)*.

Listening to Jesus means opening ourselves to participate in his incommunicable experience and allowing ourselves to be transfigured. This prospect is daunting. No wonder we would rather keep our eyes glued to him and distract ourselves with questions; “How did his face actually change? If there was a video camera on top of the mountain would we see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah? Does this glowing moment mean Jesus is more than merely human? What is the true nature of Jesus anyway? Is he of the same substance of God, or us, or something else? How shall we preserve and ritualize this moment? What type of organization shall we establish to insure that everyone believes and says the correct things about Jesus? Who decides what the correct things are? 

Preoccupied with these questions we forget to ‘listen to him,’ to go beneath a surface encounter with the historical person Jesus and experience the transfiguring intimacy of communion. No doubt this is the defensive work of our egos that know if we “open the walls surrounding (our) inner selves” and share our interior experiences, we will be changed. In Schneiders words again, “…and live in a different world, a world (we) share, rather than in two separate worlds.” 

If we dare to breach our walls, with open hearts and open minds we not only stand at the top of the mountain in the presence of God but we also step into the sphere of interior reality in which we are changed into more beautiful, radiant revelations of the Spiritual world we inhabit by faith. 

The tumultuous tide of our times assures us, the cloud of unknowing is upon us. From our shadowy depths we hear, “Listen, listen to Him.” Are you listening?

* Schneiders, Sandra  The Revelatory Text: Interpreting The New testament as Sacred Scripture, 1999.

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Gospel text for The Transfiguration, Sunday 23 February 2020

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.

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.”

                  God's Grandeur 

        by Gerard Manley Hopkins

      Suggestion - please read Hopkins poem aloud.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

    And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;

    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Reflection    What is it you sense when you hear these words? Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear the shining of shook foil? Are you attuned to Divine Presence saturating and streaming through you and all that is? Do you allow yourself to be agog in silence when the grandeur of God like a cumulus cloud cloaks the mountaintop? Or do you join our friend Peter staking a tent to procure perpetuity? Perhaps pull out your cell phone camera to suspend the moment?

Pondering the story of Jesus and his three companions, Peter, James and John climbing to his sacred place and enveloped in the grandeur of God, something new occurs to me. Anglicanism, the Anglican Episcopal tradition, has everything to do with transfiguration because it has everything to do with experiencing the grandeur of God.

Let’s back up a little. What is Anglicanism? Much may be said about the history of the Anglican Tradition rising from the 16th century Protestant Reformation. We can talk about its unique posture simultaneously holding the Roman Catholic liturgical and Protestant evangelical customs and practices while  insisting that reason and experience also be brought to the theological table.  We can dive into the complicated nuances of Anglican Episcopal polity and politics, not today. But at the heart of all of that information I believe the Anglican Episcopal Tradition is aimed at one thing. Transfiguration. 

What do we mean by transfiguration? Returning to Hopkin’s poem, I believe transfiguration is seeing beyond the “smudge and smell of our bleared and smeared bodies.” It is feeling our bare toes dig into the sand, unearthing the “dearest freshness (of) deep down things.” 

What is the “dearest freshness of deep down things?” I believe it is the grandeur of God, the light of Christ flickering within us, our deepest true unconditioned selves longing to shine out like shook foil. The “dearest freshness of deep down things” is nothing less than our transfigured selves flaming out the grandeur of God.  

This Sunday marks the end of the season of Epiphany and the grand Epiphany is this. Jesus is glowing with the grandeur of God and we are meant likewise to flame out like shook foil because the light of the risen Christ promises to radiate the grandeur of God and transfigure each one of us. This is very good news. Here is the thing, the promise of the risen Christ demands our response. Grace is not cheap. It is up to us to moisten our seared skin and wash away the smudges that overshadow our true transfigured selves. This is the work of Lent which we will begin on Ash Wednesday and continue for forty day and forty nights.  

For today it is enough to bask in the grandeur of God “Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings” and we are “charged with the grandeur of God.” 

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Gospel text for the Sunday 3 March 2019

Luke 9:28-36     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       Speaking of transfiguration, the most compelling voice I have heard of late is that of Bruce Sanguin in his book If Darwin Prayed. The Canadian United Church Minister and evolutionary theologian writes, “All that we see around us, including our bodies and minds, are transfigurations of the originating Fireball. The entire universe is an ongoing transfiguration of the light and heat of the big bang 13.7 billion years ago. On the mountaintop, then, we can think of Jesus being bathed in uncreated light as the spiritual dimension of an evolutionary transfiguration that never ends.” (p 37) Sanguin then offers a poem/prayer for our reflection.

Light Transfusion

O Shining One,

you are the flame burning within,

the beacon on the horizon,

the radiance in all creation,

the bright idea apprehending us,

the sparkling in the eyes of our loved ones,

the uncreated light that is lighting all.

Transfigure us, this very day,

as we open into the radiance of the Christ

in each other, in song, in word, and witness.

May this be the day of our enlightenment,

when we see with clarity

the sacred life we are called to manifest.

Remake us

as sacraments of the Holy,

that we might embrace our calling;

to see with new eyes,

reach out with gentle hands,

imagine with transformed minds,

be still with hallowed presence,

and be filled with grateful prayers.

In the name of the Transfigured One we pray.

Amen.  (p 39)

Transfiguration is not a singular spectacular event that occurred two thousand years ago on a mountaintop with Jesus and his friends. Transfiguration is the revelation of who and how we all are meant to be. So let us bring enlightenment down from the mountaintop and embody it in the ‘plains’ of our lives. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 11 February 2018

Mark 9:2-9        Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Reflection       When Peter witnesses the dazzling Presence of the Spirit of God and the prophets Moses and Elijah with Jesus, Peter wants to keep the Spirit with him and so suggests “let us make three dwellings.”  Here is the thing, along with countless theologians I have preached a fair few sermons chastising Peter for trying to cling to Jesus and the dead prophets by securing them in dwelling places. I have berated Peter’s notion of making an earthy dwelling for the Spirit of God as if the spiritualization of matter was not a good thing.

Here is another perspective. The Episcopal priest, teacher of our Christian Wisdom tradition and author of numerous books on contemplative theology and practice, Cynthia Bourgeault puts it this way.  “If the heart is awake and clear, it can directly receive, radiate, and reflect the unmanifest divine Reality.”*  Sounds like we (matter) are intended to be a dwelling place for Spirit. 

When we choose to turn toward God, our lives are transfigured which basically means any barriers or false notions of separation between God and us melt away. The dark cloud of unconsciousness recedes as we wake up to the truth of our being, that like the exemplar Jesus, we are aflame in the Spirit of God with us. We are both human and divine.

In order to “be” all we are intended, we must receive our full inheritance and radiate Divine fire in the way we choose to live our lives. I believe when Peter protested, “Let us make three dwellings, one for (Jesus), one for Moses and one for Elijah,” he was expressing in concrete terms a deeper spiritual wisdom and longing to “receive, radiate and reflect the unmanifest divine Reality.”

Christian life is a both-and process; receiving and radiating the Spirit of God. When we consent to our full inheritance as both human and divine beings, (which means no more justifying our less than Divine behavior professing, “I am only human,”) we wake up, fully alive and cannot help but radiate the dazzling glory of God with us. 

* Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Way of Knowing: Reclaiming an Ancient Tradition to Awaken the Heart (Jossey-Bass: 2003), 33-35.

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Gospel text for Sunday 6 August 2017

Luke 9.28-36        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      For many years  I read  Luke’s gospel text with my eyes glued to Jesus and his glowing religious experience. The image of Jesus’ changed face and dazzling clothes blinded me to Peter, James and John’s phenomenal mountain top experience. I was swept away by Jesus’ special status, the chosen one with access to the wisdom of the prophets and divine favor.  Like Peter, I wanted to build a church around Jesus, proclaim a glow in the dark theology and make Jesus separate, sovereign and detached. I struggled to capture him with words and creeds, doctrine and denominational politics. But the cloud of unknowing finally descended and opened my eyes to recognize Peter, James and John’s indubitable religious experience and finally to hear the voice from the cloud… “Listen to him.”

Listening to Jesus is not easy. So rather than listening to him, many of us find it far less challenging to argue about him. “How did his face actually change? If there was a video camera on top of the mountain would we see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah? Does this glowing moment mean Jesus is more than merely human? What is the true nature of Jesus anyway? What is his relationship with God? Is he of the same substance of God, or us, or something else? How shall we preserve and ritualize this moment? What type of organization shall we establish to insure that everyone says and believes the correct things about Jesus? Who  determines what the correct things are? Talking and arguing about Jesus and institutionalizing rituals, creeds and ideas to insure conformity is the stuff of theology and ecclesiology. And, I believe it may have little to do with listening to him.

I wonder if Peter, James and John fall silent because they did listen to Jesus when he preached to them and what he said was very hard to hear? “I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you…do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Matt 6.13, 27-28, 31) That is what Jesus says to the disciples and us in his sermon on the plain. Are we listening?

Or do we prefer to postulate that Peter, James and John must have eaten some poison mushrooms before climbing that mountain with Jesus? Or maybe we could spend years deciphering ancient manuscripts looking for clues that whoever is telling the story of the transfiguration has some kind of neurological or psychological condition that accounts for the religious experience?  Are we listening?

Or are we more concerned with the institutional aspects of religion and preserving our buildings? Are we listening?

Or are we so caught up systematizing our thoughts about religious experience that we fail to recognize the unseen order revealed in religious experiences? Are we listening?

Or are we determined to defend denominational walls at the expense of trusting religious experience and adjusting our lives to live harmoniously for the common good?

Out of the cloud of unknowing that descends upon the mountain comes a kind of deep and irrefutable knowing that is not made of the stuff of this world. And the disciples hear, “This is my Son, the chosen. Listen to him.” Are we listening?

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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, 15 February 2015

Mark 9:2-9        Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Reflection        “Listen to him!” That’s what the voice from heaven, presumably the voice of God, had to say to the thunderstruck disciples while they were still dazzled by a knock down, wake up, religious experience. “Listen to him!” Surely James, John and Peter’s only thought must have been, “OK, sure, whatever you say. We will listen to him.” 

Can you imagine the three disciples hovering close to Jesus as the were coming down the mountian wanting to catch his every word? Can you imagine them screwing up their eyes and scratching their heads when the first thing Jesus says is, “Tell no one about what (you) have seen, until after the Son of Man (has) risen from the dead.” What are you talking about? Tell no one about the most stupefying religious experience ever? Tell no one that we actually saw you, Jesus, glow and talk with Moses and Elijah who have been dead for a long time?  Tell no one that in an instant the entire mountain was wrapped in a talking cloud? 

Maybe that is what is supposed to happen when we have a rendevouz with God; we are supposed to stop talking and just be there, in the experience. What if a glimpse of God in the face of a stranger or a full on, turn your world upside down religious experience is an invitation to get out of our heads and stop using our words to grasp the ungraspable, to comprehend the incomprehensible?  Aren’t we just like Peter, wanting to make containers, or “dwellings,” to hold onto our precious moments? If only we could capture the truth and beauty and glory of those moments in exqisitely carved wood boxes we could take them with us wherever we go, have a peek in the box whenever we need a dose of truth, beauty or glory. 

But, what if capturing our experiences is like putting lightening bugs into a jar… it kills them? What if that is why Jesus ordered the disciples to stop talking “until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead?” What if Jesus intentionally confounded their (and our) minds so that they would stop talking and just be with him? What if God is in the silence instead of our tidy boxes?

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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

Gospel for Feast of the Transfiguration 5 August 2012

Luke 9:28-36
About eight days after Jesus had foretold his death and resurrection, 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

Wouldn’t you just love to know God with your whole being? To know God the way you know the sound of a good friend’s footsteps? or the taste of chocolate? or the unspeakable beauty of a spectacular sunset. Wouldn’t you just love to know God the way you know tenderness when watching a young child sleep, the way you know wonder when listening to great music or inspiring words? Wouldn’t you love to know the grandeur of God the way you know the majesty of jagged mountains piercing cobalt skies while waves of wind and dust churn across the desert? Wouldn’t you just love to know God with your whole being?

I believe this is the way Jesus knew God – with his whole being. I believe Jesus desired to know and be in relationship with God with all of his heart, with all of his soul with all of his strength and with all of his mind.  I believe it was Jesus’ desire for God that compelled him to go out of his way, to climb the mountain and reach out to God in prayer with his whole being.  And Jesus was transfigured.

Jesus brought his whole being into relationship with God and his whole being was affected, so much so that even his clothes, that is to say, even the way he was perceived in the world, radiated his intimate knowledge of God.  Jesus was fully, lucidly, beyond any doubt in relationship with God.

I believe this is where all of us are going. We are all going to be transfigured. We are all moving toward the full and intimate knowledge of God that will transform us all the way in and all the way out. We will be changed and it will be noticeable – like dazzling white clothes. And if you happen to be wondering, “How?” A lawyer who was testing Jesus actually hasd the answer, “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind”….And Jesus said to him, “You have given the right answer, do this and you will live.””(Luke 10.27-28)

Gospel Text for Sunday, March 6, 2011

Matthew 17:1-9 9 Epiphany A

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."