Transfiguration !

This evening our Gospel reading was the account of the TRANSFIGURATION of CHRIST, which must remain one of the most spectacular accounts in the Bible. Three of the apostles, Peter, James and John, were witnessing a glorious sight whilst on the mountain praying. They had witnessed Christ being transfigured – literally changed as the appearance of his face had become a dazzling white. They had seen their forefathers, Moses and Elijah as plain as day. And finally, God was talking to them. He was talking to them from a cloud.

For those disciples present it must have been one of the moments where any doubts or worries they might have had, and all those little things that didn’t add up, were all squashed as the irrefutable evidence of God’s glory was presented.

Perhaps, the disciples could see their place in the order of creation, and just perhaps they could see the answers to the difficult questions. As they stood there beholding the Glory of God, did they understand what it is all about? What a glorious sight…

I say it was a glorious sight, but for the three followers it must also have been terrifying. They were witnessing the truly awesome nature of the Son of God. Moreover, they were told not to speak of this to anyone, and incredibly we are told that the disciples kept this all to themselves, and told no-one.

If everyone could see a sight like THIS just once in our lives, perhaps we would be better disciples. Perhaps if God came down out of the cloud for us, we could then speak the word of God to the world with more vigour and conviction…I don’t know…. But I wonder also if there is a reason why he doesn’t – why God doesn’t descend in clouds of burning light any more…

Perhaps that time has gone – just like the time when it was sunny in Summer ! And perhaps today God has done enough for us to allow us to create our own miracles, our own moments of brightness and clarity for the communities and the individuals around us and those far off.

The transfiguration for me is now a metaphor for those moments when we make an effort to read, pray and act in a way like CHRIST. It is a metaphor for all those times when the PEOPLE around us KNOW that CHRIST is the SON of GOD because of OUR CARE and THOUGHTFULNESS, which was more than the normal care and thoughtfulness that may be expected of decent people.

Unfortunately though, what really happens is that we usually suffer for those times when the church is languishing in the pit of NORMALITY, through bickering and division, thoughtlessness and intolerance that has, in many peoples eyes, come to be a hallmark of the church. The only consolation is that this has happened for literally hundreds and hundreds of years, and we, the Christian Church, are still here – imperfect and impure perhaps, but still here…

I wondered earlier why those disciples told nobody about the incredible events of the transfiguration. Perhaps it was because they were told not to, but perhaps it was because they didn’t really think people would believe them, perhaps people would think they were mad… Perhaps they were afraid to talk of the mountain top experiences ultimately because they didn’t have the faith to believe people would listen, and that is sometimes I think the position of the Church today…

Our mountain top experiences, how we have found God, how he helps us in our daily lives, how he has transformed our thinking and our whole being, are things that we often don’t have the confidence to talk about, because we don’t always have the faith to believe it will make a difference to others.

Today is the day to change all that – Today is the day when we can engage with the commandment of Christ to love one another without measure or malice – to give, without the possibility of repayment, and to once again seek that prize beyond all prizes, which can be found in our love and tolerance for the world around us.

In our lives we will make mistakes but we must live trying to do the right thing, not occasionally, not just when people are looking but all the time – there’s a true story about a man who several years ago, in Long Beach, California, went into a fried chicken shop and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and the lady he was with.

However, the young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day - a whole bag of money (most of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and enjoy some chicken together. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken, in fact, over $800!

But this man knew the right thing to do. He quickly put the money back in the bag. They got back into the car and drove all the way back. The man got out, walked in to the shop, and became an instant hero. By then the manager was frantic. The man with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, "I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money." And he handed it over to the manager who was obviously thrilled and rather relieved.

He was so thrilled in fact at this incredible piece of honesty that he said he wanted to call the newspaper to get a story done about it… But the man who had brought the money back quickly said, “Oh no, no, don't do that!" Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You see, the woman I'm with is not my wife...she's uh, somebody else's wife."

Living on the mountain top must mean trying to live our lives in the gaze of everyone, knowing that when people look they see something of God in our lives.

So, the message of the transfiguration can be not to look at some mountain top 2000 years ago and wish we could be there. We can’t, but we can make that mountain top the place where we live today, shining as beacons in a world so often full of darkness, loving the unlovely, caring for the outcast, praying unswervingly and unselfishly for a better future for ALL GOD’S CHILDREN, and so let us, each one of us, shine like the sun, as we become the proof that GOD EXISTS and SENT HIS SON to be the Saviour for all people. AMEN