In today’s gospel reading we had the account of the Transfiguration – the day when Jesus along with three of his disciples, Peter, James and John, went up to the mountain and there were greeted by the appearance of Moses and Elijah, two of the great figures of the Old Testament.
During that time Peter, recognising the importance of the occasion and wanting to preserve it for all time suggests that they should build some dwellings there – but that was not the purpose of this occasion – a voice from heaven, the voice of God, came down and said, ‘This is my Son, My chosen, Listen to Him !’
This occasion was to confirm the ministry of Jesus and his commitment to die on the cross in order that the sins of all people could be forgiven.
And transfiguration has some vital lessons for us as well today. The first is that the glory of God really can’t be kept in one place. The glory of God, whether we choose to see it or not at times, is all around us. One of my nieces, Amy, has gone to
It’s big ! And yet it is only a small part of God’s creation – a small part where every little bit is known to God and loved by God. God’s glory is everywhere…
The second lesson we remember is that in Jesus’ victory over death, a victory has been secured over every conflict and evil in the world. August 6th, the Day we celebrate the Transfiguration, is actually the date upon which the atomic bomb was dropped on
As we think of some of the tragic conflicts going on in the world today we must look to God for his example of peace – his victory was won through a brutal death at the hands of vicious authorities, but his victory was won peacefully, with love and with compassion.
The transfiguration reminds us that the world that we see on the news each day is not the world of God – it is just a small part of the imperfect world awaiting his promised perfection.
And thirdly the transfiguration speaks to us of a mountain top experience. The idea of a mountain top experience reminds us of a really good experience, one that we never want to lose – it was the same for Peter when he was confronted by Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
All of us need mountain top experiences; all of us need really good times where we find renewal and refreshment, where we feel really close to God. Celtic Spirituality talks of ‘thin places’ where people feel that the gap between heaven and earth, between God and us, is narrowed. We need to take time out occasionally from busy lives, and just seek peace and quiet, allowing ourselves time for relaxation and thought… allowing ourselves to concentrate on God and his plan for our lives and our world.
But like Peter, we can also easily misunderstand things – I heard a true story recently about a school inspector who was visiting a very nice school and where some of the children had obviously been prepared ready for the visit – they were talking about some of the clever things they had done and they had learnt.
And then the inspector came to one young boy who said, ‘I know how to make babies.’ The inspector was a little bit surprised and just smiled, but the boy was persistent, ‘I know how to make babies – do you ?’
The inspector began to get a little embarrassed, and just mumbled, ‘Yes I do.’ He tried to walk away, but the boy continued, ‘when did you learn how to do it – I learnt yesterday…. My teacher showed me. You just knock off the ‘Y’ at the end of baby and add ‘ies’ instead – baby becomes babies.’
Misunderstandings are all too common, but sadly the truth is that we can’t live on the mountain forever – much of our work will need to be done down on the ground. Much of our work will be done in places where God may not seem so easily visible…
But transfiguration reminds us that God is present everywhere – he never leaves us, never abandons us on the ground to work without his help – if the barriers between us and him are there, it is we who erect them, and it is we who must tear them down.
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