Transfiguration 2010
There are certain phrases that seem to be the opposite of what they say. For example, “don’t worry this will not hurt one bit,” usually means that someone is about to thrust a needle in your arm, and it will hurt ! Or there’s also, “it’s good for you, and it tastes nice,” usually means “it is healthy, but it tastes disgusting” Or there’s another phrase which really gets confusing at times and this is, “expect the unexpected.” How on earth are you meant to expect something when you don’t know what to expect !!
But with Jesus this phrase is not far from the truth…
A couple of weeks ago my sister was having visitors to the house but unfortunately had to work late, and had done none of the tidying she was intending to do, and so she sent a text to my nephew who was at home and asked him to clear the kitchen and make sure the lounge was tidy. A while later he texted back saying that he was exhausted but that the house was now clean, clean enough in fact for Jesus himself to visit ! My sister replied saying, ‘I’ll invite him then !’ and he replied to her, ‘You don’t invite Jesus silly – he is always there !’
Now this isn’t a cute children’s letters to God story – my nephew is 19, and was just being clever, but today in our gospel reading we have Luke’s account of the Transfiguration of Jesus – In it, Jesus takes 3 of his closest disciples, Peter, James and John, up to the mountain top and gives them just a glimpse of the glory of God – there the 3 disciples witness Jesus’ appearance changing, and then Moses and Elijah appear – it is a glimpse of heaven ! And it serves as a reminder that the power of Jesus conquers death, and enables him to be present with us always ! We can always expect the unexpected !
Jesus, the Saviour – Moses, the great law giver, and Elijah the Prophet… And as all appear together, Peter is the one who says that he’d like to stay there – to build a little paradise existence up on the mountain top, but that was never the intention…
The Transfiguration of Jesus is officially celebrated in the Church calendar on 6th August, and it was on that day back in 1945 that the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima - Fifty to seventy thousand people were instantly killed and countless other maimed and fatally injured that day... It was a day that has been remembered for the damage that man can do to man, it was a day when the world seemed to have changed forever, it was a day when humanity seemed to plunge into the darkest valley…
What a contrast to the mountain top Peter, James and John were on with Jesus, and with Moses and Elijah, but what a reminder as well that we weren’t actually created to live life completely on the mountain top, but also in the valleys below…
As part of God’s creation we were given the wonderful gift of freewill, the gift of love… and yet with those gifts, gifts which can lift us to the top of the mountain, we can also make mistakes and we can hurt ourselves and others – we can descend to the valley below…
Today most people live somewhere between the bottom of the valley and the mountain top – that is where real life for most of us is – most of us don’t live in paradise without any problems, but similarly most of us don’t live in complete darkness, surrounded by misery and poverty and conflict….
But there were a number of purposes to the Transfiguration which are relevant to us all because all of us will experience occasions of both extremes almost certainly – Firstly it was a reminder of the power of God, and of the ability of Jesus to change anything ! It was there on that mountain that the disciples saw God and his power close up – they were given that glimpse of heaven…
And there are times when we all need a glimpse of heaven, times when we need God to point us in the right direction, to reassure us that he is there with us – all the time ! In one of the most famous mountain top speeches of all time Martin Luther King spoke on the night before he died, about being taken to the mountain top, and he had looked over into the Promised Land, and he had no fear, whatever would happen in the future…
We all need those mountain top experiences, just for the times when we are caught in the valley, and we need to know where to turn and where to put our faith and trust…
And so whether this place is literally on a mountain or whether it is in Church in a service or in the quiet, or somewhere else where we can focus best on God, we must take time out to head to that place and devote ourselves to spending time with God…
Secondly the Transfiguration was a great sign of the victory of God – the earthly authorities in the form of the religious authorities and the Romans may soon after have captured him, they may soon after put him through a mockery of a trial, they may even soon after kill him on the cross, but the power revealed on that mountain was a power that was far greater than even death – it was the power of eternal life…
And that power of life is a wonderful gift that God has given us – last week in the Eucharist we had the gospel reading about a man storing up many treasures, but not living long enough to enjoy them, and again today we are reminded that life here and now is for living… it is a gift from God to be treasured and used wisely….
And that leads to the third point because we are reminded that just as Peter, James and John couldn’t stay on the mountain top, neither can we… we are called from the mountain top, where we are strengthened by the knowledge of God’s victory over death and sin and hate and hurt, to live in the world… and much of that world takes place way below the top of the mountain, sometimes even in the deepest valleys…
But we are called to live there with the hope of the mountain top inspiring us, and inspiring others through us… On 6th August 1945 that bomb on Hiroshima seemed to have cast a cloud over the whole world, but God always has the last word, and his victory is greater than any human pain or disaster, his victory is longer lasting than any earthly success or failure…
In the valleys below the mountain we are called to show people a glimpse of the mountain top… And we are to do this not by saying, ‘I wish you’d been there with me’… In the gospel reading when the disciples came down from the mountain we are told they kept silent, telling no one about the things they had seen…
But this doesn’t mean there was no effect – this doesn’t mean that their lives were not changed forever – they would continue to make mistakes perhaps, continue to fall to human temptation, but they had seen God’s transforming glory, and inspired by that vision they would ultimately go about preaching the gospel through their words and through their actions…
When we know God, when we have felt his loving touch in our lives, we don’t say to people ‘I wish you could feel it to’, but we show people that they can…, and through our words and our actions we serve Christ who becomes visible through us.
Whether we are on the mountain top or in the darkest valley, or whether we are just caught up in our day to day lives, God is with us, and we celebrate that fact and his love by seeking to live as he wants us to live…
When we constantly strive and pray, and speak and act for justice and peace on earth; when we show love and compassion to people; when we welcome a stranger into our Churches, into our lives; we mirror and reflect the radiance of God’s presence….. The fullness of his glory cannot yet be seen or known, but each day we move closer to knowing the fullness of that glory for all eternity…. AMEN
But with Jesus this phrase is not far from the truth…
A couple of weeks ago my sister was having visitors to the house but unfortunately had to work late, and had done none of the tidying she was intending to do, and so she sent a text to my nephew who was at home and asked him to clear the kitchen and make sure the lounge was tidy. A while later he texted back saying that he was exhausted but that the house was now clean, clean enough in fact for Jesus himself to visit ! My sister replied saying, ‘I’ll invite him then !’ and he replied to her, ‘You don’t invite Jesus silly – he is always there !’
Now this isn’t a cute children’s letters to God story – my nephew is 19, and was just being clever, but today in our gospel reading we have Luke’s account of the Transfiguration of Jesus – In it, Jesus takes 3 of his closest disciples, Peter, James and John, up to the mountain top and gives them just a glimpse of the glory of God – there the 3 disciples witness Jesus’ appearance changing, and then Moses and Elijah appear – it is a glimpse of heaven ! And it serves as a reminder that the power of Jesus conquers death, and enables him to be present with us always ! We can always expect the unexpected !
Jesus, the Saviour – Moses, the great law giver, and Elijah the Prophet… And as all appear together, Peter is the one who says that he’d like to stay there – to build a little paradise existence up on the mountain top, but that was never the intention…
The Transfiguration of Jesus is officially celebrated in the Church calendar on 6th August, and it was on that day back in 1945 that the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima - Fifty to seventy thousand people were instantly killed and countless other maimed and fatally injured that day... It was a day that has been remembered for the damage that man can do to man, it was a day when the world seemed to have changed forever, it was a day when humanity seemed to plunge into the darkest valley…
What a contrast to the mountain top Peter, James and John were on with Jesus, and with Moses and Elijah, but what a reminder as well that we weren’t actually created to live life completely on the mountain top, but also in the valleys below…
As part of God’s creation we were given the wonderful gift of freewill, the gift of love… and yet with those gifts, gifts which can lift us to the top of the mountain, we can also make mistakes and we can hurt ourselves and others – we can descend to the valley below…
Today most people live somewhere between the bottom of the valley and the mountain top – that is where real life for most of us is – most of us don’t live in paradise without any problems, but similarly most of us don’t live in complete darkness, surrounded by misery and poverty and conflict….
But there were a number of purposes to the Transfiguration which are relevant to us all because all of us will experience occasions of both extremes almost certainly – Firstly it was a reminder of the power of God, and of the ability of Jesus to change anything ! It was there on that mountain that the disciples saw God and his power close up – they were given that glimpse of heaven…
And there are times when we all need a glimpse of heaven, times when we need God to point us in the right direction, to reassure us that he is there with us – all the time ! In one of the most famous mountain top speeches of all time Martin Luther King spoke on the night before he died, about being taken to the mountain top, and he had looked over into the Promised Land, and he had no fear, whatever would happen in the future…
We all need those mountain top experiences, just for the times when we are caught in the valley, and we need to know where to turn and where to put our faith and trust…
And so whether this place is literally on a mountain or whether it is in Church in a service or in the quiet, or somewhere else where we can focus best on God, we must take time out to head to that place and devote ourselves to spending time with God…
Secondly the Transfiguration was a great sign of the victory of God – the earthly authorities in the form of the religious authorities and the Romans may soon after have captured him, they may soon after put him through a mockery of a trial, they may even soon after kill him on the cross, but the power revealed on that mountain was a power that was far greater than even death – it was the power of eternal life…
And that power of life is a wonderful gift that God has given us – last week in the Eucharist we had the gospel reading about a man storing up many treasures, but not living long enough to enjoy them, and again today we are reminded that life here and now is for living… it is a gift from God to be treasured and used wisely….
And that leads to the third point because we are reminded that just as Peter, James and John couldn’t stay on the mountain top, neither can we… we are called from the mountain top, where we are strengthened by the knowledge of God’s victory over death and sin and hate and hurt, to live in the world… and much of that world takes place way below the top of the mountain, sometimes even in the deepest valleys…
But we are called to live there with the hope of the mountain top inspiring us, and inspiring others through us… On 6th August 1945 that bomb on Hiroshima seemed to have cast a cloud over the whole world, but God always has the last word, and his victory is greater than any human pain or disaster, his victory is longer lasting than any earthly success or failure…
In the valleys below the mountain we are called to show people a glimpse of the mountain top… And we are to do this not by saying, ‘I wish you’d been there with me’… In the gospel reading when the disciples came down from the mountain we are told they kept silent, telling no one about the things they had seen…
But this doesn’t mean there was no effect – this doesn’t mean that their lives were not changed forever – they would continue to make mistakes perhaps, continue to fall to human temptation, but they had seen God’s transforming glory, and inspired by that vision they would ultimately go about preaching the gospel through their words and through their actions…
When we know God, when we have felt his loving touch in our lives, we don’t say to people ‘I wish you could feel it to’, but we show people that they can…, and through our words and our actions we serve Christ who becomes visible through us.
Whether we are on the mountain top or in the darkest valley, or whether we are just caught up in our day to day lives, God is with us, and we celebrate that fact and his love by seeking to live as he wants us to live…
When we constantly strive and pray, and speak and act for justice and peace on earth; when we show love and compassion to people; when we welcome a stranger into our Churches, into our lives; we mirror and reflect the radiance of God’s presence….. The fullness of his glory cannot yet be seen or known, but each day we move closer to knowing the fullness of that glory for all eternity…. AMEN
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