Transfiguration of Our Lord
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
That event on the mountaintop must have been absolutely amazing, stunning, awe-inspiring for the disciples. Jesus is transfigured before their eyes and shines dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appear and talk to Jesus. The cloud of God’s presence envelopes them all, and out of the cloud booms God’s voice, “This is my Son, my Chosen. Listen to him!” Wow!
This is a very rich story. A lot is going on here, and there are a whole bunch of allusions to and connections with other stories in the Bible. I am always tempted to go into Bible study mode and explain all of them. But this is a sermon, not a Bible study. So today, I am going a different route. Today, I am looking for aspects of this story that matter to us today.
Jesus is transfigured in the company of his disciples and Elijah and Moses. He is not alone when this takes place. One commentator wrote, “Not even Jesus can shine alone. The glory of God is only possible if lived together.”
From the beginning, Jesus has called people into community. It is really important to Jesus that his friends should be connected with others in caring community. Here at Calvary, we take this focus of the gospel seriously; our mission statement is, “As followers of Jesus, we are called to be an inclusive and compassionate community, where everyone is connected in relationship with God and each other to foster wholeness of mind and soul.”
Loneliness and isolation have become a big problem in this country. Many of us who live here are transplants from somewhere else; we don’t have family in the area. Many ways we used to make new friends have fallen by the wayside. For example, years ago when my kids were still living at home and asked me to pick them up at a friend’s house, I would get out of the car, ring the doorbell, and chat with the friend’s parents while my child got their stuff together; a chance to make connections and friends. Later on, cell phones changed this. I would call my child from the car and wait for her to come out. No interaction with parents.
Drive-through restaurants, grocery delivery, home movie channels, online doctors’ appointments – they have all made life more convenient, but also more lonely. I have even heard of an undertaker offering drive-by viewings. Can you imagine?
When we mourn the death of a beloved person, it is starkly apparent what we need: a real-life person to lean on, to hug, to talk to, to share stories with. Drive-by and zoom are simply not the same. However, in all other situations of life, we need real people, too. Someone once said to me, “I have 200 friends on Facebook, but nobody can help me move this weekend.” Real people are needed to give us tangible love, support, guidance, correction, hugs, companionship, and so much more.
In our gospel story, Jesus is talking with Moses and Elijah. They are two giants of the faith. Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery into freedom and related God’s covenant and law to them. Elijah led the struggle of the faithful against a corrupt king and queen. Now they are talking to Jesus about what is ahead for him: His journey to Jerusalem where he will die to lead his followers to eternal life.
What a blessing this community of ancestors of the faith is for Jesus! They have experienced struggle and hardship. They can share with Jesus how to get through, how to keep the faith in spite of setbacks and opposition.
We do that for each other here in this community Jesus called together by his love. Experienced grandparents give guidance to new parents. Parents of teenagers compare tactics. Those who have been through cancer accompany those recently diagnosed.
Many of our people are going through anxious times because of job uncertainty right now. We or people we care about worry about income or about having to pick up extra workloads after firings of colleagues, about how to manage returning to the office full-time or about how to talk to their children about it all. That’s when this community of believers is such a blessing. Here we can talk openly and receive compassion. Here we can sit with those who are in tears because the stress is just too much. Here we can admit that we are in pain and ask for the prayers of our church family. This is a safe and compassionate community.
And as such, it is a community that shines the glory of Christ on each other.
We love the moments of glory, when Christ’s love and God’s presence and the Spirit’s guidance are so very obvious, and faith is easy to come by, and alleluia’s sound in the air. If only we could stay in those moments forever. But we can’t. Jesus and his disciples leave the mountain and encounter the needs and challenges of the world.
Today, we are baptizing Leighton. What a glorious day! Everyone is gathered to celebrate. Everyone is happy and excited and dressed up and in a good mood. Lots of pictures will be taken. The sacrament makes God’s presence tangibly real. On days like this, faith is easy.
If only we could live in moments like this forever.
But we can’t. Leighton will go home, and daily life with his family will resume, and there will be lots of challenges along the way: teething, the bumps and bruises of learning how to walk, the first time he encounters a mean person, the first time he falls in love and his heart is broken. Days won’t always be as glorious as today.
However, the promise of today’s gospel is that Christ’s light shines onto him and us on every other day, too. Jesus and the disciples bring that light from that special mountaintop experience with them. A man cries out for help for his ill son, and Jesus responds. On this day, the disciples are still struggling with trusting themselves as bearers of the light, but later on they will fully embrace their calling. They will go and share the gospel news and heal people and care for people and build communities where they can shine the light of Christ on each other.
Today, Leighton will receive a baptismal candle. It will be lit from the Christ candle. Our assisting minister will present that candle with its light to Leighton (or his parents) with this quote from Jesus: “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Jesus calls and empowers us to receive his light and then spread his light through how we live, how we act, how we show up in the world. Here in worship Jesus comes to us in his word and in his sacraments, filling us with light and with faith. Then we go forth from this table of grace to spread his light.
And does this world ever need light!
The lonely people in our community need light; how might we be called to bring them Christ’s glory?
Those worried about the increasingly erratic weather patterns and natural disasters need light; what can we do to make a difference?
Those aghast by the images of destroyed cities in Gaza and Ukraine need light, not to mention the people who live there; how can we be a beacon of hope?
Those on edge because of rising hatred towards marginalized groups need light, especially those on the receiving end of that hatred; how can Christ’s love bring mutual harmony and respect through us?
Those struggling with mental health, with the anxieties of governmental firings, with the stress of appearing acceptable on social media, with caring for children or parents, with holding on to faith in the midst of it all; how can we bring them light?
You and I can’t do all of this. But we can each do one thing. Lent is a really good time to ponder what one thing I might be asked to pick up, let go off, change, add to my priorities.
Jesus was transfigured while he was praying. It must have been a lengthy prayer because the disciples almost fell asleep. Lengthy prayer illuminated him with God’s glorious presence and guidance.
Prayer is one of the disciplines of Lent. I encourage us all to spend significant time in prayer in the next seven weeks. Find your own prayer patterns or use the resources we are offering or do a variety of things. But pray. Pray for God to enlighten you. Prayer for God to fill you with light and faith, and to show you where you have the chance to shine light on others.
And when you pray, thank God for this faith community: for the light we receive and give here; for the light we carry to and for each other; for the light of Christ’s love that is so palpable here that it makes us glow with hope. Amen.