St. George's Episcopal Church |
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Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 99:1-9
Philippians 3:7-14
Matthew 17:1-9
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74th General Convention of the ECUSA
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." (Matthew 17:1-9)
Call and Response
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
This time of year, it is sometimes hard to remember that there is a sun in the sky. But even though it is not as bright or warm as we might like, we know that it is still there. Although we intellectually know that the sun is essential for all life on our planet, we do not treat the sun with the same reverence as the ancients. In our world where water, coal, and nuclear fission all produce the electricity we need to keep our homes illuminated and warm, our DVD players and stereos running, and the computers operating, the sun seems to lost some of its luster. But there was a time when everyone knew that the sun was the source of power on this planet. Indeed, the Ojibwa Tribes of North America and the Senci Indians of Peru both shot flaming arrows into sky during solar eclipses to rekindle the fire of the sun.
For the past two weeks, we have been traveling with James, Peter, John, Andrew, and Jesus as they began their ministry together. You may recall that two weeks ago, we read about how Jesus asked James, Andrew, Peter and John to follow him. It was not clear whether the four had known Jesus and followed him out of familiarity, or whether they had just met him and were simply overwhelmed by Jesus' charisma. No matter what the reason, they followed him to the top of a mountain to learn from him. Last week we heard some of that instruction in the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.
And in today's reading, we are witnesses to an extraordinary event: the transfiguration of Jesus. It is not surprising to hear in the story of the transfiguration that Jesus' face "shone like the sun." To the people of the ancient near east who understood the absolute dependence of all life on the sun and who felt godly goodness in Jesus, what analogy could be better?
The word, "transfiguration" appears in the New Testament only twice; once in the Gospel of Mark and once in the story from Matthew we just read. It is a unique word, an important word. In Greek, the word is "metamorpho¿" which is the root of our English word "metamorphosis." In Greek, the word has two meanings; the first is to change in a manner that is visible to others, and the second is to change inwardly in fundamental character or condition.[1]
I suspect the writer of Matthew was sitting in his work room struggling to find just the right word that would capture the theological reality he wanted to portray. And the word he chose could not have been more perfect because it simultaneously captures both the outward and inward transformations that occur when we encounter the divine.
And just what is the theological reality of the transfiguration? The story goes that when they got to the top of the mountain, Jesus' face began to shine like the sun. Through the power of God, Jesus underwent some kind of metamorphosis that Matthew records as a change in outward appearance, visible to the disciples with him.[2] But the metamorphosis doesn't stop there. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appear in a heavenly constellation of stars, talking with Jesus. This is Matthew's very Jewish way of connecting the importance of Jesus with to Moses and the prophets. Theologically, Matthew sees in the person of Jesus something cosmic – something that reaches beyond the first century. In the face of Jesus, Matthew recognizes God. The transfiguration is more than a metamorphosis of Jesus; it is a literal transformation of history. Matthew sees that the mighty acts of God that his people experienced in their past would continue.
And the disciples fell to their faces in fear, overcome with the glory that they experienced when they first came to realize that the presence of God was among them in the here and now. God was no longer a deity "outside" history, but rather God was with them in ways they had yet to understand. But in that moment they were dumbstruck with awe and fear. Jesus was the most godly person they had ever encountered.
The other definition of "metamorphosis" refers to an inward change in one's fundamental character. One might ask what happened to Jesus that resulted in a change of such magnitude that Matthew used cosmic and figurative language to describe it. Although it is impossible to know, I wonder if it was not Jesus' realization and acceptance of his calling in life. This raises an interesting theological question about Jesus: When did Jesus come to an understanding of his life and ministry? Did he always experience the divine presence in his life or did it come at a later time in life? Matthew suggests that it came to him on the mountain top when he was with James, John, and Peter.
Have you ever had a mountain top experience wherein you had an absolutely clear feeling your own calling in life? For some, it might be like that epiphany light that suddenly illuminates the recesses of the heart and mind, providing total purpose and perfect clarity of vision. For others, perhaps it is something achieved in small stages, where each step in the call seems almost insignificant at the time. But when one gets to the end of the journey and looks back on the "coincidences" and decisions made that led to one's place in life, one begins to realize the calling was there all along, slowly pulling and prodding.
I remember seeing a transfiguration moment. It was about three days after our daughter was born. During the first few days of Miriam's life, she did not know how to nurse. Amazing as it must seem, some babies do not instinctively know how to suckle. With the help of a lactation specialist, I fed Miriam through a small tube taped to my finger. I would insert my finger into her mouth, and then as she sucked, I would push a little milk into her mouth through the tube from a syringe. Although she would eat a little, it was clear by the third day that she was not gaining weight. The pediatrician was becoming concerned, and the medical staff was threatening to discharge Mom, but keep the baby. Mom was slipping quickly into depression, feeling that she was a failure at motherhood.
I spent most of my time in the hospital in the nursery, and the nurses made me the unofficial baby rocker. I sat in the rocking chair and rocked the babies who just needed human touch. As I sat there, rocking Miriam and trying to feed her through the tube, I wondered out loud of there was something else we could do to teach Miriam how to eat. The head nurse offered her help. We went to Mom's room, and I was escorted out; this was clearly going to be women's work. And when I heard the head nurse tell my infant daughter, "I weigh 200 pounds and you weigh 8. I will win!", I knew then it would be ugly work. I left unsure if I would come back to a family or a double homicide.
After a long time rocking the babies, I was told to go to Mom's room. When I opened the door, I saw a sight that can only be described as a transfiguration. Miriam had latched onto her mother's breast and was nursing like there was no tomorrow. And Mom had the most contented, other-worldly glow about her. It was the fulfillment of the deep genetic call of motherhood.
The story of Jesus' metamorphosis on the mountain top can be viewed as a highly personal thing that happened to Jesus. But I think that is not the whole story. It would be wrong to picture Jesus as a serene and untouchable glowing source of divine power, who floats through the sky like the sun, above the trials and temptations of the world. Jesus is very worldly, very earthy. He will deal with heartbreak and agony, struggle and suffering, mocking, and flogging, and suffer one of the most agonizing deaths imaginable. That same face that Matthew saw shining with the divine light of God will be spat upon and slapped by people who will cry out for Jesus' death.
The link between the human and the divine, between the suffering and the restored, between heartbreak and joy, all of these are all summed together in the words Jesus says to his disciples as they laid with their faces pressed to the ground in fear. "Get up and do not be afraid." Suddenly the greatest power in the universe was concentrated in a touch. The real presence of the invisible God was seen in the face of a caring man. Transformed by his own experience of the divine within him, Jesus stooped to help his brothers up into the light. Jesus of Nazareth shows himself to be one who will hold our hand, calm our fears, and walk with us down the mountain. He will stay with us during our hardships, always reminding us that God will be with us. Reminding us that God will never let us go.
Whether it is immediately transfigurative as in the case of Jesus, or slower, only recognized after the fact, metamorphosis can happen when we are touched by the deep and penetrating love of the divine. But for metamorphosis to truly happen requires a response from us. How do we respond when God touches us? Will we be like Jesus, and let our divine light touch others, or will we do something else?
What will you do?
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The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction." So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, "Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them." Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of
1 The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
4 Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
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."