A Sermon Preached March 6, 2011 Epiphany Last A – The Transfiguration

by the Rev. Frances A. Hills, Rector

Matthew 17:1-9

I’m a little amused at what happens to Peter at one point in today’s story from Matthew. Peter, James and John are Jesus’ inner circle, and Jesus takes them up on a mountain top where they witness his astounding Transfiguration. His face shines. His clothes dazzle. Lawgiver Moses and the great Prophet Elias (also called  “Elijah”) are there as well, talking with Jesus. In his usual, impetuous way, Peter observes, “It’s good to be here!”

But, instead of being content with “BEING there” and just trying to take it in, Peter wants to kick into action mode: “Let’s build three tabernacles for you guys,” as if he could forever capture this holy moment in a physical structure! Now what’s amusing to me is how while Peter is so enthusiastically talking about his building project, God sort of interrupts him, as if to say, “Peter, that’s so not what it’s all about”.

Then a bright cloud overshadows them all and a voice from the cloud, like the voice at Jesus’ baptism, says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This voice is different from the Voice at the Baptism however because this voice also says, “Listen to him” (in the King James Version,  “Hear ye him.”). With that, the disciples are not just awestricken, they’re AFRAID…Shakin’ in their boots…Fallin’ on their faces. Then Jesus so tenderly, so pastorally, touches them and says, “Arise and be not afraid” When they finally dare to look up, no one else is there—except Jesus. Just imagine what that must have been like for these good Jewish boys— Peter, James and John! Shining faces. Dazzling clothes. The appearance of two of the greatest men in their Hebrew history. A great enveloping cloud. The very voice of God…And then…just Jesus. The cloud was gone.

Could it be they were starting to see WHO JESUS REALLY IS, and that in recognizing Jesus’ divinity, they would have to re-order everything they’d come to believe? Could it be that this Jesus, their friend, teacher and companion, was God’s beloved Son. A Son who really did fulfill and supersede their sacred Law and Prophets? It would change everything. ‘Turn their world upside down. It would take some real getting used to.

Some of you know the language of “technical fix” and “adaptive challenge”. This is something I’ve worked with for years in the Clergy Leadership Project. “Technical Fix” is something you can change outside yourself. It’s like Peter’s building tabernacles to try to capture holiness. On the other hand “Adaptive Challenge” is something that changes inside yourself. It’s the kind of challenge Peter, James and John had as the reality of WHO JESUS WAS soaked in. They had to let go of the maps of the world as they’d known it because the maps no longer represented the reality of what they were experiencing on the ground.

This is an adaptive challenge. It requires a change from the inside out.I think it’s what happens to us as our faith grows and deepens, and we start to learn again

WHO JESUS IS. It causes us to realize the maps we’ve been using (perhaps from our very good childhood Sunday school classes) just don’t match what’s on the ground anymore. We, like the three disciples on the mountain, must learn again to really “listen to him”. And what he’s so desperate to have them (and us) hear, is that he, an innocent man, God’s very Son, must go to Jerusalem and die and on the third day be raised…Conquering darkness, violence and death, and giving us the opportunity for Light and Life and Love in unimaginable abundance!

To embrace this message deeply, to let it have its way with us, is an adaptive challenge, because it requires us to change from the inside out. By the grace of God and through the wisdom of the Church, we have the Season of Lent with Holy Week and Easter to help us along the Way. During this time, which starts this Wednesday, we have the opportunity to be changed from the inside out. We have the opportunity to learn and commit  or recommit to a prayer practice—For the sake of just being in God’s presence. We have the opportunity to examine our lives, confess our sins, and make our amends. We have the opportunity to give alms or in some way reach out beyond ourselves. We have the opportunity to read and study holy scripture and other challenging books.

These practices enable us to become people full of Light. It’s not Light for our own sakes that we might try to store up or bottle or build a tabernacle for, but it’s Light that shines through us and spills out into our world that so desperately needs the Light, a word of Hope, a heart of Love, a spirit of Reconciliation, and a soul of Peace. This Light cannot be contained: It’s the Light of Christ! And if we give ourselves to be the vessels of this Light, we too will be transfigured, so that all can see WHO JESUS IS.          Amen.