Transfiguration Sunday

February 3, 2008


The Ascent to Change


Several years ago we walked 348 miles of the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain.

It is a trail that has been walked since the 800’s by pilgrims and ends at the tomb of St. James the Apostle in Compostella.

Our guidebook gave specific and detailed directions for each day’s journey.

Many mornings we would look at our day and would audibly groan when the directions said “you will have a steep and difficult ascent to the top of the mountain.”

Sure enough, it was quite a chore for two Charlestonian flatlanders to climb to the top of a high mountain.

But, arriving at the top always gave an incredibly breathtaking view of the majesty and beauty of God’s creation, as if we were standing in the middle of a symphony of God’s love.

The difficulty of the ascent was instantly forgotten with the incredible mountaintop experience, and we never came down the mountain the same as we were before.

In order to get to the top one has to be willing to leave the comfort and security at the bottom of the hill.

It makes sense then, that God is often to be found on mountaintops, and in order to find him, one has to have the faith and courage to leave comfort and familiarity behind and to ascend to the summit where God waits.

And, always, the encounter with God always means transfiguration and change.

It is literally a spiritual metamorphosis - the kind of change that occurs when a beautiful butterfly bursts forth from a caterpillar’s cocoon.

In today’s first lesson God calls Moses to the mountaintop in order to write for him the stone tablets of the commandments.

The glory of God settled on the mountain, and Moses was called into the glory of God.

When Moses came back down from the mountain his face literally glowed from his encounter with God to the point that people couldn’t even get near him.

His face was so radiant that he had to cover himself with a veil in order to speak with the people.

For Moses, the ascent to the mountain brought about incredible and visible change.

The prophet Elijah was called to take an arduous 40 day journey to meet God on the mountaintop of Sinai, the place where Moses had his encounter.

When he reached the top, there was a mighty wind, an earthquake and a fire.

Then, there was a still, small voice, which was the voice of God.

Elijah went back down the mountain changed and transformed.

In today’s Gospel Jesus invites his friends Peter, James, and John to ascend the mountain with him.

And there, before their very eyes, Jesus changes - he begins to shine like the brilliance of the sun, and is transfigured into the visibly incredible beauty of God.

It is as if in a moment of time, Jesus could be seen as who he really was.

Not only that, but, here come Moses and Elijah - who both experienced change in their own mountaintop experiences.

Moses, representing the law, Elijah, representing the prophets, and Christ, the son of God, standing brilliantly between them.

We can scarcely imagine such an incredible sight.

Peter, never able to keep his mouth shut, suggests that they build three booths there in order to capture the scene forever.

Peter was still talking when God interrupts and says “This is my Son, the Beloved, he enjoys my favor. Listen to him.”

Not surprisingly they fall on their faces, and then Jesus says, “Stand up, do not be afraid.”

The transfiguration is over, and they head down the mountain.

What do they find at the foot of the mountain?

Are they allowed to bask in the mountaintop experience? Hardly.

At the bottom of the mountain they come face to face with evil: A demon possessed boy that the disciples couldn’t handle because of their total lack of faith.

So, my friends, the mountaintop experience of transfiguration was met by the reality of the troubles and tribulations at the bottom of the hill.

We probably, in all honesty, relate more to the bottom of the hill on our own daily lives.

We probably, in all honesty, could use a little transfiguration in our own lives, and could certain use a close encounter with God.

So, for you and me, where is the mountain of transfiguration?

Just in three days we will return here for Ash Wednesday - the beginning of our Lenten pilgrimage - and we will receive ashes on our foreheads and hear “remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

We shall say the words of Psalm 51: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

That sounds very Transfiguring, doesn’t it.

Dear hearts, I would suggest to you that the 40 days of Lent are God’s mountaintop that is waiting for us to ascend in order that we might be changed and transfigured.

It is a time when we need to heed the words “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

It is a time when we need to ascend to silence, contemplation, in order that we, too, may hear the still small voice of God.

This is precisely what Lent is all about.

It is a time when the Christ of transfiguration, the Son of God, will, if we are willing to ascend to his presence, whisper in the silence of our souls what we need to go do undergo transfiguration in our own lives.

Lent is a time when we invited to enter into silence, to cut out the noise and trappings, and to listen to what God tells us about ourselves.

And what he tells us will enable us to undergo a transfiguration from our shallow, sinful, unfulfilled lives, into the glory of our inheritance as children of God.

And yes, we do come down from the mountaintop, yes we do come down a face the evil, the temptations, and the troubles in the world.

But we come down with Christ.

And, like Moses, like Elijah, like Peter, James, and John, we come down changed and prepared to show forth the love of God even in the midst of a dark world.

Let us pray:

O God, whose face we cannot see, you have made known your love by the lives of faithful witnesses.

We give you thanks for the revelation of your glory in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, for your confirmation of his disciples and for the promise of his victory.

May the light of your presence shine in your people that all may see the fulfillment of their hopes in the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ, Amen

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