Year C

Luke 9: 28-43

The Rev. Denise Vaughn

A Change From Within

Today is Transfiguration Sunday which begins the transition from the end of the season of Epiphany to the beginning of Lent which begins this Wednesday on Ash Wednesday, but before we get ahead of ourselves, today we stand with Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration as the glory of the Lord is revealed. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this occasion during Jesus’ earthly ministry when He revealed the mission he came to fulfil and he revealed the glory of who he is. The Transfiguration of Jesus offers us a glimpse of what is possible, not only for Jesus but for all humanity. Luke, in his version of the event, does not use the word transfigure but he described “a change in appearance that comes from within,” and when Moses and Elijah, show up, Luke says “they appeared in glory”.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word glory?  In our world today, it seems the word has become a bit tarnished. It can bring to mind glitz and glamour, self-seeking glory, or the cheap glory of those who achieve Andy Warhol’s predicted fifteen-minutes’ worth of fame. For some, reference to the glory of God, brings feelings of discomfort. They say it makes God seem too remote from our human experience. Yet, when we look at the definition of glory in the dictionary we find it should bring anything but feelings of discomfort. For instance it means praise, honor, an asset; beauty, magnificence; a state of absolute happiness; a surrounding radiance of light represented about the head or the whole figure of a sacred person, as in Christ.

Comfortable or not, all the texts today insist that glory is the right word for God and even for those who are touched by God’s presence.

God’s glory is what Peter and the disciple’s witness on the mountaintop that leaves them speechless. Who wouldn’t be when given a glimpse into the greatness and glory of Jesus? Mountains in scripture have always symbolized a place of meeting between heaven and earth, a place to encounter God, and if you have been to the top of a mountain, you can’t help but feel closer to God as you look out on God’s beautiful creation. Throughout scripture God shows God’s self on mountains. God gave the sacred name and commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai and Jesus taught about the kingdom of God in his Sermon on the Mount. Today, on another mountain Jesus goes to pray as he often is said to do at key moments in Luke’s gospel, and while he is praying, the Glory of God shone around him and in him revealing his divine nature, the mission he came to fulfill as savior and that God was with him.

God-with-us happens at times in our lives. Maybe not as spectacular as Jesus’ moment but God does come to us when we are open to receive. It can happen in moments of prayer, through fasting, or when we open ourselves to the beauty of God’s creation, when we allow ourselves to be loved by another, or as we allow the sacraments to touch our hearts and minds, when we know we are close to death, and at new birth. It can happen in those moments when we are desperately in need and helpless to help ourselves. When we realize our need of God and are open to God, it is then there can be an in-breaking of the Holy in our lives.

As Jesus prayed in his moment of need, he was changed from within and received what he needed to be able to return to the city to offer him self up for the sins of the world. The massive evil, the brutality of those who would crucify him could not smother the glory of God that was in and with him. In the face of suffering, rejection and death, Jesus is determined to fulfill his redemptive mission. A mission that takes him and his disciples back down to the valley, to the broken world where real life is a mix of delights and sorrows, shadowed by human sin, but the greatness of God is with them and us. If we are open to God presence in our lives, God’s glory will change us and help us for the journey ahead. Luke wants us to see that prayer is one of keys to a changed life.

Today we stand with Peter, James and John as the glory of the Lord is revealed to bear witness to the saving mission of Jesus Christ, and to the call of every disciple to the valley of our mission field. The glory of God’s presence and the pain of the broken world cannot be separated. Our journey with God is not to find a way around the troubles of this world; our journey with God is to find a way through them. It is a way for our lives to be changed by God’s presence so God’s glory can shine out of us because the greatest search today in our time and for all time is the search for God.

More and more people have become disillusioned with God and the Church. They are looking for a new, different and deeper connection with God, their neighbor and themselves. Jesus by his life and example shows us how to have that deeper connection. But, we are the ones who have to listen to him and seek to nurture this relationship to be changed and then called to witness to this connection, by the way we live our lives; by the example of our love of God and our neighbor so we can point others to God’ glory. To listen to Jesus as God’s Chosen One is to hear the lifelong call to baptismal discipleship as Jesus’ invitation to take up our cross daily and follow him.

We won’t always get it right. We see the disciples fail in their efforts but they also witness their faithfulness to not give up and to be present with Jesus. They become one with him and his mission in the world and like them, we will need our Lord’s saving presence in our lives to carry out our God given mission. His presence can be a source of courage, a source of power and might that can motivate us to go out and point others to God.  As we close the season of Epiphany, it is very fitting that we hear this story of the Transfiguration, because it helps us to begin the preparation for Lent; a time that will challenge us to “a change in appearance that comes from within.”

As we surrender body, mind and will the Lord will transform us from within so that in the weeks ahead we are able to begin the journey down from the mountain; from the bright lights of Christmas and Epiphany to the trenches of our faith. Where we will walk with our Lord in the wilderness, and walk with him along the Via Dolorosa to another mount and we will need God’s glory to see us through, as Jesus did. But having glimpsed this glory means this world can never be the same and neither can we. May God’s glory surround us, change us and send us out to bring God’s love into the valley.