Readings
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
I have a picture for us to look at this morning. Believe it or not, this picture spells out a very familiar word. And no, it’s not in code or a foreign language. Do you see it? Now, some of you may have seen this before. If so, please don’t shout out the answer. If you don’t see it, don’t feel bad. In fact, if you don’t see it you are doing exactly what all of us were trained to do in school. Namely to focus on the dark marks and try to interpret them.
I’m going to tell you what it says. It says “Jesus.” Can you see it now? If you still can’t see it focus on the light spaces rather than the dark marks. (draw out the name of Jesus on the cutout) Now once you see Jesus it’s very hard to go back to simply seeing nonsensical markings. It is as if the whole thing has been transformed.
Today’s story is much the same.
In our Gospel Jesus, Peter, James, and John go up a mountain to pray and while there we’re told that Jesus begins to glow and that his clothes become dazzling white. If that’s not enough, miraculously Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus. Peter says in response, “hey, I can put up some tents for everyone” and in that moment the disciples are covered in fog, and they hear a voice from heaven say “this is my son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
Now the story goes on from there, but for our purposes I want to stop and focus on the part I just described.
Something amazing and profound is happening. God is breaking into the very human experience of the disciples. Jesus’ divine nature is being revealed. That seems obvious to us because this story is being told in an allegorical way. We are not hearing a story that is meant to be taken literally. We are hearing a story that is meant to be taken figuratively. How else would it be that the disciples know that it is Moses and Elijah standing with Jesus?
Regardless, Jesus is transfigured before the disciples and Peter responds much as any of us would. He relies on his senses, his reason, and his upbringing to put this into a frame that makes sense. He offers to put up some tents.
Now that can be interpreted in one of two ways. Either Peter is suggesting that they all hang out together. In other words that they go camping. Or, more likely, he is suggesting that they take time to worship. Regardless, Peter is trying to “shoehorn” the experience into something that makes sense. He is trying to put the experience in a box.
Fortunately for them, the experience is so overwhelming that they are overcome with a sense of mystery. That’s what the cloud in the story is meant to convey. Like the cloud in today’s Hebrew scripture, clouds in the Bible are almost always places of mystery. This is an experience that refuses to be condensed and defined. And, in the midst of it they hear a voice from heaven declare who Jesus is, but more importantly gives the command to “listen to him.” In other words, God is commanding the disciples to pay attention. To be attentive to Jesus in a new and unfamiliar way.
The disciples are being called to bring their whole heart and mind and body to this experience, and to stop “shoehorning” it into a box of what’s known. To be open to the mystery and the in-breaking of God into their lives.
How different are we from the disciples? How often do we pray for a miracle already deciding what that miracle will be? How often do we long for an assurance of the presence of God and feel frustrated that we haven’t gotten what we desire?
But the truth is that God is breaking into our lives every day in multiple ways.
The transfiguration isn’t an event that happened once a long time ago. It’s something that is happening all the time. And we can experience it if we are willing to set aside our assumptions and preconceived notions, if we are willing to unlock our imagination and our faith.
The world is filled with mystery my friends. We need only think about something as mundane as our morning cereal bowl. It doesn’t seem like much. Just a bowl of cereal. But, what about everything that led to it getting to your table. The farmer who grew the oats; the plants themselves sewn, watered, fed, and grown. The mill that roasted and ground the oats into flour. The cereal company that took that flour and baked it into the little circles that fill your bowl. And on top of that the myriad people from factory workers to grocery store clerks and everyone in between that insured that it was available for you to purchase. There is nothing less than a universe of human experience and creation leading to that simple bowl of cheerios.
Or how about the airport? Have you ever taken time to look at all the people getting off and on planes? And all the people waiting for those arriving? Each of them is a living creature with a mind, and a heart, and a body. Each of them has a story as rich and complex as our own. All of them have the same hopes and fears as each of us. If we are but a little imaginative and open to the experience, we can recognize that there is literally a universe of mystery surrounding us in that place.
And in the midst of mystery such as that, God breaks into our lives on a regular basis. It need not be a huge miraculous experience like the one we hear today. It might be as simple as a kind word received when we least expect it, but most need it. It might be a moment of inspiration when we are watching a sunset over the ocean. Or, it might be a moment of awe when we see something in a person we know well that deepens our understanding of who they are.
Just as Jesus’ disciples were called to listen to him, we too are being called to be open to the transfigured presence of God in our lives. To recognize him in every dimension of our existence. To recognize that every person we meet is an opportunity to look into the eyes of Christ.
Just as the disciples were awed and transformed by their experience, we too can be transformed and inspired.
Let us take a moment today, and like with the picture we started with, get out of the box of how we normally put the world together. Let us use our faith and imagination to experience the world with all of our heart and all of our mind; with nothing less than our whole selves. If we do, we might be surprised to find ourselves transformed by the experience. If we do, we just might see Jesus.