The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Exodus 34:29-35
Luke 9:28-36
I have it under good authority that Transformers still exist; there is even an upcoming movie. These the toys that start out as human-like robots and then as the need arises they transform into something else. You fold in arms and legs and twist torsos around and suddenly you have race cars or jets or helicopters. There are also super heroes like Power Rangers, Wonder Woman, Superman living ordinary-looking human lives but when need arises they transform into something else; something greater , more powerful, stronger. Yet with all their super strength they do not cease to be who they are. They don’t permanently change into something else, rather they temporarily live into part of who they are. When they are done saving the world, they once again become ordinary youth, women and men. Well something like this happens to Jesus.
Jesus is transfigured. He goes up to a mountain top to pray, taking Peter and John and James with him. He is suddenly transfigured before their eyes; the appearance of his face changes and his clothes become dazzling white. Glory surrounds him. As preacher Barbara Brown Taylor writes “While Jesus was praying, he caught fire from within.” In that moment, Jesus reveals his God-self. The glory of God shone from within him and all around him. Moses the great law-giver and Elijah the great prophet show up for a conference.
Now this was something Jesus’ friends had never seen before. Sure, at some level they knew he was the messiah and the son of God, Peter had even said the words aloud. But they had never seen it. They knew Jesus as their beloved friend and teacher. He did go around casting out demons and healing people, but he walked and talked and ate just like any other man. But now, here on the mountain, his Godself was revealed in all its glory. They must have been stunned.
Before we go any further, let me be clear that Jesus is not a super-hero. Jesus is the Son of God, fully human AND fully divine and very real. He is not a comic book hero or an invented character embodying the attributes of someone we all wish we could be. Rather he is perfect human. Someone without sin. Someone who lived connected to God every moment of everyday. Jesus did not have super strength or x-ray vision or spider sense. What he did have was love; and a sure and certain trust in God. I’m not sure he had love in greater amounts than the rest of us, but he was better able to live in that love and share it generously. He wasn’t impervious to pain and death—and that is the point. Remember what he and Moses and Elijah talked about while Jesus shone in all his glory? They talked about his departure, his exodus, his upcoming death. In the end it was not any super strength but his human vulnerability and love and the giving up of his very life that saved the world…and continues to save the world.
Jesus’ transfiguration was a moment when his divine nature shone out leaving no doubt about who he was. And the transfiguration was more. The power and significance of this event was not just that Peter and John and James saw the light, but that the light shone in the first place. God’s light. Jesus let them see God’s glory pouring out of him and so they knew; knew in ways that they had not perceived before just what kind of messiah they were dealing with. Just like God’s light shone in Moses as he came down Mt. Sinai carrying the Ten Commandments.
Moses may rightly be called one of the heroes of the Hebrew people. But he was no super hero. He was an ordinary human being, one who had been in a lot of trouble. In fact, he had broken more than one of those very commandments he bore. But in that moment when he walks down that mountain, his face shines because he had been with God. He had listened to God and done what God asked of him and lived in to all the giftedness that he had. He became the great law-giver. God’s light shone out of him so that all could see. Just like God’s light is in each of us.
Yes its true. We are not super heroes. But we don’t even have to be super human to shine like that. We have only to be ourselves, to be who God calls us to be. I have seen it. I have seen ordinary people transformed in moments when they do very ordinary feats of love. I have seen the light of Christ shine forth in youth of this parish at camp and in Sunday school classrooms. I have seen it people visiting and working with people in hospitals and nursing homes. I saw it last evening as members of this parish wearing yellow T-shirts went off to volunteer at Musicfest in the name of Share-Care. I have witnessed people living into their giftedness and letting the light shine from within them. They do not necessarily manage this all day everyday, but are able to grasp those moments, those opportunities, to save the world.
Just who are we called to be? What are we called to do? Scripture is full of guidance. How about those Ten Commandments that Moses was carrying. We are called to love God first, with all our hear and soul and mind, and have no other gods. We are not to make any idols for ourselves. We are supposed to speak God’s name lovingly and with awe rather than with malice and contempt. We are to remember the Sabbath day, and set aside time for worship and rest. We are to honor our father and mother. We are not supposed to kill people, or commit adultery, or steal. We are not supposed to lie or give false testimony. We are supposed to be satisfied with what we have and not covet what is not ours. Well, that is certainly a good place to start and we haven’t even gotten to Jesus yet. Jesus doesn’t so much add to this list as intensifies it. If we are to be his followers we are to feed the poor, help the wounded, work for justice, not ask for more than our due, not abuse people, and in some cases give away all our possessions. These are the things that being a follower of Christ are about. These are the things that being a Christian are all about. When we do these things, then the light of God shines out of us and that holiness transforms the world.
Now once Peter figured out what he was seeing on that mountain, he wanted to stay there in that transfigured place full of glory. But that’s not how it works. They didn’t stay there. They went down that mountain and got to work. The disciples had some healing to do and Jesus had the cross ahead of him. As Sr. Joan Chittester writes, “The purpose of holiness is not to protect us from our world. The purpose of holiness is to change the way we live in the world, not for our own sake but for the sake of others. Jesus demands the same thing.” When God’s light shines from within us, it is not for our sake but the sake of others. This is how we are called to live; not for our sake, but for the sake of others. To live a Christian life is not about seeking our own comfort. Do you remember the prayer of St. Francis? It does not go: Dear God, let me be loved and forgiven, remove my doubt, give me hope, light and joy. Rather it goes like this:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. (Book of Common Prayer p. 833)
It is a well-loved prayer. But I wonder if people really pay attention to how it so simply and beautifully outlines our call: to orient ourselves to the other. It also beautifully outlines the great gift: when we do these things, then we are filled and healed and comforted.
We do not live in the glory zone, but we can touch it. It can touch us. I believe this because it happens all the time. In my bible there is a section in Matthew that has the helpful heading “The Witness of the Disciples.” Under that heading comes this quote, “In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:16) To witness is to let the light of God shine forth from you, to do good for others that others can see that light. The glory is given not to you, but to God.
God does not ask us to be super heroes or even super human. God calls us to love, to again and again make loving choices toward all those around us. In the end it will not be our super strength but our human vulnerability and love and giving up of our very lives that will help transform the world. Go out from this place and be who you are called to be. Go out and serve others. Go with Christ saving the world, one loving choice at a time.
© Anne E. Kitch 2006
(Barbara Brown Taylor quoted from “Dazzling Darkness” The Christian Century 1998, Joan Chittester quoted from “30 Good Minutes” 1991)
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