Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Feast of the Transfiguration - February 15, 2015






The Rev. Canon Kimberly Reinholz
Cathedral Church of the Nativity
Feast of the Transfiguration
February 15, 2015


            There are three Sunday’s that traditionally preachers dread: The Sunday after Easter or Whitsunday, Trinity Sunday, and the feast of the Transfiguration.  Whitsunday is dreaded because how do you follow up the resurrection? Trinity Sunday is dreaded because how can you explain the Trinity without committing heresy. Transfiguration Sunday, today, is dreaded because honestly we don't know what the heck is happening in this story.  I thought I has escaped this horror because Tony was supposed to preach this weekend, but he’s stuck in Texas (poor guy) stranded by weather. 
           
So I am going to try to not get caught in the trap of the transfiguration.  I will fully and honestly admit that I am not sure what happened there that day, I am not sure what the difference between transformation and transfiguration are, I am not sure what it means to say that Jesus shone dazzling white, or what significance it may have.  I have no idea what Elijah or Moses said to Jesus on that mountaintop.
 
Instead of going down those rabbit holes, and focusing on what we don’t know about the events of that day, I will instead focus on what we do know.  What we know is that Jesus and his trusted companions Peter, James and John went up the mountain to have some time apart, to have some time alone together.  As a good friend of mines friend used to tell us, all relationships need time to “re-inflate” if you think of our relationships like hot air balloons every now and again we need some fuel for the fire, and we need to be lifted up again.  This time on top of the mountain for the disciples and Jesus was that a time to rejuvenate.   

I can only imagine how exhausted Jesus and his disciples must have been.  In the 8th chapter of Mark’s gospel, we learn that they have fed 4,000 and taught them about the nature of God’s generous heart.  Jesus has healed a blind man at Bethsaida and Peter seems to finally understand that Jesus is the Messiah.  They take a break from their ministry they go up the mountain to pray and reconnect with one another and with God. 

Mountains are holy places, and scripture is full of references to them.  In Genesis you have Mount Ararat where Noah’s ark landed, Exodus gives us Mount Sinai where Moses received the commandments, Mount Zion is where David lays the foundation for the Temple, and Mount Carmel where Elijah encounters God.  However, this mountain is nameless they were in the hills outside of Galilee heading towards Jerusalem and they went away to get away.    They just needed a break.  So Jesus leads them up the mountainside to have some time apart.

We know that they went together.  Unlike other times when Jesus went away alone to pray he brought Peter, James and John along this time.  Why exactly we don’t know.  Mark doesn’t elaborate.  Its one of the wonderfully frustrating things about Mark’s gospel that there isn’t much in the way of explanation. 

In the other synoptic accounts of the Transfiguration in Matthew and Luke’s gospel the story is more fleshed out.  The Matthean account has James, John and Peter cowering in fear and being assured by Jesus that they shouldn’t be afraid.  In Luke’s Gospel we learn that Elijah and Moses were the ones who predicted the things to come for Jesus as Christ.   However in Mark’s gospel we get none of this.  We are only told that they were there – together the 4 of them- Jesus, James, John and Peter. 

Now if you remember that these are 3 of the core 4, James and John and Andrew and Peter were the first disciples whom Jesus called.   (I do wonder where Andrew was an why he didn’t come up on the mountain with the rest but I digress) These form the crux of the community of believers and followers. These would become the first Christians after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.  These first called are the ones who have been away from home the longest.  They have been hearing these sermons and parables day in and day out.  They have be watching and waiting and wondering when Jesus would do what they expected him to do, to free the Jewish people from oppression to storm the ramparts of Jerusalem. They were probably getting frustrated with all this teaching and wandering already and wondering when the show would get on the road. 

Imagine being in their shoes for a minute, you’ve left your families, friends and businesses to follow this guy and so far he’s not doing what you expect him to do.  What he is doing is talking in riddles, and basically calling you an idiotanytim e you ask questions. You’d probably be feeling a little run down, unappreciated and exhausted right? 

So Jesus takes the leaders of the community for a time apart, for a time to reconnect with one another and with God.   It’s a retreat, time apart, time with one another, time with God.  We all need this now and again.  We all need this whether we are leaders in a community if we are vestry members, heads of ministries or missions, if we are the ones who do all the dirty work, or if the most we can do right now is get our selves to worship on occasion, we all need to be reminded that we are beloved, we are special and we have gifts which are essential to the community  .

I only wish all of our retreats were as fruitful and transformational as this one.  This time something miraculous and earth shattering happened and I cannot begin to break that apart for you, like I said, I don’t know what it means that Jesus was transfigured.  I do know that it was amazing.

The other thing I know is that Moses and Elijah showed up.   I don't know how, and I don’t know what they said (like I said in the Lukan account they have something audible to say but in Mark, not so much as a word is audible).  But they were there.  And I believe that the reason they are there is to remind the disciples that they were not the first followers of God.  They were not the first to be disillusioned, they were not the first to believe they knew God’s plan and then have it turned around in an instant. 

If we remember a little bit about Moses, he was called to lead the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt.  He was to lead them to the Promised Land but he wouldn’t get to enter it himself.  Talk about disappointment.  However he was faithful and followed God and led the Israelites through the desert.  Even when he knew he wouldn’t see the fruits of his labors himself

Elijah likewise, was called by God to lead his people, and instead of being welcomed with open arms his life was threatened and he was forced into hiding and lived in the desert as well.  Eventually he was able to lead the people of Israel back to a relationship with God, and return them to a righteous state as a nation, but not before his whole world was turned upside down

Moses and Elijah are reminders of where the people of Israel have been and where they were going, they are there to remind James, and John and Peter that what they expect might not be what they experience.  However nostalgic eyes prevail when the James, John and Peter, see Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus.  Peter especially, wants to honor them by making them shelters on the mountain.   He misinterprets the presence of these past figures remembering their glorious histories, not necessarily their whole stories. 

How often do we also remember with rose colored glasses where we come from, where we have been, and the lives of those who come before us? We as Episcopalians believe that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses – those who have come before us, those who have sat in these pews, those who have stood at this altar rail, those who have walked these aisle continue to have a role in our life as a church they help us to know where we come from, but they do not dictate where we will go.

            We are walking and listening and waiting and watching for the Lord to appear to us.  We are a people who are living in the light but we are waiting to be enlightened and we have heard these stories over and over and over again.  We are a people who are in need of time apart a time to reconnect with God, to reconnect with one another so that when the light appears we can respond to it not with our own expectations but with refreshed and renewed lives that will change the world around us. 
  
            When we go to the mountaintop may we see Peter, James and John.  May we see Moses and Elijah.  May we see the cloud of witnesses who trod the path, which is set before us.  May we see God and know God and follow God, especially when we are tired, disillusioned and disappointed that things aren’t going the way we expected.  Amen 

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