My spiritual director invited me to preach at her parish in Port Royal, Virginia on August 6th. My computer had to go in for repairs (fortunately it was under warranty) just as I was getting ready to start writing. It was an interesting experience drafting it by hand. I haven't done any formal writing (academic papers, sermons, etc.) by hand since I was in graduate school back in the mid-1980s. It's a whole different process. I finished writing the final version at a reasonable time that Saturday evening, but as I drove down to Port Royal Sunday morning, I had some new thoughts, which I scribbled on my manuscript before the service. Here is what I ended up with:
The Feast of the Transfiguration –
Luke 9:28-36
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Port
Royal Virginia, August 6, 2017
Thank you, Catherine, for inviting me to be here with all of you to share in today’s celebration. And as Catherine just mentioned, today is the day that the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration. Wait. What? Didn’t we already hear this story at the end of February? And didn’t we already celebrate the Transfiguration? Well yes, we did hear Matthew’s version in February. But no, we didn’t celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. What the Church celebrates on the last Sunday of Epiphany is Transfiguration Sunday. This may sound like the same thing, but there are differences. The season of Epiphany centers on the revelation of God’s light in Jesus, which begins with the Magi following the star to visit the baby Jesus, tells of his baptism by John, the calling of the disciples, stories of his public ministry, and ends with the Transfiguration, after which begins the season of Lent and the journey toward Jerusalem and crucifixion. Even the collect for Transfiguration Sunday launches us into Lent:
O
God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon
the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his
countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his
likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
It is Christ’s glory, and our own, that is the focus of Transfiguration Sunday. On that day, we are preparing for Lent and the journey to the cross.
This is not to say that the Feast of the Transfiguration isn’t about who Jesus is. Luke’s version of the event appears in a section that most commentators refer to as being about who Jesus is and detailing his ministry in Galilee. Just a few verses before today’s passage Herod asks the question outright: “I beheaded John, so now who am I hearing about?” The answer is all around Herod and quite visible to us, especially in today’s reading when God’s voice declares it from the cloud: “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!” There is also a subtle reference to his coming suffering, death, and resurrection in Jerusalem. Moses and Elijah speak with Jesus about “his departure.” It could simply mean his departure for Jerusalem, but the Greek makes it clear that they are talking about his coming death and resurrection. So yes, today’s feast day does serve to tell us something about who Jesus is. But there is a difference here. Listen again to today’s collect:
O God, who on the holy mount
revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured,
in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from
the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who
with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever.
We’re not talking about Christ’s glory and taking up our cross to follow Him into glory. Today is about seeing Jesus for who he is. Not only does the collect point us in this direction, but the hymns we’ve sung all talk about the shining light, his shining face. He is God’s Son. As part of the Church’s prayer, we are asking to be delivered from the disquietude of the world, and also in effect our own unease, so that we may see Jesus clearly. Frankly, I think the Church gets it wrong here. If we look at this scene, we can see that it takes place in the context of prayer. Jesus has gone up the mountain with the three disciples to pray. Jesus frequently goes off to pray alone or with his disciples. However, very rarely, if ever, is he delivered from his unease, the disquietude of the world. Just before this scene, Jesus and the disciples try to go off for some quiet time alone. Instead they are followed by a growing crowd, and Jesus ends up feeding more than 5,000 people! On the night before his death he prayed on the Mount of Olives for God to take away “this cup of suffering.” We all know the answer to that prayer.
Taking time for prayer isn’t about easing our disquietude. In fact, it is often our disquietude that leads us to look for quiet time away to pray. Prayer is an important part of a life of faith. It grounds us. It helps us discern our own call to ministry in the world—and have no doubt about it, we the laity are the primary ministers of the Church. If you don’t believe me, look at the Catechism sometime. We are ministers even if we and the Church don’t always believe it or act like it. Prayer strengthens us for that ministry, even as Jesus is strengthened during his time on the mountain. And he needs it because when Jesus comes down off the mountain after the Transfiguration there is no slow transition back into his ministry. He and the disciples are immediately confronted by a man whose son is possessed by a demon, and Jesus heals the boy.
Be careful what you pray for because, like Jesus, we do get answers to our prayers. Those answers, however, aren’t always what we expect. Be open to those answers, for they will transform your life—they will transfigure you.
Please pray with me.
Loving God, in our disquiet we come to you with open hearts to listen for your call. Responding to your call isn’t easy. Often it makes us even more uneasy. We ask that you be with us in our uneasiness to transform us for the work you ask us to share. In the name of your Transfigured Son. Amen.
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