02-14-2010
Sermon for 2-14-10 Transfiguration
Like so many of the parables of Jesus, the Transfiguration story today is a very visual story, it is a word picture,
a description of what Peter, James and John saw.
Like a movie it even includes audio; Peters says…, and then a voice from the cloud says, and then as they’re walking down the mountain Jesus tells them…
But, if a picture says a thousand words, the picture that this Gospel presents, seems to leave a lot of things out…Maybe I’ve been overthinking scripts and blocking and what not, but in this Gospel picture
There’s no description of what the mountain was like, was it rocky? Was it a smooth path, well worn, or did they have to wade through knee high grasses or brush; there’s no description of what the event felt like, was the wind up high on that mountain cool upon their faces?
And of course, there’s also no mention of smells or tastes. The story is condensed into two senses. But perhaps they are the two most important senses for those of us who can see and hear.
In fact, when the Gospel of Mark tells this story, it is surrounded by two healings of Jesus the first being the healing of a boy affected by “a spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing,” and the healing of a person’s blindness.
So the point of the transfiguration experience isn’t just about Jesus changing, it is also about the people that are changed, the disciples that can suddenly see the world differently as they understand the world through the eyes and the words of Jesus.
But it is interesting that Jesus doesn’t rely upon this transfigured appearance in order to make people change into seeing the world differently.
Jesus doesn’t rely on overwhelming us with light shows and whatnot, because in fact, I think we, like those around Moses, can’t always take too much of a good thing, to much light in your face, too much exposure to God’s messengers, might actually have the opposite effect, than what we wanted…
Let me explain this through an example here…
So it says, Moses, face
Jesus isn’t so constantly bright, because people needed to be able to come up to God without being blinded by light so to speak… If we really stop to think about how powerful our God is, then it’s probably a good thing that all of that power doesn’t come blazing down for our every prayer need. What we need, is God’s glory and power to be diffused in such a way that we can still experience the light, but in a way that is veiled, a way that we can experience and see God at work through the diffused life of Jesus, who shows us the brightness of God, but for now, as through a mirror dimly, as Saint Paul fondly said, because one day we will see God face to face, and then oh boy, hopefully God has mercy and doesn’t shine the light too brightly on all of the sins of our pasts.
Sometimes the light that God shines back towards us in the mirror can be too bright, sometimes, as they say the truth hurts. In fact, we need that veil, that forgiveness, not because it lets us hide away in the shadows; no, actually the shadows are more in the brighter light,
Rather, Jesus is really only transfigured once, for a limited time, to show how bright he really is, and then he has compassion and is able to veil God just enough, to where we can finally look to God, without literally going blind…. Jesus diffuses God’s accusations against us humans and humanity, in fact the diffusion is an act of merciful grace.
By being able to see the light through Jesus, most often we are able to not be so overwhelmed by God, by the absolute good demands of God that we have not quite ever been able to live up to, either in action, inaction, or by the passions of our hearts…
The diffusion of Jesus, helps us to see without being blinded/ overwhelmed by God’s true light.
Hold up diffuser in front of bright light, explain God’s mercy through Jesus.
From the mountain top to the river bottom we are invited to uses our senses to follow Jesus’ path; next week we will jump back in time back to Jesus’ baptism. Baptisms involve all of our senses, from the splash of the water, to the touching peace and celebration that is passed, to perhaps the smell of a baby, to the light of the candle which is lit, and ultimately to the communion which we might taste to remind us of God’s continued faithfulness to us since our baptisms, even if we haven’t fully sensed God’s presence in some time.
In the words of Peter, it’s good for us to be here.
