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Feast of the Transfiguration
August 6, 2017
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William Day
May the words of my mouth…and the meditations of all our hearts…be always acceptable to you Lord… our strength and our redeemer-Amen
In preparing for this homily I was discussing several ideas with Rebecca when she stopped and asked herself if this was not familiar. Of course, it was familiar in that the Transfiguration is central to the story of Jesus. But then she turned to her computer and the reason it seemed familiar was she had a document containing a sermon on Transfiguration she presented earlier in the year. The reason seems to be that in those years when the Feast of the Transfiguration falls on a Sunday, which it does today, that is what is celebrated. In other words-quoting the late sage Yogi Berra- “déjà vu all over again”.
It's a glorious feast today: The Transfiguration of Our Lord on the mountain top. The calendar of our Church Year lists seven days as "Principal Feasts," followed by the Sundays of the year, and then by "Other Feasts of Our Lord," of which this day is one. The event of the Transfiguration is also celebrated each year on the last Sunday of Epiphany season.
Celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration began in the eastern church in the late fourth century and came to the western church in 1457. The feast is celebrated on August 6, which is the date of the dedication of the first church built on Mount Tabor, which is traditionally considered to be the “high mountain” of the Transfiguration. There are scholars, however, who believe the Transfiguration occurred either on Mount Hermon, which borders Syria and Lebanon, or on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
Scholarly argument aside, the location or where this event took place is not nearly as important as what took place. Now what in the world are we modern people supposed to make of this event? A trip to the mountains, dazzling attire, heavenly visitors, drowsy disciples, voices from the clouds and a proposed construction plan?
In the ancient world, there seems to be a pattern of seeking height in prayer as if one would be closer to god. Things start off simply with Jesus praying as he often did when his appearance dramatically changes with his face and clothes becoming dazzling white. He was transfigured yet one cannot help but see he was not the only one transfigured that day. Peter underscores this when he says “master it is good for us to be here”. Yet not knowing what he was saying he proposes to build three dwellings to somehow preserve what had just occurred. This is not the first time Peter has struggled with separating the human from the spiritual-not quite grasping the full meaning of events surrounding Jesus’ teachings and actions. And then a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they heard the voice of God: "This is my Son, my Chosen. Listen to him!" Well! There couldn't have been a clearer demonstration, a clearer statement from God of just who Jesus was. "This is my Son, my Chosen." Just in case they hadn't understood this before, God makes it perfectly clear. Peter, John and James were able to see Christ in a new and deeper reality that transformed or transfigured them as well. Peter was so high on his mountain top experience that he wanted to build shrines and somehow preserve this experience for all time. Yet we all know that the experiences in life that are the most significant cannot be bottled up and preserved. Deep experiences cannot be preserved, they can only be cherished. Make a mental list of any transfigural/transformational events in your lives. Things just are not the same afterwards- are they?
I came across a wonderful metaphor about this taken from the Tim McGraw song “Live like you were Dying” paraphrased here. Upon receiving news of a life threatening medical diagnosis the lyrics describe a person who went skydiving, Rocky mountain climbing, went 2.7 seconds on a bull named
Fu Manchu. Loved deeper, spoke sweeter, gave forgiveness that had been denied. Hope you get the chance to live like you were dying! But rather than live like you were dying how about live like you were living?
If the reading from Luke was extended we would see that “On the next day when they had come down from the mountain to the valley below, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son: he is my only child”. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him. “I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not. Jesus answered. “You faithless and perverse generation- (a phrase taken to mean willfully not doing what is expected)-how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here”. While he was coming the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God. There was still much to be done in the valley.
Maybe we don’t go to the mountaintop but we go to church which could be our version of the mountain and upon leaving we go out into the equivalent of the valley. Jesus descended from the mountain back to his needed work in the world and so must we. But before we go, we must partake of God's presence on this mountain top. As Peter said, "it is good for us to be here."
At vestry we spent some time talking about events surrounding the growth of Christianity referred to as the Jesus Movement. The theme behind the discussion was not that the Jesus Movement was something that was but rather, something that is. There is still much work to be done. As we leave today and enter our version of the valley let us remember the words which stand out so clearly from today’s reading; the voice of God saying: "This is my Son, my Chosen. Listen to Him". Amen
