Luke 9:28-43a
Transfiguration of Our Lord
We here in Williamsburg are known to the people of our VA Synod headquarters in Salem as “flatlanders.” Indeed, one of the questions that serves as an icebreaker at our youth retreats is “Do you prefer the mountains or the beach?” Even though Jesus like to hang around with fisherman, Jesus would have claimed both. Mountaintops in the Bible are places of revelation and extraordinary encounters. They are places of holy mystery that eludes our full understanding. How fitting that Luke’s account of the Transfiguration, transpires on a mountaintop. Jesus took his inner circle, Peter, John and James, with him up what is said to be Mount Tabor.
Jesus went to pray, and it was during this time of conversation with God that the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes looked whiter than if they had been washed with new and improved Tide. They were dazzling. Suddenly, they were joined by Moses and Elijah. With their presence, the law and the prophets joined the present and the future. They were having conversation about Jesus’ “exodus”.[1] Trying to visualize the scene, I imagine something grand and spectacular from Steven Spielberg. You’ve got to love the humor here. Luke tells us that the disciples were dog-tired, but that they managed to stay awake through this breathtaking and incredible encounter. Peter, God love him, wants to build 3 houses, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. If this were a Spielberg movie, God’s hand would come down from heaven and slap him upside the head. But instead, God’s voice spoke through the cloud and said, “’This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’” Then Moses and Elijah were gone. The disciples never told anyone.
A large crowd gathered around Jesus after they had come down from the mountain. Once again, Jesus was met with human need. The disciples had not been able to heal a boy seized by demons. The boy’s father pleaded with Jesus to do it, and he did. Even Jesus can’t stay up on the mountain. There comes a time to go back to every day life, but the time spent in prayerful retreat gives energy to come back. This is what worship does for us. We are restored, and sent back out to be the church in the world. Encountering Jesus changes how we see things. This is what happened at the Transfiguration. Jesus did not change. How the disciples saw him is what changed.
It is in meeting the transfigured Jesus that we are changed. If we allow Jesus to transfigure us, we will see people differently. But there is no way that Peyton Manning will look like Cam Newtown in this evening’s game. Seeing is an interesting sense. Did you know that each of our eyes has a small blind spot in the back of the retina where the optic nerve attaches. We don’t notice the hole in our vision because our eyes work together to fill in each other’s blind spots. That’s what Jesus does for us, and we can do for each other—fill in each other’s blind spots so that we see people differently, or even see them at all.
Those who have no permanent home are often invisible. It is much easier not to see them. There exists pre-conceived notions of “the homeless.” They don’t work, and they don’t want to work. They did this to themselves. They are loners and want to avoid other people. They are dangerous. They did this to themselves. If you met someone who has no permanent home, or have talked with anyone involved in a shelter or feeding program, you know these views are not the reality.
Talking with a person in a shelter, you will find that he is so proud of his son, who plays football and is looking at going to college. You will witness a mother doing homework with her child. Two guys come in late for dinner because they had just gotten off from work. Sandy Peterkin, who serves tirelessly to help prepare meals, wrote an enlightening article for our February newsletter. Taking a train to DC recently, Sandy saw some of the guests of the shelter. There they were in a different context. The people hugged Tom and Sandy. Several people asked Sandy to watch their things for a moment. Nadine offered Sandy bananas to sustain her on her trip. Those who search for shelter have learned that they are not welcome most everywhere and so become wary of people. This encounter of mutual embrace was made possible because God opened Tom and Sandy’s hearts to see “the homeless” as people of God’s making. Because Tom and Sandy were a tangible sign of God’s holy presence, Nadine and her friends saw Tom and Sandy differently, too.
Transfiguration will open our eyes to recognize that we all are valued children of God. Recently I read a blog written by Sheri Dacon.[2] Sheri is a Texan who describes herself as a nerd, and a cake snob. Sheri’s blog focused on her family, including her “special needs” child, Travis. She says that how people treated them taught her that love is conditional. Travis didn’t fit into people’s idea of what “lovable” looks like. Sheri writes, “I grew ashamed of expecting love. I was made to feel that it was something wrong on my part. That I should know better than to expect love and acceptance when my family couldn’t get our act together.”
Making it to church on Sunday mornings, Sheri writes, “is exponentially more difficult than what other families go through.” She tells us that being the parent of a special needs child is to be in a constant state of alertness, and she had hoped that the Sunday morning faith formation classes would allow her the respite she needed to have fellowship with other adults and time to focus on her own spiritual walk, but was always told that she was required to stay with Travis.
One morning, Sheri and Travis showed up at class, and the teacher told her she did not need to stay. “’We’ve got it covered,” he said. “It’s not a problem. He smiled. “It’s not ever gonna be a problem.’” Travis had been treated like a problem since he was age 5, his mom said. This Faith Formation teacher did not see a problem. This teacher saw a child. This teacher saw a unique person created by God. “Tears welled up in my eyes,” Sheri writes, “because in his words, in his simple statement, I felt the presence of the Lord Jesus in that room as clearly as I’ve ever felt anything. My son’s teacher was awash in the love of the Holy Spirit and it came through in his face, his words, his demeanor, his attitude.”
This is what transfiguration looks like when we come down from the mountain. Transfiguration isn’t about us, but rather about God shining through us in a way that makes a difference. Transfiguration is a tangible sign of God’s holy presence. It is God visible through us.
“He is my Son,” God says. “Listen to him.” Listen to him when he says, “I love you.” Listen to him when he says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Listen to him, Jesus, the one who himself is God’s presence, made tangible to us this day in bread and wine, and each other.
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] NRSV uses the word “departure”. “Exodus” is another translation of the Greek.
[2] http://sheridacon.com/2014/11/10/church-is-a-burden-for-special-needs/