It's wonderful to be back in church this morning, even with a small number of people. I am aware that it continues to be a time of stress and anxiety for many people and some of us may at times find ourselves in a very low place emotionally and spiritually. Well today's gospel takes us to a high place as Jesus is transfigured before his disciples at the top of the mountain. I hope God will encourage and challenge us this morning through this gospel reading.
My one and only visit to the Holy Land was with David and other clergy from the Bristol Diocese many years ago now. One very vivid memory of that trip is the day we went up Mount Tabor, one of the possible sites of the Transfiguration. It was certainly a high point experience of that trip. In fact, I was taken by surprise by the deep awe and wonder I felt at the top of that steep sided hill, where there is a simple church with three chapels, one dedicated to Moses, one to Elijah and one to Jesus. I didn't expect to find it such a powerful experience. Often such high point spiritual experiences can take us very much by surprise – they come unbidden and unsought for and we are filled with a new awareness of God and his grace.
The Transfiguration was certainly a high point for Jesus and for his disciples, Peter, James and John. Before their eyes, Jesus is transfigured with light; his whole person shines with glory. Then Moses and Elijah, those two great figures of the OT appear beside him. It is as if the whole history of the people of Israel is brought together in that moment. Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the Prophets, are key figures in the long story that looks ahead to the coming of the Messiah. But at the same time as Jesus fulfils the hopes of the past, this glorious vision is also a vision of the future. The disciples have a glimpse of his future glory, the glory which at the end of time will be seen by all people.
If the past, present and future are brought together in this vision of the transfigured Jesus, so also are heaven and earth. It's as if the veil separating the heavenly and earthly reality is suddenly removed as the disciples see the human Jesus, the one they eat and drink with, laugh and cry with, day by day, illuminated and irradiated with divine heavenly light. The glory of God, the holy one, is focused on the person of Jesus, the Word made flesh. Just as had happened at Jesus' baptism, here again, at the Transfiguration, a window is opened onto eternity. 'God's dimension behind ordinary reality.'
As the three figures talk together, the disciples watch in silent amazement and fear. That is, until, as was his custom, Peter opens his big mouth! 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here!' he says, 'let's make three tents for the three of you, so you can stay here.' Peter doesn't really know what he is saying, but he wants somehow to capture and prolong this glorious experience. We may identify with Peter here. Whenever we have moments of awe and wonder, when we have mountain top experiences, we want to grasp them; we don't want to let go of the experience. But of course, we know we can't live on the mountain top forever. Just as Peter, James and John had to come down the mountain and back down to earth, where, as we read in the very next section of the gospel, they find a difficult situation waiting for them, with a father anxious about his sick child and their fellow disciples at a loss how to help him – so our high point spiritual experiences are sometimes followed by stressful and challenging times, or simple busyness, tedium or doubt.
So what does the Transfiguration say about Jesus and how did it speak to those first disciples and to us today?
The Transfiguration is of course focused on Jesus and as the disciples watch this glorious vision they are given a new and deeper insight into who he is. Just before this event, Jesus has asked his disciples 'who do you say I am?' and Peter responds 'you are the Messiah.' Here at the top of the mountain, the disciples indeed see that Jesus is the Messiah; the one longed for in the Law and the Prophets. And more than that, he is the beloved Son of the Father; the image of the invisible God. The disciples have a glimpse of his glory which at the end of time will be seen clearly by all people.
But it's interesting that the disciples have this vision of Jesus as the glorious Lord, just before he enters into his passion, suffering and death - and we reflect on this wonderful experience of the Transfiguration just before we enter into Lent and approach Holy Week. We're told that the three figures, Moses, Elijah and Jesus talk together but we are not told what they talk about. In Luke's account, we're told that they talk about his 'departure', his death. The word for 'departure' also means 'exodus'. The beloved Son, the glorious Lord, brings about the new 'exodus'; new freedom and life, through his own suffering and death. At this moment of glory and light at the top of the mountain, Jesus talks about his death.
For Jesus, glory and suffering are not separate things but belong together; this high point experience is not something just to be enjoyed for its own sake, rather the glory and affirmation Jesus receives is related to the pain and suffering he will shortly undergo. No doubt this high point experience for Jesus sustained him as he approached his trial, betrayal, torture and death. As Michael Ramsey, one time Archbishop of Canterbury, points out: 'he who stood in glory with Moses and Elijah on either side, will be crucified with evildoers on the right and the left.' The glory of the mountain top and the darkness of the shadow of the valley of death are brought together; and the Transfiguration looks ahead to the resurrection.
What effect does this experience of the transfiguration have on the disciples? They are not merely spectators watching a powerful drama from the gallery. The cloud of God's holy presence overshadows them too, and they are drawn in, as they hear the voice: 'this is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.' Again we are taken back to Jesus' baptism when the voice came from heaven 'you are my Son, the Beloved'; but here it is not Jesus himself who is addressed but the disciples: 'this is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.' Being a Christian is not a spectator sport; we are called to be involved, to listen to Jesus, to look to Jesus, and to be drawn into his story. It can be tempting sometimes to want to have powerful spiritual experiences, but to avoid the challenges of loving and giving when it is painful and costly. But if we are followers of Jesus, then we are not simply spectators watching Jesus' death, resurrection and glorification from a distance. We are drawn into this mysterious drama ourselves, both the suffering and the glory.
The disciples are commanded to listen to Jesus; they have also of course had their eyes opened to see him in his glory. They have seen the 'light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ' as Paul writes to the Corinthians in our second reading. A few verses earlier, he has said: 'seeing the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.' We are drawn in. We too are to be formed into the glorious image of Christ. This is the true nature and destiny of human beings. But of course, as I said earlier, life is not simply made up of mountain top experiences, of visions of glory; we need to live out this promise of transformation through the challenges, disappointments, pains and griefs, confusions and tedium of ordinary daily life ' life on the plain, or worse, in the valleys. And at the moment, the valleys and low points of life may be all too familiar to us. Paul knew about struggle and weariness too, and after these words of glory and light, he goes on to talk about affliction and suffering, yet reminding the Corinthians of the power of God. Therefore he says 'we do not lose heart'.
How can we keep that hope and vision of transformation, go on loving and giving, and not lose heart? How can we learn from our moments of insight and awareness of God in our mountain top experiences as we go through the doldrums, times of doubt, confusion, struggle or suffering?
One way is to keep looking at and listening to Jesus, allowing his story to have an impact on the story of our own lives. As we approach Lent and Holy Week, we can make more time to enter into the story of the passion and resurrection. Reading the gospel accounts, we can imagine ourselves as one of the characters in the story, hearing the challenge to forgive those who hurt us and continue to trust God even when we feel abandoned. We can also take up opportunities to share our own journeys of faith with one another, both our high points and our low points and seek to trace the pattern of God's grace, of Jesus' suffering love, in our own lives. Our spiritual highs are not given to us simply for their own sake, but to sustain us in our daily lives, in the cost of living and loving. The Transfiguration reminds us to look to Jesus and listen to him; to enter into his story of both suffering and glory. We are given the promise of transformation ourselves, but also the call to costly self giving as we seek to serve others as Jesus did.
Or as one friend said to me, we need both 'grace and grit'. May this coming Lent be a time when we look to Jesus and listen to him and learn to live with both 'grace and grit' day by day.
Helen Marshall