In our gospel reading for Transfiguration Sunday, Jesus takes his three most trusted disciples up the mountain...for an experience of wonder...and terror. Jesus' face and clothes start to glow with an intense white light. He starts talking with heroes of the faith who have been dead for centuries, Moses and Elijah. And then, this strange cloud covers all of them, and speaks to them, saying that they should listen to Jesus. For the disciples in their world, this is too much, too freaky – frighteningly so. But in the kingdom of God, these transfigurations are just telltale signs – signs of the intense new life and hope, that God is busy preparing for us....
It was a dark, moonless night, and the stars seemed extra cold and extra twinkly. You were driving home on the range road, surrounded by empty fields. And then you noticed through the windshield...an odd shaped light in the distant sky. From the way it was growing in size, it seemed to be coming toward you at impossible speed, and then it suddenly changed direction in a way no laws of physics could explain. You lost sight of it, but then three seconds later, your vehicle was bathed in the brightest blinding light you have ever encountered. Your mind was spinning, your heart was racing, and then...it's all over – it's just you and the range road. Whatever that was, it was freaky to the extreme! With this experience, you joined a group that is much larger than you would think. According to a recent poll, approximately 1 in 40 Canadians have experienced something in the sky that they could not explain...IN THE PAST YEAR. And 1 in 4 have experienced something in the past decade. With all these freaky occurrences happening, it opens up questions that challenge our assumptions about life in the universe. They can't all be “swamp gas from a weather balloon that was trapped in a thermal pocket and refracted the light of Venus,” can they?
Peter's mind was spinning and his heart was racing in our gospel reading, as he starts his babbling: “Master, it's so good for us to be here while all this freaky, supernatural stuff happens to you. How about if I build us some tents, while you make it all stop!” For some reason, the disciples were scared of a dazzlingly bright Jesus Christ. And that's nothing new, because in the first reading, we find that the people of Israel were scared of a bright-faced Moses, too. There is a threshold of weirdness that we find pleasantly surprising, maybe a little shocking, like some of the bizarre creatures we find in the less traveled corners of our planet, or some of the odd things that can happen in science labs. But people with glowing faces, clouds that talk, and ghosts of the distant past? Those are beyond the pleasant weirdness threshold, and are just plain frightening to us. Frightening, because they CLEARLY reveal the presence of a powerful, supernatural God. And like the people of Israel, we would be much more comfortable if the presence of God was veiled, like the face of Moses.
Even the presence of God among us! How excited would we really be, if God were to use us to routinely do powerful, supernatural miracles – right here in our community? What would our reaction be to someone who admitted they regularly spoke in tongues or performed miraculous healings? How excited can we get for God to show himself clearly to others through OUR glowing faces? We would prefer NOT to be beyond the pleasant weirdness threshold for others – we don't want to shine TOO bright, or be TOO noticed, or seem like we are TOO different from the people around us. We say we would like Jesus to live in our hearts, but not the TRANSFIGURED JESUS - at least, not without wearing a veil, that would be scary.
But that's only because we are not accustomed to it! In the transfiguration, in one brief shining moment, God shows in the glowing face of his son Jesus, what new life in his kingdom looks like. And while God's version is particularly intense, we are already used to signs of new life and hope causing things to shine. Ever heard the expression, “I knew she was pregnant because of her glow?” Ever heard the expression, “He was BEAMING with pride for his sons?” Ever seen some stranger you just KNEW was a Christian, even before you started talking with him? His new life and hope was probably visible to you subconsciously – in a sense, he was glowing with Jesus' presence.
That's why in our baptisms, we encourage each other to “let your light shine before others”. Don't be too quick to put on a veil! Don't be afraid to be different from those around you! We have the signs of the new life and hope we share in Jesus Christ, beaming from us naturally, coming through in our attitudes, our posture, the sparkle in our eyes, the gleam of our smile. We have the signs of new life and hope, shining in our good works, our generosity, our mutual concern for each other. We have the TRANSFIGURED Jesus living within us, and with God's intense new life, we can expect just about anything can happen!
Gracious God, we thank you for showing your glory to the disciples, and we thank you for showing your glory to us. Help us to see clearly the transfigurations that your new life and hope are accomplishing around us, and use us as a sign of your presence, in Jesus' name, amen.