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First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
2 Kings 2:1–12 |
Psalm 50:1–6 |
2 Corinthians 4:3–6 |
Mark 9:2–9 |
Over the past two weeks we have seen many Olympic Athletes obtain the pinnacle of success. They have mounted the podium to the acclaim of the entire world, undoubtedly an exhilarating experience beyond imagination. Then, they will come down from the podium and discover that at least two thirds of their life lies ahead of them. For most they will never again obtain such fame again. If they decide to remain connected to their sport, they will find that making the transition from pampered athlete to coach or commentator is a profound change. In some sense it is like going from child to parent, or from immaturity into maturity. The transition from going from Olympic medallist to former Olympic medallist is frightening and rarely easy. While few of us will ever experience winning an Olympic medal, all of us at some time or another will be presented with circumstances calling for us to acknowledge a profound transition in our lives.
Our first reading gives us a glimpse of the final days between Elijah the great prophet of Israel and his pupil Elisha. Elijah knows he is at the end of his life, and so do the larger band of disciples, but Elisha wishes to push Elijah’s parting out of his mind. “Keep silent, let’s not talk about it”, he insists. Finally at the end, Elisha desperately pleads, “Give me a double share of your spirit, wisdom and courage.” In effect Elijah replies, “It is impossible for I do not control my gifts and therefore they are not mine to transfer. Yet if you are able to acknowledge my passing and to assume my role as prophet and teacher of others, you will discover and gain confidence to use the gifts that have been given you.”
How much the transfiguration is based on an actual event, how much the story was shaped by the collective reflection of the disciples, and the experience of the resurrected Christ within the early church, is impossible to sort out. Unquestionably this experience was important for Mark, Matthew, and Luke all include it their gospels. The word transfiguration means to transform. The event transformed the heat, the dust, the arguments, and the weariness of preaching from town to town, and connected it to a profoundly new view of reality.
In an atmosphere of clouds, mist, and wind, a voice declares, “This is my beloved son, listen to him.” Such a voice occurs in the Gospels in two other places: the first occurs as Jesus is baptized. Jesus’ mission is initiated, and a voice from heaven, full of the excitement of promise, proclaims, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am pleased. The other instance occurs on a low hill outside the city walls at the end of a day heavy with pain and abandonment. Jesus breathes his last breath. The voice comes through the mouth of a tired soldier, “Truly this was the son of God.”
In between these two voices, is the exhilaration of the mountaintop. There is the vision of a triumphal meeting of Jesus with Moses the giver of the law, and Elijah, emissary of the prophets, participating in a banquet, when the lion will lie down with the lamb and no one will be sent away hungry.
Peter, James, and John are with Jesus for this spiritual experience. The next time the Gospels mention these four alone together is in the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prays in anguish.
The world would like to insist that because God is all-powerful and humanity is not, God’s action in the world will necessarily involve using divine power to punish and put down all enemies. Thousands of books have been written and sold on the premise that the big guy in the sky with supreme power will show his identity precisely by finally putting the guys the authors and readers don’t like, in their place. However, right before the transfiguration, Jesus told the disciples he would suffer and die in Jerusalem. Then the transfiguration connects Jesus with a revelation of God’s new order. No thunderbolts of retribution are involved. The transfiguration is the demarcation point for all who would wish to choose to be disciples, for the transfiguration announced that Jesus completely changed the way humanity commonly wishes God to be portrayed. No wonder the disciples were confused. The cross was a sign of complete powerlessness. The cross now becomes a sign of God too. What a reversal in thinking. It is doubly ironic that later in Christian history the cross would become for many non-Christians a sign of imperial power and oppression.
People of faith are not defined as those hoping to gain and keep power, nor are they devalued by God as little people without power. People of faith are a sign that God is leading all of us to something different than a have and have-not world or a world divided into friends and enemies, or between winners and losers. God transforms the monotony of our daily grind, frustration, and fears and lets us know that God is not finished with us yet. People of faith are led by God in challenging and fresh directions even when we know that we will never obtain an Olympic medal, or that the high point of our dreams seem to be in the past or that we never will be pampered and protected like a child again. People of faith know that our past, our world, our culture no longer limit the possibilities God holds for us. That’s what transfiguration is all about.
And
I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
