February 22, 2009 Message

2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
“A Dazzling, Bright Light”

A woman and little boy were battling the Christmas shopping crowds. They were on one of the escalators of a large store filled with zillions of other shoppers. As they step off, the little boy looked up at his mother and said, “Are we in line?” His mother said, “No, there is no line. This isn’t school, this is life.”

The boy’s mother makes a distinction between the reality of life and school. In Mark’s transfiguration story, the distinction between spiritual and physical reality is somewhat blurred. Spirituality is becoming aware of a relationship with God we are already in. Bishop William H. Willimon says, “We all need a touch of wonder… some transfiguring experience when we see what we never saw before. And “time away” helps do that!

This past September, about the time the leaves were beginning to turn colors, Althea and I went on a day trip to McGregor and then up the river on the Illinois side. For me it was a little time away from a busy week. Along the way we stopped at a lock to watch a river barge go through as it made its way down the Mississippi. We are so much like that barge going through a lock. It doesn’t realize anything is different. Its surroundings are the same but all of a sudden everything is seen from a new perspective.

The transfiguration experience in today’s scripture comes as Jesus takes three of his disciples on a "retreat" – some time away, by themselves." And on that mountain they are changed, so much so that they don’t want to leave. Bishop Willimon says, “Imagine people in our churches saying, “Let’s stay here forever! Can’t we go past noon, just this one Sunday?”

Peter, John and James went up the mountain with Jesus that day – for a little time away from it all where they could be apart from it all. No doubt while they were there they thought about their relationship with the Lord. And later, it will be these three who go with him deeper into the Garden of Gesthemane on the night of his arrest.

They look up and Moses and Elijah are with Jesus on the mountaintop - but why these three? A reluctant Moses led the Israelites in the exodus to the promised land, receiving for them the law from God. But Israel’s heart turned away from the Lord and God's purposes for their lives were delayed by the darkness. A hesitant Elijah was sent to bring God’s word to Israel during a low point in its history. God did some miraculous things, and yet Israel continued to reject God and live in darkness. In Jesus, everything is coming to a conclusion and the purposes of God will be fulfilled.

Jesus is the dazzling, bright light that will finally overcome the darkness. Paul says in 2 Corinthians today that just as light came to the physical creation when God said, "Let there be light," so spiritual light shines in our inner darkness when we believe the good news and receive Christ as Lord.

As a response to what they have seen, the three want to build three dwelling places, one each for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. They want to hold on to their experience. Seeing Jesus, Moses and Elijah on that mountaintop with their very own eyes was a powerful event for the three men. For one brief moment they get a glimpse of spiritual reality and are able to see Jesus’ true identity. Jesus’ transfiguration changed their lives and they were transformed. In the transfiguration of Jesus, in a dazzling bright light, the disciples get a glimpse of God's plan and purpose to restore the spiritual center of humanity.

Then a voice thunders through the cloud that has moved over them, saying, "This is my son, and I love him; listen to what he says." Maybe this cloud was like the one that covered the ancient Israelites in the desert on their way to the promised land, we don’t know. It is the same voice heard at Jesus' baptism, providing a clue to Jesus’ identity – and our need to listen!

"Getting it...." in spiritual terms has to do with our relationship with God. Without being able to see in a spiritual way, we loose our bearings in terms of the purpose and meaning of our lives. It’s important that we pay attention to what Jesus says. It’s important to really listen.
Once again, the spiritual meaning of the physical event is contained in these words from the epistle reading: "For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." [2 Cor. 4:6] God’s light is a dazzling, bright light.

Then, for the three disciples, the vision ends. "Suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus." Their spectacular spiritual moment was over.

Coming down the mountain, Jesus tells the three not to say anything about what they had seen until after the resurrection. So they go down together. They cannot stay on the mountaintop forever. The transfiguration of Jesus and their transformation on the mountaintop must now turn into the transformation of others who have yet to gain the same spiritual insight provided them. Their personal experience will soon become public – but just not yet.

Sr. Joan Chittister, a well-known speaker and author, in an article "The Role of Religion in Today's Society" raises this question, “Should religion be a private refuge or a public presence.” She writes, “The purpose of holiness is not to protect us from our world. The role of religion is to bring us to an awareness of life. The role of religion is to transform the world, to come to see the world as God sees the world and to bring it as close to the vision of God as we possibly can. She says this is often misunderstood because we don’t understand Sabbath, a day apart given us by God to evaluate our work in light of God’s will, to reflect on the meaning of life, and as thinking time designed to change us.

Perhaps this is our day apart - today; a day of transfiguration, a day for transformation, a day of Sabbath. It is a day for all of us to allow God to change us so we can change the world. Through prayer we have climbed the mountain. In prayer we listen to God and hear God’s purpose for our lives more clearly. We can never stay on the mountaintop, but in order to remain close to Jesus, like the three disciples, we must now go “down into the world” with him so others might also experience this dazzling, bright light.


Resources: Sermonhelp.com – Lectionary Help Online - http://www.lectionarysermons.com/mar05_00.html

"The Role of Religion in Today's Society," Sr. Joan Chittister, http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/chittister_3508.html