Transfiguration Sunday/August 6, 2023
Psalm 99; Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36
Opening Prayer: (from A New Zealand Prayer Book)
God of glory, you gave the vision of your Son to those who watched on the mountain; grant that by our glimpses of him we may be changed into his glorious likeness; for he is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever. Amen.
Today, we celebrate a major Feast Day of the church calendar, The Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. And every year, on August 6th, we hear a version of today’s gospel about Jesus’ radical change of appearance while in the presence of Peter, James, and John, on a high mountain. The Transfiguration revealed Christ’s glory (his divinity) prior to the crucifixion, and it anticipated his resurrection and ascension. And in the description of this feast day in the Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, it is noted that it may have given strength and comfort to his disciples in the difficult times that followed. (https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/transfiguration-of-our-lord-jesus-christ-the/)
The past couple of weeks, I’ve been talking a lot about setting aside time for prayer, that begins by settling into stillness and quiet reflection with Jesus at the center of our morning and evening prayers and scripture reading time. And just last week, I spoke about our need to set aside time and space to connect with the Holy Spirit, the gift Jesus promised would be given to us, as he prepared his disciples for the time he would no longer be with them/us…Jesus assured them that they/we would not be left alone without a helper to get through our sometimes difficult moments that all of us face throughout our lifetimes…and that we would be sent the Holy Spirit, an Advocate, a comforter, a helper, to be with us for ever…
And I shared with you that I believe one way we can connect and tap into the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit, is by pausing from our time of doing and allow ourselves to “just be.”. Stop ourselves from running from God and the quiet, and run to God, and allow our hearts to be still…allow our hearts to remember…that it is the Spirit that helps us in our weakness…the Spirit which intercedes for us...with sighs too deep for words…
As my heart and mind turn to today’s gospel reading…I’m still thinking about Paul’s words last week in relation to prayer…. that it is the Spirit that helps us in our weakness…the Spirit which intercedes for us...with sighs too deep for words…
I’m thinking about the Transfiguration story today as another Holy Spirit infused moment in prayer, that is not only described with sighs too deep for words…but as a glorious and inexplicable revelation of a light and love too deep for words…
As I contemplate this story:
I’m thinking about Jesus…who took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
I’m wondering what they were praying about…
I’m thinking about what Peter, John, and James witnessed that day in their time of prayer with Jesus on the mountain… as they looked upon Jesus and watched the appearance of his face change, and his clothes become dazzling white….as they were left speechless for a moment when he was transfigured before the eyes..
I’m thinking about what a glorious gift Jesus gave to them on the mountain top…a gift that could not be contained in 3 shelters…but a gift, a vision, that would keep giving them hope, comfort and peace…long after Jesus would no longer be with them during their earthly days.
I’m thinking about Peter, who so desperately wanted to use words to help make sense of what was happening…perhaps, in light of a recent conversation and reminder from Jesus…that the day would be coming soon, that he would no longer be with him and the others.
I’m thinking about what a terrifying and confounding experience it must have been for Peter, John, and James to hear that booming voice from the cloud say, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”
I’m thinking about the many, many times, that Jesus was encouraging those who gathered around him, to listen to him…to not get caught up in the messages that the world was continually throwing out at them, despairing and discouraging news and promoting false promises that would lead them further and further away from believing that there is a loving God, who cares about them, and all of creation…
I’m thinking about that profound silence that surrounded Jesus, and Peter, and John, and James after the words were spoken so loudly from the cloud, and I’m thinking about the silence of the days following when the disciples were all alone again and wondering about that time of prayer and all that they had just experienced on that mountain with Jesus…
I’m thinking, especially today, about our times of silence and what it means to listen deeply and patiently without the need to respond with words right away to everything we see or hear in our own lives… and I wonder if Jesus keeps trying to get through to you and I…that it is in those sacred pauses, without words and between words, that the love of God, made known to us in Christ Jesus, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit…is more fully and deeply embedded in our hearts and lives…giving us all that we need to walk through this life together as a people of hope for all that is present in our lives now…and for what is yet to come…
Setting aside time for prayer… with sighs too deep for words…and to allow our hearts and minds to be open to witnessing those glorious and inexplicable revelations of a light and love too deep for words that have the power to transfigure and transform us and our lives together, too...means setting aside time to turn once again, and again to God, as we look upon the face of Jesus...whose light and love reveals God’s glory and grace and love so beautifully, and so fully.
Hymn prayer after sermon: (#97 – Maranatha! Music Praise Chorus Book)
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Amen.
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK