2 Corinthians 3:18
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
Luke 9:28-36
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen;listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
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“There is a cosmic need for the new being that I could become.”
The Reality of Being, Jeanne De Salzmann
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Last week, I was on the music team for a silent retreat in the desert southwest on the edge of Saguaro National Park, outside of Tucson, Arizona. One morning of the retreat was set aside for time to spend in the desert - so with a full water bottle and good hiking shoes, off I went into the desert for a few hours.
It’s hard to say which made a deeper impression - so many Saguaro cacti standing in majestic, silent witness or the vastness of the landscape. But whichever it was, there was a deep sense of being at one in this vibrant and expansive heart of creation. And somehow, it seemed to matter – to deeply matter, that I was there not only to bear witness to that part of creation, but also to be one with that part of creation.
This morning, we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday – this liturgical culmination of the Season of Epiphany and the last Sunday before Lent begins. And as I have held before – this season that reveals who Jesus is also has something to say about who we are as those who would follow in the path of Jesus. Today is no different.
This scene in Luke’s Gospel is placed after a flurry of activity. The earliest of Jesus’ students have been sent off and come back from their first mission of teaching and healing; the multitudes have been fed; Jesus has enquired with the disciples “who do people say that I am…. Who do you say that I am”; and Jesus has offered one of the hardest teachings so far – that those who would follow in his footsteps must “take up their cross and follow”.
Given this context, the revelation of Jesus on top of a mountain – a geographical place that would have been understood to be “closer to God” seems to be a revelation of his identity pure and simple. “This is my Son; my Chosen. Listen to him!” The voice from a cloud says.
But what if this encounter is not just a revelation about who Jesus is – what if it is also a revelation of who we are called to be?
So often we, like Peter, seem to be weighed down with sleep or identifying with our experience enough that we want to build dwelling places to stay with what is comfortable. Only, thankfully, life does not allow that. Perhaps in the most tranquil times, we can try to lull ourselves into comfort and sleep. Maybe in the most predictable circumstances, we can build an identity worth hanging onto. However, I need not say that the times in which we are living are neither tranquil nor predictable.
But there is need for what we could become.
In the Second Letter to the Corithians, Paul reminds us that we are called to a transformational journey – from glory to glory – to reflect the image of Christ in the world.
We could easily ask ourselves – what are we called to do? And that’s an important question. Though more important still is who are we called to be?
With lives and hearts as vast and open as the desert landscape, our lives are important. We are called to serve the whole – to help give birth to a new order. This order will not come through excessive use of egoic strength – the brutish sort that tries to display as power, but through something much different – through surrender, allowing, flowing.
So perhaps we can stand as majestic witnesses, like the Saguaro in the vast oneness of something much greater. And through this, find our place to take in the new cosmic order that is arising.
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