Sermon for August 6, 2023 – The Transfiguration of the Lord
Transformation
Have you ever sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit in the midst of a conversation, where you walk away thinking, something deep just happened? I had one of those experiences not too long ago.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of being paired with a resident at a Transitional Living Center, which focused on helping unhoused veterans get back on their feet and into permanent housing. I met with this gentleman once a week for several months. I welcomed our weekly time together because in many ways, I was learning more from him than he is from me. For the most part, he did all the talking, and together we reflected on many different topics from faith to life at TLC. I heard his stories of addiction, loss, and his recovery. During the course of our conversations, I often left with a deeper appreciation for the power of change and transformation that can occur in our lives. As I walked back to my own work and life, I often wonder, could I walk that walk of determination and faith if I were in his shoes?
We met for an extra meeting one week because he wanted to talk to me about an upcoming trip he was about to take to see family; specifically, to see his sister and niece whom he had not seen for many, many years because of his cycles of shame, regret, addiction and isolation.
He was nervous because he had not seen his family for several years, and he was reflecting on how far he had come in his recovery. He said that it has been a hard work to pick up all the pieces of his broken life and has struggled to start over, but all of it was necessary. He was looking back at his strained relationships and wished they had been different, but he felt that all that had happened in his life had led to this moment. He believed that God was setting him up for this crowning moment; the pain and suffering, the joy and healing, the ups and downs were all part of the journey to move him from the valley to the mountaintop; to move into a whole new way of life.
In that moment, he felt like he is in a mountaintop moment, and he wanted to really enjoy it. Somehow, he knew he can’t stay there, but he wanted to just be present and thankful to God for this moment. He was finally feeling like he was moving forward with his life. He said that he was finally in a place where he is healthy so that he was ready to “reveal himself” to his family to rebuild his relationships with his loved ones. If he tried to connect with his family earlier he would not have been ready, but the time had come for him to set his sights on what can be and take the next step towards wholeness.
I was amazed at how much he had lost, and how far he was willing to go to change. I was also amazed that he had the awareness to recognize the need to be present in his mountaintop moment because he knew that he couldn’t stay in that moment forever. It makes me think about times in my own life and how I have responded to change. As I walked back to the campus I thought of the parallels between his story and different elements from our gospel story today.
Peter often gets a bad reputation in the gospel stories. He is often the most enthusiastic disciple, but he is also equally filled with doubt and fear. He is the one who confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, but also denies him…three times. He wants to follow Jesus to the very end, but falters. And it would appear that Peter is up to is old tricks again this time around by suggesting that they build three dwelling places and to stay there in that moment. He is immediately dismissed as “not knowing” and we are left with the impression that Peter shouldn’t have made the suggestion. He may not have fully known what he was suggesting, but Peter wants to encapsulate the experience. He wants to capture the feeling. He wants to stay in that place, to be fully present to the experience.
The transfiguration is a turning point, not just in the narrative as Jesus turns from Galilee to Judea; from safety towards the cross and Jerusalem, it is also a transition from one way of seeing Jesus to another. It’s not just about securing the Jesus of the future or holding on to the Jesus of the past but points to our real human struggle with change, with transformation.
Just like Peter, we think we welcome change, but when it actually happens, we adopt stances of resistance and rejection. Or convince ourselves that the change can wait. That it really isn’t necessary. That the time is not right. That the problems that will ensue are not worth the result of living into who we really are. We build our tents. We stand still while the world around us changes.
Like Jesus, like Peter, like my friend, we all need transfiguration.
Transformation is hard. Change is hard. We each know this in our own lives and of course it’s reflected in the stories of my friend. Traversing from one place to another, from one way of being to another carries significant change. It’s easier to stay the same. Stay the course. Convince yourself that what you’ve always known is satisfactory and sufficient even when you have glimpsed what could be. That was the cycle of thinking that kept my friend stuck in his pattern of addiction. It is the cycle of thinking in which we all get stuck. We are comfortable with the known, and we will push back against attempts to move us from one place to another. We are all prone to allowing our fear and doubts to control our lives, and we may not even be aware of it.
So, we just sit. We wait. For what? The right time? The right place? All of our questions answered? All of our proverbial ducks to be in a row?
This is why the transfiguration is so important. It just shows up. There is no right time. It just happens. No amount of planning can predict this kind of change. No amount of preparation can prepare you for an altered reality or an altered perspective. No amount of strategizing can make you ready for a transfiguration to be truly a transfiguration.
Transfiguration means change and it is an invitation to a new way of seeing the world. Because at the heart of the matter transfiguration not only signals change but alters life’s direction. It certainly did for Jesus. It did for my friend who had to utterly surrender the entirety of himself to be transformed. And when that happens, no tent in the world is going to give us the security we think we want or need. Because when we shore up the shelters that protect us from harm, we also run the risk of keeping out that which is so very, very good.
Through this process of transformation, we shed the distractions, the addictions, and all that seeks to separate us from God. Yes, we may even have to shed the comforts of the present so that we might move closer to God. But in doing so, we reveal the glory of our true-self; the imprint of God that dwells within and that shines forth from the very depths of our being.
