Loading...Imagine that you are out climbing in the hills, going up a high mountain
(or, for those of us with bad joints, a semi-high mountain).
As you walk, you are surrounded by nature & by God’s beautiful creation.
You are confident that you will encounter God at the peak of the mountain in a life-changing and dramatic way.
Your hike up into the hills leaves behind at the parking lot and back at home in the “valley” all of the everyday stuff that bogs you down:
• a parent whose progressive illness is overwhelming
• a child who is trying your patience
• political wrangling in words and policies (either by decision makers or in conversations with people you know), and
• insecurity or confusion about your own life decisions.
As you get close to the summit
– looking forward to the transcendent experience of God –
you hear the cries of a child and a child’s father in the distance.
And, you realize that you have no choice but to go down to find and to help the ones who are weeping. So you go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This story about Jesus – the story of the Transfiguration – has a similar geographic arc:
He knows that he’s facing difficult times:
just before the “six days later he went up the mountain”,
Jesus has foretold his arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection
and he’s had a scuffle with one of his disciples about that.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John – his closest disciples – and goes up.
He is transfigured before them.
He has – Peter, James, and John have – a transcendent moment.
The glory of God is all around! It is apparent!
The light! The voice! The appearance of Moses and Elijah!
The Divinity of Jesus is SO evident.
God speaks and claims Jesus
(and gives the all important instruction: “Listen to him!”).
But then, figuratively speaking,
Jesus heard the cries of those who were afraid (his 3 disciples)
and the cries of a child and his father down in the village.
Jesus saw that his disciples were afraid by his Transfiguration
and by the glorious transcendence of God.
So, he came down the mountain – literally and figuratively.
First, he touched his disciples and spoke to them:
“Do not be afraid. Get up.”
Or, a better translation, “Be raised up.” “Be resurrected.”
They all four went down the mountain & Jesus went to answer the cries.
Here’s how the next part of the story from Matthew’s Gospel goes:
“When they came [from the mountain] to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.’ Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.” (Matthew 17:14-18)
Jesus heard the cries of those afraid and he offered courage.
He heard the cries of those needing healing and wholeness and
he offered compassion and healing.
The transcendent God is also the immanent God.
The glorious and transfigured Divine One is also near to you with love, compassion, and courage.
Our God is not far off or distant from us.
Our God does not sit back and let us muddle through.
Yes, God is great and glorious
to be found in the transcendent beauty of nature and all creation.
Our God is also found slogging with us in the pain, confusion and loss
we experience.
The fullness of Jesus’ Divine self is made real and apparent to us in this story:
the light, the voice, the message, and the compassion and healing.
Transcendence and immanance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the One to whom we are told to listen.
This is the One from whom we learn.
We listen and learn what it means to be a follower.
We listen and learn what it means to love and care for all.
We learn from Jesus what the cost of discipleship may be.
We need to do this today and every day.
Indeed, that’s one reason we come together on a Sunday
for worship and for learning
even if we are befuddled, or lost, or confused.
We show up.
We listen.
We learn.
And together, like Peter’s community who received his letter,
we figure out what God’s saying to us.
We discern.
~~~~~~~~~
This transcendent and immanent One is the One
who tells us to get up – to be raised up, to live as resurrected people.
Be filled with the presence, energy, and courage of God
to do the work of a follower.
Be raised up to go to be with people who are hurting
or in the midst of loss, grief, frustration, or confusion.
Maybe you cannot fix what is wrong,
but you can show up with the love and compassion
that you know and that you have.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
And, do not be afraid.
Despite the fact that you may not fully understand
what this story is about,
what’s going on in your own life, or
what’s happening in our world, our nation, or your neighborhood,
Do not be afraid.
Because God is the God of the past, the present, and the future,
we need not fear.
It may seem too big and scary for us to wrap our minds around,
but do not be afraid.
Be raised up
because God created us for life, resurrected life.
Love your neighbor
(you know, not just the people next to you, but all the beloved of God).
Live with compassion and tenderness.
And listen to the One – the Divine One –
transfigured before you as
bigger than you can imagine and
closer to you than you are to yourself.
Listen to and be transfigured by the love he has for you.
Amen
