Changelings (Feast of the Transfiguration; Midweek Message)

Transfiguration of Jesus, Fr. John Giuliani 

Changelings

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

August 6, 2014

The Feast of the Transfiguration

“…Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.  … Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.”  (Mark 9:2-9)

The transfiguration is a moment of sudden clarity for the disciples that they don’t fully “get” until after the resurrection: that the “glory of God is shining in the face of Jesus,” that, in the words of John’s Gospel, “Whoever has seen [Jesus] has seen the Father.” 

St. Paul says that Christ is the image of God, and that we all, beholding the glory of God in the face of Christ, are ourselves “being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18). 

How is it that we can "gaze upon the glory" of our Lord so that we, like him, can be transformed?    Regular Church attendance helps us to remember the stories, and hear the scriptures.  But in gazing upon the Lord's glory, we must be the Church, not simply attend Church.  It is not just a passive act of admiration.  Following Jesus in doing corporeal acts of mercy, in serving our fellows, in standing with the outcast, the downtrodden, and the sick--these give us an experience of who Jesus is and what he does.  Sharing our faith and trust in Good and Life with others by telling them how we have come to faith is a key part of this. 

Given the stresses of life, it is easy to lose heart.  It is easy to believe that people cannot change.  But the miracle and mystery of our faith is this—we can change because God can change us.  In the Apostles’ Creed we affirm that we believe in “the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”  This makes no sense at all if you don’t believe that God is at work transforming us, and that we shall be changed. 

Understanding that we are being changed from one glory to another in the direction of the image of Jesus is seen in the classic line from African-American preaching quoted often by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Lord know I ain't what I outta be.  And Lord know I ain't what I'm gonna be.  But thank God Almighty, I ain't what I was!"

Thanks be to God. 

Grace and Peace,  Fr. Tony+