The Transfiguration of Jesus                                                    Exodus 34:29-35
August 6, 2006                                                                       Psalm 99:5-9
St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church                             2 Peter 1:13-21
The Rev. Linda McCloud                                                       Luke 9:28-36 

Glimpses of God’s Glory 

And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.  (2 Peter 1:15) 

            In one of my favorite modern Christian songs, writer Rich Mullins asked this question: “Is there such a thing as glory?” In other words, is there something beyond our present reality?  Does God exist, and if so, would God ever be so inclined as to prove his existence to human beings?  A first-glance reading of the Bible would tell us that God, who is unapproachable in light, does indeed reveal God’s self.  In fact, that is the only way that we could ever know God. God tells us who God is.  

We could probably count on our fingers those Bible characters whose experience of God was direct.  Let’s see – for starters we have Adam and Eve. God walked with them in the garden in the cool of the day.  There was Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, who “walked with God.” Enoch suddenly disappeared from sight because God swept him through that thin veil between earth and heaven – from this world to the next.  

Moses and Elijah are among the most memorable of such persons.  The Book of Deuteronomy concludes by saying, “Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”  Moses had to cover his face because his face would shine after his encounters with God.  St. Paul says that Moses covered his face because the shine was fading, but that’s another sermon.  Moses died a mysterious death at the age of one hundred twenty, and according to holy writ, only God knows where Moses is buried.   

Elijah, as our scriptures for last week told us, did not die to depart this life.  Instead, he was taken up to heaven by a “chariot of fire and horses of fire” in the presence of his successor, Elisha.  In the Old Testament, those who encountered God in some sort of vision often reported that they saw clouds, fire, horses and chariots, and whirlwinds.  There was usually something very extraordinary in the experience.  One way or the other, they never forgot it, and what is more, they never let anyone else forget it, either.  These appearances of God to individuals -- these “Theophanies” as they were called, were a gift to all of God’s people.  The persons to whom God had appeared was not to keep God a secret, but were to share what they knew.  Sometimes this took a while.  It might have taken some time to sort things out so as to be able to articulate the experience.  Sometimes this sharing cost some of the prophets their very lives.   

Peter, James, and James’ brother John were known as the “inner circle” of Jesus’ disciples.  Often in the Gospels we read that Jesus took with him Peter, and James, and John on special missions or to pray.  They were present at Jesus’ raising of the daughter of Jairus.  They were witnesses to Jesus’ agonizing prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Peter said he was an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus Christ.  Peter had heard God saying of Jesus, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”   

If you think that God has revealed himself to you in some way, and that revelation does not glorify Jesus Christ, then I would say you have not truly encountered God.  Peter called his experience “a lamp shining in a dark place.”   Peter wanted to stay there forever.  He wanted to build three dwellings – literally “tents” – one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  I think if he was going to do that, Jesus should have gotten the biggest tent. 

In today’s Gospel we hear that Jesus took these three disciples up to the mountain to pray.  Which mountain was it?  That is under dispute among scholars.  Some say Mount Tabor, some say Mount Hermon, and some even say it was the Mount of Olives.  Mount Tabor wins out for pilgrims to the Holy Land.  On Mount Tabor, the Franciscans have built a fabulous basilica which contains a spectacular church.  By the way, it also contains a chapel for Moses and a chapel for Elijah. Jesus got the biggest tent, after all.    

Regardless of where the Mount of Transfiguration was, the transfiguration is reported as fact in the Gospels.  It is in keeping with the other supernatural events in Jesus’ life, such as the star and the angels’ appearance to the shepherds at Jesus’ birth, God’s vocal approval of Jesus at his baptism, and the angels telling the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead.  In the transfiguration, we get a glimpse of God’s glory.  We see that Jesus is at the same time a man and also the eternal Son of God.  We see that Moses is still talking about Exodus.  This time it is about Jesus’ exodus – his departure from this earth – his death.  St. Peter never forgot this.   

We might not verbalize it as such, but I think we all hope for glimpses of God’s glory.  We hope that God will show up when we go to church.  We hope that our experience of worship will pull back the curtain of time and give us a peek at eternity.  There are places on earth that some call “thin places” where they believe they are closer to God than anywhere else. One such place is the Western Wall in Jerusalem.  People go there and write out their prayers and stuff them between the stones.  It is said that heaven is on the other side of that wall. Some people go looking for these places all their lives and never find them.  They live on their faith.  To others, God simply makes God’s self known.  Whenever people find such a thin place, they are usually drawn to it again and again.  Do you have a favorite place where you like to go to meet God?   

St. Peter wanted to make sure his experience of God at the Transfiguration was in writing for the entire world to see.  In fact, he apparently felt that it was his duty as an Apostle of Jesus Christ to leave a legacy of witness to all who would come after.  This is the value of eyewitness testimony.  It is very powerful.    

So, what about that song by Rich Mullins that I mentioned earlier?  By the end of the song Rich had concluded that yes, indeed, “There is such a thing as glory.”  So who is the more blessed – those who have seen glimpses of God’s glory, or those who have not seen and still believed?