Monday, February 6, 2012

Feb. 22, 2009 Transfiguration Sunday


Mark 9:2-9
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
“What Are We For?  
The transfiguration was a unique moment which could not be repeated nor fully comprehended.  It also was a moment which could not be shared openly; it was to be kept to themselves.

Nor were they able to stay there.  Life is not lived on the Mt. top.  The Mt, top is important to both go to and experience.  Then we return to the valley to live our lives.

Mountain top experiences can help us keep in touch with who we are and what we are living for.  It is easy to lose our way and live for the wrong reasons.  To go chasing rainbows.  Jesus needed the transfiguration experience to keep him on his redemptive course.  

What are we for?  We are for intimacy with ourselves, others and our God. 
 Lose sight of this and we will lose out on life!

 “Bold In Our Being”
There are some things too precious and holy to shout from the mountain tops;  to easily and blatantly share with others.  First there has to be a relationship and an experience through which this special moment can be understood.  For Peter, James and John, that relationship is with Jesus and the experienced which would make sense of the mystical experience of the transfiguration is the resurrection.

They are to tell no one, just stay with Jesus and listen to Him.
This is what makes sense when nothing else does - to be loved with a love which will not let us go and to live in a dazzling grace which always is.

We are called to be bold in our witness to the transforming power of God in Jesus Christ.
We cannot always shout it out, but we can and are empowered by that which we cannot tell to do that which is very telling -  which causes people to recognize that we have been with Jesus.

To have had a transforming experience, is to have a spirit within which empowers us to live as those who know we are loved by God.  And that means someone else is going to be better off!


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