Transformed by Love
Luke 9:28-36
I remember that I once remarked rather flippantly that I could preach a sermon on the Transfiguration in my sleep. I have to admit that I really regret describing it that way… because it gives the implication that the text itself is boring and has nothing to offer. Nothing could be farther from the truth… I think I made the remark because in many ways this Biblical story preaches itself because of how the action unfolds. It is a powerful story, and with it being Transfiguration Sunday, it is always appropriate before head into the Season of Lent.
But today I also have a rather unique “problem” in that today is Valentine’s Day… or more appropriately from within these church walls, it should be Saint Valentine’s Day. It’s one of those rare occurrences where a day of celebration that once had a church connection now falls on a Sunday… but get this, St. Valentine’s Day hasn’t even been a major feast day for the Roman Catholic church since 1969… the year I was born. Part of the reasoning behind this was less about how commercialized the day has become, rather the confusion on its origins that there are at least three individuals who bear the name St. Valentine from the years of the early church.
So how does one fit these two very different days together? Something you may not know is that on the occasion that I do have a wedding, the story of the Transfiguration is the text that I most often use to speak to the couple at the beginning of their marriage. I have found it far more meaningful and helpful to a couple, because it doesn’t get lost in the sentimentalities of Love that say Valentine’s Day, or even reading the ever ubiquitous 1 Corinthians 13 passage about the nature of love.
No… it’s not the first text that pops into your head when you think about marriage… but listen to it this way… keep that image of the wedding day just to one side as we take a closer look at how Luke tells the story of the transfiguration.
As the gospel of Luke tells the story, Jesus takes a handful of his disciples for a journey up a mountain. This wasn’t just a casual day-long hike, but would have been a considerable journey that would have easily taken a number of days. One could say that Jesus was taking a few of his disciples out camping. Yet this wouldn’t be like any casual trip they had been on before. While Peter, James and John didn’t know it, this was far more than simply climbing up a mountain to get a good view.
In Biblical stories, Mountains are holy places. As ancient cultures understood it, they saw mountains as the pillars of heaven, that supported the sky… They were places where people encountered the holy. There was something qualitatively different about these distant, often desolate places, away from the noise and grind of everyday life. If you’ve ever been to the top of a mountain, the silence can be deafening. The ancients felt that somehow the barrier between divine realm and the material world was somehow thinner in these places. That this is where one came to encounter God.
All of the scripture readings we hear today point to this. They all describe encounters with God in reference to mountains. Psalm 99 speaks about God’s holy mountain, the story from Exodus talks about a life-changing encounter Moses has with God on Mount Sinai. Luke’s story evokes all of these images when we see Jesus, Peter, James and John beginning to climb up the mountain to pray. As the story goes, the three disciples get far more than they expected. In the midst of what is supposed to be a time of quiet meditation and prayer, suddenly the three see Jesus is a new light. It’s as if that veil between the mortal realm and heaven’s vision has been torn away. It foreshadows what happens at Easter… In the midst of this, they see Jesus speaking with Elijah and Moses… two others who had profound life-changing experiences of God at the top of mountains. Peter, James, and John are overwhelmed by this… much of the story seems to be told from their point of view… that they are so dumbfounded and gobsmacked by this that they don’t know what to think much less what to say.
Peter, ever trying to be helpful, manages to stammer out with something.
“Master, it is good for us to be here.” He looks around… trying to think of what to say next. “Hey… why don’t we put up three shrines! One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” Peter was on such a high with this experience that he wanted to preserve the experience, build a monument to this whole thing… and have people come to this place and visit this shrine. Yet no sooner does Peter say this than a cloud overshadows them, they hear this powerful voice on the wind telling them to listen to Jesus… and suddenly they’re all alone with Jesus. He doesn’t seem to have even heard Peter, and begins his way back down the mountain.
So what does this have to do with Valentine’s day or weddings anyway?
Well… here’s a quick question. How many days does a wedding take? Usually one. There are some wedding traditions that may even last up to a week… the Wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine was one such celebration that likely lasted a week.
Now compare that… how long does a marriage last? Do you see where I’m going with this?
The Wedding celebration, while important, is one day… but what really matters is the life together that happens afterwards. The wedding marks a significant change in the relationship, but the relationship that happens after the wedding day is where newlywed couples find themselves.
The story with Jesus on the mountain is called the “Transfiguration” –where three of the disciples have a powerful experience, suddenly seeing Jesus in a new way. It’s the moment that they realize that Jesus is not just a teacher or healer, but is something more… much more. Peter wants to preserve this “mountaintop” experience, not really understanding that this experience was to prepare them for the journey to Jerusalem, which would lead to the darkness of Good Friday, but beyond that, the hope of new life at Easter. This experience was not the end-all and be-all, it was to prepare them for what was to come. We need to remember is that while Jesus is transfigured in this story, Peter and James and John find themselves transformed… maybe not right away, but they did begin to learn something. This event was a reminder that they didn’t belong on the mountain itself, but actually in the world, to be about the work that God called them to. It’s a reminder to us that Jesus does not call us to preserve a heritage, but to move forward and live and work in the world.
This is why the image of the transfiguration works so well when talking about marriage… but it’s also not limited there. Speaking from experience, each of has those moments or experiences that change us right down to the core of who we are. They are opportunities or moments when we suddenly see the world in a different way, or have a renewed appreciation for life. Yet there is a natural, human tendency to want to hold onto the experience itself, rather than embrace what that experience teaches us. The transfiguration reminds us that we need to look beyond the event, and how it helps us in our actual everyday life… because ultimately that’s where we live from day to day.
This week we are moving into the Season of Lent, which can really be a time of personal Spiritual reflection and growth. I think it’s important for us to remember how ultimately, in our faith, we are transformed by God’s love. They may be marked by these high moments and experiences, but they are intended to help us be the best we can be in our everyday life.
Amen.
I remember that I once remarked rather flippantly that I could preach a sermon on the Transfiguration in my sleep. I have to admit that I really regret describing it that way… because it gives the implication that the text itself is boring and has nothing to offer. Nothing could be farther from the truth… I think I made the remark because in many ways this Biblical story preaches itself because of how the action unfolds. It is a powerful story, and with it being Transfiguration Sunday, it is always appropriate before head into the Season of Lent.
But today I also have a rather unique “problem” in that today is Valentine’s Day… or more appropriately from within these church walls, it should be Saint Valentine’s Day. It’s one of those rare occurrences where a day of celebration that once had a church connection now falls on a Sunday… but get this, St. Valentine’s Day hasn’t even been a major feast day for the Roman Catholic church since 1969… the year I was born. Part of the reasoning behind this was less about how commercialized the day has become, rather the confusion on its origins that there are at least three individuals who bear the name St. Valentine from the years of the early church.
So how does one fit these two very different days together? Something you may not know is that on the occasion that I do have a wedding, the story of the Transfiguration is the text that I most often use to speak to the couple at the beginning of their marriage. I have found it far more meaningful and helpful to a couple, because it doesn’t get lost in the sentimentalities of Love that say Valentine’s Day, or even reading the ever ubiquitous 1 Corinthians 13 passage about the nature of love.
No… it’s not the first text that pops into your head when you think about marriage… but listen to it this way… keep that image of the wedding day just to one side as we take a closer look at how Luke tells the story of the transfiguration.
As the gospel of Luke tells the story, Jesus takes a handful of his disciples for a journey up a mountain. This wasn’t just a casual day-long hike, but would have been a considerable journey that would have easily taken a number of days. One could say that Jesus was taking a few of his disciples out camping. Yet this wouldn’t be like any casual trip they had been on before. While Peter, James and John didn’t know it, this was far more than simply climbing up a mountain to get a good view.
In Biblical stories, Mountains are holy places. As ancient cultures understood it, they saw mountains as the pillars of heaven, that supported the sky… They were places where people encountered the holy. There was something qualitatively different about these distant, often desolate places, away from the noise and grind of everyday life. If you’ve ever been to the top of a mountain, the silence can be deafening. The ancients felt that somehow the barrier between divine realm and the material world was somehow thinner in these places. That this is where one came to encounter God.
All of the scripture readings we hear today point to this. They all describe encounters with God in reference to mountains. Psalm 99 speaks about God’s holy mountain, the story from Exodus talks about a life-changing encounter Moses has with God on Mount Sinai. Luke’s story evokes all of these images when we see Jesus, Peter, James and John beginning to climb up the mountain to pray. As the story goes, the three disciples get far more than they expected. In the midst of what is supposed to be a time of quiet meditation and prayer, suddenly the three see Jesus is a new light. It’s as if that veil between the mortal realm and heaven’s vision has been torn away. It foreshadows what happens at Easter… In the midst of this, they see Jesus speaking with Elijah and Moses… two others who had profound life-changing experiences of God at the top of mountains. Peter, James, and John are overwhelmed by this… much of the story seems to be told from their point of view… that they are so dumbfounded and gobsmacked by this that they don’t know what to think much less what to say.
Peter, ever trying to be helpful, manages to stammer out with something.
“Master, it is good for us to be here.” He looks around… trying to think of what to say next. “Hey… why don’t we put up three shrines! One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” Peter was on such a high with this experience that he wanted to preserve the experience, build a monument to this whole thing… and have people come to this place and visit this shrine. Yet no sooner does Peter say this than a cloud overshadows them, they hear this powerful voice on the wind telling them to listen to Jesus… and suddenly they’re all alone with Jesus. He doesn’t seem to have even heard Peter, and begins his way back down the mountain.
So what does this have to do with Valentine’s day or weddings anyway?
Well… here’s a quick question. How many days does a wedding take? Usually one. There are some wedding traditions that may even last up to a week… the Wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine was one such celebration that likely lasted a week.
Now compare that… how long does a marriage last? Do you see where I’m going with this?
The Wedding celebration, while important, is one day… but what really matters is the life together that happens afterwards. The wedding marks a significant change in the relationship, but the relationship that happens after the wedding day is where newlywed couples find themselves.
The story with Jesus on the mountain is called the “Transfiguration” –where three of the disciples have a powerful experience, suddenly seeing Jesus in a new way. It’s the moment that they realize that Jesus is not just a teacher or healer, but is something more… much more. Peter wants to preserve this “mountaintop” experience, not really understanding that this experience was to prepare them for the journey to Jerusalem, which would lead to the darkness of Good Friday, but beyond that, the hope of new life at Easter. This experience was not the end-all and be-all, it was to prepare them for what was to come. We need to remember is that while Jesus is transfigured in this story, Peter and James and John find themselves transformed… maybe not right away, but they did begin to learn something. This event was a reminder that they didn’t belong on the mountain itself, but actually in the world, to be about the work that God called them to. It’s a reminder to us that Jesus does not call us to preserve a heritage, but to move forward and live and work in the world.
This is why the image of the transfiguration works so well when talking about marriage… but it’s also not limited there. Speaking from experience, each of has those moments or experiences that change us right down to the core of who we are. They are opportunities or moments when we suddenly see the world in a different way, or have a renewed appreciation for life. Yet there is a natural, human tendency to want to hold onto the experience itself, rather than embrace what that experience teaches us. The transfiguration reminds us that we need to look beyond the event, and how it helps us in our actual everyday life… because ultimately that’s where we live from day to day.
This week we are moving into the Season of Lent, which can really be a time of personal Spiritual reflection and growth. I think it’s important for us to remember how ultimately, in our faith, we are transformed by God’s love. They may be marked by these high moments and experiences, but they are intended to help us be the best we can be in our everyday life.
Amen.
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