The Upload
Posted on Feb 05, 2016 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
Believe it or not, next Wednesday, February 10, is Ash Wednesday which means the Season of Lent is about to begin. But before we get to Ash Wednesday, we will celebrate Transfiguration Sunday. On Transfiguration Sunday we read about how Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray and while they were praying, we are told that they saw something incredible; something that would change their lives forever.
So, what did they see? So often we get hung up on who was there and what it means to be transfigured, but Luke says this was a vision, so that means this is really about what they saw, not what happened. Luke says, they saw light and clouds, which are ancient symbols of God’s presence; remember the Exodus through the desert? God led the children of Israel with a cloud by day and a fire, a light, by night. The disciples saw God’s presence and guidance, a cloud and a fire, on Jesus.
Secondly, they saw Moses and Elijah. Now, in Jewish tradition, Moses represented the law and Elijah stood for the prophets and both were to return before the Messiah came. The appearance of Moses and Elijah signaled to the disciples that Jesus was the Messiah. When Moses and Elijah depart, all they see is Jesus all alone which shows that Jesus completes, fulfills, the law and the prophets.
And finally, not only did they see these things, but they heard God speak, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35).
So, what does all this mean for us on this last Sunday in the Season of Epiphany? Well, first, like Peter, James and John, we, too, are called to go up the mountain. Most likely, we won’t see blinding lights, or hear booming voices but we are called to those mountain tops that will grant us time apart from the rest of the world where we can find time to be with Jesus. We are also called to look to Jesus with hope and love and we are called to listen to his commands. What are those commands? Well, at the end of Lent we will hear him command us to love one another as he has loved us.
And lastly, we are called to make sure we also do not stay on our mountaintops. We must always be willing to come back down the mountain and enter into regular, everyday life. All, too often, we are like Peter, we want to build spiritual “tents, to stay on a spiritual high, but we can’t, we have to go back down to where life is lived for real. For it is the mundane, ordinary, so-called “real world” that the struggle of real faith is lived and experienced. It is in this “real world” where we live our faith. Down here in the “real world” is where we are invited to shine the light of Christ, because this is where it is most needed, and this is where God has sent us.
Have a blessed week!
Shalom,
Pr. Dave