Readings: Exodus 34:29-35 & Luke 9:28-36

We have come to the end of the season of Epiphany. It has been a time of exploring our experience of God. In what new and exciting directions is God calling us? How does God call us? How do we know the will of God for us? How are we going to respond to God’s call and change the direction of our lives?

Today we celebrate the transfiguration of our Lord. It is a call to understand that simply being in the presence of God changes us, sometimes in ways that we cannot even comprehend.

Jesus takes the disciples, leaves the plain, and goes to the mountain to pray.  It is a decisive moment in Jesus' ministry.  While he is praying the appearance of his face changes.  His clothes become dazzling white. There on the mountaintop he meets with Moses and Elijah. God affirms that he is the chosen One. God is about to lead him on a journey to Gethsemane and Calvary.  It is a journey from slavery to freedom, a journey that will take him to the cross, a journey in which the disciples and each of us is called to participate.  It is a journey that will bring about a profound and radical change in our lives.  Change can be a frightening prospect, not only to the one who faces the change in their life, but also to family and friends. 

A friend of mine, a church secretary, went away on a Cursillo weekend. Before she left, her boss said to her, "Don't let the weekend change you!" It turned out to be a wonderful experience in her life. She came back on a mountaintop high. On Tuesday morning when she went in to work, she greeted him.  Without even looking up from he was doing, he said, "So, did it change you?"

"What do you think?" she asked him. He finally looked up from his work.  He burst into laughter. She was wearing a bright pink fright wig.

The disciples knew that Jesus had changed in his encounter on Mount Tabor.  They knew by the look on his face.  It provided them with a prophetic picture of the glory in which Christ would ultimately appear. It gave them a vision of the glory of God.  What they did not know was how much it would affect their lives.  It was more than the disciples had bargained for.  Peter was so flabbergasted that he wanted to set up shelters up there on the mountainside.  The transfiguration was a forecast of the glory that was awaiting them as they followed the way of the cross. 

People knew that Moses had changed when he returned from his encounter with God on the mountain. His face was shining. Being in the presence of God changes us, sometimes in ways we do not realize. As we return from those mountaintop experiences we know that we have somehow glimpsed the will of God for our lives.  We know that we have been called by God to make a change in our lives in some way.  It shows in our faces.  It comes perhaps from the sudden realization ...

• You are in love
• You really do believe
• You know what God is calling you to do or be
• You have been healed

There are moments in our lives when we light up from within. Our faces tell the tale. We have all seen it in someone else; others have seen it in us. That is the glory that awaits each one of us as we allow ourselves to be changed by our encounter with God. 

If we are attuned to God there will be times of transfiguration on our spiritual journey.  Such experiences are difficult to convey to others.  We cannot put our finger on just what it was that meant so much to us.  When we try it almost sounds banal or trite.  But they are the ‘ahas’ of life that we know are important to our spiritual growth.  They bring us into a closer relationship with God.  Yet if we try to explain why, the only answer is that you had to be there.  “Once you’ve experienced it,” the song goes, “you want to sing.  It’s fresh like spring.  You want to pass it on.”  But it is beyond words.   At such times we simply become astounded at the greatness of God. 

I have had many such moments in my life, moments of grace.  They are times that brought me to the recognition that we have a great God and that continue to give me a sense of awe at the wonder of it all.   Like the people who witnessed the miracles of Jesus following the transfiguration I am amazed at the greatness of God.  I hold those times in my heart.  They carry me through times of difficulty. 

I was amazed at the greatness of God ...

• When I was transformed by a particularly beautiful sunset.

• When I watched the northern lights dance across the sky

• When I smelled an April rain

• When I viewed the glitter of the stars on a wintry night. 

I was amazed at the greatness of God ...

• At a moment of conversion when I realized the utter reality of God

• When I made my first confession

• When I was ordained

I was amazed at the greatness of God ...

• When Alice shared her last moments of life with me.  

• When an elderly woman said, “Get out my brown shoes; I’m going dancing tonight.”

• When a child who was not expected to live past her first birthday came running up to the altar for a blessing.

I am amazed at the greatness of God ...

• Each time I hold the bread and wine out to you

• When we say together at the end of the service  “Glory to God …”

Grace comes into our lives in so many unexpected ways.  Our relationships with other people can be transformative experiences that transcend the barriers between us and God.  There are times of disclosure when we allow others to really see who we are.  Those are the moments that most clearly shape our lives.  Without such moments others would never really come to know who we are.  We would never really come to know them.  And we would miss out on great insights into the nature and essence of the God we worship. 

As humans, we are called to heights. 

• To greatness

• To moments when our souls take flight. 

• To moments that illuminate our lives and help us to know who we are meant to be.  

• Times when we can truly understand who we are and the glory to which God has called us.  

• Times that we can hold onto when our faith is rocky and our path uncertain. 

• Times of transfiguration and great joy.  

Look for those moments in your life.  Treasure them.  Let them fill you with awe.  For they are moments when God is reaching out to you.  When God is touching you.  When you are encountering the holy.  In allowing them to transform us, our whole church will be transformed.