Shining Moments!

The Sunday of the Transfiguration
February 25, 2001

By
The Rev. Ann M. Smith

Based on Exodus 34:29-35 & Luke 9:28-36

There is an underlying theme of journey throughout the readings for this week. The first lesson is from the book of Exodus which follows the journey of the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. In the passage for today Moses is making one of many trips up and down Mount Sinai as a mediator between God and the people of Israel. When Moses returns to the people from his encounter with God he is not aware that his face is shining. The encounter has changed him. He is visibly marked by God's presence. The people see it reflected in his face. It reminds us of the awesome power of God present in our own lives.

Luke’s gospel describes Jesus’ life in terms of journey. It is intended as a model for Christian journey. Perhaps the shortest trip Jesus makes is the journey to Mount Tabor with three of his disciples. He leaves the plain to climb the mountain. There he is transfigured before his disciples. His face shines. In that mountain top experience they catch a glimpse of the glory to come. They experience a moment of rapture. They hear the voice of God calling Jesus "my chosen Son."

There are times in our Christian journey when we are called to ascend the mountain with Jesus. There on the mountaintop we will experience a moment of rapture in which we see him in all his glory. Reflected in that same glory we will begin to know ourselves. To know all that we are meant to be. For we too are called to the heights, to greatness. We are called to be transformed into God's own likeness. We are called to know the glory of God and to see it in our daily lives. We know as Christians that we are called to be ‘Christlike’. We talk about seeing Christ in others. Jesus Christ lived human life in such a way to show that it was capable of transformation. In the same way God intends to bring about the transformation of the whole of creation. The guarantee of our faith is that it will be worth it despite all of the difficult and painful things that happen in our journey through life.

A reality of our society is that we can work side by side with another person for years and never really get to know who that person is. We may never notice anything unusual about that person. And we cannot evaluate or judge another human being by everyday events. For the most part we keep our faith private. Yet sometimes we want to share those intense experiences of our lives. 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.

Such moments of deep grace may not come often in our lives. As I listen to people’s attempts to express such times I think, more often than not they come to us through nature. I have had many such moments in my life that brought me to the recognition that we have a great God and that gives me a sense of awe at the wonder of it all. It is certainly no mistake that the two transfigurations from our readings today – that of Moses and that of Jesus – both took place on mountains. I have three such stories myself of meeting God in a literal mountain top experience.

The first was during a visit to the Rockies. I had seen pictures so often of Lake Louise. I expected to be moved by its beauty. It was lovely. But it was the rugged grandeur of the view from the Roger’s Pass that really overwhelmed me. I can remember the smell of the air, the blast of cold hitting me on that summer day. I can describe the scene, range upon range of grey granite jutting into the bluest of skies, but there are no words to describe the feeling of awe and majesty that overwhelmed me there.

The second was the view from the church in Christiana in Jamaica where my parents lived for a number of years. I always visited them in the winter when we in Canada are starved for colour. The profusion of colour up in the mountains of Jamaica is astounding. I remember standing there looking out over the valley below feasting my eyes on beautiful flowering trees, every shade of green that you can imagine, golden rays of sunlight, and blue skies.

The third was a visit to Masada. There is not the awesome beauty of the Rockies or the colour of Jamaica in that rather barren landscape, but there is a beauty about it that transcends description. Enough below sea level that your ears are ringing, you look far below you at the barren landscape. In the distance is the Dead Sea with its salt pillars rising above the surface. And you see another facet of God’s creation.

Who can say why those are moments of grace? But who has not been transformed by the beauty of a particular sunset even though there are hundreds of sunsets that they never noticed? Who has not marvelled at the colour and sound of the Northern Lights as they dance in the winter sky? Who has not responded to the smell of an April rain, or the quiet of an early morning, or the glitter of the stars on a wintry night?

Grace comes into our lives in other 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. It is usually during some moment of crisis when life hangs in the balance. I think of Alice who shared her last moments of life with me. She gave me a glimpse of glory as she hovered between Heaven and earth. There is the elderly woman who told me to get out her brown shoes. "I’m going dancing tonight!"

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.