This last Sunday of Epiphany is also Transfiguratrion Sunday. In the transfiguration we again see the extraordinary come out of the ordinary, this time in the form of a glorious mountaintop experience. Can you think of any “mountaintop experiences” you have had? What does it mean to be “transfigured,” or “transformed?” Can you think of any thing, person, or experience which transformed you, or altered your thinking or life in some important way?
The Rev. Jeffrey Hoare in “Epiphanies,” shows us how we can be transformed by sharpening our focus in considering how and why we are doing things:
“Years ago I was whining to a wise monk, a man now in his 90s, about how dull and fruitless and boring my prayer and my worship seemed to be. He pointed out to me that I was looking for the effects of my prayer and worship in the actions themselves. I was looking for some kind of experience of God, some kind of manifestation of God, some powerful sense of God's presence. I was trying to conjure one by my devotion or engender an epiphany by the fervency with which I sang or sense of wonder that I was able to find as I approached communion. He told me I was missing the point. I should rather be looking for the effects of my prayer in my life, he said, and not in the prayer itself.”
Hoare shows how worship focusing on stirring up the emotions without discernment can result in “our” will, not God’s will and purposes being served. It can lead to an “us” and “them” mentality. What does he mean by “Nuremburg worship?” How are we to worship God?
On the other hand, Kate Huey, in her “Reflections,” tells us worship can unintentionally dull us to awareness of God’s presence. She tells us we should be reassured in that Peter, James and John didn’t “get it” even when they experienced the Transfiguration. How did they not get it? What is she referring to by the “thin places” of Celtic spirituality? What do we mean when we say, use or think about “glory?” How is real “glory” obtained?
“This text, which manifests Jesus' identity so dramatically, brings the season of Epiphany to a fitting close before we begin the journey of Lent. During this Epiphany season, how have you come to deeper understanding of who Jesus is, and then, a deeper understanding of who you are, as a person of faith? What are moments of insight, when you both saw God's glory and heard God still speaking to you, calling you to the path of discipleship? What are glimpses you have had of a light too bright for any of us to see, that drew a response from you, a desire to do something, as Peter had, to mark this event? Is that something our churches do, like Peter--mark the event, look backward, instead of forward, see only partial truths instead of the big picture? Is it possible that our "work," even in the church, may distract us from more important things? Do we walk right by the brightest lights and sweetest sounds and miss the most important moments of our journey in faith, those thin places, because we were paying attention to something else? God spoke to Jesus directly at his baptism and to the disciples at the Transfiguration, proclaiming him the Son of God: when have we been like the Roman centurion who saw Jesus on the cross and exclaimed, "Surely this man was the Son of God"? What do we need to see, and what do we need to hear, in order to understand, and to follow?”
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