This Sunday we celebrate the Transfiguration as the finale of the Epiphany season. Since Christmas our worship has been focused on the revelation of God the Creator through the person of Jesus Christ. The readings have focused on who Jesus is in his full humanity and divinity and how Jesus reveals who God the Creator is.
In our time of great division, of people turning more and more to the separation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ we need to experience God’s inclusive love and show that inclusive love to the world in our words and actions.
We began with the visit of the Magi where it was revealed that the gift of Jesus Christ and through him salvation was not a gift meant only for the Jewish people but for all humanity and in fact for the whole of creation including the stars and celestial bodies. The symbol of the guiding light of the star and the Magi feeling this pull to the Christ child point to this.
The next Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus where the voice of the Creator announces that Jesus is the Son, directed related and connected to the Creator in essence they are one and that the energy that connects them is love and that Jesus’ ministry and person are blessed by the Creator.
In the weeks that follow we hear of Jesus’ miracles such as turning water into wine showing the abundance of God’s overflowing gifts, we hear Jesus stating that he is the embodiment of the servant of God prophesied by Isaiah who comes to “bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18-19) this revealed that Jesus is the one the prophets spoke of who would be the Messiah, to bring hope and healing to a broken world. We hear of Jesus’ miracle of a catch of fish beyond anything Peter, James and John could understand but that reveal to them that this Jesus is someone who they are willing to give everything up for to follow and to learn from.
As the weeks go on, we hear the Sermon on the Plain where Jesus speaks powerful words about how God works in the world, bringing blessings in the midst of trials, bringing about justice for the powerless, rewarding those who stand for peace and for those who are persecuted for their faith. Jesus reveals God not to be a warrior king but a loving parent, watching over all people, aware of the hardships people face, aware of the evil that roams the world and affects every area of our lives, aware of the imbalances of power that corrupt the world and that God works in and through all that with love.
On Transfiguration Sunday we receive one more story of revelation, one more epiphany to open our eyes to a deeper way to understand Jesus. It is the story of some of Jesus’ closest disciples receiving and being overwhelmed by a confusing vision. They see Jesus in his full humanity and divinity a sight which frightens them and which they don’t fully understand until after the resurrection. More than that though there is a secondary revelation of Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah two of the great figures in Jewish history who represent God’s interaction with humans.
In their time Moses and Elijah were the mouth of God relaying God’s messages to the people, Moses brings to the people the Law, a way for the people to understand God’s expectations around how they are to understand and interact with God, the world and their neighbour. They are to know and love God above all else and the are to treat all people with dignity, respect and love, just the way they would want to be treated. The Law Moses brings reveals God through the relationship God desires with the Hebrew people.
Elijah on the other hand is the great symbol of the prophets, those willing to speak God’s truth into the world, challenging the people to return to a right relationship with God and with each other. Challenging them to be just, loving, respectful, fighting against envy, greed or collusion with the unjust rulers of the nations.
Both of these figures, Moses and Elijah symbolize God’s way of speaking and relating to the people of Israel until Jesus comes into the world. The reason some of the disciples witness this revelation is to help them understand that Jesus speaks of the same Creator God of the Hebrew scriptures even if the message seems different, this is further highlighted by the voice of God reminding the disciples who Jesus is and declaring to them that they are to listen to him.
Our readings today remind us of God’s great desire to have a relationship with us, God’s great love for us and God’s great desire that we know we are loved and that we in turn love others.
In our time of great division, of people turning more and more to the separation of ‘us’ and ‘them’ we need to experience God’s inclusive love and show that inclusive love to the world in our words and actions. This is a time when we need to hear God’s declaration of love for us and for all people loudly and allow it to wash over us and remove the fear which causes our divisions and fear is the root cause of those divisions and the opposite of love. We need to allow God’s love to calm our anxieties, to strength our resolves to do and say to others what we wish would be done and said to us. God is love and in loving God there is no fear. Jesus shows what the power of love can do giving him the strength not to fight back in anger or fear but rather to reach out in acceptance, understanding and love. Amen.
