The Adventurous Lectionary – The Transfiguration of Jesus – February 7, 2016

The Adventurous Lectionary – Transfiguration of Jesus – February 7, 2016

Exodus 34:29-34
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:14-4:2
Luke 9:28-43a

Our spiritual lives are filled with contrasts. We experience ecstasy and then must mop the floor. We return to the demands of a difficult congregation after a life-changing spiritual retreat. We preach sermons and turn our attention to unplugging a toilet in the Christian Education wing. Holistic spirituality embraces every aspect of life, and out of our relationship with God, we experience sacredness in the maelstrom of life and diamonds in the dung, discovering that dung gives birth to lilies and roses.

Mystical moments may not change outward circumstances or professional standing. As Buddhist wisdom notes: “Before enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water. After enlightenment, I chopped wood and carried water.”

In the gospel reading, the disciples are spirited to the heavens. The doors of perception are cleansed and they experience Jesus’ deepest reality – divine light and heavenly infinity. The very cells of Jesus’ body glow with divine energy. Anything is possible as Jesus dialogues with Moses and Elijah. Without warning they are plunged into the realm of the mystical. They can’t fathom what they are experiencing, but they know it is beyond belief. Their experience is not unlike those who have what is popularly known as “near death experiences” or experiences of transcendence in which the heavens open up and we hear the harmony of the spheres. They are invited into a “thin place,” as the Celtic mystics say, in which heaven and earth, divinity and humanity, permeate one another.

Like us, they want to stay here forever. A life of clarity, with no conflict and ambiguity, is appealing to most of us. On this snow day, January 24, 2016, I delight in a quiet day at home. Cancelled church means I can study and write and play with my young grandchildren who spent the night. I can postpone responding to personal, financial, and congregational challenges. But, mountaintops find their completion in pilgrimages through life’s valleys – for us and for Jesus’ followers. Life comes at you fast, as the commercial says, and the disciples are plunged into the harsh reality of a child’s incurable illness and a father’s deep despair. Snow days give way to hospital rooms and budget meetings.

In the distance, I hear my grandchildren listening to “Ice Age” and one of the characters asserts, “the adventure is right here!” That’s at the heart of today’s passage. Right here is wherever we are, whether on the mountaintop or the deep valley. God’s omnipresence reminds us that God is right here, and that “divine here” is everywhere. God is fully present in moments of celebration and clarity, and God is also embedded in moments of confusion and desolation. Each moment can be a sacrament for those who open to God’s presence. There are no moments without divine guidance, inspiration, or beauty, even – as St. Francis affirms in his famous Canticle – moments of pain and death.

Moses glows after every encounter with the Holy One. Yet, every encounter pushes him down the mountain to bring guidance to the wayward and recalcitrant people he leads. Our moments of spiritual clarity are meant to shine a light on – and give clarity – to the challenges of daily life. When we find the perspective of the mountaintop, we can face the uncertainties of our congregations and personal lives with a sense of trust in God’s ultimate providence and care.

We are the children of Moses and Jesus’ disciples, so says the passage from 2 Corinthians. God’s light illumines us. God shows us the way and gives us a deep and holy glow. This glow is meant to inspire our vocation to light up the world. Living in God’s light gives us confidence in difficult times: as we look at the realities of our congregations and communities, we do not lose heart, but press forward, guided by our trust in God’s providence in every season of life. Having seen the light of Christ, we are no longer content with mediocrity, ambiguous ethics, and self-deception. We live in the light and walk by the light.