Year C Last Sunday after the Epiphany 2022 "Secret Glory"

Year C Last Sunday after the Epiphany, 27 February 2022

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Secret Glory”

Collect: O God, who before the passion of your only ­begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 9:28-36

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”--not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

The Truth will out, as Shakespeare intoned in the Merchant of Venice.

We look at this event, the Transfiguration, and we, after 2,000 years, see the glorification of Jesus. That is why it was included in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke here), and St. Peter refers to it in 2nd Peter. And as followers of this humble carpenter Jesus, we do right to glorify him. His name is above all names, and:

so that at the name of Jesus

    every knee should bend,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

    that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:10-11]

But today I want to look at it from another perspective. The Epiphany. The Unveiling of what was right before the select apostles’ eyes. Peter, James, and John, Jesus’ closest confidantes, were invited to go up the mountain and pray.

In this prayer time, the Holy Spirit is doing some moving. Jesus is so in tune with the Father that an occurrence happens. Jesus is so moved, so filled with the Spirit, that Luke here says that he began to shine, to glow. The power and energy and glory of God were flowing out of his very being. “His face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” Living in the age of movies, we can all see it in our mind’s eye. Hollywood special effects can do this readily, but this was no special effect. This was a Holy Moment.

But then, we have two arrivals, our gut tells us from where, but the passage does not.

Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Moses and Elijah. The embodiment of the Law, Moses the Law-Giver, who delivered God’s people from bondage and met with God to receive the 10 Commandments which we still have inscribed on our walls! And then we have the embodiment of the Prophets, Elijah, wild and furious, calling down fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel against the prophets of Baal and delivering God’s word to a wayward people.

Peter, James, and John were pretty blown away. They were thinking, “WOW! Moses and Elijah showed up! This is huge! Jesus, you are so lucky!” 

Or “Jesus, you are so holy you deserve special treatment!”

Perspective is so important. The disciples were impressed by who showed up. Peter was so blown away that he wanted to memorialize it. 

Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said.

Too often I am like Peter, speaking before thinking, not knowing what I say. Peter, like me, must be an external processor.

Peter wanted to mark the time and the place, that this was the pinnacle. But there was another point of view. Here in Luke we get an insight that is missing in Matthew and Mark’s accounts of this same event. Matthew and Mark said that Jesus “talked” with them. Luke goes a bit further.

Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

The chosen apostles witnessed this, and thought “Wow, Jesus is something, isn’t he? He deserves Moses and Elijah!” We need to make a shrine!

But look at what Moses and Elijah spoke on. His “departure.” I say this so often, and I get fixated on words. I know. I know. The etymology and original languages, but if I trade out the word translated for the word departure in Greek, you will see what a big deal their conversation was.

Departure in the original Greek is the word Exodos. Departure for me connotes leaving. And Jesus did that in Jerusalem. But Exodus conveys, to me, deliverance with divine intervention and care. Moses and Elijah came to talk to Jesus to discuss his Exodus. The “guy who led the physical exodus of God’s people” and the “guy who fought the false prophets to return God’s people to the Lord” are discussing with Jesus the True Deliverance, the true Exodus, that he was about to bring about.

The apostles were thinking, “Wow! Jesus gets Moses and Elijah!”

I think Moses and Elijah were thinking “Wow! We get to meet the Messiah, God’s Anointed!”

Pray breaks down so many walls. And one of those walls is time. Stories are told of missionaries in dire need of medicine to combat an outbreak, and fervently pray for divine help, and the next day a package arrives that was mailed weeks before with exactly what they needed. Prayer breaks through the linear flow of time and space. God can start stacking the dominos wherever, and therefore whenever God chooses. God is not trapped in this river we call time that we are, and God can get out of the flow. 

This is a possibility I have pondered for years. But WHAT IF, Moses may have been praying on the Mountain and Elijah and Jesus showed up. And WHAT IF, Elijah may have been praying in the cave, listening to that “still, small voice” and Moses and Jesus show up. That vision of what is to come may have been a holy gift that these heroes of the faith may have received. I love to think that, but admittedly I may be wrong.

We do know that Jesus was praying on the mountaintop, and that the Spirit of God was so palpable that the disciples were overwhelmed to the point of passing out. I repeat from our reading: 

Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

They caught a glimpse of the walls of time and space collapsing. Science fiction has nothing on this. But these two giants of the faith see the fulfillment of what they fought their lives to move toward. They could see into the promised land, even though they knew they would not get there themselves. This is whether they came back from heaven, or from the place of the dead, Sheol, or from their own timelines. We are told they showed up. That we do know.

After Peter’s faux pas of wanting to set up a shrine, we hear a word from heaven. Jesus’ ministry began this way at his baptism, and he ends moving toward his Exodus in the same way.

While [Peter] was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. 

God declares that Jesus is the One. His Chosen. The actual word there is The Beloved, the Agapetos. We love who we love. And Jesus’ was The Beloved. Jesus trusted these three enough to share something rare, and precious, and beautiful. It was so delicate, and intimate, and holy that they were moved to silence. As it says:

And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Too many of us are under the impression that God is not still at work in the world. We have these encounters. We have these moments. We have these inside jokes or serendipities with the Almighty or one of our dear departed loved ones. We don’t talk about it because we are cautious, or don’t want to appear crazy, or because we are proper Episcopalians. (There is a reason why we are sometimes half jokingly/half mockingly called the Frozen Chosen!) 

Last week I was fortunate to help lead the Discernment Retreat for the Diocese. There was a wonderful gathering of people who had felt the call to be priests or deacons. One reason why I love doing these weekends is because for many folks this is the first time they have been in a room with absolute strangers or at best acquaintances and are given an safe and encouraging place to talk about things they kept quiet or secret or only shared with their priest or spouse, and even then in hushed tones. One person summed up the feelings by saying, “Why don’t we talk about this stuff more often!?!? What a difference it would make!”

Like Billy Joel sings, we tend to “Leave a Tender Moment Alone.” We do not speak of such things, but maybe we should. Eventually Peter would confess to the other apostles and in sermons and in his writings that such a stupendous, miraculous, and rare thing occurred. One reason why I believe that this story is true, Peter would have to confess to his lapse of judgment to tell the tale. Someone stretching the truth would probably not go there.

Maybe we need to be a little more risky, a little more open, a little more courageous. I hope you will take those FaithPoints of your journey, where the divine broke through and you caught a glimpse of a reality greater than what our senses perceive or beyond the everyday rational. I am not asking us to be irrational, but maybe to take the risk to be honest to our experience.

The Truth will out. Eventually the Transfiguration of the Christ, the Chosen One, the Beloved became known amongst the believers. Who needs to hear the stories of when God broke through in your life, when in your ordinary existence a burning bush stopped you in your tracks, or a sign from a loved one crossed your path, or a deep calm took over when everything was going to hell in a handbasket?

We, like Jesus’ confidantes, are often given glimpses of God breaking through, and we can share our Epiphanies, and in so doing we can maybe allow people to have their own or a safe space to talk about the Glory of God. Maybe we, too, can be transfigured.

Glory be to the Agapetos, the Beloved. And Glory be to God! Be brave, and Fear Not. To be in on the secret that this world is grace-filled and that God is Love is something that needs to be repeated to each and every one of us as much as it can be. Share your moments of Grace with someone today. Amen.