Sunday, March 27, 2016
Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Sermon
for the Last Sunday
after the Epiphany
after the Epiphany
Year C ~ February 7, 2016
Holy Trinity & St. Anskar
Suddenly they saw two men,
Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of
his Exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
+In the Name of God,
the Holy and Undivided Trinity
This is the
second time Peter Has acted like a boob since he defined Orthodox dogma at
Cæsaræa Philippi. As soon as he offered advice, he got a rebuke – again. The
vision was withdrawn, and the Apostles went from clarity of vision back to the
level of consciousness that can only hear and obey.
But Peter wasn’t entirely
a boob. At least, to his credit, he believed
his vision, his own sense of reality. He didn’t listen to the skeptical voices
cautioning him: “this is a hallucination,
wishful thinking. It can never happen. Better be realistic pragmatic. Don’t be
so naïve. Changes like this don’t happen in the real world. Learn to
compromise.” At least Peter didn’t give in to that. Sure, what they were seeing
was too good to be true, but Peter was willing to believe it anyway. No. He was
not entirely a boob and maybe there is a lesson for us in Peter’s response.
Believing something too good to be true was not his mistake.
Peter still got it wrong, though. He misinterpreted what he
saw. He believed in it, alright, but he didn’t really get it. Neither do we,
most of the time. What do we call this strange event? The Transfiguration. By giving it that name, we suggest that the
important thing about it was what the Apostles saw, that the main thing was the
human vision of the Uncreated Light, the Glory of God in the Face of the
Incarnate Son. That is probably what Peter thought it was all about, too, and
that was his mistake. He wanted to stay there, put up some tents, and enjoy the
vision. We may err in the same way by calling it the Transfiguration and not the New
Exodus.
Why would we call it that? Because that was the topic of
discussion in the Council of the Transfigured Ones that the Apostles witnessed.
That conversation was the main thing, not the Apostles’ vision. Our translation
says they talked about the “departure” Jesus was to accomplish in Jerusalem.
And so we diminish its significance, because the Greek word is exodos, the name the Greek version of
the Old Testament gives the Second Book of Moses the name we still use. Exodus: something a great deal more important than an ordinary departure.
The Glory of the Uncreated Light was the same Glory Moses saw on Sinai in the
Fist Exodus, the same Glory that received Elijah in a Chariot of Fire.
The point is that the Glory of God transforms creation and history. The Greek word we translate as
transfiguration is metamorphosis –
transformation. Transfiguration means
the whole process of transforming this world into the Kingdom of God. Moses and
Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, are collaborators in that
process, which was about to culminate on another, even holier mountain called
Calvary. Creation is mysteriously disfigured. The Glory of God is about to
erase that disfigurement.
What the Apostles see transforms the disfigured creation at
every level. It is not accidental that the very first thing that happens when
they come down from the Holy Mountain is a personal liberation from demonic
disfiguration. It is also really
significant that Jesus had already commissioned the Apostles to do this kind of
thing. We have a role to play in the historical liberation and transfiguration
of creation, even though we aren’t always up to the task, as the Apostles were
not, in this case. Nevertheless, our Lord shares His Glory with us, not just
for our own spiritual fulfillment, but for the transformation of the world. Not
so that we can build three tents and stay there to enjoy it, but so that we can
join Him in His liberating work.
Transfiguration of persons, politics, society, the living
earth and the whole universe is a process,
a journey to Jerusalem, in which we
join and contribute along the way. It is a journey – not staying put in
rapturous vision – because the Council
we have witnessed in Glory involved human political leaders. Moses defied the
Establishment and led a slave revolt. This was impossible, The Red Sea was in
the way. But God fought for the slaves and made
it possible, once they were willing to hope. Likewise, Elijah denounced the
Establishment, publicly reviling the legitimate King, who was, however, in bed
with a pagan, who had her own agenda. Elijah reserved his worst vitriol for
Jezebel, whose very name has come to mean treachery and wanton cruelty.
Elijah’s politics weren’t very realistic. He doubted himself and got depressed,
but God didn’t let him down. God sent an Angel to help him get to the mountain
where God had met Moses, and spoke to Elijah in “a still, small voice.”
My point is that the figures who appear with the Godman in
Glory are not just visionaries, they are political activists and leaders. The
odds were against them, because our whole sorry world is like the poor boy
flailing around in convulsions and foaming at the mouth and hurting himself.
Meanwhile our legitimate, established authorities are in bed with the Jezebel
of Big Money, who worships the Baal of Market Economy. But it is Moses and
Elijah who appear with Jesus in Glory, to discuss the Exodus He sets out
accomplish in Jerusalem.
Peter didn’t entirely get what was going on, but he and the
Apostles went along anyway. Will we join them in the journey?
ALLELUIA!
HIS LIGHTNINGS
LIGHT UP THE
WORLD!
AMEN!
