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Transfiguration of
our Lord
August 6, 2006 Sermon
by The Rev.
Barb Hauck, Deacon
Readings
Not long ago, I was blessed to be able to
spend time with a woman who was receiving chemotherapy. This woman is
fairly young, and has 2 teenaged daughters at home. She had already had
surgery to remove as much of her malignancy as possible. She was
well-informed about her prognosis and the various treatment options
available to her to prolong her life. As we sat together, waiting for
the treatment to commence, she spoke to me about her plans for the
future. She looks forward to her daughters’ graduation from high school
and then from college. She has begun planning for the day they will each
marry – not only setting aside the funds necessary to pay for those
joyous events, but also thinking of the small details that will make
that day special for each of them. An interesting and blessed
conversation surrounded by doctors, nurses, and equipment in the
Infusion Therapy Center.
As she spoke, she began to take on a certain “glow.” The longer she
talked, the more pronounced the glowing became. Now this was not your
ordinary woman-in-mid-life glow – I know what those flashes are like,
all too well! No, this was a glow that came from deep within her being…
a luminescence that produced a sense of wonder and awe in me. The nurses
noticed it, too… remarking to her that she looked especially beautiful
that day. Now this woman was not in denial of her condition – she was
simply doing what she’d done her whole life: living every moment with
any eye toward how she might make a difference in the lives of those
near and dear to her. God was with this woman… within this woman… and it
was impossible to ignore.
Then there is the little boy whose laughter started deep in his toes and
became louder and more infectious as it rose through his body,
eventually encompassing everyone around him. This child faced a myriad
of challenges… challenges presented by his body, by his health care
team, by the schools, by society. But God must have given this child an
intimate understanding of the phrase, “laughter is the best medicine,”
for when the various treatments he was told he had to have brought more
pain than anyone should have to endure, he responded by making up
stories about the Lint People who lived in his father’s belly button!
Stories of Lint People swinging on trapezes, climbing trees, and playing
tag! Did you know that’s what goes on inside your belly button? Well, he
did… and as the antics of the Lint People became more and more wild and
crazy, his family found themselves lying in bed at night wondering what
would happen to the Lint People if there was a flood from the
perspiration rolling down their belly and into their button on a hot
summer day! He glowed, too… a ‘glow’ from somewhere deep inside –
perhaps from wherever that laughter began – a life-giving glow to him
and to those around him.
Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. That word,
‘transfiguration’ is used more frequently these days. In the Harry
Potter books, ‘Transfiguration’ is a required class at Hogwarts – a
school for youngsters who are learning to be wizards and witches.
Professor McGonagall says that “Transfiguration is some of the most
complex and dangerous magic.” Then she turns her desk into a pig and
back into a desk again.
While that’s certainly different from what we heard happened to Jesus on
the mountaintop, it’s clear that when we talk about transfiguration,
we’re talking about something unusual happening – whether it’s changing
a desk into a pig or making a traveling rabbi glow and his clothes
“become dazzling white.”
This is a bit like metamorphosis, isn’t it – tadpoles turning into frogs
and caterpillars into butterflies. It’s not so much that one thing
becomes something completely different – but, rather, that the true
being of the original thing, or person, is revealed. That’s what
happened to Moses in our reading from Exodus this morning. Moses didn’t
turn into a different person… but he did become more himself – became
the person God had chosen to speak for him. It’s also what happened to
Jesus. Jesus prayed, and he became radiant… “his face changed” (in
Matthew we’re told it “shone like the sun”) and his clothing, probably
dusty and soiled from his journeys, became whiter than if we’d bleached
them. As Jesus prayed, the past was suddenly present – and Moses and
Elijah were with him. The glory of God was shining through.
Peter in all his humanness wanted to hold onto that wondrous experience…
wanted to build three dwellings so that Moses and Elijah and Jesus would
stay with them forever. But that was not to be – for they would soon
walk down that mountain and into the deepest valley of their lives –
continuing their journey to Jerusalem where our Lord will be crucified.
And “… 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!’” The divine voice affirmed
the vision already before the three disciples and instructed them to
wake up, pay attention. Peter, in his short-sightedness, was trying to
control the Holy… but we are not supposed to control the Holy, we are
called to respond to it.
So is there any common thread in all of this? I think there is, and it’s
a four-letter word: LOVE. In the Infusion Center that day, my friend
took on a translucent glow as she spoke of those she loves. The young
child willingly gave and received love… a love that glows within all
whose lives he touched to this day. The skin of Moses’ face “shone
because he had been talking with God” – indeed the reflection of God’s
glory, Shekinah, remained on his face. In those days most people
believed that to come face-to-face with the Divine meant death – for how
could anyone bear the awesome majesty of God. So Moses must have loved
God very much to risk life and limb when he went up the mountain to talk
with him. And Jesus… well, is there any doubt about his love of God and
God’s love for him?
Transfiguration is that wondrous experience of God’s glory being
revealed in a person. Transfiguration happens when Christ is revealed in
someone’s life. Many of us here have had experiences we could not
explain or moments in which we thought we felt God’s presence. It may
have been when we were deep in prayer or when we’ve stopped along our
way to survey where we’ve been and the goal still in front of us. Or it
may have happened as a singular moment, a flash so quick we’re not
really sure what’s happened, but there’s no mistaking the change that
occurs within us from that moment on. That’s what happened to one of our
parishioners here at St. Paul’s who attended the Maundy Thursday service
this past April. Not at all sure she could participate in the intimacy
of the hand- or foot-washing, ultimately she came forward and had her
hands washed by another. Then she turned to find she would be serving a
stranger – washing the scarred, calloused hands of one of our
rough-around-the-edges homeless citizens. In the sacristy after the
service she remarked, “that was one of the most profound experiences of
my life – I’ll never be the same.” We encounter God in the ordinariness
of life, not in the search for spiritual highs and extraordinary
mystical experiences, but in our simple presence in life. Moments of
transfiguration – those times when God’s glory flows through us – don’t
happen when it’s convenient for us… nor do they happen at our direction.
And let there be no mistake, those who are transfigured have a special
glow… the glow of God’s love.
Today I have the privilege of baptizing our first grandchild, Sara
Decker Hauck. Her parents have been transfigured. I say this clearly
because I witnessed it – witnessed the glow emanating from deep within
them the first time I saw them hold her in their arms. As parents, Steve
and Danette have become… . more deeply than they probably imagined
possible… the people God made them to be. Their hearts have always been
filled with love, shared generously with everyone they meet. However,
there is now a depth to that love they didn’t know previously. What a
gift to Sara.
During the blessing of the water we will soon hear, “We thank you,
Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his
death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by
the Holy Spirit.” We believe Sara will begin a new life today – and each
of us has a role to play in it. You see, we’ve been given a front row
seat to a miracle. As we, in this community, renew our Baptismal vows
and accept responsibility for Sara’s Christian upbringing in the
Sacrament of Baptism, we are each being given the opportunity to
transfigure her life, and the life of her family. Most of us will be
present to her by long-distance, and with God’s help, that will work
just fine. “Be present” – that’s an important aspect of our faith
journey which will need to be shared with Sara. For me, sharing in the
experiences of the woman whose cancer seemingly will not die, so it
appears very soon she will… sharing in the life of the young man whose
laughter could chase away the fear everyone around him felt about the
challenges before him and before them… those were opportunities to hold
fast to the perfect freedom Christ promises to those who follow the way
of the Cross. It’s never easy to enter into the world’s pain, but it is
what we Christians are called to do. If we were to be deprived of
serving others – those who are poor, are ill, are disabled, are grieving
or those struggling in other ways we might be able to help alleviate –
being deprived of serving them would mean we were also deprived of
serving God… which would greatly diminish our opportunities for being
transfigured.
One month ago, on the 4th of July, I was watching the Today show. They
interviewed a man who has had leukemia for 3 years. He told the
interviewer that once he received his diagnosis, it was with him 24/7. A
couple of years ago, his wife found him up in the middle of the night,
in the kitchen, cutting apart her pie plates. “What are you doing?” she
asked. “I don’t know, exactly,” was his reply. A retired engineer, he
found himself thinking about how a new process might be developed that
would kill cancer cells without killing healthy cells – and without the
distressing side effects current therapies often produce. He wondered if
radio waves directed at the cells would do the job. So he was up in the
middle of the night to test his theory. He wired the pieces of aluminum
pie plates. He got a hot dog from the refrigerator, put a little copper
inside it, and aimed the radio waves toward the hot dog. Sure enough,
the area around the copper burned… and the rest of the hot dog remained
cold. Now, two years later, three major cancer centers in our nation
have picked up where he left off and their research looks promising. The
interviewer mentioned this was not a process that would help this man’s
leukemia, which is no longer in remission. “That’s true,” he replied,
slowly. “But if, at the end of my life, I can help the kids I’ve seen in
the hospital these past few years live the lives they’re meant to live,
it will have all been worth it.”
God calls us into community for a reason… for it is in community where
we learn the greatest lessons of life. It is in our relationships with
others that we are transfigured and we, with God’s help, may become the
vehicle for the transfiguration of others.
Today, Sara is being welcomed into the Christian community. “We thank
you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ
in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are
reborn by the Holy Spirit.” In her new life, Sara will live with the
light of Christ burning within her and, with God’s help, live a life of
service, justice, and mercy, respecting the dignity of all people. Yes,
Sara will be transfigured – becoming more of the person God has made her
to be. Made in the image of God, God is, and will continue to be with
her – within her – every day of her life. And she, too, will glow with
the gift of God’s transfiguring love. AMEN.