Transfiguration Sunday February 14, 2010 “A Glimpse of Heaven” Reverend Michael D. Powell Luke 9:28-36

This morning is Transfiguration Sunday. Our Gospel reading is the story of a mountain top experience during which three of the disciples see Jesus transfigured into a Being of pure, radiant Light who walks and talks with Moses and Elijah. They also hear the voice of God testifying to the divinity of Jesus. It is, without a doubt, a glimpse of heaven. Some scholars even suspect that it is actually the record of a resurrection appearance that the gospel writers simply misplaced, but I think it’s perfect where it is. We need the promise and the assurance it provides right here and now.

Peterson’s paraphrase goes like this: “Jesus said, ‘Some of you who are standing here are going to see the kingdom of God arrive in full force.’ Six days later, three of them did see it! Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain. His appearance shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them. Elijah, along with Moses, came into view, in deep conversation with Jesus. Peter interrupted, “Rabbi, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking, stunned as they all were by what they were seeing.”

To my mind this is a beautiful account of a mystical experience of the highest order, but the question is, what does it have to do with your life or with mine? What difference does it make that those three disciples saw Jesus transfigured if we’re not in some way transfigured ourselves? What difference does it make that they heard the voice of God if we don’t hear the voice of God? A genuine mystical revelation, no matter how personal or specific, is universal and timeless. There is a truth embedded in the particulars of the story that has the power to make a transforming difference for your life and for mine.

Words are so limited when it comes to describing spiritual matters. In the Tao Te Ching we read: “Those who speak don’t know, and those who know don’t speak.” Fortunately, there is a language that takes us beyond the normal linguistic restrictions. That language is symbolism. Symbols point in the direction of the indescribable, and symbols are essential to our understanding of this morning’s Gospel story.

Jesus is transfigured into a Being of Light on a high mountain, and was enveloped in a cloud of glory. These are symbols. The cloud is a symbol. John of the Cross refers to a “Cloud of Unknowing,” which expresses the inability of rational thought to comprehend and of everyday language to describe such an experience. We know this mystical experience is of the highest order because of another symbol – it happens on a mountain, just as God’s Law was delivered to Moses on a mountain, just as Jesus’ highest teaching was delivered in a sermon “on the mount.” Nearness to God is symbolized as occurring on mountaintops and in high places. Dionysius the Areopagite uses this symbolic language in a famous 5^th century prayer. Listen to his words:

“Guide us to that topmost height of mystic lore which surpasses light and more than surpasses knowledge, where the simple, absolute unchangeable mysteries of heavenly Truth lie hidden in the dazzling obscurity of the sacred Silence, outshining all brilliance with the intensity of their darkness, and surcharging our blinded intellects with the utterly impalpable and invisible fairness of glories which exceed all beauty.” [quoted by Huston Smith in The Soul of Christianity, p. 30.]

Another symbol - they saw Jesus clothed in white light, pure divine energy. It was a glimpse of heaven, a vision of his eternal and undying Resurrection Body, robed in power and majesty. According to scripture God dwells in unapproachable light [Ex. 24:10], is clothed in light [Ps. 104:2], and IS light! [1 John1:5]. When God becomes incarnate, Christ is called “the light of the world.” [John 1:1-18; 18:12] In his autobiography the Jungian therapist, Robert Johnson, tells of a custom in India of putting sunglasses on a corpse. He was told that it is very bright in heaven, and the departed could not see his way without sunglasses! [R. Johnson, Balancing Heaven and Earth, p. 289]

In the same book Johnson also observes that at this particular point in history, on a psychological level, the upward symbol for drawing near to God may very well be shifting downward. Our modern culture has placed such a high value on rising up that he believes a psychological corrective is occurring, a downward movement toward being grounded and going deep. [ibid. p. 292] Instead of going up, we need to go down, deeper, into our heart, into the depths of our soul, to the Ground of our Being. [Tillich] "The Kingdom of God,” Jesus says, is “within.” Jesus does not dwell on the mountain; he dwells in our hearts. Both symbols point toward intimacy!

The paradox is that God is always near us, but we are not always near God. Why? Because we are not always in touch with our highest, or our deepest self. Much of the time our thought and attention is focused on the ever-changing challenges, worries and entertainments of daily life. A life lived with high realization or in-depth relationship makes room for the unchanging, eternal inner things of the Spirit. But this focus is a rare and difficult thing, and it’s especially difficult in our modern, fast-paced and often superficial culture.

Jesus walking and talking with Moses and Elijah is yet another symbol. These two figures epitomized the Old Covenant of the Law and the Prophets, and in this symbolic encounter with Jesus they confer their blessings upon the New Covenant which is about to be established, a Covenant of God's unconditional love for everyone, embracing the alienated, accepting the forsaken and healing the broken hearted. It is, truly, a glimpse of heaven, of the way things are meant to be. We need that hope, that assurance and promise for these times we’re living in.

It was a glimpse of heaven, a vision of the future, but it wasn’t the way they had expected it to look. Six days before this mountaintop experience Jesus had told them that his passage to the heavenly realm would cost him his life, that he would suffer and be crucified. It was a shock. The future was not supposed to be that way. So Jesus offered them this glimpse of heaven as a promise, an assurance that death is not the end; that the best is yet to come. It’s a promise and an assurance we need today as much as they needed it then.

All of us, each in our own way, have experienced shock, fear and disappointment. Perhaps you’ve heard a word from a doctor, a diagnosis of a future totally unlike the one you had in mind. Maybe a divorce has created a tomorrow filled with dread. We flip on the news, turn on our computer or open the paper and are confronted with distressing images: millions are dying from tragedy or world hunger; a greedy, ignorant and short-sighted rape of the earth; the tragic violence of children killing children; the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. It’s shocking. It’s frightening. We can’t help but wonder about the future.

But, here’s the promise. What happened that day on the mountain happens for you and for me as well. In both the highs and the lows of our life, God is still coming to us. If this is a critical time in your life, if you’ve gotten a glimpse of the future and what you see frightens you, know that the future is in God’s hands. It doesn’t mean you won’t suffer, because we all do. It doesn’t mean that you won’t know disappointment and death, because we all will. But death is not the end. Trust the promise of that radiant body of pure light, a vision of Christ inexplicably changed in the twinkling of an eye. Have no fear; the future is in God’s hands.

Peter’s response to this glimpse of heaven was a desire to build booths and remain on the mountain. (1) But being granted a glimpse of heaven is not for the purpose of staying in a state of otherworldly bliss. It is given as a promise and an assurance, in order to inspire and empower us to work for heaven here on earth. And so we thank God for the good news, as we return to the valleys, to the rootedness of our daily lives, as we work for and pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Thanks be to God. In Christ we pray. Amen.

(1) Sojourners' editor, Jim Rice writes, "This [exodus] to Jerusalem and the events that will transpire there aren't about death so much as life. The story isn't about the imprisonment and execution of one man as much as it's about the liberation and redemption of humanity [and all creation]. The Exodus of the people of God from captivity, commenced by Moses and Elijah - the Law and the Prophets - is finally in Jesus brought to fruition... ." (Luke may be reinforcing this idea of a new exodus through Peter's reaction, which suggests a reenactment of the holy Feast of Booths/Sukkot - a celebration of God's grace in providing for the ancient Israelites' needs during their forty-year, post-Exodus wandering in the desert.)