“Jesus during this miraculous event, is teaching us that the glory, the wonder, is not only on the mountaintop. It is also what happens next. The glory is revealed when Jesus came down from the top of the mountain to heal all those in need, to be in the company of sinners and the destitute. This is the real transfiguration. This is where the real glory and wonder is.”
Sermon by Alfredo Feregrino at All Saints Church, Pasadena, on Sunday, February 23, 2020. Readings: Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9.
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There is a story told by Claudio Naranjo a writer from Chile, of an ordinary man who suddenly decides to seek God, a man who suddenly decides to be in the presence of God and says, God, I have been so busy with my family, I have being occupied with my family all these years, but now I will go to seek you and be with you. I will go to the mountain and devote myself only to you.
Then God spoke to this man through the eyes of his child and said: “Papa, do not go to the mountain, do not go there. I am here”. But the father could not see God in the eyes of his child.
Then this man continues saying, God I will look for you and devote myself only to you. And then God spoke to him through the smile of his wife and said: “Hey… I am here, and you do not have to go to the mountain to look for me. You do not have to look for me”. I am here.
But the man left anyway.
This father and husband did not listen. He was totally closed to hear God’s voice, instead he went looking for God elsewhere.
In the gospel reading of Matthew that we just heard today, also known as the “Transfiguration of Jesus” we can see that Jesus takes three of his disciples (Peter, John and James) up to the mountain. There, Jesus was transfigured, his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.
It is important to mention that the Greek word that the gospel writer uses for transfiguration is metamorphosis.
Several dictionaries define this word as a change of the form of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means. A good example of this in nature is how the caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
For us, as one bible commentary points out, the scene of the transfiguration is rich with theological content and magical realism.
Moses and the prophet Elijah are reappearing, and a voice comes from a bright cloud affirming Jesus as the Beloved One, with a divine mandate to “Listen to him”
In the ancient Near East, the mountain was considered to be a pillar, a column rising from the earth, holding the sky in place. Reaching towards the heavens, the mountain or high place was seen as the bridge between earth, the land of mortals, and the heavens which was the dominion of gods.
What is interesting to note here is that Mountains in Scripture are often places of divine encounter and revelation.
Moses ascended the mountain to intercede with YHWH and to establish a covenant between God and Israel, culminating in the gift of the Ten Commandments. In this scene Moses is also depicted in the same way as today’s gospel, with his face shining as a sign of his communion with God (Exodus 34).
And then, we have Elijah the prophet who returns to Mount Horeb, the same place where Moses had received the Ten Commandments several centuries before.
On that mountain God speaks to Elijah in the midst of smoke, strong sounds and earthquakes as well. (1 Kings 19:9)
So it is understandable during this scene that Peter was so enchanted during this glorious and magnificent moment that he wanted to stay on top of the mountain forever, in that moment of enchantment not being fully conscious of what he was saying, he said he wanted to build three tabernacles, three dwellings , one for Moses, one for Elijah and one for Jesus. In a way his instincts were good. He was in the presence of God. Right?
Everything was so perfect for him… we could say that he had reached his own Nirvana. ( I would be so happy to be there as well if I were him).
But Jesus did not want Peter and his other two disciples to stay on top of the mountain, rather Jesus took his disciples down from there, only to be confronted by a man whose son needed healing.
Jesus during this miraculous event, is teaching us that the glory, the wonder, is not only on the mountaintop. It is also what happens next.
The glory is revealed when Jesus came down from the top of the mountain to heal all those in need, to be in the company of sinners and the destitute. This is the real transfiguration. This is where the real glory and wonder is.
Many times, like Peter, we are worried about ourselves , that we tend to close ourselves off from our surroundings, we close ourselves to the outside world … and then we do not know how to listen, and it is here where our own minds can deceive us.
And it is here, when we do not pay attention, when we are not present, that we are not hearing the voice that comes from the cloud. It is here that our judgment to identify where God is present and alive among us disappears.
The truth is that there are many things that do not allow us to hear God’s voice, the voice that comes from the cloud. Things like Ego, our own mental constructs and our own expectations, prevent us from hearing the voice of the divine and sensing the presence of God all around us.
Most of us in our intent to look for God, or what we think God is, over there on the mountain, we tend to forget about the still small voice inside of us, we forget about the presence of God in our neighbor, our partners, our family and our friends which is where God truly abides.
The journey to the mountain may be necessary for all of us some times, that moment of enchantment and revelation, the miracle on the mountain top can be essential for spiritual reflection, for inspiration, …we need those moments, after all, Jesus had a reason to go to the mountain so the journey had a purpose.
Claudio Naranjo the writer from Chile that I mentioned at the beginning, concludes his story of the man that was looking for God by saying that… if you really need more beautiful and spiritual experiences that last a life time, if you really want to go to the mountain , if you really want Nirvana, go and bring flowers to your spouse and call your lonely parents.
And I will add that if you really need more beautiful and spiritual experiences that last a life time , go and do a random act of kindness , spend time with your kids, work to change your community, work for the common good…
And remember to see God in all …. because it is there that the glory of God resides.
I wonder, what would have happened if only the man in the history had heard this divine voice in the person of his son and his wife?
You know what … The divine voice of God comes to us through the voices of our loved ones, the voice of our family members who love us, or through our friends who care enough to dare to challenge us and confront us, through the voice of the stranger asking for our help – this is the voice inviting us to return and to live in harmony with ourselves, with our community, and with God, telling us, perhaps that God is not only on the mountaintop but here among us, this is the beginning of the true metamorphosis of ourselves and our world.
The glory of God does not reside only in the high places, the glory of God is just sitting right here, next to us.
This is the place where we, together with Jesus, can find the real transfiguration. AMEN
