Today is the last Sunday after the Epiphany. There will be other Sundays; well, I hope there will be, but they will be in Lent. There is a variable number of Sundays after the Epiphany, depending on when Easter falls, and therefore when Ash Wednesday falls. If you did not read my News of the Week entry this week, Ash Wednesday is February 17th, that’s this Wednesday. It’s on a Wednesday this year.
Today is also Valentine’s Day, which is an overly commercial sentimental holiday, monetized to make money for the card, candy, and restaurant industries, but it is also a celebration of Love. And if it ain’t about Love, then it ain’t about the Gospel.
So besides being the Last Sunday after the Epiphany and Valentine’s Day, this Sunday is also known as Transfiguration Sunday, because on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, the Gospel is always a version of Jesus’ transfiguration up on a high mountain. (As a small aside, the mountain upon which this is thought to have occurred has a church upon it, and in the far corners are two little cupolas, or little huts, each with painting of Elijah and Moses on the ceilings of each, curious…).
Now as much as religious art has been very helpful over time, for art in the time European cathedrals were built served to educate the illiterate masses as to the stories of the faith, that’s why all the stained glass portraying the stories of Scripture. But, the visual memory of the dazzling white clothing, and things shining like Moses’ face shone after talking with God, although clearly a primary part of the story, is not the ONLY part of the story. When we think of the Transfiguration, we see in our mind’s eye the dazzling white clothes and shining faces, and our imagination seems to stop there. There is more to it.
Let’s look back to the story of the prophets Elisha and Elijah. Even though Elijah is taken up into heaven with a chariot of fire, the transfer of prophetic witness is the real meat of the story. In our time, looking back we also have to do some wrestling with what we think the word “prophet” means. Our notion is that a prophet is a seer, one who predicts the future. However, in scripture, a prophet is one who calls out people who have turned away from God, one who redirects the ungodly, [something else… ] It is apparent from this story is that being a prophet in scripture is relational. You have to care that the people follow God. It hurts. Elisha when he witnesses Elijah’s ascension to heaven tears his clothes in two. Yes, he was a given a double portion of his spirit, but evidently that means a double portion of hurting for the people when they aren’t following God. This is not about what superpowers one gets, but instead about what pain it is to hurt with those who hurt. It is to hurt that the people you love are not loving the God you love and need redirection. Double portion? That’s got to hurt double. Following God is always about sharing the story, righting the wrongs. Being a prophet is not a solitary calling. Instead, being a prophet encompasses what one is willing to bear to be a God bearer to the world.
This is the prophetic system into which Jesus enters. Yes, Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, but he is Prophet of prophets too. In the Gospel on the mountain, we see the dazzling clothes in order to know that Jesus is transfigured. He is transfigured for the sake of the disciples to know who he is. BUT he also is the one will to bear all in order to bear God to the world. He bears the cross in order that we can be prophets.
With this calling, we are called into who we should be, and pointed to higher purpose, with mercy for when we are not. Jesus calls us in the way of the Old Testament prophets to a new life with God, to turn from our old ways. To what we are called is a transfigured life–a change of form on the inside.
What is it to be transfigured? Well, the word transfiguration can mean to change the shape, but it can also be to change the form. What would it mean for us to change?
If we change, we too get a whole bunch of pain, because you can’t love without pain (somewhat of a downer on Valentine’s day), but in addition to pain, with love, our hearts shine to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God, because we are transfigured through the face of Jesus Christ.