Luke 9:28-36 – The Transfiguration

This Sunday’s reading is about the Transfiguration. There is so much about the Transfiguration that is very deep theologically, but I want to focus on the experience of Peter, James and John because I think their experience most resembles ours.

The disciples have been following Jesus for some time when Jesus leads them up Mount Tabor to pray. The disciples fall asleep, which is so familiar: there are so many things I’d rather do than pray, and sleep is definitely one of them. As Jesus prays his face and clothes suddenly change and become bright and dazzling and he’s joined by none other than Moses and Elijah. Their conversation wakes up the startled disciples who at this point are probably wondering what they’ve gotten themselves into following this Jesus guy.

They seem to begin to understand that something special – like double O-C special – is happening right in front of them. As Moses and Elijah are about to depart, they try to hold on. There is a realization of the power of prayer, their faith realized in an incredible way, maybe an ecstasy. Who wouldn’t want to keep that going? Peter offers to pitch three tents and basically suggests they all stay for a while, and that’s when things change.

Storm clouds roll in and the conditions deteriorate and the disciples are terrified. Then they hear the voice of God which probably terrifies them more. And then they are alone, with only Jesus, and they descend the mountain and keep it all to themselves.

What are we to make of all of this? In our lives we can be enticed by the “high” experiences. Think of the great accomplishments we strive for, or which we’ve achieved in the past. Think of how much we celebrate success in our world. Think of how much we do for our kids to foster their success. And think of the feeling of that success and how much we want to hold on, to take it further, to continue to strive and get more of it. My children in varying ways have experienced really big highs in their sports and schooling and man is all of that satisfying as a parent to see! I feel like Peter, and they do too – let’s hang here for a while!

And yet we cannot only hold on to the highs, the celebrations, the wins. They inevitably pass; the next experience begins, and one way or another, the clouds will roll in. My kids have had their own share of cloudy experiences. I know I have. We all do. We are justifiably fearful of them. We are confused by them. We indeed wish they would never come at all.

But what happens when the clouds roll in for Peter, James and John? They hear nothing less than the voice of God. God is present in the high and the low, in the consoling and validating and in the scary and uncertain, and probably more so in the latter circumstances. Exactly nowhere in Jesus’ life is he particularly high – he spends nearly all of his ministry in the low and with all the lows – the sick, the sinners, the suffering, the excluded, and the poor – except here at the Transfiguration. And yet even that high is super brief. Even the chat he has with Moses and Elijah has to do with his eventual crucifixion.

We can maybe see all of this in our prayer life. There are (admittedly very few) times when I can really stay in prayer for a while. There are times when a sermon or a bible passage can feel as though it is speaking literally right to me. Those moments are so validating and affirming. But there are so many other times when my experience looks nothing like that, when it’s a chore, when it is dry and totally distracted, often when my own clouds roll in, and maybe that’s the case for you too.

We are invited today to continue to listen for God even in those not sublime times, when we are uncertain and when we feel lost and maybe even scared. We are challenged by the Gospel, I think, to not be so attracted to the feeling of spiritual fulfillment, affirmation and consolation – the high- that when we do not feel it, we give it up and maybe run to the next “big thing.” I think the same can be said for our real-world strivings. If what we are after is only the win, we won’t be after it for long.

We should not abandon our strivings or our celebrations of our accomplishments. We should not ignore those moments in prayer when we really feeling like we are doing it right. Those are all good things and God I think wants those for us. But we should also recognize that in the totality of our journey we will find God’s presence in all kinds of places, and often where we least expect it.