“Behold the Light” – A Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of officiating more than 300 weddings, no two exactly alike.  (The stole I am wearing is the one I use when I officiate weddings. It is made from my wedding dress.)

A number of years ago, I was inspired to add an element to the ceremony following the exchange of vows and rings,  when the couple is aglow with what they have just done.  I say to them:

“This day can go by so fast. Just for a moment, pause, look around, and take it all in…”

They look around, beaming; their family and friends look back, beaming, too. 

Then I say to the couple, 

“Please take hands. Now look at each other eye to eye, heart to heart, and soul to soul.  Let all of the love and joy and gratitude that  you are feeling in this moment anchor deep within.

(Then I say) As you go forward in marriage, remember to slow down enough each day to look at each other just as you are looking at one another now – with eyes full of love and gratitude – especially on the difficult  days!”

In other words, see your partner transfigured.  Don’t forget it.  Ever.  Practice it daily. 

A wedding is a mountain top experience.  The bride, like Jesus in today’s reading, is often in dazzling white.  Both bride and groom (2 brides/2 grooms) are uniquely radiant. The spiritual power of the moment – the feeling of love, gratitude, and joy – is undeniable. 

And then a new way of life begins.  The couple is spiritually changed by what has happened.  The question is – how will they take this transformation into their marriage?

How will they keep that sense of the Divine Light in their spouse alive?  Especially when you are faced with the inevitable challenges that life brings: when the job is lost; a parent receives a devastating diagnosis; a child struggles with mental illness… then what? Or when old wounds, old scars from childhood create emotional havoc?  When not just one of the spouses is struggling, but both are? 

How can we keep that sense of the Divine Light in our beloveds (our spouses, partners, family members, and friends) alive? 

The story of the transfiguration of Jesus can give us some clues.

Six days before Jesus takes his closest disciples up the mountain, Peter has fully seen and named the truth of who Jesus is – the Messiah.  And, then, Jesus reveals something about what it means to be the Messiah that Peter and the other disciples didn’t expect and don’t want to hear: “The Messiah will suffer and die, and then three days later be raised.”

Peter wants, as most of us do, to simply stay with the high moments of Jesus’ life – the teachings, the healings, the sense of community, the shared meals. And, not surprisingly, with Jesus in his glory.  Peter can embrace all of that. We can embrace all of that, too.

But, that is not where the story ends.  None of us get to stay on the mountain top.

All of us face moments in life – including in our most important relationships – that are not what we expect, nor what we want.

Jesus says, “Get up! And do not be afraid.”

This, friends, is the good news.  Jesus has given the disciples—and us—a glimpse of the truth of who he really is.  The disciples see him in the fullness of light and in the fullness of love, as the Beloved of God.  Yes, the road is going to get a lot harder.  But that doesn’t change who Jesus is. 

Here is a fascinating textual point.  We are told that a bright cloud “overshadows” them on the mountain.  The only other time in the Gospels this word is used is when the Angel tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her.  What the disciples are being given is an experience that is greater than, that covers, their own shadows. This overshadowing presence is like a holy cloud that has the potential to keep transforming them and their shadows as they leave the mountain. It’s as if God plants seeds within the disciples while they are on the mountain that will need time to germinate and fully bloom once they descend into the next, more rugged part of their journeys.

This epiphany on the mountain, like the epiphany of a wedding, serves as a seal on the covenant between God and us.  From the mountain top, the disciples will take a deeper awareness of the presence of the Holy One with them into all that follows.  The disciples are given the spiritual tonic they will need to walk with Jesus as he faces his suffering and death.

From the altar, a newly married couple has the potential to take a deeper awareness of the presence of the Holy One in each other with them into all that follows. A newly married couple is given the spiritual tonic they will need to ride the roller coaster of life together as one.

But, the disciples, just like us, are a forgetful people.  We know how their story goes.  As Jesus faces his Passion, the disciples will fall asleep on him, claim they don’t know him, and remain at a distance in his most painful hour.  These disciples, Jesus’ closest friends, who have been shown the Divine Presence in him, who have been so loved him, betray him. In the intensity of Jesus’ confrontation with the religious and political leaders  who oppose him, the disciples let their fears get the better of them. 

We, too, can’t seem to find a way to consistently live from the assurance of God’s presence within our family members and friends, within our own lives, and within our own selves.  We tire.  We get frustrated and angry. When we are triggered, old emotional wounds and deep inner shadows disturb us.  We can start paying more attention to what’s wrong with others, including our beloveds, than what’s right.  Busy with our own agendas, we don’t always show up when our beloveds or others need us. 

But, in spite of the disciples failings, in spite of our failings, God keeps showing up. 

The Transfiguration is supposed to help steady the disciples so that when their walk with Jesus  gets rocky, they won’t lose heart.  A wedding ceremony is intended, in part, to show a couple the support they have from God, their family and friends, so that when the road gets rocky, they won’t lose heart. A Sunday worship service is intended, in part, to help all of us remember that when the road gets rocky, not to lose heart. God is with us. 

But, it’s not enough for us to simply look back on our mountain top experiences to sustain our spirits.  To actualize their spiritual power, we need to keep engaging those spiritual practices that open our hearts to the light of God that lives in other people, the creation, and ourselves.

In our primary relationships, to sustain our spirits, we can commit to doing those things each day and each week that help us see the Divine Light in the other person.  Perhaps we pray together; we play together; we do those things that helped us fall in love or befriend the person in the first place.  We can take time to pause and look at each other eye to eye, heart to heart, and soul to soul. 

And we can take responsibility for those times when we realize that our vision of the other person has darkened, to make an extra effort to understand what’s going on in our own hearts and what’s going on for the other person.  When we are struggling to see the Divine Light in someone else, it might be a good time to pull out the wedding album or photo album, to re-read vows or letters, emails, or texts you’ve exchanged, and turn to the God who has promised to walk with you for help. 

There are also times that we forget the truth of who God is. We can forget that we are God’s beloved – especially if we do not have daily and weekly practices that bring us into the awareness of God’s presence.   We may need to rekindle a vision of God’s light through prayer,  contemplation, nature, music, service to others, or in the pursuit of justice.  We need this time on Sundays together  to clean our lenses and to brighten our vision so that we recognize God’s presence in our lives.  

If given the choice, most of us would probably like to stay with the mountain top experiences of life. But, death and its shadows are a reality that none of us can ultimately ignore or evade. We can take heart – when life is hardest, that is often when the deepest intimacy with God and with others grows.

As we descend from the Season of Epiphany, the season of Light, into the Season of Lent, the season of shadows and death, we do not do so alone.  We, too, are overshadowed by God’s presence; we, too, are accompanied by the one who loves us through our most painful and challenging times. 

In the Transfiguration, the disciples are given a glimpse of Jesus in his glory; of who he is and will always be, a glory that will be fully revealed after his journey of suffering and death: the glory of the Resurrection. 

Last Tuesday, at the funeral Mass for Gus Sanfillipo, the Captain of the Lily Jean, over 900 mourners filled St. Anne’s Church. The heartbreak was palpable.  But, so, too, was God’s presence as we were reminded of the promise of God’s glory that will meet us when our earthly journeys are complete. 

As we approach Lent, we are equipped to venture with Jesus into the shadows of death through the practices of prayer, fasting, and generosity. May we behold and embrace the vision of the radiant, transfigured Jesus in our hearts, a source of strength and hope for all  that is ahead for us on the journey of life. Amen.