The old song goes, “The grand old Duke of York,/ He had ten
thousand men./ He marched them up the hill/ And he marched them down again./
Now, when you’re up, you’re up/ and when you’re down, you’re down,/ And when
you’re only half way up,/ You’re neither up nor down.”
Welcome to Transfiguration Sunday. Today we are poised on
the threshold between the end of Epiphany and the beginning of Lent. We have
just come from the mountain on which Jesus preaches his first sermon in Matthew,
and now we are standing on another mountain. As we look forward a few weeks,
the followers of Jesus will climb the hill at Golgotha and then climb the
mountain in Galilee where Jesus promises to meet the disciples after the
resurrection. So many mountains, so little time.
In our readings today we also read about Moses and his great
trip up the mountain. Lastly, we are reminded in Scripture of the six days of
creation and how God did not end creation there but gave us the seventh day for
rest, to join God in celebrating the goodness of creation.
So here we are. But you may ask, “Where is here?” I know that Joyce Carol Oates has
written a book with that title, but that is not where I am going today. Still I
think that it is a good question though. Where is here?
One of the places where scholars believe that Jesus and his
disciples may have been standing that day was Mt. Hermon which is the site of
the source of the Jordan River. On it is carved the oldest known depiction of
Pan. Elsewhere on the mountain are niches that have been carved out for other
gods. Is it possible that this is where Peter, James and John stood looking up
at the appearance of Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus? Could they have
thought that the world would want to remember the moment with three more
grottos or niches among so many?
Even if this is the place where the transfiguration took
place, I suggest that the problem of the day was that Peter and the disciples
did not know where here was. They did
not appreciate that the ministry of Jesus was about to change. They did not
realize that their place in the mission and ministry with Jesus was about to
change. They did not realize that in just a few chapters—days, weeks, months—Jesus
would be crucified, he would die, and he would rise again from the dead to lead
them from another mountain into a ministry of hope into the world and for the
sake of the world. They could not comprehend that there, because they were not able to know where this here is. In many ways they were only
half way up the hill even though they had been led up to the top.
So, in the midst of this Transfiguration Sunday, in the
midst of seeing Jesus’ face shine like the sun, in the midst of Jesus’ clothes
appearing dazzling white, in the midst of the appearance of Moses and Elijah, with
the disciples hearing the voice from the bright cloud saying, “This is my son,
my beloved, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.”, do we know where here is? Are we so awed by the vision
that we cannot respond appropriately? Are we wanting to lie down in fear of
what we are called to do and be in the
world?
Because if we don’t know where here is, then we will never know if we ever get there. As a matter of fact, we may not
even know that there is a there to
get to.
Are we going to say, with Buffalo Springfield, “something’s
happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.”? Will we then walk away not
speaking of what we have seen and heard until sometime in the future? Or, is it
possible for us to orient ourselves and claim our place in the world, to
declare our here to a world that is
struggling with where here is.
Yes, this is Transfiguration Sunday, and the one thing we
learn from this passage is that building may not be the right answer or
response. We also learn that falling down in fear is not the right response
either. Even the majestic image of Jesus with Moses and Elijah may be set
aside. What matters most for the disciples and for us today is that when we
look at the world we live in, it is not about the distractions of what is going
on around us, but, when we awake to the reality of our situations, if we can
see only Jesus, that will be enough. God’s voice from the cloud announces,
“This is my beloved son. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Maybe we should,
for whether we are at the top of the mountain or at the bottom, Jesus continues
to lead us in ministry to the world.
“The only son of
God,/ He saves us, women and men./ He marches us up the hill/ And he marches us
down again./ Now, when we’re up, we’re up/ and when we’re down, we’re down,/
and when we’re only half way up,/ we’re neither up nor down.”
May we know the here
of this Transfiguration Sunday so that we might fully know the there to which we are going.
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