Exodus34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36 Transfiguration In the Presence of God In Exodus 24 God calls the leaders of Israel to meet him on Mt Sinai. Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (Aaron s sons) and the seventy elders of Israel go up - they represent the whole community. Moses and his brother had been on close terms with Yahweh, but the others would have been a little nervous, it wasn t all that long ago they had seen God s power against the Egyptians, and in their desert wanderings they d come to understand something of his holiness as well - it was a little unsettling to say the least. They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli (that glorious blue stone from Afghanistan), as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank in his presence (Ex24:10-11). They are there at God s bidding and under his protection. Having lunch. Following this, Moses takes his assistant Joshua up the mountain for further conversations, and leaves Aaron and the elders in charge. They re gone for a while, 40 days and 40 nights, it could just be a symbolic long time. Those numbers sound familiar - it s time used to describe the time the rain fell on Noah. Alerting us to the significance of the time they are spending with God - he is making things new again, renewing covenant with his people, it s important. We know what happens, the people get uncertain waiting for Moses and Joshua, they re needing tangible expressions of faith, they re looking at the mountain above them and they decide to appease the gods. They build a calf, fashioned after a style they d seen in Egypt or nearby even though at least 72 of them have just had a meal with the Almighty and should have known better, and all of them were spared from Egypt s army, and led miraculously through the wilderness Hmmm short memories, same as us. Moses comes down with the tablets engraved by God, drops them in despair, and staves off obliteration by pleading with God for mercy. God, on his part, says he will send them to the promised land but he will not accompany them. Moses knows this will not be enough - they barely made it through the desert WITH the Lord s help. Moses pleads again. If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know YOU by name (Ex33:15-17). 1 Sharon Valentino
God hears the request, agrees, and this time Moses does the writing and goes down the mountain a second time with new tablets. Disaster averted. Moses asks to see God directly - as more than a voice from the cloud. He wants personal interaction. He s willing to risk closer contact, even though he understands the boldness of his request, and the tense situation he s facing as an intermediary. I m guessing partly he needs reassurance, HE needs to have something tangible to hold onto if HE S going another round leading this bunch. Amazingly, God consents. He understands Moses needs, and he loves him. He makes himself known, passing by Moses nestled for his protection in a rock crevice. Perhaps a bit like what we do when we try to look at a solar eclipse - it s too intense too look at directly - we have to observe unusual procedures so our retinas aren t burned. When Moses comes back to the people, unknown to him "the skin of his face shone" (Ex. 34:29) with the magnificent radiance of God. It s a bit off-putting, and the people ask him to cover his face till the glow wears off. Transfiguration Today we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday. We have a wonderful depiction of it in the main window at Anglesea. At Transfiguration, like SInai, there is a community changing event in process, a glimpse of the future with foundations in the past. The representatives of God s new people, Peter James and John go up a different mountain to meet with Jesus and two Fathers of faith: Moses and Elijah - one for the law, one for the prophets. The location becomes an intersection of heaven and earth as Sinai was. In the top corner of our window you can see the mountain towering, imposing above it s a picture of the transcendent, the unscalable peak, reaching into the clouds like Everest. The passage tells us the three had gone up with Jesus to pray on the mountain. It s what he did after a tough work day, he took time out to meet with his Father. Peter, James and John are exhausted too, they can hardly keep their eyes open. They ve got information and experience overload, and they ve been tramping around the countryside. They manage to stay awake... and while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. If you look at the window in the sanctuary at Anglesea, the artist has conveyed something of what the three are experiencing. In comparison to Jesus, they are small. He towers over them. They re a little anxious. Uncertain who Jesus is, they re not cowering, but 2 Sharon Valentino
there s perplexity in their eyes, and their knees are shaking as they see him illuminated. A moment ago he was a teacher on the plains speaking about the poor, inspiring, but now he s unsettling them. If you consider the quadrants Jesus and the three take up, you can just perceive one of the boats they have been in together, think of those occasions when they set out to fish and ended up struggling against a tempest. Today, on Transfiguration, Jesus is not the gentle healer, he is the one who drives out demons and raises the dead, the one who commands the waves. At Sinai God passed by Moses and gave the Law a guide for how his people should live in response to his actions on their behalf. The pathway to life was etched on stone to help them on their way, to steer them in the right direction. In Jesus God came so close to his people, he had breakfast with them, got sand between his toes as he travelled with them, played with their kids and celebrated at their weddings. And just as God acted in response to Moses, in Jesus he has done for us the very thing we needed, because he was pleased with his Son. After Transfiguration, the Spirit would write the law on hearts instead of stone. Instead of being external rules enacted with varying success by duty and diligence, the people will be given the presence of God to dwell within them, empowering and encouraging their transformation into the likeness of Christ. They will be able to shine his glory in the world and will be changed themselves in the process. Those who spend time in the presence of God become like him. Speaking to the Corinthians Paul says: "But we all, with open face are vaguely reflecting the glory of the Lord, and are being changed into his image more and more each day - going from glory to glory, by his Spirit" (2 Cor3:18). In Revelation John, perhaps remembering the day on the Mount talks about the day God s place reach completion: "We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Faces shining with Gods glory with no need to veil our faces or hide behind rocks (1Jn3:2;Rev 4:7). Back to the story No sooner has glory shone around, we have God s people overstepping again, but not so badly as at the food of Sinai. Peter is overwhelmed with the heroes of Old and Jesus in his radiance. He blurts out - this is great! Let s sell tickets! Perhaps Peter s thinking about anchoring all God s plans to the dirt on this hill. Dear Peter - the words are out before he thinks. The brilliance fades and the Father brings everyone back to focus - dear Peter, listen: This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him - don t get distracted in your excitement. God s plans are bigger than you can comprehend, and they are not about geography. 3 Sharon Valentino
The Transfiguration is an amazing moment To finish, let s remember the window at Anglesea. The whole image is conveyed within the quadrants of the cross, you see it as you stop looking at the Transfiguration scene, but it disappears as you look at the scene itself. I m guessing it s one reason we put the pedestal cross in the centre of the work. We wanted to make the cross more distinct, we wanted to make it stand out. But there s something about the cross within the work itself that asks us not to put it there. The artist is asking not to have a clear and distinct religious symbol before our eyes, but two lengths of timber that emerge to become the beams of Golgotha. Fading in, fading out. He wants us to consider the Transfiguration event in the shadow of the cross, in its indistinctness, yet know that it contains the whole story, touching it on every edge. We are meant to live in the tension of seeing Jesus as God himself, in full glory before our eyes, towering over us like the mountain AND be wrestling with our knowledge of him as the man in the fishing boat, the man at Peter s mother in law s dinner table, the carpenter s son. We are meant to delight in the Father s voice telling us about his Chosen One, and to acknowledge ourselves saying with Peter let s get this show organised properly. We must see Jesus at Transfiguration, and also as Christ at Calvary. God incarnate, the Son AND the suffering servant, our crucified Saviour. At Easter we will know him as our risen Lord. Let the questions come, let the tension stand, stand in the shadow of the mountain in the shadow of the cross with the disciples. And say Meekness and majesty, manhood and deity In perfect harmony the Man who is God Lord of eternity dwells in humanity, Kneels in humility and washes our feet. Father's pure radiance perfect in innocence,yet learns obedience to death on a cross Suffering to give us life, Conquering through sacrifice And as they crucify prays Father forgive. Wisdom unsearchable God the invisible, Love indestructible in frailty appears. Lord of infinity stooping so tenderly, lifts our humanity to the heights of his throne. O what a mystery meekness and majesty Bow down and worship for this is your God This is your God. 4 Sharon Valentino (Graham Kendrick)
Summary On the mountain of transfiguration there is a community changing event in process. The representatives of God s new people go up a mountain to meet with the Father and the Son. Peter James and John meet with Jesus and two Fathers of faith - one for the law, one for the prophets. At Sinai, the Law was written on stone, guidelines for how God s people should live their lives know that they knew who he was, and so that others might come to know him too. At the Transfiguration, the law will be written on the hearts of God s people by the Spirit as promised by the prophets and Jesus. Instead of being a set of external rules that could only be enacted by working by duty and diligence, the people will be given the the presence of God dwelling within them, who will write the law on their inner being, and empower and encourage them to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. They will be able to shine his glory in the world and will be changed themselves in the process, day by day, from glory into glory. We have another example of God s people being unaware of themselves as we did at the food of Sinai with the golden calf incident. This time it s a little different - Peter overwhelmed by seeing the heroes of Old and Jesus in his radiance blurts out - this is great, let s put up a tent for each of them. Dear Peter, listen: This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him - don t get distracted in your excitement. Jesus is the one to listen to, Moses and Elijah were witnesses, he is the Chosen one. They were stars shining the God s glory - Jesus is the sun, he is the Son. Follow him. 5 Sharon Valentino