Start:Stop-The Transfiguration

The Transfiguration - Sieger Koder

Good morning and welcome to Start Stop. Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration when we remember that moment when Peter, James and John are called up to the top of a mountain where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory. Today we will read the account in Mark's Gospel:

Bible Reading-Mark 9.2-8

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

Reflection

The Dutch philosopher Cornelis Verhoeven wrote that the threshold, or doorway, is a boundary that becomes a space. It is from the Latin for threshold - limen - that we derive our word sublime. Sublimis or super limen, he explains, means exalted space. It is a curious thought that whenever we do something as mundane as walking through a doorway, we may be participating in an act of exaltation.  

Verhoeven's reflection helps us to remember that we believe in a God who is both immanent and transcendent - a God who is both beyond but also manifest in the material world. At the Transfiguration, Peter, James and John are witnesses to this mystery - to the revelation of Christ's true identity. The doorway between heaven and earth was opened and, for a brief moment, they had a glimpse of what was beyond; a breathtaking encounter in which we are told that Peter was literally lost for words; "he did not know what to say."

A friend of mine who, as a former senior planner here in the City of London knows a thing or two about thresholds and doorways, once told me about the moment he had a glimpse of the divine. Following the death of his mother, he had - with great difficulty - prepared a eulogy to be read at her funeral. He had read from the lectern in that church hundreds of times before but was dreading taking those familiar steps up to deliver it. He had given a copy of the text to the priest, as he thought he wouldn't have the strength to read it aloud himself. But when the time came, he felt the presence of God and in the strength of that experience, his fear, worry and doubt fell away and he was able to deliver the eulogy. Like Peter on the mountaintop, at first he could not put the encounter into words. He later told me how he felt as though in that moment he became wrapped in love; the boundaries between the temporal and material world were broken down; his life resonated with that of his mother, with those present in the church and with Jesus; many lives as one in complete harmony and at peace. A faithful churchgoer for fifty years he said it was at that moment that he became truly open to the possibilities offered by belief in Jesus Christ - possibilities so glorious that they go beyond the created world we think we understand. In the gospel accounts of the Transfiguration, the radiant glory of Jesus and the appearance of Moses and Elijah seem to be for the benefit of the disciples - so that they might see these same possibilities and so that their lives might be transformed. 

It is probably not a coincidence that the account of the Transfiguration is placed in all three synoptic gospels following Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Messiah and after Jesus foretells his death and resurrection; a death which Peter refuses to accept. His stubbornness earns a strong rebuke from Jesus who says "Get behind me Satan!...you are setting your mind not on divine things but human things." Peter appears to be ticked off again - this time by God himself - on top of the mountain, after offering to build houses for Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Peter is told in no uncertain terms that Jesus is to be the object of his attention. It has been suggested that one reason for their appearance alongside Jesus is because according to to some Jewish traditions, neither Moses or Elijah died; Jesus is however, as God’s words from the clouds confirm, different; he is destined for greater glory - for Calvary. 

At the Transfiguration, Peter, James and John see Jesus for who he really is - not just a human life who points to God, or a divine presence who is far removed from the human life we share, but a person who is fully human and fully divine. In his radiant glory Jesus doesn’t become any less human but reveals a humanity which is one in God. Every act of Jesus is the act of God. These same three disciples will be present with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before the terror of the cross, when they see that God is present even in the darkest realities of human existence. In that knowledge we draw strength. Whilst we are dust and to dust we shall return, it is in Jesus that we see the possibility of new life, a glorious new creation where the world is lit not by the sun and stars but by His divine light; a doorway into the endless life and love of God. 

As Rowan Williams has said, "If we have seen his glory on the mountain, we know at least, whatever our terrors, that death cannot decide the boundaries of God’s life. With him the door is always open and no one can shut it.” 

This door, or threshold to this super limen - this exalted space - is here and now and open to all who turn to Christ.  

A few moments of silence before we pray.

Meditation 

Prayers

In our prayers the response to God of light and truth is : open our eyes to the glory of your presence. 

God of light and truth,

open our eyes to the glory of your presence.

Holy God,

bless all who seek to bring your light into this world,

into the darkest places of suffering, of loneliness & despair

Bless and strengthen all who bring healing and wholeness, honesty and integrity,

justice and compassion,

into this City,

this parish,

to our workplaces and our families.

Let us listen to your word, so that we may do likewise.

God of light and truth,

open our eyes to the glory of your presence.

Holy God,

You illuminate every moment of our lives.  

We pray for all those for whom doors are opening as they pass into new stages of their journey on earth;

Give them the strength and courage to reflect your love.

We pray for those who are shut out by closed doors; help us to bring about a world of opportunity where every light may shine.

God of light and truth,

open our eyes to the glory of your presence.

Holy God,

we are made not for this life only,

but for life with you in eternity.

Bless all the faithful departed and, as we grow in faith,

grant us in this life a vision of glory;

assure us that, already loved, cherished and embraced in the eternal mind, we will, at the last, enter life beyond this life,

in perfect peace. 

God of light and truth,

open our eyes to the glory of your presence.

Blessing

May we leave the mountaintop with greatness of faith,

Strong in the knowledge that the light of Christ overcomes the darkness of death,

May we listen to Christ and follow his ways,

Shining as a light in the world, to the glory of God the Father.

And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among us and remain with us this day and always.

Amen

Thank you for joining us for Start Stop. I hope you have a glorious day and week ahead. Our prayers and reflection will begin again in a few minutes.