Sunday Prayers
for the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 9, 2020)
On this Feast of the Transfiguration, we invite you to set aside some time tonight at 5 pm to pray and worship at home.
Rooted in simplicity and practiced in community,
even if separated by space and circumstance,
we celebrate Christ’s gentle and loving rule.
The readings for today are:
- Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
- Psalm 99
- 2 Peter 1:16-19
- Luke 9:28-36
Transcript
Peter and companions on a mountain, “weighed down with sleep.” At least this time they manage to stay awake: the next time, not so much. But even here, we think Peter wants to control the situation, contain it within the confines of what he can handle. He sees something so tremendous, and his first instinct is to build “three dwellings, one for [Jesus], one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The excited thought escapes his mouth so fast, the knee-jerk is so automatic, that even he doesn’t know what he’s saying.
Peter and companions on a mountain, “weighed down with sleep.” At least this time they manage to stay awake: the next time, not so much. But even here, we think Peter wants to control the situation, contain it within the confines of what he can handle. He sees something so tremendous, and his first instinct is to build “three dwellings, one for [Jesus], one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The excited thought escapes his mouth so fast, the knee-jerk is so automatic, that even he doesn’t know what he’s saying.
But there was some part of Peter that saw these “dwellings” as a good idea worth pursuing. What might that good idea entail? In the ancient world, mountains were often thought of as “thin spaces”: places where humans could more readily encounter the gods, if they could make the ascent. Mountains are higher, closer to the heavens, so thinking went that the “wi-fi connection” to the gods was strongest there. And the best way to secure this connection was to literally enshrine it, to build a temple at the site of the encounter or maybe to record it in a sacred text.
Even the monotheistic Scriptures that Peter grew up with record a number of mountainous “thin spaces.” A few of them come to mind: most of them temporary, and one of them seemingly permanent. Chief among them are Moses’ encounters with God on Mount Sinai: the Burning Bush where Moses hears God’s name, where, in a dark cloud, God later inscribes the Ten Commandments and utters the Law. This last experience leaves Moses’ face in dazzling white. Another dramatic episode is Elijah’s fiery confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, which is followed by his own encounter with God on Sinai (also known as Horeb) in the “still small voice.” Finally, there is the seemingly permanent “thin space” on Mount Zion, the Temple where God declares, “my name shall be there.”
While these Scriptures continually resist the notion that God needed a good wi-fi connection to meet us, they still show us that God sometimes used this construct of human imagination to reinforce for everyone that he had truly given an authoritative word to the person who encountered him, and that the priestly functions of the Temple were truly the place of continual encounter and atonement. It was as if to say, “look: this person has met me on a mountain. Listen to him.”
So perhaps Peter’s instinct to build a trio of tabernacles is closer to the mark than we often think. He wants to enshrine this encounter because he’s able to recognize that something new has happened in Jesus, a culmination of Moses’ nation-forming Law and Elijah’s prophetic confrontation with the powers of the world. And the extent to which Peter is wrong? Well, the cloud takes care of that: “’This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.” There is no more Burning Bush, no more stone tablets, no more altars to prove God’s lordship over Baal, and the Jerusalem Temple’s days are numbered. There is Jesus, the Son and Chosen of God, standing alone: the Name of God, the reign of God, our encounter with God, are all found in Jesus himself. So all that Peter has to do to faithfully attend to God’s authority, and all anyone who reads his story has to do, is follow Jesus, listen to Jesus.
Of course, following and listening to Jesus, encountering God in Jesus, is more complicated than it sounds. Thankfully, the stories from Israel’s Scriptures are there to help us understand what this might entail. If Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law, then his followers continue to be a people bound together by the law of mutual love and care as our “true worship” of God. If Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets, then his followers continue to give place to the Holy Spirit’s word of challenge that calls us to seek God more deeply, to love and serve God more fully, in our love and care for our neighbour. If Jesus is the Name of God, the reign of God, our encounter with God, then we continue to be a people who seek that encounter, especially as he comes to us now in Word and Sacrament.
We continue to be this people, even in a time of transitions: in the case of St. Stephen’s a transition in leadership, in the case of the Church more broadly a transition into a thoroughly secular, pluralist society. And right now, the transition to some as-yet-unsorted mix of digital and in-person form of church life, now that physical distancing has “pushed the cat out of the bag” on the need for churches to better integrate their online presence as part of their ministry. We very much look forward to one day gathering again in our cozy brick building at Keele and Major Mack, even though we don’t yet know when that’ll be. Like Peter’s own ancient desire to build and use buildings on the mountain, our desire to use our church building can be right and good: God still taps into our need for physical gathering spaces. But as Jeff’s email mentioned, we’re also going to be trying some new things online in the next few weeks, things that continue to be necessary given the need for physical distancing, but might continue be an integral part of many churches’ ministries going forward.
Whatever that future of church life looks like in the coming months and years, let us pray that through it all, we continue to follow Jesus, listen to Jesus, encounter God in Jesus, and put our hope and trust in him. Above all, let us pray:
“Holy God,
we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
May we who are partakers of his table
reflect his life in word and deed,
that all the world may know
his power to change and save.
We ask this in his name.”
Amen.