It caught my eye as I left the sanctuary. There above the doors in the narthex leading outside was a relatively large stained-glass window featuring Jesus standing with his hands lifted up in blessing. It reminded me of “Touchdown Jesus” at Notre Dame. What was unique about the window, however, was that Jesus is facing outward, not inward. Puzzled about this, I asked one of our hosts at lunch about the window. He laughed and told me that when the window was installed, a mistake, or so it seemed at the time was made. The installers reversed the window from the plan. However, after reflecting on this new positioning, the Building Committee decided they liked the mistake and the message it sent. Then huge smile came across his face, and he said, “Wait till you see the window tonight.” When we arrived at the church that night, I discovered the window was back-lit. There was Jesus, arms raised, face and robe radiant, blessing us. But it gets even better. As we left the building, I looked back, and there was Jesus, arms raised, face and robe radiant, blessing us as we went into the world. What a remarkable image, I thought, no wonder the people came to appreciate the window. That window and its image came to mind as I wrestled with this strange story of the Transfiguration that Luke tells us.

And what a strange, mysterious story it is. Shortly after Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, Luke tells us that Jesus took the “Big 3,” Peter, James, and John and went up the mountain. He suggests that they went to pray---kind of a brief respite from the hectic pace of Jesus’ mission. But it turned out to be anything but a time of rest and relaxation. The disciples should have known. After all, mountains are special places, places where Yahweh is encountered, where revelations take place, and glimpse of glory are given. And so it is once again. Likewise, when Jesus goes to pray significant things take place, lives and mission get changed. And so it is here. While Jesus is praying his appearance changes, his face becomes radiant, his clothing become dazzling white. Squinting against the brilliance, the disciples begin to see the outline of two figures with Jesus. As their eyes adjust, they can see the figures are no less that Moses and Elijah, the giver of the Law and the prince of the prophets. Luke allows us to eavesdrop on their conversation. He reports that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were discussing Jesus’ departure, his exodus, an illusion to his death and resurrection, the fulfillment of both the Law and the Prophets.

Suspended somewhere between a sleep-filled dream and a vision-filled wakefulness, Peter, James, and John realize that what they are seeing is fast fading. Peter speaks, seldom is he without something to say, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Even as he speaks, however, a cloud comes up and overshadows them, and Luke tells us “they were terrified.” Well, wouldn’t you be scared? It is yet another symbol---clouds, clouds speak of God’s presence, at once a manifestation of the Holy One, a biblical special affect. If the three were terrified at the cloud, can you imagine how they felt when a voice speaks from the cloud? The words are curiously similar to the words spoke by the voice at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him.” When the voice is silent and the cloud lifts, they see Jesus, Jesus alone standing there. Moses and Elijah have disappeared. Luke tells us the disciples kept silent, told no one in those days, any of the things they had seen. Sometimes, when we encounter experience the presence of the Holy One, it is best to keep silent.

What are we to make of this strange and mysterious story? I would suggest two significant learnings present themselves. One pertains to our theological understandings and the other to our worship life. Turn with me first, if you will, to the theological learning. As you might guess, while the three synoptic gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are quite consistent in their telling of this amazing story, interpreters have been all over the map explaining it Some see it as a mystical experience or vision belonging to Jesus. Others see it as a misplaced resurrection story. Still others write it off as a creation of the post-Easter church meant to affirm Jesus as the Messiah, the exulted Lord. I believe the Transfiguration of Jesus is an epiphany; that is, a moment of revelation, a moment in which his glory is revealed as the Son, the Chosen One of God. Theologically, what is being revealed is Jesus identity as the Christ, the Anointed One of God. This is done in word; the voice proclaims Jesus as the Son, the Chosen One. But more pronounced is the announcement in the actual transfiguration, glory revealed. Glory, at least for me, was one of those church words that got tossed around but never really defined. In Hebrew, glory means quite simply something of substance or weight. The definition grew to mean something of wealth, dignity, and the word shekinah came to express presence of God on earth---awe-filled, mysterious, radiance. When Moses came down from the mountain his face was shining, radiant for he had been in the presence of Yahweh and reflected the shekinah, the glory. In the New Testament, glory has to do with God, with the divine mode of being, with power and majesty, with divine splendor and presence. Glory reveals God’s presence with us. Yet, in its awesome radiance and brilliance conceals that presence even as it reveals it. In the transfiguration, Jesus’ glory is revealed, his identity as the Son, and the Chosen One is confirmed.

What this means for our theological understanding is that as Christians we believe that in this Jew from Nazareth, you and I have seen as much of God as we can hope to see. All too often when we get into debates about theology, I hear people say, as I did last week, “Well we all have our ideas about God?” I managed to get into a rather lengthy argument over such a statement. Perhaps it is true; we may differ in our opinions. But that does not give us the freedom to shape God as we want, to make God over in any way we please. As Will Willimon writes, “God is not some amorphous blob that we can shape at will. God has a definite shape and disposition.” Christianity is a revealed religion; that is God reveals himself, his will, his purpose, his love to us. And now we see that this God has a name---Jesus. His glory—the glory of God---reveals him as the Holy One. That his glory is revealed as he decides to move to Jerusalem to bring the Gospel to the place of religious and political leadership has important implications for your faith and mine. It means that this One who will suffer and die is not just a brave and courageous martyr for a worthy cause but the Son of God who will through his death and resurrection bring salvation to the world. In him resides the power of God to forgive us, to heal us, to free us, and to bring us to that life in which death has no dominion. That is about as important as it gets for our theology.

The second learning I find in the Transfiguration story has to do with our worship life. In her book, REACHING OUT WITHOUT DUMBING DOWN, Marva Dawn maintains that there are three aspects of faithful Christian worship: Faithful Christian worship is centered in God; it shapes the faith and witness of disciples; and it builds up the community, the body of Christ. I agree completely. In a parish several years ago, I did a simple survey asking members just one question: “Why do you come to worship?” Two responses were most frequent: to find renewal for my spirit and to learn what it means to be a disciple. At first these two responses may seem contradictory. But I think they actually merge. I think the Transfiguration reveals that. The voice spoken at the Transfiguration proclaims, “This is my Son, my Chosen, LISTEN TO HIM.” This is one aspect of faithful worship---“listening to Jesus.” Worship offers an engagement with God’s Word for us, that Word which became flesh in Jesus. In worship we listen to his teachings, hear of his mighty deeds, encounter the witness of those who trusted him with their lives. We listen to him in the words of Scripture and sermon, in the hymns and anthems, in the prayers and witnesses. As we listen our faith and our discipleship is shaped. This is the faith of the Church---we listen to Jesus.

Elizabeth Armstrong was one of the saints at Grace Church in Joliet. She was nearly 90 when I was appointed to the church. She began to lose her sight. Soon she began to receive the audio tapes of the service which an usher dropped off at her house on his way home from the service. When Bill would ask, “Elizabeth, what are you going to do this afternoon?” She would reply, “I am going to listen to Jesus.” So it is for us, if we want to grow in our faith and be faithful in our witness, we must “listen to Jesus.” That is a key focus for our worship. It is an experience of glory revealed.

Yet, our worship also is meant to renew our spirits, refresh our souls. Worship at times must be going up the mountain with Jesus and experiencing the presence of God in unique ways, ways that move beyond our words, even perhaps our comprehension. These are moments when God’s presence—indeed God’s glory---is experienced---at the holding of your child for the first time, at the bedside of a loved one, at the singing of a special hymn, at standing in the chancel of one of the great cathedrals. It is not something we can explain. It is, as one writer suggests, more like a painting to be contemplated that a problem to be solved. It is an experience of glory revealed. It can be missed, as the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning announce:

Earth’s crammed with heaven
And every common bush is afire with God
And only he who sees takes off his shoes
The rest sit around and pluck blackberries

Worship that renews is worship that invites us into an encounter with the One who reveals himself in Jesus. Anything else is berry picking. It is an encounter with glory revealed and renews and strengthens us that we can come down from the mountain and witness in the valley.

And it is here that the two aspects of worship intersect. Listening to Jesus gives us the knowledge, the intellectual tools, for faithful service. Spiritual renewal gives us the passion to commit to witness and serve both. Let me draw from my experience as a Boy Scout on this Scout Sunday as an example. It is the learning’s that I received from the Scout handbook and leaders that gave me the tools to do my best and serve others. But it was the experiences with mentors that caused me to want to make a commitment to serve. So it is for disciples, you and me. Listening to Jesus we learn how to be a disciple. Engagement with God’s presence, frees us to commit to a life of discipleship. Both are experiences of the glory revealed.

May both of these learnings be received among us that our faith may be nurtured and our witness and service may express the glory revealed in Jesus. Thanks be to God! Amen!