Exodus 34:29-35

2 Peter 1:13-21

Luke 9:28-36

Psalm 99 or 99:5-9

Pray for me, that the words I speak may be those God wants us to hear.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the transfiguration. In our lessons we are given glimpses of God’s glory, revealed to us through the extraordinary experiences of those we revere and follow as God’s chosen.

In our Old Testament lesson, Moses is coming down the mountain. This is the conclusion of his second trip up the mountain…the one after the golden calf incident. This mountaintop experience is different than the first for Moses. He has been up on the mountain fasting and praying for 40 days and 40 nights, as he did the first time. But this time, before ascending the mountain, Moses asks God “Show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight…and he asks , “Show me your Glory, I pray.”

And Moses did see God’s glory. Not directly, face to face, but as close as a human in this world is able. So when he came down the mountain, his face was shining.

Why did God choose to show his glory on the face of Moses? Partially for Moses benefit—he sought this closer relationship with God. You can’t have a close encounter with God and come away from it unchanged. But this also showed the witnesses that Moses was a Holy man, to be respected and listened to. During the 40 years in the wilderness, Moses’ authority was challenged on many occasions. And Moses brought the covenant down the mountain, so that the Israelites might become a Holy people…a people who were transformed from a bunch of clans into a people who were distinct, because God would dwell with them, that the rest of the world might also come to know the Lord.

Our New Testament and Gospel readings for today tell us about another mountain-top experience—the transfiguration of our Lord. In the gospel story, Jesus is transfigured while praying, and his glory is revealed to Peter, James and John. This is a strengthening experience for Jesus—he is talking with Moses and Elijah about the events to come, his suffering, death and resurrection. He receives strength and focus for the difficult way he must walk. But it also gives a glimpse of Jesus’ authority to his disciples. Jesus is starting to talk about how he will be rejected, must undergo great suffering, and be killed. And they are told that they will follow this path also. No one wants to hear this kind of message, and the disciples must be wondering about this time how Jesus could possibly be right about this. But on the mountain, they hear the voice of God saying “This is my Son, my chosen; listen to him!”

 The writer of II Peter interprets the transfiguration event as a prophecy of Jesus’ return in glory—sort of a preview of the glory to come, a special insight into his true nature that only the select few are allowed to see.

One of the issues addressed in II Peter is whether or not there will be a second coming, when Jesus will judge the living and the dead.  At first the early church expected the day of judgment to come very soon after the appearance of the messiah. This epistle asserts that the prophecy of the second coming is valid because it is from God (God spoke at the transfiguration, and Peter heard it) and because the Holy Spirit is in both the prophet and the Holy men and women who interpret the prophecy. So the writer cautions us not to forget that Jesus will come again in glory.

Instead, we should attend this as we would a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts. We are to live as ones waiting for the dawn…we are to live expectant lives, and keep our lamps burning.

We attend those lamps many ways in our faith life. We remember that Jesus is coming again as a statement in the creeds. We remember it in our prayers at the Eucharist:

We remember his death

We proclaim his resurrection

We await his coming in glory.

But to actually live in this expectancy, we need to live as the Lord taught us—we need to be constantly listening to him. Jesus brought us a new covenant, so that we might also be transformed into holy people. Jesus brings us the new commandment—we must love one another as Christ loves us.

Christ is the morning star. The morning star brings light and hope, not fear. His coming into our hearts marks the dawn of his glory coming into our lives, so that we, also, are transfigured.