Well, here we are at the end of the season of Epiphany. An epiphany is a revelation, or a sudden awareness of something, and in the church, of course, we are celebrating the awareness or revelation that Jesus, this guy from Nazareth, is God’s Beloved Son. Epiphany starts with the revelation to the three wise men, by the light of a star in the night sky, and it moves through Jesus’ baptism by John in the river Jordan, in the light of day, with the presence of the Holy Spirit. And it brings us to today, to the full-blown light of God shining through Jesus on the mountain, so that it becomes undeniable that he is the Son of God, reflecting God’s glory. Jesus was transfigured by God into a person of God’s light.
Now, as we know from our first reading, from the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus was not the first to shine with the light of God. Our Bible tells us that Moses was chosen to convey God’s word to the people of Israel, and that, after being in the presence of God, Moses also shone with God’s glory. Moses, too, was transfigured by God into a person of God’s light.
But it’s not just biblical figure. Paul’s words to the Gentile Christians are that we, too, are in the process of reflecting God’s glory, as Paul says, “being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” We, too, are being transfigured by God into people of God’s light.
In other words, today is not just about celebrating God’s transfiguration of the Son on the mountain top, it is also about celebrating God’s transfiguration of you––into one of God’s beloved children who shines with the brilliance of God’s own glory and light. Out of darkness, out of the valley of the shadow of death, out of the dark night of our soul, out of the dark shadows we hide in our hearts, God is calling us to step forward into God’s glorious light and be transformed.
Sounds good, right? Except we hesitate. We do. Because stepping into God’s light means being exposed. Light exposes. You know how in the morning, you get ready to go in your house, where the light comes in through the windows, and so it’s not super bright? And you look in the mirror and you think, okay, I’m good to go? And then you get in your car and you’re driving and the sun is shining through your windshield and you’re stopped at a red light and you happen to look in the visor mirror? And then you’re like, “Ah!” because in the direct sunshine you can suddenly see each single strand of grey hair? Light exposes.
God loves our grey hair, but God’s light does expose all of our non-physical flaws. God’s light does expose all our mistakes, all our wrongdoings, either intentional or unintentional, all our sins, as we call them. God’s light exposes all the times when we threw others under the bus to save ourselves, or watched someone else get thrown under the bus and said nothing. God’s light shows it all. As Paul says, “when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” Paul equates light with truth, and darkness with lies. He says that when we do stand in God’s glory, we stand exposed and so we “renounc[e] the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word.”
“The shameful things that one hides.” I think that’s one of the reasons we hesitate to step forward into God’s light. Because we are ashamed. Either rightly or wrongly. And I say rightly or wrongly because sometimes we behave in ways that we are right to feel ashamed of, but sometimes, as we’ve seen in the Catholic clergy sex scandals and as we’ve seen in Advent’s own history, people in positions of power wield shame as a weapon to keep us from telling the truth. And then, when we realize it, we feel ashamed that we have been shamed. Either way, because of that shame, we hesitate to step into God’s light. God calls us, and we drag our feet.
We also hesitate because the prospect of being transfigured, transformed by God’s light is scary. It’s a big change! If we are accustomed to living in shadows and half-light, it is daunting to step into the blazing sun. The new life of light that God calls us to is new. And like all new things, it’s kind of intimidating. We don’t know how to act in the light of God, we don’t know what to do in the face of God’s glory. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai reflecting God’s glory, the people of Israel were afraid! When Jesus was on the mountain, reflecting God’s glory, and Peter and John and James heard the voice of God, they were terrified! It seems like whenever God sends Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, to announce some new thing to someone, Gabriel is constantly saying, “Do not be afraid!” We are afraid to let go of what we know, even if it’s muddling about in the darkness, and to step forward into something unknown, even if it is God’s promise of a new and better life in God’s light. To renounce the shameful things that one hides, to refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s words, to live by the open statement of the truth, these all sound great, but they are hard to do if we’ve never lived that way before.
And yet, we know that this is the only way to live. I don’t need to convince you that living in the light of God’s glory is the best way to live. You’re here because you believe that. Otherwise you’d be at home, where it’s warm and cozy, and you don’t have to face a –30C windchill in the parking lot.
You don’t need convincing, but maybe you’re looking for some encouragement? Because stepping forward into God’s light takes courage, and all of us, from the people of Israel to the disciples to today, need encouragement.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” New life in Christ, in the light of God’s glory, is a life of freedom. Freedom from shame, freedom from doubt, freedom from anxiety. It is freedom from the darkness that clouds our minds and our hearts. Living in God’s glory is living in the light that shines in the darkness, which the darkness cannot overcome.
This new life of light is also a new life of peace, and true joy, and lightness of being. If you have ever had to carry a shameful secret, and then had a chance to be open about it, you will have experienced the great relief and lightness that comes once you’ve done so. Some of you experienced that yesterday at our gathering. That feeling of peace is a taste of what it is to live in God’s light. I said that it takes courage to step into God’s light, but once you are there, it is such a relief. To let go of pretense and all the work it takes to put up a good front, to rest from scurrying from one dark hiding place to the next, and instead to be honest and bare before God and the world, and, in that openness and honest and transparency, to know that we are welcomed and loved by God––that is the new life that God offers us in Christ.
Now it’s important to be clear that God does not force this new life on us. God calls us into the light, but God does not force it on us. Moses veiled his face because it was too much for the people at times. Jesus was transfigured on the mountain away from the crowds. God doesn’t come into the middle of our darkness and suddenly flick on all the lights, blinding us. God does not push us into the light; God calls, steadfastly and persistently, until we are ready to come out of hiding on our own. But when we are ready, the Holy Spirit walks every step with us, helping us, encouraging us, enabling us to step into the light. Not to be exposed as shameful creatures, but to be revealed as people shining with the reflection of God’s glory.
We are at the end of the church season of Epiphany, but we are, in so many ways, just at the beginning of our transfiguration in Christ. As we move into the season of Lent this coming week, which itself leads us to the season of Easter, God calls us to come, step-by-step, into the light and glory of God, and to be transfigured. Thanks be to God. Amen.
*****[We need to acknowledge that our second reading from Paul says a lot of things about the people of Israel that have been taken out of context and been misinterpreted for most of the last two thousand years. Paul is not saying that the people of Israel don’t have a direct understanding of God and that only Christians do, and he is not saying that the Law gets in the way of Jews’ relationship with God, in fact it’s the opposite, but that all takes a whole lot of unpacking that we’re not going to do this morning, although you’re welcome to ask me about it later. I just needed to mention it because this text is among many that have led to Christians murdering or allowing the murder of Jews, and we can’t let it just be read in church without any comment.]
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