Sunday 14 February 2021, Sunday before Lent
SUNDAY BEFORE LENT 2021
The “I absolutely knew” moment?
When did you last have “I absolutely knew” moment?
When did you have a moment in your journey of faith when belief became more than faith.
Sometimes perhaps it is like a moment in a dream when it is so intense and wonderful that you want to hang on to it – knowing that it will be fleeting.
For Peter, James and John, the Transfiguration was a “I absolutely knew” moment so much so that Peter would later write (2 Peter 1:16-18)
“We had been eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.”
Hold in your hearts this morning this call from heaven:
“This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” I’ll come back to it.
There is something dreamlike with the story of Transfiguration.
If you look at the picture on the front of the service sheet you will see the three disciples lying on the ground.
St. Luke, imbued with his medical training and emphasis on the human body, tells how the disciples were weighted down by sleep.
The reaction of Peter, not knowing what he was saying, caught in the strange hinterland where sleep ends and being awake begins.
Let’s consider two aspects of this Gospel.
1. Why do we have it on the Sunday before Lent
2. What does the Transfiguration mean to us?
Why now at this time in the Church year, on this Sunday before Lent..
I think there are a number of reasons:
· The Transfiguration is towards the end of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. The Transfiguration is, in modern day parlance an away day for the inner circle of disciples to prepare for the move to Jerusalem – and events that will take place on another hill, that of Calvary, when Jesus will be glorified in a very different way, when the words of a Roman Centurion will echo the message received by those on Mt. Tabor. “Truly this man was God’s Son.”
So preparation for Jerusalem and events ahead.
(As an aside The Transfiguration is thought to have taken place on Mt. Tabor just west of Lake Galilee. It’s just under 2,000 ft. high and we plan to visit it on our parish pilgrimage to the Holy Land next spring.)
· The Transfiguration is part of the gradual revelation to the disciples of Jesus being the Son of God.
St. Paul speaks of “seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The presence of the Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets and the event taking place on a mountain (think Moses on Mt. Sinai –who when he returned from meeting God, his face was so radiant, it had to be veiled, Moses and Elijah on Mt. Horeb, l – Tabor was the local Galilean high place for a setting of divine revelation.
· I also have a sense that the Transfiguration suspends in space and time the story of God and his people. It brings together in one moment and in one place, what went before and hints at the future
The Transfiguration is about trios – three of them.
The past in the form of the trio of-Moses and Elijah, flanking Jesus the inheritor of the Hebrew Testament, Jesus, who in the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews is “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God”.
· The second trio, the future, Peter, James and John who will be key figures in the early church.
· And would you agree with me that the Transfiguration, is perhaps a manifestation of the Holy Trinity. The presence of the Father calling to his Son and the presence of the disciples being given an early audience with the Holy Spirit.
The story of the Transfiguration points us wonderfully to Lent
As we await this coming Ash Wednesday let remind ourselves of the words:
“This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
which sets us up for Lenten tasks:
To Pray
To Study
Undertake acts of Self-Sacrifice and Almsgiving.
I’m sure you have already mapped out your plans for observing Lent. How this year Lent is going to make a real difference to your life.
Or you may not even have thought about it all.
If you continue St. Mark’s account of the Transfiguration, after coming down from the mountain, buoyed by the revelation of God, Jesus and the disciples arrive back at sea level with a bump when they re-besieged by a crowd containing a father with an ill son needing healing.
During Lent, things will crowd in on us. The United Benefice is here to help you on your Lenten journey. The Notices in the service sheet tell you of what we are doing. Let me finish with two suggestions, to help you on a journey that might lead to an “I absolutely knew” moment:
· First, make a short extra time in your day for prayer. If you don’t already attend our short twice daily weekday services, please try to attend at least one during the week. They last for no more than 20 minutes. Night Prayer is only 10 minutes.
· Remember the words heard on Mount Tabor:
“This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him”
God is well pleased with all of us and will support us through the vicissitudes of life. Repeat these words each morning when you get up, perhaps when, you clean your teeth.
Peter Wolton
14 February 2021