What was the high point of your life? The best day of your life? The day when you said, like in the commercial: “It doesn’t get any better than this.” A day you wanted to last forever.
A long time ago, there were three guys who had a day like that. But unlike in the beer commercial, they had not been out fishing all day. Although as you might have guessed, they had done a lot of fishing in their life but usually for profit, rather than for entertainment. However, they had given up fishing several months before that special day happened.
That particular day, they had been out praying with a friend. Can you remember the last time you and two or three friends went out for an entire day of prayer? You say it’s been a while. Well, those three ex-fishermen never thought they would be praying as much as they had prayed during those past few months. But there they were, once again, on a mountain top, praying, when they experienced a theophany. When was the last time you had a theophanic experience? Do you even know someone who has ever had one?
Oh, you’re not sure what one is? I guess theophanies haven’t been reported too much in the news lately. Well, those three guys had never taken part in one before, either. But they knew a lot about them. One of their relatives many years before, had been part of one. A theophany, in case your haven’t figured it out, is when God or a manifestation of God, appears directly to a human being.
Centuries ago, one of their ancestors, a man by the name of Abraham, although then he was called just Abram, had a direct involvement with God. It was the time when God promised a new land to Abram and said Abram would have as many descendants as there were stars in the sky. But Abram was well into his eighties and had no children, so he wasn’t too sure that even God could do it. So God made a sacred agreement with Abram. God and Abram “cut a covenant.”
That’s what Abram literally did. He cut in half a cow, a female goat and a male sheep and put the split sides next to each other on a stone altar. Right away, Abram had a big problem, because flocks of vultures tired to carry the meat away; but Abram drove them off. Can you see him, swinging a shepherd’s staff and keeping those birds away from the dead animals lying on that rock in the hot sun all day long?
Now just before sunset the theophany happened. One minute it was dusk, and the next minute there was absolute darkness. Suddenly, there was a flaming torch and a smoking fire-pot right there in front of him. That torch and that fire-pot went right down the middle of each of those cut-apart animals. Now, that’s what the word covenant means: passing between the parts of a split-apart offering. Then, he heard God say that all of the land between Egypt and the Euphrates river belonged to him and to his descendants. Which was great. except that later on, when Abraham had two sons, the first born, named Ishmael, whose mother was a slave, and a second born, named Isaac, whose mother was Abraham’s legitimate wife, Sarah, a big problem came up. His legitimate wife, Sarah, made Abraham send Ishmael and his mother away, into the deserts of Arabia, so that her own son, Isaac, would inherit the land. Well, the descendants of Ishmael and of Isaac to this very day haven’t been able to agree on who owns the land which God, whose name is Allah or Yahweh, gave to the children of Abraham. But that’s another story.
The one I was talking about was the one about the three men who had been out praying with their friend, and experienced a manifestation of God. There they were. They had spent a whole day in prayer. When all of a sudden, they saw their friend talking with Moses and with Elijah.
Now I’m sure some of you are wondering: how did those guys know it was Moses and Elijah? Well, there aren’t too many people who have that extra glow around their heads like Moses was said to have or who wear animal skins like the prophet Elijah. Somehow, they knew that they saw the man who represented Jewish law and the man who was the greatest of all the prophets. So, our three fishermen saw their friend, the man they called teacher and master, talking with the embodiment of the law and of the prophets, the two pillars of their society, the two men who represented their past.
Now, what were they talking about? They were talking about “… his passage which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.” Only the Greek text uses a different word for “passage”. In Greek, the word is “exodus“. For the three men watching and listening to all of this, the word “exodus” had a very special meaning. Exodus meant all of the journey, all of the trials and tribulations of their people in going from captivity in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. Exodus would lead to the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham so long ago.
The three men were overwhelmed by what they saw and heard. One of them, the one who always seemed to speak first, even when he wasn’t sure of what to say, blurted out that they should preserve the moment. They should commemorate it by building three tents as shrines there on the mountain. One for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for their teacher who surely must now be as great as Moses or Elijah … as great as the law and the prophets.
Another word for tent is tabernacle. Which is why the tabernacle in our chapel is shaped like a tent. And why CGS has a round shape like a tent. A tent was also the place of Yahweh before the temple had been built by Solomon. The Ark of the Covenant was kept in a tent for generations before the temple was built. When God came down to that tent, it was covered by a hugh cloud so that the people would know that the Lord God was present in the tent, just like when the cloud covered Mount Sinai when Moses received the law from the Lord God. A tent was a holy place. What better way was there to honor their teacher and master than to erect a tent for him?
But then the theophany occurred. From the cloud which overshadowed them, a cloud like the one from Mount Sinai and the Ark of the Covenant, from such a cloud, they heard the voice of God say: “This is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him.”
“Listen to him” And what did he say? That it was OK to build a tent for him here on this mountain? That this moment should be preserved forever as a monument to the past and the present instant? That there should be a continuation of the law and the prophets? Or did he say that they should move on from here? That the Law, that Torah, was about to be fulfilled. That what had been promised by the prophets was about to be accomplished. Had he not said something like that when he first spoke in the synagogue? The time of salvation described by Isaiah was now being fulfilled in their hearing.
According to all three gospel writers who record this Transfiguration, a week before this event on the mountain, Jesus had predicted that he must go to Jerusalem where he would suffer, die and be raised from the dead. None of his friends had understood him a week ago. Peter had protested that, if this were to be the case, they should not go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the Exodus of their ancestors. But Jesus had become angry and had even called Peter, “Satan,” a false advisor or councilor, when he suggested that Jesus should not continue his journey, his Exodus.
Now, on this mountain, their God had spoken to them. The Lord God told them to listen to this man who is his Son, the Chosen One, the Anointed One, the Messiah. And this man, this Messiah, said that they must continue on the way. That he must endure the suffering. That the perceived end would only be the beginning. That death is followed by life rather than life being concluded by death.
Their teacher and friend told them it is not sufficient to say: “This is as good as it gets. Let’s stop here.” Their master suggested it is not appropriate to celebrate the past and hold on too tightly to the present. The Son of God said it is necessary to “journey to Jerusalem” even when it is known that great suffering will occur. Because after the pain, there is the resurrection. After the dying to self, there is the rebirth in the spirit.
Here at the beginning of Lent, a period which points not only to the hill of Golgotha but also to the garden with an empty tomb, it is well that we are reminded we cannot always remain safely on the mountain-top. We cannot be tied to the past nor to the present temporary glory of a transfiguration; but we need to continue on our own “journey to Jerusalem.” We are called from our mountain-tops to journey in the real world, to listen to what is said by our teacher, master and friend, our Lord who reminds us that this present theophany, with all of it’s apparent glory, is nothing compared to what awaits those who are a Resurrection people.
Second Sunday of Lent; March 15, 1992
Gn 15:5-12, 17-18; Phil 3:17-4:1; Lk 9:28-36