Sunday Next

Before Lent

Think back over the past weeks since Christmas. At his baptism, Jesus' glory was seen when he was declared God's Son. At Cana, his Glory was evident in his power to change nature- water into wine. At Nazareth, his preaching revealed his glory. In the calling of the disciples, Jesus' glory was acknowledged by those who left everything to follow him. During the last Sundays of this Epiphany season, we have seen the glory reflected in his teachings. Last week we saw Jesus in control of nature when he calmed the great storm on the lake by his word alone, reminiscent of God in creation. Today, at the Transfiguration, everything comes together: Jesus reflects in his person, the glory of God, and the past is fulfilled with the approval of Moses and Elijah. The whole scene is surrounded by symbolic meaning; an aura of unnatural brightness is linked with mystical appearances in Exodus and Acts, "dazzling white" is a symbol of transcendence, the "cloud" is a symbol of God's presence and the words from it recall Jesus' baptism, and add "listen to him!"

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1516 - 1520 (159in x 109in)

This materpiece has been described as the greatest work of Raphael and his last painting before he died aged 37. In art Chiaroscuro is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark and this painting by Raphael is a classic example. There is a juxtaposition between the glorious Christ above in Matthew 17:1-8 and the faithless and perverted generation below in Matthew 17:9-21. Look and you will see that this is really two paintings in one a ‘buy one get one free’ depicting the earthly and celestial realm. The top is light and shows the Transfiguration with Jesus elevated and bathed in light and John, Peter, and James (wearing the colours that represent faith, hope, and love) are on the ground awestruck. Moses representing the law is on the left with his tablets of stone and Elijah representing the prophets is on the right. Two men kneel on the left, possibly Justus and Pastor, two saints that share the feast day of the Transfiguration (August 6).The saints were also patrons of Cardinal Giulio de Medici who commissioned the painting and the Cathedral of Narbonne where it was intended to be hung as an altar piece

Now look below the mount and there are two opposed groups engulfed in darkness. On the right is the family of a boy who suffers from epilepsy supported by his father pleading in vain for the nine apostles to help the boy. The boys his eyes are rolled back, his mouth open and his arms frail. Matthew described the boy in Greek not as epileptic but “moonstruck, ” so note the reflection of the moon in the left bottom corner(σεληνιάζεται, in the Greek). The term "lunatic" derives from the Latin word lunaticus, which originally referred mainly to epilepsy and madness, as diseases thought to be caused by the moon. The dark earthly realm needs Jesus, the light that must enter the dark world of men and without his power, men are helpless. The apostle in red shuts his eyes, pressing his right hand to his heart as he points with his left. Neither he nor anybody else looks at the transfigured Christ but there is a spiritual connection formed. The observer is challenged to recognise the spiritual realm of Christ, contrasted by the earthly realm in darkness, and seek to ascend spiritually with Christ. The use of chiaroscuro emphasizes the woman in the midst of the dark generation, pointing the apostles to the child. Perhaps she is the mother of the child, some have suggested she represents Faith or the Church instructing Jesus’ disciples to bring the grace and gospel of Christ to a people in darkness.

The painting was hung over Raphael’s body while he was lying in state, and when his body was taken for its burial, the picture was carried by its side and placed above Raphael’s tomb in the Pantheon.   Charles Royden

Sermon 27 February 2022

We have published recently the news that all church council members have to pass their safeguarding courses. This is not our ideas as a church it is a diocesan requirement and it applies across all churches. Whilst I regret that it is necessary it is so because of the actions of so many people going back a long time which have been utterly cruel regarding abuse of children and also men and women. This shocking abuse has affected sports groups, schools, orphanages and so churches are not unique, just another location where abusers have been able to operate. However churches of all places should have been safe spaces and they have not and respectable clergymen, Bishops and Popes have all behaved shamefully and abuse is still going on today, albeit it is not so easily brushed under the carpet and that is why we have all these courses.

The problem is that we are all now scared stiff of one another and you have to be so careful, I remember one complaint of abuse which said that somebody had imperceptibly touched a knee. I am not making light of any unwanted touching, but such concerns make us all so afraid of one another.

Pile onto that the issue of Covid and things get even worse, we have been afraid to near one another. It is even worse because of course Covid has provided the means whereby we don’t have to mix, we don’t even need to be in the same room! We can meet by zoom, we can have Teams meetings. Social media has provided us with the ability to communicate endlessly with anybody who knows us and wants to be our friend - but we don’t ever even have to meet them. Some poor folks throughout the Covid crisis have hardly had any real human contact at all. The worst was the plight of those who died without even having a loved one present with them.

Human contact is important and Jesus knew this very well and it is evidenced very clearly in the Transfiguration which is our passage from the Bible this morning. We know all about the Transfiguration because it is recorded by all three of the synoptic Gospel writers - Matthew, Mark and Luke. They each give a slightly different take but the details are the same.

In the letter of 2 Peter 1 he tells us

 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.

This was a really significant moment in the revelation of who Jesus was but we can only imagine how shocked the disciples who were present must have been Peter, James and John seeing Jesus with two men who had lived and died many years before. Mark tell us that they were understandably ‘terrified.’

There is a lovely detail however which only Matthew tells us, one very important detail that happened after Moses and Elijah had disappeared and the disciples were Jesus in a state of fright, probably cowering behind a rock or something. Matthew says this

Jesus came and touched them saying ‘rise and have no fear’

Now Jesus knew the power of touch. His ministry recorded throughout the Gospels is all about him touching people and people touching him.

Jesus did not mind people touching him.

· There was a woman who had been sick for many years and we are told that she knew if she could just touch Jesus she would be well

· Another woman came and touched Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, a very sensual thing to do which would have probably sent a diocesan safeguarding officer in a tail spin. Jesus encouraged Thomas to touch him when he lacked faith, touch my wounds he said, see it is really me.

Jesus used touch to communicate healing and truth to others

· You will remember he took children in his arms. That is something which none of us will ever be able to do following what has taken place over the last century which we know about, but Jesus was able to do this without and suggestion of impropriety or stain on his reputation.

· We know that when Jesus healed people one of the things which he did was to reach out and touch them and his touch was a healing touch

So it is important that we rebuild our touch with one another in all sorts of ways. This Covid has separated us from one another in a most cruel fashion but slowly we will rebuild our communication with one another. It is small steps for now, we will be having fellowship with Cheese and wine after Ash Wednesday Service and the Lent course. Soon if we can find a way to accommodate the numbers we are looking to resume coffee after our church services and return to administration of Holy Communion even if we are not able to share the chalice

There is an exhortation in the Bible in Romans 16 it says

Greet one another with a holy kiss’.

My goodness that really would be resting the safeguarding boundaries.

Sam and I would like to make another small step forward this morning in that we will be pleased to shake hands with you as you leave. That small gesture of touch is something which has been missing and from all that we do know now about how Covid is spread I am confident that we can do this without risk to you especially if you use the sanitiser. This is not compulsory but if you offer your hand we will take it !

Perhaps my favourite comes in Matthew 14 verse 27 The disciples are in a boat being battered by waves on the lake and Peter sees Jesus walking towards them. Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 

This is a real encouragement to us at times when we are afraid, bewildered to recognise that in such times the hand of God is stretched out towards us and we should know the spiritual touch of Jesus to reassure us when our faith is tested.

Alternate Readings

Jesus with the Roman centurion

The Roman Centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant was a man used to issuing orders and expecting them to be obeyed without question. An order was not to be questioned, it was to be carried out because it came from a higher authority. So when the Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant he did not expect that Jesus would have to come to his home himself. It would simply be enough for Jesus to issue the order and it would be carried out. 

We do not often hear in the Bible that Jesus is surprised, but on this occasion we are told that Jesus was amazed at the faith of the Centurion. When we speak about faith we often mean what ideas we have, what we believe about God. The faith of this Centurion was about recognising who Jesus was and understanding that the power of God was powerfully at work in him, enabling Jesus to do whatever he considered fit. The Gentile Centurion had understood more about Jesus than the Jews who resented him so much. 

So what do you believe about Jesus? The Centurion was able to share in the blessings of Jesus and a marvellous healing took place. That same Jesus has power today to answer your needs.

Additional Resources  

Transfiguration

It has been a bad old winter. We have had some dark days when the church solar panels haven't even produced 1 unit of power, because it has been dark all day. Some of you have had Covid, others colds. However we look forward now with some degree of hope and the cold, the dark, the wind and the rain, all these things are about to change. The cold hard ground has already been broken by the green shoots of snowdrops, soon daffodils will break out cheers us all up, because nature is turning towards spring. Spiritually we are also today on a day of turning. This day of Transfiguration is the last Sunday before we start our Lenten journey, we travel through the wilderness to death but on to Easter and resurrection.

So let’s look at the Transfiguration episode. Jesus has just been speaking with his disciples and he told them that he must be killed, die and then he will be raised again. Peter rebuked Jesus and Jesus responded very harshly to him telling him that nobody should worry about dying because anybody who lost their life for his sake would save it.   

‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death

until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’

There are lots of lessons which we could draw out of the Transfiguration - but if we look at it in the context of scripture then we must understand it in the context of death. Yes the Transfiguration has lots of messages to us about mountain top experiences and the like, but we need to remember that it occurs in relation to Jesus speaking about his death and the death of his followers.

Death and dying isn’t a very nice subject and we don’t like talking about it. Nevertheless as Christians we need to be able to say that our faith speaks strongly about this. Jesus shows his disciples that this is not something of which they need to be afraid.   

Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to die and the reaction of Peter is the same as most folks to say - O no,

The disciples struggle to come to terms with the fact that

1. Jesus is embarking on a journey towards Jerusalem and date with death,

2. The fact that he has a verse earlier told them that some of them are going to die pretty soon

The response of Jesus is to take them up a mountain and the events take place which we read about today.

They go up the mountain - they have no understanding of what is about to take place. In fact we are told that when they got up the mountain the disciples fell asleep. Just like they did in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the awake they see Jesus in a whole new way.

The appearance of Jesus is changed

Jesus is seen with Moses and Elijah, the giver of the law on Sinai, Elijah the great prophet

And a voice comes from God which says

This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’

Now a lot is said about why Moses and Elijah were there. People have pointed out the similarities between them. One of the most certain things that we can say about them is that their presence speak powerfully about life after death. Elijah was somebody who reportedly never died but was taken up to God, and Moses was buried by God himself. 

One of the phrases which is used about the Transfiguration in slightly different ways is that the veil between heaven and earth is drawn aside. Jesus shows the disciples that this life and the after life are very close and he has authority over it.

This authority of Jesus over life and death is one of the most important features of the Transfiguration. Jesus is not just a great teacher giving us good advice on how to live, or a prophet as some might say. As the voice of God declares, this is my Son, listen to him

The Transfiguration therefore for gives us confidence.  We live in a time of ever increasing uncertainty, confusing events and the future is very unclear. We live in a very materialistic secular society in which people live incredible shallow spiritual lives. People are incredible poorly equipped to deal with eternal questions such as what happens to us and our loved ones when we die. There is no spiritual grounding from which to draw strength.

In the midst of a world of fear and uncertainty we see Jesus speaking the word of God that we need have no fear. In the Transfiguration God draws aside the veil and we are privileged to have an amazing preview into the Kingdom of God. The Transfiguration provided the disciples, and through them us, with a glimpse of another world. It is an opportunity to remind ourselves that there is a reality beyond the world around us which is greater than we can simply see and touch. There is potential and possibilities available to us through the presence of God, greater than most people could ever imagine.

The transfiguration should also encourage us to be active disciples.

In 2 Peter the Apostle Peter is quoted looking back at the Transfiguration.

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but 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. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

The reason why he speaks to them about the Transfiguration was because he wanted to reassure them that

'we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ'

The people had lost their faith and confidence in Jesus promise of life beyond death and Peter believed that the Transfiguration was God’s guarantee that there was life after death. Peter says that faith in Jesus is like a lamp shining in a dark place, these words are as true today and as important today as ever before.

Conclusion

At this time in the year as we stand at the threshold of the turning of the seasons, we are also reminded that we stand at the threshold of God's kingdom. The Transfiguration reminds us that Jesus is fully God and the disciples are let into this experience of who Jesus is. What we Christians have to offer our dark and broken world is the revelation of who Jesus is. Many people experience a mid life crisis, they do so because they see life passing them by and they begin to see that they are nearer the end than the beginning. One day they wake up and ask ‘is this all that there is’

In our very secular and materialistic society it is understandable that people become restless and desire for something more, most people live life at the shallow end of the spiritual pool. The restless searching, the longing for more, the desire for meaning are found only if we see in Jesus who he really is. The Christian response from the Transfiguration is no this is not all that there is, there is a whole new world of possibility ! 

Martin Luther King preached his last sermon on April 3 1968, it was 4,183 words long, so if you think sermons here are long, mine today is about 1,500. There again I am no Martin Luther King, but obviously he didn’t have anybody timing his sermons. The following day he was shot dead.

At the end of his sermon he said very prophetically

We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.  we climb a physical mountain it gives a perspective over geography

If we ascend with Jesus the spiritual mountain then this gives us a perspective over eternity. May God grant us also a glimpse of this promised land. 

Commentary for alternate readings

The episode we read about today in Luke is often called the ‘Transfiguration’. Matthew and Luke both record the event and use the Greek word 'metamorpho.’ It is a word which means to transform from an earthly to a supernatural figure. Luke doesn’t actually use the word transfiguration, perhaps because he was writing for a different audience and the word had pagan connotations. Greek gods and magicians were believed to transform themselves into other forms. Historians of Rome told stories of divine kings whose divinity was confirmed by a transfiguration event. This was true of Romulus, the founder of Rome, and also Tullius Servius, the sixth king of Rome (575-535BC). He was born of a slave woman and a divine phantom and his divinity was confirmed by a transfiguration story.

We don’t really know what happened, we are told that it was an event which occurred in prayer and the Gospel writers call it a ‘Vision.’ To some people that might mean that it never really took place they just imagined it! Prayer is not something which we can submit to scientific analysis, but we know that this episode was very real to the disciples and terrified them. Matthew records that they fell on the floor and they were filled with awe and he records a very nice detail that Jesus came to them and ‘touched them’, that human gesture to reassure them and give them peace. 

So let’s look at what is going on in Luke’s Gospel specifically today. Starting from the beginning of Luke’s Gospel we are taken on a journey of discovering who Jesus is. Luke has a sequence of events which show that Jesus is special and they build up to the episode which we read about today which we call the Transfiguration. Let me pick out 10 building blocks in preparation for today - 

1. An angel announcing to Mary about his miraculous birth. Jesus will have a kingdom that will never end. 

2. An angel announces to shepherds that Jesus is born and he is the Messiah, a Saviour.

3. Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and announces that he has now seen God’s salvation for all people 

4. Jesus is seen in the Temple at 12 year discussing with adult teachers and clearly he is not an ordinary child.

5. At the age of 30 Jesus is baptised in the Jordan by John and a voice proclaims him to be God’s son.

6. Jesus enters the wilderness for 40 days to discover what his ministry will be like 

7. Jesus preaches a controversial sermon at Nazareth and announces that God’s Spirit was guiding his ministry to be one which valued the poor, the disadvantaged, the ones at the bottom of society. He is lucky to avoid death from the mob afterwards. 

8. The ministry of Jesus takes off as he preaches at Capernaum and he heals and calls his disciples

9. There are some disturbing signs in his ministry which suggest all will not be easy. A ‘sinful’ woman kisses Jesus feet and pours perfume onto them and wipes them with her hair. 

10. Most significantly after Peter declares Jesus to be ‘God’s Messiah,’ Jesus tells that he must die and be raised to life. 

Today, at the Transfiguration, everything comes together on this mountain, a moment of climax as Jesus is seen alongside Moses and Elijah. It was said that Elijah never died (2 Kings 2:11, Mal 4:5) and although we read that God himself had buried Moses (Deut 34:6), in Jewish tradition, both "Moses and Elijah" were taken into heaven without dying and there was speculation that they might appear at times when heaven made itself seen. There was an air of expectancy that they would reveal themselves at an important time. 

Jesus speaks with them and shares his plans for his ministry leading to his death in Jerusalem. It is while Jesus is speaking that God’s voice declares Jesus to be his Son and tells them to ‘listen to him.’ It doesn’t get any bigger than this, this is the ultimate seal of approval. Moses and Elijah as representatives of the Old Testament, particularly, the Law and the Prophets, then the voice of God himself. They show that Jesus' agenda, no matter how radical and different from the religion of the time, was approved of by God because Jesus was doing his will. Luke has told us that the purpose of the meeting was for Jesus to discuss the progress towards his death, literally his ‘Exodus’. Although this was a natural way to speak of death (Wisdom of Solomon 7:6) there overtones of future salvation which the prophets and later Jews often viewed as a new Exodus. 

Moses and Elijah prepare to leave and Peter encourages them to stay, offering to put up three shelters. He was wrong for all sorts of reasons, not least because a tent apiece suggested that Jesus was just the equal of Moses and Elijah and this was not the case. In Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 13;3, 8, 18:15) the people had been told to listen to Moses, now these words from the cloud say that this no longer so, the people are no longer to listen to Moses but Jesus. We need to be reassured of this fact today, that our absolute authority comes from the teaching of Jesus. Jesus stands in continuity with the Old Testament as we know it, symbolized by two of the most important figures in it, Moses and Elijah, however it is Jesus who brings the Kingdom of God and salvation for humankind, and his words are the final and incomparable authority. 

No matter how much Peter might have wanted it to be so, this time of glory which came in prayer could not be contained or become and end in itself. Luke describes how as soon as they came down from the mountain they were straight back into the confrontation with evil. Luke the writer demonstrates the movement from the mountain top experience to the needy world. Charles Royden 

Commentary for alternate readings

Sometimes the characters who encounter Jesus are merely sketched in the Gospel writers. They are stick men and women who feed Jesus the right line and then disappear into obscurity of history. 

The centurion in today’s reading from the Gospel according to St Luke is very different. We learn a great deal about him and he leaps from the page as a very interesting character indeed. The centurion confounds our expectations about the kind of emotions we might expect from a seasoned soldier in an army of occupation. He has made himself liked and respected by the local population; he has shown respect and sympathy for their religion; he has helped them practically in building their place of worship. He also displays a surprising love for his slave. We are told not that the slave was useful to him but that he was dear to him. 

The centurion was willing to beg for help from a rabbi with a reputation as a healer. In al his dealings with Jesus, the centurion shows the most remarkable humility. Although how Jesus heals is a mystery to him, as it is to us, the centurion showed unwavering belief in Jesus’ power to heal, and before that power the centurion acknowledged his own unworthiness. Jesus was astonished by the Roman soldier’s faith and respect. The centurion saw. With the clarity of the outsider, that Jesus was infused by power from God, and knew that alongside that power, earthly authority was meaningless. The centurion’s wisdom and humility secured for him the healing of a person he cared for. 

We too need humility to recognise our own unworthiness before God, This is the first stage in our spiritual healing. Joan Crossley