The Transfiguration
The Last Sunday after Epiphany
February 11, 2018
Mark 9:2-9
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
On the surface Peter, James and John are terrible friends. They totally miss the point of the Transfiguration, the event described in our Gospel lesson this morning. The point of this story is that Jesus is demonstrated to be the fulfilment of both the law and prophets which is symbolized by the appearance of Moses and Elijah. And what that means is that if you want to know what the laws and prophecies are pointing to in the Hebrew Scriptures and if you want to know what God wills for the world and for us, it is completely present in the person of Jesus and Jesus’ example and teaching. Also the point here is that, just as Jesus’ appearance is transfigured, changed, before them, so were things in the life of Jesus about to change. From here on out, life as they knew it was over, and now Jesus’ life was going to turn toward Jerusalem where he will be betrayed, tried, tortured, killed, and ultimately resurrected.
But the disciples can’t see the reality of what is going on. They are terrified. They are so scared that they just want to do something, anything. They do not want to take a moment out and ponder, “huh, this is pretty unusual – I wonder what this could mean.” They want to immediately start doing something. So they fall back to their traditions of their upbringing and Peter suggests they build booths in keeping with the Festival of Sukkoth. This is a festival where the Jews build huts made out of braches and other flora outside their homes to celebrate the harvest and God’s bounty and gracious care. But right after Peter suggests this – they are interrupted with God’s voice who in no uncertain terms tells them Jesus is God’s son, the beloved, and that they should listen to him. And you can imagine that this divine voice from heaven did not clear things up for the disciples at all.
But what I want to talk about this morning is not the miracle of the Transfiguration but the miracle of friendship. Jesus had this inner sanctum of friends – and they are his constant companion, but they seem to be constantly getting things wrong. They fail to understand what Jesus says and does, their courage fails them, they are not compassionate as Jesus is compassionate, they see their mission as limited, and Jesus see their work of healing and reconciling the world as having no bounds. But Jesus still kept them close.
I have been struck by the last two spiritual books that I have read that speak explicitly about the deep spiritual need of friends. Although the books were written at least 20 years ago, they speak to our time more than ever where reported feelings of loneliness are skyrocketing. This is something I preached on about a year ago in reference to the plight of loneliness among the elderly who find themselves alone in the world. However, we increasingly learn that this epidemic is more widespread. A New York Times article[1] published back in September 2017 reported in one study by a U Mass Amherst professor[2] that of the 28,000 student in the study, 60% of them felt “very lonely” with 30% of students feeling very lonely in the previous two weeks. In a Harvard Business Review article, the Former Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy[3] wrote that during his time of seeing patients the most common pathology he saw “was not heart disease or diabetes, [but] loneliness.” He cites that the impact of loneliness on health is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. He defines loneliness as “the subjective feeling of having inadequate social connections.”
What this story of the transfiguration highlights, and what these reportings show is that we are made for relationships – for our survival and for our well-being and spiritual health.
Gordon MacDonald, in his Book Ordering Your Private World talks about the importance of “Capital F Friends”. He describes them as the people who will rebuke us, affirm us, advise us, and be there for us when the roof caves in.”[4]
When MacDonald gives talks on friendship, he is always asked “how do you build friendships?” The advice he gives is to pray to have God send good friends into your life, and to listen closely to the Holy Spirit who says “There’s one; there’s another.” Then he says you start to date potential friends. And have true and deep conversations with them about their lives, their values, their hopes, dreams, and fears. And if things seem to be working out, go on another date, and another.
Henri Nouwen, a Dutch Roman Catholic Priest and academic, who was one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 20th century, in his book Discernment, also writes about the importance of friends. He shares with his readers about his own Capital F Friends – those who were the most important to him. But in his recounting there is joy and real pain. He shares in this book some of the lessons that these friends taught him. He first of all credits his friends with teaching him about Divine Love. He writes, “Once we are willing to see human persons as living signs and all of life as the continuing manifestation of God’s love, we can begin to see through the relationships in our life as gifts of God that help mold and shape us, reminding us of the inner quality of God’s own love.”[5]
But here is the breathtaking observation he makes about friendship as well.
He observes, “I also discovered the real problem [of friendship is] expecting from a friend what only Christ can give.” He goes on to say “I also learned afresh that friendship requires a constant willingness to forgive each other for not being Christ, and a willingness to ask Christ himself to be the true center of relationships. When Christ does not mediate a friendship, that relationship easily becomes demanding, manipulating, and oppressive, and fails to offer the other the space to grow. True friendship requires closeness, affection, support, and mutual encouragement, but also distance, space to grow, freedom to be different, and solitude.”[6]
When we look at the model of Jesus we can learn a lot about being a friend and having friends. He needed friends, but his world did not fall apart when they did not measure up. He kept them close, and yet he took time off from them to be alone. He told them what he needed, and sometimes they did what he needed and sometimes they did not. The disciples, particularly his capital F friends of Peter, James and John, tried their best – but they were weak sometimes, and scared, and human. They let Jesus down. But Jesus forgave them, and he loved them beyond measure.
One of our Devotionals for Lent this year is Loving With All Your Heart, Soul, Strength and Mind. During the first week of Lent we are invited to think about the important relationships in our lives. If you are interested in thinking more about friendship this Lent, I invite you to pick up one the Devotionals for your use.
One of the early church fathers, Tertullian, who is thought to be the Father of Latin Theology, wrote in one of Treatises[7] that when outsiders looked at the Christian Church they would say, “See how they love one another”. Isn’t that a wonderful reputation to have? – to be a community of love where friends are not only made, but where also, through mutual respect, kindness, and gracious forgiveness are retained.
Amen
[1][Frank Bruni, September 8, 2017, NYT
[2] Harry Rockland-Miller Ph.D
[3] hbr.org/cover-story/2017/09/work-and-the-loneliness-epidemic
[4] Ordering Your Private World, MacDonald, p.171
[5] P. 69
[6] P.75-6
[7] To the Gentiles, and, Apology
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