The Last Sunday After the Epiphany, Feb. 22, 2004
Exod. 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 1 Cor. 12:27-13:13; Luke 9:28-36
The texts of holy scripture for the Sunday before we enter into our Lenten observance draw us into a holy-mountain-top experience of worship. “Beholding by faith the light” of Christ’s Presence, we pray for transformation in the Collect of the Day, that we will “be changed into his likeness from glory to glory.” By our sacred contact with God in our worship, we may expect our lives to be changed.
The verses from Exodus tell of a dramatic change that took place on Mount Sinai. When the great prophet Moses received the law, he was transformed by the encounter with the living God. “His face shone because he had been talking with God.” This description sounds very like what happened to Jesus on the Mount of the Transfiguration when, “as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white.”
In the Presence of God, those who come to him to receive his word, those who approach him in prayer, are illumined by his glory and transformed. This is more than simply an interior matter. “Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses” and observed the change in him. Likewise, when Peter, John, and James looked on Jesus, “they saw his glory” and received the heavenly proclamation, calling them to recognize him as God’s chosen and listen to his Word.
In our worship on this Sunday, we may perceive ourselves symbolically coming to “the holy mount” to receive the Word of the Lord, not inscribed on stone this time, but written in our hearts. “Upon the holy mount” we may expect to find Jesus proclaimed as God’s Son, his chosen, and draw near to listen to his life-changing Word. In this encounter we may receive the abiding gifts of faith, hope, and love, about which the epistle speaks, and “the greatest of these is love.” By this love, we are changed. No longer separate from one another, isolated by our individuality, we see the glory of the Lord, when we recognize that we “are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
Look It Up
Compare the other gospel narratives of the Transfiguration, Matthew 17:1-9 and Mark 9:2-9, taking note of any variations.
Think About It
In what ways have you seen your own life changed through hearing holy scripture and attending worship? Can you think of another person in whom you have observed transformation?
Next Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004
The First Sunday in Lent
Deut. 26:(1-4)5-11, Psalm 91 or 91:9-15, Rom. 10:(5-8a)8b-13, Luke 4:1-13
