23^rd February 2015

Rev Dr Max Champion at St Johns Mt Waverley Sunday 15 February 2015

Lessons - Genesis 1:1-5; 26-31; Isaiah 60:1-3 et seq; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9

     At creation God said, 'Let there be light; and there was light; and God saw

     that it was good.' (Genesis 1:3,4) And before his crucifixion and

     resurrection, 'Jesus was transfigured before them and his garments became

     glistening, intensely white, as no-one on earth could bleach them.' (Mark

     9:2c,3)

It is a bit adventurous to link these readings which do not appear together in lectionaries. But, with our Bible studies on Genesis starting this week, it is worth the risk. Indeed, it seems to me that the whole of Scripture points us to the God who 'transfigures' reality. 

The word 'transfiguration' is not common. However, in the Harry Potter novels, transfiguration teachers are employed at Hogwarts' school. JK Rowling describes 'transfiguration' as 'a branch of magic that focuses on the alteration of the form of an object ... (so that) ... its 'nature is completely altered'. (Herald UK 7/12/1998) In Scripture it is more accurate to say the 'figure' remains itself while also being seen in a completely different light. 

Consider the imaginative stories in Genesis 1 & 2. They 'transfigure' our normal ways of thinking about the world. Israel's neighbours believed that 'nature' was teeming with good and evil gods competing with each other for power over humans. Rituals and prayers aimed to get kindly gods on-side and keep evil spirits at bay to make sure that women and crops were fertile and animals thrived so that the tribe would survive. 

Some of our neighbours regard 'nature' as 'mere matter' to be exploited by any means. Others, without believing in God or the gods, treat the environment as if it were 'sacred'. For many, 'history' is a recurring cycle of birth and death which has no ultimate meaning. 

The Christian doctrine of creation 'transfigures' these beliefs. The natural world, including us, has been created in love for a glorious destiny. Because God is the good Creator, there is no need to placate warring gods. When God said, 'Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good' (1:3,4), the world was 'illuminated' for us to enjoy, investigate and care for responsibly. 

Nature' is not to be feared, raped or idolised! But neither is it 'completely altered'. It is still earthy, but now 'transfigured' by the creative, sustaining love of God who will bring all creation to glorious fulfilment.

'History' too is given ultimate meaning. It remains the arena of humanity's soaring achievements and abject failures. However, it is 'transfigured' by God's grace. 

In the transfiguration of Christ, the destiny that awaits 'nature' and 'history' is illuminated spectacularly. Christians are not alone in having tales of 'gods' that bedazzle humans. 'To see the divine face ... was the great passion that animated pagan religion ... ,'  (DB Hart, First Things, vol 230, p71). The splendour of Jesus' appearance certainly suggests God's awesome presence. His face is 'altered' (RSV) and his clothes are 'dazzling white'. But he is not 'completely altered'. Remaining fully human, he is 'transfigured' as 'God's beloved Son (v7), the Son of Man who is to be crucified and raised to life (v9). 

Christ's appearance reflects the 'radiance of God' and foreshadows the resurrection of the dead, eagerly awaited by long-suffering Jews. The presence of Moses and Elijah suggests that he is to be seen as another heroic figure of faith. In reality, however, the transfiguration 'confirms without a margin of doubt that Jesus is not, as the disciples imagined, just a simple person nor a wise teacher. He is not a virtuous reformer of some new-wave of life-style, a charismatic miracle-worker nor even a prophet or a saint, but he is the Son and the Word of the Living God. True God from true God! Light from Light!' (Greek Orthodox Bishop Joseph of Arianzos) 

Why, then, does Jesus order the disciples to be silent? Why forbid publicity for a spectacular light show that paints him in such a favourable light as the embodiment of the Creator's purpose for the whole creation? 

The answer is found in an old sermon, a hymn and a stained glass window: 

*    'A strange occasion, when his head shone with glory to think of how it must

     bleed with thorns; ... when his garments glistened with celestial brightness,

     to think of how they must be stripped and divided; ... and while he was

     Transfigured on the Mount to think how he must be disfigured on the Cross?'

     (Sermon at the court of King James I by the Bishop of Exeter.)

*    'You were transfigured on the mount, and your Disciples, so far as they

     were able, beheld your glory, O Christ, our God; so that, when they should

     see you crucified, they should remember that your suffering was voluntary,

     and could declare to all the world that you are truly the effulgent (radiant)

     splendour of the Father!' (Orthodox Hymn)

*    Chartres Cathedral (France) has a 'Passion of Christ' window in which the first panel is the Transfiguration.

Thus the resplendent beauty of Christ is truly seen in the marks of crucifixion in which the 'beauty of the infinite' (DB Hart) - the true radiance of Christ's costly-triumphant love - is displayed. In this vision a staggering claim is made. Jesus, soon to be crucified and raised again, is the 'beloved Son of God' (v7) who embodies the dazzling glory of his Father, the Creator of all things, and the glorious future that awaits us when nature and history are fully transfigured and God 's radiance shall illuminate all things. 

As we look forward to that future, we must not misread the 'transfiguration of Christ' as if it were a vision to encourage us to retreat from the real world. 

Jesus comes down the mountain with the disciples (v9) and immediately is called on to heal ills that are not part of God's good creation. He cures the sick, forgives the sinful, unsettles the proud! The disciples learn that, having been bedazzled on the mountain by the 'glory of the Lord', they must come down to love the earth as God's earth: to bind the wounds of the broken and the abused, to disturb self-righteous and to rejoice in bearing witness to the triumph of Christ's costly, crucified love. 

In this way, creation is 'transfigured'. No longer does fate reign supreme - humans have a glorious destiny. No longer do the warring gods need to be feared and manipulated - the one God, the Creator, is the righteous, merciful Lord of all things. No longer is 'nature', 'mere matter' to be ruthlessly exploited - it is a place of delight to be enjoyed and investigated by stewards responsible to God. No longer is history meaningless - it is filled with memories and hopes that sustain us in the present. Jesus illuminates and embodies the 'new creation', shining light in dark places where God's good creation is being trashed. 

Hymn-writer Brian Wren puts it well:

      This is God's beloved Son;

       Law and prophets sing before him,

      First and last, the only One: let creation now adore him

     (Together in Song 243 v4)

All things, from the beginning of creation to our destiny in the new creation, have been transfigured in Christ. Therefore, as disciples called to share in his glory on earth, may we continue to be dazzled by God's costly, victorious love in him. And may we, in our worship and service, our words and deeds, be among those who are 'teachers of the One Transfiguration' that truly illuminates our nature and our destiny.

Rev  Dr Max Champion is Minister in St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley,     Victoria, Australia.

Dr   Champion is a member of the Council of the Assembly of Confessing      Congregations within the UCA.