Let's get on with life

Transfiguration Sunday-The Last Sunday after the Epiphany February 10th 2013

Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 II Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-36, (37-43)

It is not always the case but this week it is.

When you type in the word Transfiguration into Google 

you invariably get a religious style image.

With most words, like blessed, or happy (last week) you get a variety of ideas. 

But Transfiguration seems to engender the sort of narrowly religious idea.

Life would of course be quite boring without transfiguration, 

so we should not dismiss these experiences. 

I always point to the the birth of my first child as being such an experience, 

many men...even rough, shallow guys...attest to this.

There is a sense of the overwhelming awareness of "other", 

of change, of awe....all the things indeed we read about in this story...

so we should be thankful for these events 

as well as trying to underestand them.

There is also a straight forward point made in this story, 

and in many of the hymns and songs about this event...

while we are transformed ourselves 

by these powerful experience we have to move on from them.

"No," says Jesus to the apostles, "you may not build shrines here" 

His inference being that you must move back to ordinary life 

and allow this event to change and transfigure that

'Tis good, Lord, to be here.
yet we may not remain;
but since thou bidst us leave the mount,
come with us to the plain.

It is good to know and experience the supernatural presence of God. 

But this is not...in the end what life is about. 

At the best we are to ask ourselves 

how these powerful experiences inform and change our life.

It's all well and good to feel powerful change 
when your child is born, but how does this affect 
how you live your life.?
What is the point of continuing as is..after you have had a revelation?


If when our parent or spouse or child dies 
we experience the wonder of the grief process
and we find that our understanding of death, pain and resurrection is deepened
What difference does this make to the way we live our life?

You see we are tempted to allow Transfiguration 
to only be a religious experience
the invitation
 that God is offering 
is for us to look through and beyond these experiences
and allow them to change how we live.

As we see God more clearly in glory
as we hear him speak
what is he inviting us to do with that.

THIS WEEK

Gather a sense of those powerful moments of your life when you have experienced TransfigurationWhen things have shone in a new light and we have had new awareness.When we do that the next question is to ask:What is God trying to draw out of me through this experience?And what will I do with that?