The Transfiguration of the Lord

 

Eucharist – 6.viii.23

 (Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14; 2 Peter 1.16-19; Luke 9.28-36)

Here’s a verse from today’s Gospel reading:

Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.  

The Transfiguration of Jesus into the glory he shares with God the Father is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. But it’s only St. Luke who tells us that Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain for the purpose of prayer. And again, it’s only Luke who tells us that the disciples were really too tired to do the job. 

Jesus is transfigured in the midst of the disciples, the appearance of his face changes and his clothes become dazzling white, and Moses and Elijah appear to bear witness to the glory of God revealed in Christ. 

Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell us about Jesus’ Transfiguration in glory. But it’s only St. Luke who dares admit that the disciples were falling asleep at the very time it happened. Our translation tells us: “they were weighed down with sleep.” Bishop Tom Wright translates it as they “were heavy with sleep, but managed to stay awake.” Perhaps you know the feeling… When you’re trying to pay attention to something or someone, but try as you might you keep drifting off. “I’ll just close my eyes for a few seconds,” you say… and then you’re waking up with a start, asking yourself, “what have I missed?” And then you do it all again… Or I do anyway.

I was away on retreat just over a week ago, and I did quite a good job of staying awake. In part that was because it was a different sort of retreat which involved moving around and looking at things rather than just sitting down (and falling asleep). But something I’ve also learned is that when you’re on retreat there’s no disgrace in going back to your room after breakfast each morning and going back to sleep. 

I’m glad for those times when I’ve been reminded that part of the reason for a Retreat is to rest. So we should be kind to ourselves and not be worried if we find ourselves drifting off when we try to read, pray or even listen to a talk. One of God’s promises to his people is that he will bring them to a place of “rest.” Psalm 95, the Psalm which begins the round of prayer each day for those who say the traditional daily office, contains a warning for God’s people when they go off the rails: “They shall not enter into my rest.” And the writer of the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews spends the best part of two chapters meditating on what it means to enter God’s rest. It means recognising the goodness of God’s purpose in creation… How, after he had made all things, when he had given human beings their place in the created order, God could look at it all, see that it was “very good,” and then on the seventh day himself “rest.” Sometimes we say “God’s in his heaven and all’s well with the world.” It might be that we say those words ironically, because we know that things are far from being right. But that’s exactly right in the case of God’s Creation. God’s purpose is to make all things good. He creates men and women with a purpose - he’s saying what humanity is truly about. And then in his heaven - the place where God is recognised as God, the place where his reign is undisputed - he can rest. 

That’s the origin of the observance of the Sabbath in Judaism. It’s a seventh day to be kept free from work because it recognises how in creating all things good, God was then able to stand back and rest. When we recognise God’s work, his purpose and his glory, then we can enter into that same rest. It’s about communion with him. Our goal in life should be God’s purpose. It’s the opposite of our frenetic efforts to do everything our way, regardless of the cost to ourselves and others. The Sabbath rest is one of peace and harmony, but above all it’s recognising that God is God and we are his people.

Perhaps it’s when we find ourselves drifting off that we can find ourselves most open to new perceptions. That’s how it was for the disciples Peter, James and John on the Mount of the Transfiguration. St. Luke tells us that it was a real effort for them to stay awake. He doesn’t need to tell us. He could miss it out - like the Gospels of Matthew and Mark which just go straight to the vision itself. For Matthew and Mark it’s simple - Jesus takes the disciples up the mountain and they receive the vision of his glory. 

For Luke though, there’s that added layer. For a start Luke tells us that there was a purpose in climbing the hill. It’s to pray. Matthew and Mark tell us it’s a “place apart.” Only Luke adds that the purpose in going there is “to pray.” And from Luke there’s the additional information that it’s while Jesus was praying that he is transfigured in glory. It’s the prayer that makes the difference. Jesus has taken the disciples up the mountain to pray and the best they can do is struggle to stay awake. But Jesus prays, and everything changes into glory. Only because the disciples manage to stay awake - and it’s obviously an effort - are they able to see something of that glory which Christ the Son shares with his heavenly Father.

If only we could see Christ in his Glory, then we could understand God’s purpose. It’s tempting to think that. Or we might still just miss the point:

Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ Peter did not know what he said.

Peter knows something special is going on, but he can’t put it into words. And when the disciples go back down the mountain just the next day we find them unable to heal a sick child. They’ve had the vision, but they still have to deal with the failures of everyday life in an all-too-real world. They’ve managed to stay awake for a vision of the Transfigured Christ. But in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the time of Jesus’ greatest need, they fall asleep. “Couldn’t you stay awake for just one hour?” Jesus asks them then. Elsewhere we find Gospel passages punctuated with reminders of the urgency of the task: “Stay awake!” But again and again we fail to perceive God’s purpose, drift from prayer into sleep, fall from recognition of the glory of God into the mundane where all we are conscious of is the cares of the world and our own too-pressing needs. 

But notice that in the story of the Transfiguration, Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples off for being so dozy. There is that theme that our call from God is to “enter into his rest.” What the disciples see on the Mount of the Transfiguration is not the outcome of their prayer, not the result of any effort on their part. It’s simply a gift. They see what they see because God wills it, because Jesus prays - and prays in us. All that the disciples had to do was put themselves in the right place. So they go up the mountain with Jesus. The intention is that they should pray. The reality is that they fall asleep, but Jesus prays - and they wake to recognise his true glory.

As well as on this Feast Day of the Transfiguration, we read this account every year on the Sunday before Lent. In Lent we seek to make time for growth in understanding of God’s will and purpose, the chance to glimpse something of his glory. There are extra opportunities for prayer and worship, for reading alone and study together, for increased sharing in the sacraments - here in the Eucharist or by penitence or through receiving the ministry of healing. You could make yourself a very busy Christian going from one service to another, sometimes with Lent lunches and with study groups. But the point is not to wear ourselves out by our efforts. The point is simply to put ourselves in the right place. 

Whatever the time of year we need to ask where is God calling me to be? What are the opportunities he offers, like that opportunity given to the disciples to climb that hill with Jesus? God’s glory is revealed to us as a gift. God calls us to receive his gift. The calling is to enter his rest, to glimpse his glory… whatever our frailty and failings to be able to say “it is good for us to be here.”