Gen. 15:5-18; Phil. 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36; Psalm 27

March 17, 2019

Craig Terlson

 

Reimagine Pt.1 (The Transfiguration)

I'm doing something a bit different for this homily and then in next week's part two.

I've been reading the work of Pete Enns for some time now (he also has a podcast called The Bible for Normal People that I listen to weekly). He is a scholar and academic who is currently a prof at Eastern University in Pennsylvania.
In these two homilies, I am using his work to talk about scripture as a whole, and then applying that lens, and considering what it means for a specific scripture. Today, that is the story of the Transfiguration.
And then next week, I'll be looking at the story of the burning bush found in Exodus.

Now, rather than say Enns said this, and Enns said that, I am just going to dive into it - but I wanted to let you know where these ideas came from. There are a lot of other theologians and writers also talking about this stuff... and I'm not going to mention them either.

So, here we go. How do we Reimagine scripture? And what is meant by that? And why would we want to do that anyway?

To answer this, there are three important concepts to keep in mind when considering the Bible. It is 1. ancient, it is 2. diverse, and it is 3. ambiguous. I'll talk about each of those briefly.

It is always good to be reminded that the 66 books that comprise the Bible were written a very long time ago – consider that they are as long ago in the past as the year 5000 is to us in the future. And that's easy to forget. Nonetheless, these ancient stories come from a very different time and culture than ours.

And this is one of the reasons the Bible is so diverse - even the way stories were told was different.

Now, most of us can observe how the Gospels give us at least 4 different and diverse angles. But much of the rest of the Bible is full of this diversity. A brief example from the OT: Slave laws that are clearly laid out in Exodus (having to do with the laws around male and female Hebrew slaves), these laws change when laid out in Deuteronomy, and then again, the perspective on these laws change in Leviticus. This diversity occurs because these texts were written at different times, Leviticus being the latest, and thus reflect the culture of the time they were written. 

Another example of diversity can be seen in the story of 1st Kings and 2nd Kings, which is retold in Chronicles, but in a whole new way, with whole new facts... because it was compiled at a later time (post-exile, as opposed to during the time of exile).

Now, the word ambiguous, depending on your upbringing, may be the one that gives you pause. But consider that these ancient, diverse stories, do not exhibit one clear meaning (sorry, but if you like the phrase "the Bible clearly states", then you won't be a fan of this homily.)

Ambiguity in the Bible isn't a problem to be solved - it is a self-evident reality, and a gift. It is this character that allows the Bible to be flexible enough to fit multiple situations over time. And the ancient authors of the texts set this trajectory, knowingly producing a collection of texts that are wonderfully diverse and ambiguous.

The genius is, that it is this ambiguity that allows the Bible to gain new life each passing year.

The Bible, perhaps surprisingly, doesn't lay out for anyone what to do or think (or it does far less often than we have been led to believe) - it doesn't hand these answers out at the door, rather, we are left an open door, or better a gate to enter into to discover the wisdom within.

So an ancient, diverse, and ambiguous Bible allows us to Reimagine what these stories, laws, words, poems, etc. means for us now. Think of those slave laws I mentioned earlier... if we do not reimagine what slavery means now, then where does that leave us? A Bible that remains static, and is used to defend slavery.

The Bible writers model this reimagining for us - as the stories move and change and are enlivened as the writers move through history... as the books of the Bible are compiled over a long period of time. (To note - It was close to 400 years after the birth of Jesus before there was a New Testament.)

I will say more about this next time - but to say that I welcome your conversation on these concepts. But now, I want to take this concept and apply it today's telling of the event of the Transfiguration.

The transfiguration is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus, the others being baptism, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

I am not sure how much we talk about the Transfiguration at GOW... beyond it being this strange awesome weird event that happened to Peter, James and John when they accompanied Jesus up an unnamed mountain.

So what is going on here?

Let's start with: diversity. This story shows up in Matthew, Mark and Luke, is alluded to in John's gospel and the letters of Peter. And like most stories, the details are slightly different, some say 6 days after, (some say 8 days) after Peter's confession, this is where Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah... you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

This is a very particular use of time, and if you look back at Exodus, ... you see these 6 days after is the same amount of time that Moses spent up in Mount Sinai... waiting, under a cloud, before God (voice) appeared to him.

And here is the importance of the ancient nature of the text - original hearers of this story most likely would have made these connections. As well, Moses, like Jesus, also takes three companions up the mountain. And then Moses coming down from mount Sinai with his face glowing, parallels Jesus in the Transfiguration. Clouds, light, voices appearing from clouds... it is all there. And the ancient audience would have seen it.

Further to the diversity: in the telling of the Transfiguration in Matthew, it calls the event a vision (the Greek word orama... which meant a supernatural event, rather than real physical events). The other Gospels have Jesus telling the disciple to not share what they have seen. I don't point these out as inconsistencies... but rather of the diverse, layered, and yes, ambiguous meanings that can be drawn as the story is seen from these different angles.

One of the most evident meanings would be to see that Moses represents the Law, and Elijah the prophets, and the voice of God says "listen to him", means that Jesus supersedes the law and the prophets.

But now, under this idea of Reimagining, I want to point out a couple of things for us to consider the meaning of the Transfiguration for us now.

I'll start with this idea of a personal vision - as Matthew says, Jesus says to the disciples, don't tell anyone about this vision - this is for you Peter (James and John?). So this personal moment that they experience, will take on much more meaning after the resurrection. Jesus saying this is known as the Messianic secret, and perhaps a reason for this: Jesus doesn't want this story told before it is finished. He knows that to tell it too early will miss the point.

More importantly, how does this personal event is going to become a universal event - the transfiguration becomes an event for the whole nation, for all the nations really. This is where things get really mind-blowing. This revelation of Jesus is not just for Peter, or James or John... it is a revelation for all the disciples, for all the followers, for all the nations then, and for all the nations now... for us. Now.

The transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place of the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.

This revelation of Jesus, the Christ being above all, is a revealing for Christians, and Jews, and Muslims, and Hindus, for all genders, for all orientations, for all able bodied, for all disabled bodies... this revelation of the Universal Christ is for all. Don’t misunderstand, or see this too narrowly - I am not talking about Muslims or Hindus worshipping Jesus. This is much more expansive than that.

This can be thought of as divine mirroring - and what is mirrored back to us begins with the personal connection with Jesus - and that is most definitely needed... but then this mirroring must expand to include all. The French Jesuit priest and mystic Teilard De Chardin, says it this way, "The most personal is the most universal."

Wow - and hang on... Your mind (my mind) might be swimming - and that is an okay thing. Because this is a bit of a mind blowing thing. In Richard Rohr's new book, the Universal Christ - he talks about the Christ being another word for every thing. He separates out the word "thing" because as he says this isn't about ideas and concepts, this is about concrete things - and Christ is in it all. That is for another homily - but it points to the last thing I want to talk about in the story of the transfiguration.

Did you ever wonder why those disciples are always so sleepy? I swear they are dozing through most of the Gospel of Mark - and here, on the mountain side, witnessing one of the greatest events of their lives - it says, they were weighed down with sleep, but since they stayed awake they saw the glory of God.
Wait a second? What else might be going on here? When I read this, not the first time, but about the 10th time, I started thinking about those other asleep or unseeing times... like the road to Emmaus, Jesus is finally recognized in the breaking of the bread. Or the other stories where scales fall off of eyes, or other people finally come to some realization - they wake up, they stay awake, they become conscious... and now they see can see clearly, the rain has gone.

Here lies the idea for us -  when the disciples stay awake, when we stay awake, we will see God's glory.

When I come to consciousness. When I realize that Jesus, the Christ, supersedes all, that is when I will see the Glory. Glory maybe a word difficult to get a hold of, it seems an older word, maybe it is in too many hymns... so think of it as awe, wonder, expansive vision that has the power to change how you see every thing.

When we are fully awake... we will see the Glory.

In this time of Lent may we contemplate how we are asleep, and what it is that might wake us up.