Changed

May 19, 2021
Midweek study with Pastor Edith
Luke 9:28-43 - The Transfiguration of Jesus

This week’s meditation is all about imagining the unimagined, or seeing a possibility in the midst of impossible circumstances. It could be that some who will read this posting may be in the midst of some difficult situations that seem impossible to fix. It could be that others may be reading this and remembering events or situations that were transformed by the love of God through the love of others in ways they could have never imagined.

Whatever your situation today; Health, finances, emotional well-being, relationships wounded, along with a myriad of other examples, please know that God is in the midst of it all and is calling for you to hear his voice speaking peace and direction. It could be that God is calling for you and I to be the action of love that another desperately needs right now. Our text from the Gospel of Luke tells of the moment when Jesus took three disciples with him up on the mountain to pray. You see, there was much about to happen and Jesus knew the best way to prepare was to pray first and work later. And so, Peter, John and James who are already exhausted from the events that happened prior to this telling, have their eyes opened by an amazing glory moment when Jesus was transfigured with a brilliance no one had ever seen before. His face and clothing were changed in such a way that it must have been a glimpse of what heaven will hold for his believers. They also witnessed Moses and Elijah, who had long since been dead, actually talking with Jesus about his impending departure from the earth, and then a voice is heard: “This is my son, my Chosen; Listen to him” (vs.35).

What a way to be roused from sleepiness!

I sense this text holds within it a calling for believers today to be roused as well, not to deprive us from needed rest, but to see the possibility of life being lived in a new way, even a heavenly way. The text then goes on to say that the disciples came down from this mountain top experience and said nothing to anyone about this encounter (vs. 36). Then, the next day Jesus was begged by a man to heal his son from a demon that caused severe seizures and self harm. It seems the man asked a disciple to heal the boy, but he could not, but Jesus could. After the boy was healed Jesus “gave him back to his father”. I love that phrase “gave him back”; it helps me see the love of Jesus to heal, restore and return a loved one back to their family to live and love others.

Heidi Neumark puts it this way: “But living high up in the rarefied air isn’t the point of transfiguration…[It was] never meant as a private experience of spirituality removed from the public square. It was a vision to carry us down, a glimpse of unimagined possibility at ground level” (quoted from Heidi’s book; Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx – From Feasting on the Word year C, Vol 1. Advent through Transfiguration).

AMEN!