Rev. Mary preaches about Jesus’ transfiguration and our own experiences of transfigurations. She teaches that our life is more than our body on earth, that we have purpose and meaning even when that body is gone, and we are still connected to one another when we are in a different realm.
Homily Transcript
My mother’s birthday is in March and even though she has been gone now for over 14 years, whenever this month comes around I think of her a lot and feel her presence. And I was thinking the other day about her death. I remember the day she died. We were all there. All my siblings, espouses and the grandchildren. She had had a stroke and she had loss her ability to speak so we had been writing notes back and forth. But then she began to have other problems and she slipped in to unconsciousness. Within a week we were gathered around waiting for her to die. I remember as she started to faded away a beautiful glow came over her whole body. It was so apparent. When she died her skin was like that of a newborn baby. It was luminescent. I just kept looking at her and I just wanted to stay with her. Just wanting to be looking at her and to be close to her.
As a priest I am able to be with many people when they die and I have seen this beautiful glow. This transfiguration happens on many people. It’s as though they just become translucent, a halo around their faces.
Today we learn about Jesus’ transfiguration to his disciples. We have all had experiences of being transfigured. Of having our bodies change. Our first one came when we were born. We were inside our mother’s womb, we were connected to an umbilical cord, we were living in a fluid and all of sudden we come out and we were able to breathe air and we were able to eat and we were able to be in the light. Our bodies become transfigured. Our bodies become something different than what they had been. If you are like me and have been to the butterfly museum, I like to go with my grandchildren, then you remember about caterpillars and butterflies. And we all know how amazing that is that these furry little crawly things turn in to these beautiful, gorgeous butterflies. I use to think that when a caterpillar entered a cocoon it just kept its body and then grew wings and came out as a butterfly. But then I learned from somebody more scientific than myself that, no this is not what happens. It actually melts down in to a kind of a DNA soup and recreates in to a totally different being. It is totally transfigured.
We have other signs of nature. Right now we can even glimpse these little buds on our trees. They are really tiny right now but they are coming…right? It is going to transfigure in to something different.
In Jesus’ transfiguration he has taken three disciples very close to him, Peter, John and James, and he has taken them up to the highest mountain top. And they do what they often do – they fall asleep. Probably the hike was too much for them, we don’t know, but they get to the top, they fall asleep and when they awake they see that Jesus is transfigured. The scripture says he is dazzling white. And he is not alone. Standing with him are two historical figures from the Jewish tradition. Moses and Elijah. The disciples know right away who these figures are. They died hundred of years ago but they are very well known in their Jewish faith. And there is Jesus talking to these two spiritual guides about what he is going to do next in his life and they are guiding him. When that happens, the disciples are also transfigured. They are transfigured because now their understanding of who Jesus is has changed. Their awareness has deepened. This is no longer the Jesus that they grew up with. No longer the one they have been hiking around with or going fishing with. Now they see that he is something very different from that. He is not just a body in front of them. He is a man who precedes his birth and who lives after his birth. He is a man who knows these historical guides that are with him. He is much more than his body and his life has a meaning that will go on after his death.
Now, Jesus took the disciples to the mountain top for a reason. Prior to this event it tells us in the scripture that Jesus had for the first time told them that he was going to be killed and on the third day he would be raised. And this was not something they wanted to hear. They rejected that thought. “You’re not going to be killed, Jesus. We are not going to let that happen to you. This doesn’t need to happen, we’ll do something about this.” So what does Jesus do to help them understand? He takes them to the mountain top and he gives them a glimpse of how much bigger our real existence is. That it is much bigger than this time that we have on earth.
This reading is very important because it tells us something not only about Jesus but about us. That our life is more than our body on earth. That we have purpose and meaning even when this body is gone. And we are still connected to one another when we are in a different realm. For those of us who have someone very close to us die, this is a very important message. It’s important that we understand that that person who is no longer physically with us is still spiritually with us. That we can still communicate with that person. That we are still connected with them. That we share existence together.
If you have a child who has died, and we have many of you have suffered that experience – if you have a child who has died you are still their mother or their father. You can still talk with them, comfort them. Guide them.
If you have a spouse or partner who has died, that person is still present to you. Still watching over you. Still loving you. Still caring for you.
If you have a teacher who has died, his or her teaching is still within you. Still walking with you. You are still learning from them. One of my teachers in life, besides Jesus, has been the Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. He has written over a hundred books. He is a wonderful spiritual guide. He was expelled from Viet Nam in 1966 for protesting the Viet Nam war and he went to France where he established a wonderful place called Plum Garden. He has taught and written from that Center for most of his life. But now he is dying. Just a few months ago he told his followers that he wanted to go back to Viet Nam. That he wanted to go back to where his roots were and that he wanted to die there. He has done that and in that place he has been able to teach us how to prepare to be transfigured. How to prepare to die. One of the teachings that he shared was this one. In his faith it is traditional for people to build what is called a “stupa”. It is a shrine for his remains. Where they would put his ashes. But about that he said this:
“When I die please do not build a stupa for me. Please do not put my ashes in a vase, lock me inside and limit who I am. I know that this will be difficult for some of you. So if you must build a stupa, please make sure you put a sign on it that says, ‘I am not in here.’ In addition, you can also put another sign that says, ‘I am not out there either.’ And a third sign that says, ‘If I am anywhere it is in your mindful breathing and in your peaceful steps.’”
In your mindful breathing and in your peaceful steps. This transfiguration can happen while we are alive. Not just about when we die.
There is a study done of people who have multiple sclerosis. They took 132 patients and put them in to two groups. One group they taught coping skills. With how to deal with living with that disease. The other group had people who also had multiple sclerosis come in and give them support. The goal was to determine which group would do better. The answer was that neither group did better. The group that did better was the group that came in to help. The people with multiple sclerosis. They had significant and dramatic changes in the use of their body, in their level of depression, their self-confidence and their self-esteem. The researchers wrote this: They had undergone a spiritual transfiguration that gave them a whole new view of who they were. They wrote, “It was more than a transformation. It was a transfiguration of discovering a divine purpose in their lives.”
When we discover the divine purpose in our lives. When we connect ourselves with God, we are transfigured. This is true for us personally and it is also true for us as a global community.
These last few days the world has endured the pain of watching what happened in Christ Church, New Zealand where the Muslim people were killed. When you allow yourself to be fed with anger and hatred and resentment it transforms you in to a dark soul. When we feed ourselves with love and compassion and beauty we are transfigured into a divine being.
But even the darkness of such an event can still be overcome by the power of love. And the terrible events in Christ Church have been overwhelmed by the display of support and warmth towards the country’s devastated Muslim communities. Transfiguration is not only a personal event. It is a societies event.
When the three disciples, Peter, James and John, see these three spiritual people together, Jesus, Elijah and Moses, Peter comes up with a brilliant idea. He says, “How about we build three tents here. One for each of you and then we can just stay here on this mountain top.” Which is just what he wanted to do. Just as I wanted to stay with my mother. We just want to stay in that beautiful moment. Why do anything else? But Jesus says, “No. We need to go back down the mountain. We need to take this understanding back to the people.” And then the scripture tells us that they were surrounded by a cloud. Meaning in biblical terms, that God was with them. And they heard the voice of God who said: “This is my beloved. My chosen. Listen to Him.” And this is perhaps the most challenging line in today’s passage, “Listen to him.” Because in order to listen we must stop. We must be still. We must listen for God’s voice. In order to hear the voice of God we must lean in to that transfiguration.
There are so many things that we have to do. We are so busy…busy…busy. But unless we attend to the unique and important relationship that we have with God, we don’t receive the nourishment that we need to be God’s presence in the world. When I am still and quiet, I can hear God’s voice. I can notice the person next to me. I can hold their heart with them. I can bring healing.
This process of transfiguration is one that we can ask God’s guidance with. There is a beautiful prayer to say any time during the day. It goes like this: God I am your creation and I am completely open to your transfiguration of my soul.
God I am your creation and I am completely open to your transfiguration of my soul.
We need to be here, to be ready and to be willing to be a vessel of God’s love for others.
Jesus sent the disciples back down the mountain but the moment of transfiguration stayed with them. The moment when they understood who Jesus was. How powerful his love is and that death is not the end, that moment sustained them and it also sustains us. For we too have been to the mountain top. We have seen the power of God’s love transform the lives of men and women right here in our own parish. We see it transform the lives of ourselves, of people close to us. We glimpse the presence of God in nature. We see the face of God around us. It illuminates us. It transfigures us. It reminds us of whom we were before we were born. Why we are here and that ultimately death will not be the end.
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