Transfigured!

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

Wow, if this is true then all our interactions today will be with these so-called “immortals!”

Why is it we humans have such a hard time embracing this reality of the people around us? I’m convinced because we have such a hard time accepting this cosmic reality is true about our own selves. We just can’t believe we are meant to be more than the sum total of our desires, so we treat others in that debased way as well.

The Lord’s Disciples got a huge wake up call today as the Lord took His “inner circle” with Him to the mount of Transfiguration. Look at our Gospel Lesson today in Matthew 17:1-9:

"At that time, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led him up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead.”

They had lived with Him. They had listened to His teachings. They had seen His miracles, but, to this moment, they still weren’t “sure” of just Who He was. And now, on this mountain, at this miraculous moment, there is no doubt. The Man, this Jesus, is no mere prophet, no mere guru or religious teacher. No, this Man was One Who conversed with Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) and even God the Father’s Voice revealed Him as “my beloved Son.” And the Father’s command still rings in our ears this very day: “listen to Him!”

The Feast of the Transfiguration is a revelation not just of the identity of our Lord Jesus, but of our potential identity as well. You see, the whole of the Orthodox Faith is about shaping you and me to be “like Christ.” All our liturgies, spiritual disciplines, prayers, actions, homilies, and worship is designed to so reshape you and me that we take on the likeness of Jesus Christ Himself. The ultimate work in the Eucharist is to have us take Christ within us so that we can be “fed” by Him and become “like” Him. After all you are what you eat!

Today, are you satisfied with playing at the periphery of this awesome truth or are you finally willing to press into this wondrous Faith with purpose and love? Are you willing to be made into His likeness by the collected wisdom of 20 centuries of Orthodox insight, or will you be satisfied merely standing in the “narthex” of the Faith. On this Feastday when He reveals Himself AND reveals what you could be, it’s time to be Orthodox on Purpose!

Synaxarion:

Our Lord had spoken to His disciples many times not only concerning His Passion, Cross, and Death, but also concerning the coming persecutions and afflictions that they themselves would endure. Since all these evils were near at hand, but the enjoyment of good things which they hoped to receive in their stead was yet to come, our Savior desired to give them full assurance, evidently and openly, concerning that glory which is prepared for those who endure to the end. Therefore, fulfilling that which He had promised shortly before, that "there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His Kingdom" (Matt. 16:28), He took His three foremost disciples and ascended Mount Tabor, where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light. Suddenly, together with this dread and marvelous effulgence of light, there appeared those pinnacles of the Prophets, Moses and Elias, who spoke with the Lord Jesus concerning His saving Passion which was about to take place. Standing before Him as reverent servants, they showed that He is the Lord of both the living and the dead, for Moses came forth from Hades, having died many centuries before, and Elias, as it were from heaven, whither he had been taken up while yet alive. After a little while a radiant cloud overshadowed them and out of the cloud they heard that same voice which had been heard at the Jordan at the Baptism of Christ, testifying to the Divinity of Jesus and saying: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased; hear ye Him" (Matt. 17: 5).

Such are the marvels, truly worthy of God, celebrated in this present feast, which is an image and prefiguring of the future state of the righteous, whose splendor the Lord spoke of, saying: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun" (Matt. 13:43). It is because of this that the Kontakion of this Feast is said daily (when there is not a great feast) in the Service of the Typica in perpetual commemoration of the glory that will be the lot of the Saints. According to tradition, the Lord's Transfiguration came to pass forty days before His Crucifixion; this is why the Transfiguration is celebrated forty days before the Exaltation of the Cross.

Troparion (Tone 7)

You were Transfigured on the Mount, O Christ God, Revealing Your glory to Your disciples as far as they could bear it. Let Your everlasting Light shine upon us sinners! Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Giver of Light, glory to You!

Kontakion (Tone 7)

On the Mountain You were Transfigured, O Christ God, And Your disciples beheld Your glory as far as they could see it; So that when they would behold You crucified, They would understand that Your suffering was voluntary, And would proclaim to the world, That You are truly the Radiance of the Father!

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