The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-9 (NRSV)

The Transfiguration

¹Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.²And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ ⁵While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ ⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. ⁷But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ ⁸And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’

I am indebted to William Barclay’s commentary for this reflection.

The Transfiguration probably happened on Mount Hermon, 14 or so miles from Caesarea Philippi, a mountain that is so high that, on a clear day, it can be seen from the Dead Sea. It also probably took place at night because earlier we have read that the disciples were weighed down with sleep. Jesus probably went there to discern the will of God and answer the question for himself: “Was it God’s will that he go to Jerusalem to the Cross?” He needed to hear the voice of God, for Jesus wanted to do what God wanted him to do and not just what he wanted to do. Barclay suggests that “Jesus had no will but the will of God.” When Jesus had a problem “... he did not seek to solve it by the power of his own thought; he did not take it to others for human advice; he took it to the lonely place and to God.”

This raises huge questions for us today. How do we hear the voice of God? It is an oversimplification to say that we just refer to the Bible, because we know that it is a complex collection of different books that needs interpretation. The horrors of fundamentalism warn against this sort of approach. So we need something else. God definitely speaks through the Church – more than just individual advice – but the collection of those who together seek the mind of Christ. Some would suggest that this is best done through the local congregation – the position of Congregationalists including Baptists. Roman Catholics would suggest that it is the Pope – but I cannot accept this because history has also revealed how this can be wrong. I like the idea of the whole of Christendom. Today the truth about racism is universally accepted, as is the sanctity of human life amongst other things. Perhaps Kant was on to something when he suggested that we need to seek the absolutes in what is true for all people at all times – the categorical imperatives. But then there is the matter of individual conscience. People like Martin Luther, William Wilberforce and others had to take the lonely path – going against the Church of the day. Indeed our Lord’s path was lonely.

We too need to go up the mountain to listen and be refreshed. We do need to listen to the voice of God deep within the depth of our being. As Paul Tillich puts it, we need to allow the Ground of All Being, touch us at the core of our being. But at the same time we do need others who are prayerfully doing the same, to witness with our spirits that we are indeed in tune with God’s Spirit.

Moses and Elijah, the characters that appeared with our Lord, both had their most memorable experiences on mountain tops: Moses on Mount Sinai when he received the Law and Elijah on Mount Horeb where he found God in the still small voice of calm. Moses died on Mount Nebo and Elijah was taken from a mountain top at the end of his life by chariots of fire. The Jews believed that Elijah would return as the forerunner to herald the coming of the Messiah; they also believed the Moses would be a companion of the Messiah. Often preachers have focused on this and the way in which Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, but it would appear that of greater significance was the fact the Moses and Elijah confirmed for Jesus that the path to Jerusalem and the Cross was the right path.

But it is also true that Moses and Elijah were both law givers – bringing the Laws of God to people; Elijah was the greatest of all the prophets because in him ‘... the voice of God spoke to people with unique directness ...’ (Barclay) The significance of this event lies in the fact that the two greatest characters in the history of Israel appeared to Jesus and said to him: “Go on!”

Added to this came the voice of God coming in the cloud – the shekinah – the glory of God revealed in the cloud. God had done the same when he revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses and God appeared in a cloud when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated. On mountain tops, clouds appear quickly and on this occasion, accompanied by a voice, the experience would have been transfiguring for all concerned, but it was most special for Jesus himself and would have ‘... enabled him inflexibly to walk the way to the Cross ...’ (Barclay)

But the experience would also have had a lasting impact of Peter, James and John. They could not understand what Jesus had been saying to them and it had looked as though all that lay ahead of them was shame and disgrace. Now they were given a glimpse of glory. No Jew would have experienced the shekinah and not realise that God was present and active. So, as Barclay explains, this experience should have enabled them to see through the shame, triumph through the humiliation and the crown beyond the cross.

But they still did not understand, but at least they were given a glimpse of the truth.

Peter, always the man of action thought that he needed to do something. But he needed to realise that there is a time for stillness, contemplation, wonder, adoration and for awed reverence, especially in the presence of God. As Barclay explains: “Before a man can fight and adventure upon his feet, he must wonder and pray upon his knees.”

But there is a converse truth here as well. Some people value spiritual experiences so much that they never want them to end: “The mountain of Transfiguration is always more enjoyable than the daily ministry or the way of the Cross.” But we still need to go the mountain for from these experiences we do get our strength for our daily ministry. But the moment of glory does not exist for its own sake: “... it exists to clothe the common things with a sheen and a radiance they never had before ...”

Wishing you a wonderful mountain top experience this weekend so that you are enabled to minister effectively throughout next week.

Romans 8.18-25 for the Second Sunday before Lent

Romans 8:18-25 (NRSV)

Future Glory

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Eugene Maly aids my reflection to begin with ...

There is a link between suffering and glory ‘... because sin introduced a distortion, alienation and corruption into the world’ which cannot be removed without the pain of a ‘... correcting reversal of the world’s direction ...’ Paul is addressing this need, but wants to begin on a positive note so he stresses the coming glory that is going to be wonderful. And all created life has this urge to yearn for this future glory. The created world is at one with humanity, both in the effects of sin and the hope of glory.

Genesis speaks of the dominion humans have over creation, and it is because of human sin that suffering is part of our experience of the whole of creation. This point is positive made when God speaks to Noah in the Covenant after the flood making the promise to him, his descendents and all living creatures. Isaiah (11:6-9; 66:2) and Amos (9:13) speak of a renewed animal kingdom as well as a renewed earth and heavens at the end of time. But before this happens, the whole of creation experiences pain – the pains of childbirth (Isaiah 26:17).

Humans have a foretaste of this future glory because we experience the first-fruits of the Holy Spirit. For us the then is part of our now because the Spirit is already with us, making us the children of God. But we still await that perfect state of adoption manifested in the resurrected and transfigured body (verse 23). So there is a realised state (verse 14 – For all who are led by the Spirit are the children of God) and an eschatological hope (verse 23). Our hope is in something more (verse 24) something not yet possessed, but we have experience enough to always have hope.

Not the easiest passage, but a true and wonderful blessing to know and to rejoice in the fact that the joy and peace and confidence we experience now is nothing compared to what waits in store for us.

William Barclay now aids my reflection ...

Paul speaks of the glory of adoption into the family of God, but then needs to return to the troubled state of this world – which he does in this passage. Here he draws a verbal picture and ‘... speaks with a poet’s vision ...’

The world of creation - everything – is awaiting the glory of God. At the present time, creation is in bondage to decay. The beauty of this world fades and its loveliness decays – we live in a dying world, but it is also a world that will be liberated. The Jewish thought of the day divided time into this present age and the age to come, and it is in the latter when glory would be disclosed. This present age is wholly bad and subject to sin, death and decay. At some stage in the future will come the Day of the Lord which would include a day of judgement when the world would be shaken to its foundations and shattered. This idea of a renovation of the world was central to Jewish thinking and is expressed in Isaiah 65:17. In the times of Jewish oppression (and sadly there have been too many), they have dreamed of this new world.

Paul picks up this theme and ‘... endows creation with consciousness ...’ Nature longs for the day when sin’s dominion will be broken, death and decay will be gone and God’s glory will come. The plight of nature is particularly sad, because it had no choice – it is human sin that is the problem as expressed in Genesis 3:17 – “... cursed be the ground because of you ...”

Barclay concludes: “With the poets eye Paul sees nature waiting for liberation from what man’s sin has brought into the world ...”

In the experience of the Holy Spirit, people have a foretaste – a first instalment as it were – of the glory of God that shall be. This experience makes us long for the fulfilment of what adoption into the family of God really means. The final completion of this experience will come with the resurrection of our bodies. We are not disembodied spirits as the Greeks thought, we are both bodies and spirits, and this is how our salvation will be completed; only we will be given new bodies, ones that will not be subject to decay. Our new bodies will be spiritual, but they will still be bodies. I love the way Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians: just as a seed is planted and grows into a flower, so our earthly bodies will be ‘planted’ and a new body will emerge, one with the earthly body – just different and eternal.

So, our human situation is not hopeless: Paul was an optimist. He saw sin, the state of the world, and the human condition realistically, but he also knew of God’s grace and it is this that filled him with hope – ‘... life was an eager anticipation of a liberation, a renovation and a re-creation wrought by the glory and power of God ...’

There is eager expectation – this life ought to be (in Barclay’s words) ‘... a throbbing, vivid expectation ...’ like a person leaning forward looking to the horizon in expectation.

But the reality is that life can also be a struggle. But: we don’t only live in the world, we also live in Christ. We do not only see the world, we also look beyond the world to God. We do not only see the consequences of human sin, we also see the power of God’s mercy and grace and love. Because of this, the keynote of the Christian life is always hope and never despair – ‘... the Christian waits not for death, but for life ...’

Carl Barth in his majestic and detailed commentary offers some thoughts.

‘... there is no overlooking or toning down of human suffering ...’ He adds:

“... no careless attitude to present tribulation can stand even before the aching tooth, and still less before the brutal realities of birth, sickness, and death, before the iron reality which governs the broad motives of the lives of men and the stern destiny of nations ...”

This is a difficult issue and any attempt at answering it with simple pious platitudes are but ‘... deceitful short circuits ...’ This also often leads to the creation of God in our own image – and this is the sort of God that is subject to criticism and eventually our denial.

If we hope to find consolation, we must first recognise that we have no consolation and our comfort is in vain – if we seek it rationally and using merely our human intellect. The only consolation that is real is that which comes from the Holy Spirit. We need to try to see as God sees or else our experience will be that of Job before his enlightenment, and not Paul’s.

To overlook suffering is to overlook Christ. In fact we know that we are saved because we share in the suffering of Christ. At Judgement we are going to be asked: Where is your Cross? Where is your crown of thorns? Where are the nails?

Our faith is a demanding faith and an expensive faith – it cost the life of the Son of God – and as we as the Church are the Body of Christ in the world today, the price continues to be paid.

We need to beware against dumbing things down and trying to make the Gospel accessible by any means if this means cheapening it.

Especially in the midst of all the troubles of these days, we cannot afford simple answers to complex questions; we need to give glory to the sufferings of our Lord and then we – with Paul – will be able to say:

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 

A reflection on the Epistle for next Sunday ...

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 (NRSV)

On Divisions in the Corinthian Church

¹And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ²I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, ³for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? ⁴For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human?

⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.⁸The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. ⁹For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Paul could not speak to the people of Corinth as spiritual people, but only as those who had not yet moved beyond being mere human beings – as mere babies in Christ. They could not digest the solid food of good, sound teaching, because they were still under human passions and were dominated by them. Paul could be so clear about this because it was evident in their behaviour – where there was jealousy, and quarrelling and serious divisions. All humans can do with regard to the Christian faith is plant and water (to use Paul’s metaphor) because it is the work of God to make a person grow in the faith.

Paul makes the important point that, as Christians we need to work on a different level in all things – the realm of the spiritual – for God is Spirit. Our interests need to more beyond the mere physical – there is more to life than what we earn or own or our status or position. The Corinthians were still too fleshly and indeed allowed themselves to be dominated by their fleshly side. Paul takes it further, suggesting that ‘flesh’ is not only a reference to the physical, it also refers to human nature - apart from God – body and mind that can be dominated by sin. In effect, he is saying that the Corinthians had allowed themselves to be dominated by their lower selves. William Barclay suggests that Paul is in effect saying: “You can tell what a person’s relationship with God is like, by their relationships with other people.” If we have a good relationship with God, we will show this by the way we live in harmony with others. Barclay continues: “Their relationship will be marked by love and unity and concord ... If a man loves God he will also love his fellow men.” If one glorifies human leaders and becomes involved in factional disputes – especially within the Church, it is a sign of sin.

God uses us to bring His message of his truth and his love to others, but it is God alone who awakens faith, “... as he alone created the heart, so he alone can recreate it ...”

Jerome Murphy O’Conner adds ...

Paul’s point in verses 1-4 is very simple: “True Christian perfection or maturity manifests itself, not in intellectual speculation, but in behaviour modelled on that of Christ.” When the Corinthians were judged by this criteria, they came across as only ‘children’ capable of assimilating nothing stronger than ‘milk’ not adult food. This was clearly evident in the jealousy and strife and factions that were part of their experience, and what they seemed to think were just a normal part of being Christians, because it was only natural. Jesus has revealed the standard by which human behaviour was to be judged, and the Christians in Corinth were far from it!

Paul needed to address their leaders as well; especially the preachers. Preachers are not ‘masters’ in their own right, but servants; not initiators but instruments; their function is to mediate faith which is God’s gift. This means that he (Paul) and Apollos were one working toward the same goal – they only did different things at different times – Paul sowed and Apollos nourished what Paul had done. Their two roles were complimentary, so it was plainly ridiculous that the Corinthians had tried to set them in opposition to each other.

In fact God does not need human cooperation. He chose otherwise uses human intermediaries who need empowering to achieve their goal. It is only because of this that preachers are essential to the plan of salvation, because we are co-workers with God – as Paul explains in verse 9. O’Conner concludes:

“Having dignified humanity by involving it in the execution of his plan of salvation, God will not be untrue to himself by by-passing the instruments he had chosen. If they fail, the divine power is rendered ineffective.”

Jerome Murphy O’Conner published a second volume in the Bible Reading Fellowship: The People’s Bible Commentary series and it is to this volume that I turn to guide our reflections.

The people of Corinth preferred thought to action: to them religion was about thinking about God, but for Paul it was all about loving your neighbour. O’Conner writes: “For intellectuals, new religion implied a change of mind, for Paul it meant a new world.”

The intellectuals thought of themselves as adults because of their superior knowledge, and they considered those who were not at their level as children if they couldn’t handle the new intellectual discourse. But Paul sees the intellectuals as children because they reveal their lack of true wisdom by the factions that existed in their fellowship. The intellectuals thought that jealousy, strife and party factions were just part of the fabric of human life – all societies have these characteristics so this is just the way of human nature – “It is only human!”

These Corinthian Christians probably condemned Paul for his unsophisticated approach to religion; but they failed to realise that acceptance of Christ should result in social transformation. But this transformation is not automatic. Coming to faith is the beginning of a journey. New Christians need to become critical of what they had previously taken for granted and they need to reject all the behaviour that is incompatible with following Christ. They need to put themselves on a new course and in the process develop an appropriate lifestyle; they need to devise new social institutions and structures that make real the values of the Gospel. In short, we as Christians need constantly to use our intellect to re-think the practical outworking of our faith in present reality, in effect act it out, in our daily lives, revealing in our lives, the selfless love that Christ has made real for us. And when we do, we see that there is no place for jealousy, strife and party factions.

Matthew 5:13-18 (NRSV) (i)

Salt and Light

¹³ ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ¹⁴ ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

The Law and the Prophets

¹⁷ ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

This reflection is based heavily on the work of William Barclay ...

There is no greater compliment a person can be given than to be referred to as “... the salt of the earth ...” This is because, in Jesu’s day, salt had many important qualities.

1.      Purity: The Romans thought that salt was the purest of all things and it was the earliest of their offerings to their gods. Salt was also an integral part of Jewish sacrifices because is was seen as being so pure. So, to be ‘... the salt of the earth ...’ one needs to be pure. This seems to be difficult in today’s world where we see standards lowering all the time: honesty, diligence at work, conscientiousness, general moral standards – all seem to be experiencing a lowering of standards. If Christians are to be pure, we need to show this in our speech, conduct, even our thoughts and most especially in our moral standards. Barclay comments: “The Christian cannot withdraw from the world, but must remain unstained from the world.” (cf James 1:27)

2.      Preservative: Salt keeps things from going bad. Meat, by itself will go bad; but when it is treated with salt, it is preserved, and kept fresh. Barclay writes: ‘... it is like a soul inserted into a dead body ... Christians need to have an antiseptic influence on life ...’ There are some people, in whose company, it is easy to do good; while others, it is easy for standards to be relaxed. We should be those where people would never dream of lowering standards.

3.      Adds flavour: Food without salt can be sickening. I am approaching the 10^th anniversary of the removal of a pancreatic tumour. For a while I was forced to eat the blandest diet. At one stage, I preferred the chemical feed, because it was preferable to the tasteless diet which was my only other option (I eventually never ate or drank anything for 7 ½ weeks! Barclay suggests: “Christianity is to life what salt is to food. Christianity lends flavour to life.” This provides a balance to the earler point. While we need to be a preservative influence, it needs to be in such a way that we enhance life and not force others into a monochrome existence. Barclay adds: “People need to discover the lost radiance of Christian faith.” The Christian must be the source of joy.

Are we the salt of the earth?

In verse 14, Jesus commands us to be what he was; ‘... the light of the world ...’ We need to shine like Jesus.

Jesus did not believe that a person kindled their own light – for the Jews – God lit Israel’s lamp. We too are not required to produce out own light, “... we must shine with the reflection of his light ... which comes from the presence of Christ within the Christian’s heart.”

Barclay continues by pointing out a number of interesting ideas:

Firstly, a light is meant to be seen. Christianity is meant to be seen adding that “there can be no such thing as secret discipleship.” Our Christianity should be perfectly visible to all in the way that we do ordinary everyday things:

·         Speak to shop assistants;

·         Order a meal;

·         Treat those we work with;

·         Play sport;

·         Behave as a motorist.

Barclay adds: “We are not meant to be the light of the Church, and in our life in the world our Christianity should be evident to all.”

Secondly, a light is a guide. A light is something that makes clear the way; in the same way our lives should make the way clear to others. We need to focus on goodness, and we need to have the moral strength and courage to make a stand when necessary, to provide the lead for others to follow. We need to be strong enough for others to lean on, because this might be what they need to be enabled to do the right thing.

Thirdly, a light is often a warning. Light tells us to stop when there is danger ahead. As Chaplain’s, I believe one of the greatest tragedies to befall us could be if a young person were to come to us and say:

“I would never be in this situation in which I find myself, if only you had spoken in time.”

But there is another dimension: our warnings ought never to be given in anger, in irritation, nor in criticism; not in condemnation, not in the desire to hurt, but in love. If we do it this way, then they will be most effective.

A light to be seen, acts as a guide and a warning – a massive challenge for us.

¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Barclay suggests that there are two very important things to take note of here.

Firstly, people are to see our good deeds. The good deeds of the Christian must be both good and attractive. Barclay writes: “There is a charm in true Christian goodness which makes it a lovely thing.

Secondly, good deeds ought also to draw attention, not to ourselves, but to God. Barclay tells the story of Dwight Moody who met a group at one of his meetings who were conspicuous in their ‘holiness’ advertising that they had spent long hours in prayer and when asked what they had been doing draw his attention to the way their faces shone like that of Moses. To which Moody replied that Moses did not want  his face to shine. “That goodness which is conscious, which draws attention to itself, is not the Christian goodness.”

We as Christians should never think of what we have done, but rather what God has enabled us to do; we should never seek to draw attention to ourselves, but always to God. Barclay concludes: “So long as men are thinking of the praise, the thanks, the prestige which they will get for what they have done, they have not really even begun on the Christian way.”

And on to verses 17-18, where Jesus lays down the eternal character of the Law.

Over and over again Jesus broke what the Jews thought was the Law: he did not observe the hand washings, he healed the sick on the Sabbath and ultimately he was executed as a Law breaker – and yet here he seems to speak of the Law ‘... with a veneration and a reverence ...’

The ancient Jews used the word ‘Law’ in a number of different ways: (i) they used it for the 10 Commandments; (ii) they used it to refer to the first five books of the Bible – which was for them the Law par excellence (iii) they used the term Law and Prophets to refer to their whole Scriptures and (iv) they used it to refer to the oral or Scribal Law. In the time of Jesus, this last one was most frequently used and it was this Scribal Law that Jesus (and Paul later) both condemned so utterly.

Jesus (in our Gospel reading) claimed here to be redeeming the original Torah from the legalistic obsession to other added laws, most notably the 10 Commandments – and its focus on respect and reverence for God and others – this can never pass away – Barclay concludes: “... they are the permanent stuff man’s relationship to God and to his fellow men.”

Paul Tillich put it this way: “The law of love is the only law, because it is the negation of law.”