Delivered on February 19, 2023 by Amy Higgins

Scripture Lesson: Luke 9:28-36

Five years ago, I was at a crossroads in my ministry and how and where to serve in the church. And as God is wont to do, He guided me and brought me to a cohort called Neighborhood Seminary. It was a district program so the students and instructors were all from different churches. The first day I did not know anyone but, that quickly changed. Before she introduced herself, I was drawn to Yvette. Her countenance was comforting and her whole presence was infectious. I secretly hoped we would be placed in the same spiritual formation small group. And not only were we placed in the same small group but, we were also assigned to be faith partners and to do our monthly Two by Two missional activity together. I was excited for what we would share together and would not know until later what a holy privilege it would be and the sacred place she would come to hold in the story of my spiritual journey.

Transfiguration – noun. 1. A complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state. 2. Christ’s appearance in radiant glory to three of his disciples. (Found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke). The Lectionary used the account from Matthew but, I found the differences in Luke’s account to be interesting. Matthew and Mark begin saying, “Six days later” while, Luke states it was eight days after Jesus’ question to the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” in a previous passage, with Peter affirming him as “God’s Messiah”. But, the way the days are counted is not important. What is important is what happened. 

Jesus takes three of the disciples, including Peter, to the mountain top. As Jesus prays, his appearance changes and he is joined by Moses and Elijah. But in Luke’s account, the disciples are sleepy. And when the disciples become fully awake and realize who they see with Jesus, Peter wants to build Jesus, Moses, and Elijah each a shelter there on the top of the mountain. But God speaks, telling them to listen to Jesus, and they find themselves alone again with Jesus.

  Of all Jesus’ miracles, the Transfiguration is the one that happens to Jesus and, by placing Moses and Elijah with him, affirms Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. It also seems to be an answer to the question Jesus asked of the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Yet, Peter is one of the only three taken to the mountain even though he had said Jesus was the Messiah. Why? And why only three? If Jesus takes them with him in answer to the question of who he is, why not take all the disciples to the mountain top? And if the three Jesus did take were just going to fall asleep, why take them at all? Maybe they didn’t get sleepy. Luke is the only one to say this in his account. But, even still, it is an important detail for us.

Peter not only had been included to witness this miracle but, he, like John and James, was sleepy when Jesus’ transfiguration began. Maybe they were tired from the climb up the mountain. Jesus was praying. Apparently, sleeping while he prays is what the disciples do. But, it is most telling that Peter, the one who, just a week before had declared Jesus was God’s Messiah, had already stopped paying attention. They could have missed it but, they didn’t. They were awakened. And when they are fully awakened by the glory before them, Peter is so overcome he wants to build shelters.

Now, none of the accounts tell us why Peter wanted to build the shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah but, we know it would not have been right to do so. To build the shelters would have left the glory up on the mountain top. If they had kept the glory up on the mountain top, then to continue to experience the glory, they would have had to stay up there too. And that would have made an end out of the means. No matter Peter’s reasons, the glory cannot and should not be contained or controlled. As much as we would like to, we cannot keep it just for ourselves. But, after we have climbed the mountain to receive it, why would we want to go back? Because just as Jesus and the three disciples descended the mountain to return to the others, we too cannot stay on the mountain top and keep the glory for ourselves.  Because there’s someone in the valley that needs each and every one of us to show them that reaching the mountain top and receiving the glory is possible. 

Someone once shared with me that if the side of the mountain were smooth, there would be nothing to hold onto, we would not be able to climb it. The struggles give us the tools, the way to climb, to reach the top. And the struggles make the view from the top that much more beautiful. And when we can praise God in the struggle, our worship is more than just getting the warm fuzzies we want for ourselves to get us through another week. It is the worship that transforms us. It ignites us to shine as bright as the sun, illuminating and warming the world. Awakening not just ourselves but, those around us. And not just those on the mountain top with us but, those who most need to know transformation is possible – those in the valley.

My times with Yvette, whether in our cohort or small group, or just the two of us, were always full of light and the Holy Spirit. Her passion in caring for others and capacity for grace was always evident not only in conversation but, in her work with refugees and the underserved. She never met a stranger because everyone was her brother or sister. She passed away from a recurrence of cancer in the middle of our second year in the cohort. And in place of a eulogy, the pastor read a sermon Yvette had written several years before while at Duke Divinity School before the first bout of cancer caused her to forego ordained ministry. And in this sermon she spoke of how her childhood home had not been safe and how her grandmother had been a refuge. And how she found safety and hope not only in her grandmother’s house, but also the Lord’s house. Yvette had been helped out of the valley and up the mountain and had seen the glory. And she went back time and time again to be sure others could get up the mountain. 

None of the gospel accounts of The Transfiguration name the mountain. Many scholars have speculated, though none can say with any certainty. And while there are some variations in the three gospels, this point is the same. The Transfiguration of Jesus, the experience of his glory, did not happen on any specific mountain. It happens on every mountain. It happens on your mountain and mine. Every mountain we will face as we go through this life. Whether we are helped up our own mountains or help someone else up their mountain, none of us climbs alone. And we are transformed not just by the miracle of the glory, not just by the journey up the mountain to experience it, but we are also transformed by those we find and who find us in the valley. 

Once we have been to the mountain top, we must descend and carry its glory  with us. We cannot stay on the mountain top, keeping the glory for ourselves hoping it will protect us from ever knowing the valley again. We are called to help each other to the mountain top; to find the glory in the struggle. Together. Saint Iranaeus, the Second Century Church Father, said of The Transfiguration, “The glory of God is a live human being and a truly human life is the vision of God.” A truly human life. One of deep valleys and difficult climbs; one that sometimes needs to be awakened but, in all its forms, in all its moments is one that is to be shared that all may know the glory and be transformed.