The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
February 10, 2013

Last Epiphany

Every Wednesday morning I tutor 5^th grade math at Horace Mann Elementary School. Math seems like an odd choice for someone with three degrees in religion, and, indeed, the choice is ironic since I nearly failed 5^th grade because of math. But despite my love of theology, scripture, and liturgy, there is something quite satisfying about 5^th grade math because there is always a right answer. Plus, I have an app for my phone called "Mathisfun" in case I get stuck. The other satisfying piece of 5^th grade math is that I get to work with the children on problem solving skills that are also life skills. For example, last week we worked on problems like this: "The cheerleading squad is selling candy bars to earn money to go to cheerleading camp. They sold 30 bars of chocolate for $8 each. Then they lowered the price of the candy bars to $5 hoping to sell more. How many candy bars did they sell for $5 if the total amount of money raised was $300." Those kinds of story problems made me crazy when I was in 5^th grade. They seemed totally overwhelming and I had no idea where to start. So, I ask the child I am working with "What do we know?" and get her to tell me all the information we are given in the problem. Then I ask "What do we need to know?" Then the hard part: How are we going to get from what we know to what we need to know? While that is not easy for these children, at least they feel like they have taken some control of the problem by identifying everything they do know so they have the tools to figure out what they need to know. Likewise with life: when we are overwhelmed by something that seems beyond our comprehension, if we can identify what we do know, we can then use that knowledge to figure out what we need to know, and find a way forward.

This morning, both the Hebrew people who are following Moses through the wilderness toward the Promised Land, and Peter, James, and John, who have followed Jesus up the mountain, encounter that which is overwhelming and beyond their comprehension. The reading from Exodus tells us that after Moses came down from the mountain, where he had been talking with God and had received the 10 commandments, his face was shining so brightly that his brother Aaron and the rest of the people were afraid to come near him. In response to the people’s fear, Moses would veil his face when he talked with them, then would remove the veil when he went up on the mountain to talk with God. While our reading from 2 Corinthians gives an unfortunate account of that veiling that has more to do with the 1^st century tensions between Jews and Christians than with the glory of God, the writer keeps open the possibility that hardness of heart can keep all of us from experiencing the glory of God. However, the Exodus story tells us that, through Moses, the people encountered the glory of God which was far more than they could begin to comprehend. So, in order to control the resulting fear, Moses veiled his face.

Also this morning, Jesus takes Peter and James and John and goes up on the mountain to pray. And while Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, his clothes became dazzling white, and Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus and spoke of Jesus’ departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. In his confusion, Peter offers to take control of the situation and build three booths, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Confusion turns to terror as a cloud overshadows all of them and the voice from the cloud says "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him." The voice does not explain away their confusion, or give them reason not to fear. Peter, James, and John have beheld the glory of God and what the glory of God says is "This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him."

What are we to hear? Immediately before the transfiguration, the disciples heard Jesus say something they didn’t understand and probably didn’t want to hear. Just a few paragraphs before Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on the mountain to pray, Jesus says to his disciples "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Then Jesus goes on to say to them "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it." Those are hard words, and given that the disciples made no response to those words whatsoever, I can imagine that they found the words to be hard, offensive, confusing, or all three. No wonder Peter wanted to build booths on the mountain for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah and stay there a while! The disciples may not have understood what was happening on that mountain, or the reference to Jerusalem there, but being in the presence of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah was certainly preferable to hearing Jesus talking about the Son of Man undergoing suffering, rejection and death. However, God commands the disciples to listen to Jesus, and Jesus is headed to Jerusalem and the cross.

Today, we sing the great alleluia hymns and bury the alleluias as our way of experiencing something of the glory of God before we, too, move down the mountain toward Jerusalem and Jesus’ departure. Every year, I too, would like to build a booth and dwell right here and keep singing these hymns rather than head down the mountain to Lent. But as we move into Lent, which, when we take seriously, can be confusing and overwhelming, we take something we know of the glory of God with us on the journey. Today we also bury the alleluias. On the mountain, Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. As we move into Lent, we do so with the full knowledge of where we are going: to Jerusalem, to the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus, and only then to his resurrection. What we know as we enter Lent is something of the glory of God and what will happen at the end of our Lenten journey. What we do not know is how we will be transformed by that journey if we trust in the glory of God to accompany us and are willing to make the journey. The only way to find out is to trust in what we know and follow Jesus down the mountain.

Amen.