Go, Tell It Off the Mountain

“Who has not known moments of surprised illumination when, through some outwardly ordinary act, episode or fragment of conversation, someone we thought we knew fairly well is suddenly revealed in a completely new light.” (Douglas John Hall. in FEASTING on the WORD< A 1:452) This Sunday, Transfiguration in most traditions, is the time for recalling all the epiphanies of the current Season–“Epiphany” can be known as “AHA!” Where has God surprised you? has that colored your life? Scripture lessons read this weekend look at such a surprise as being a strength for the Journey: the People of Israel about to undertake a 40-year community-building exercise in the Wilderness; Jesus & Co. on the Way to the Cross, with all that means; even “Peter” getting ready to preside over a world-wide group which has suddenly morphed from a regional holiness-movement…

EXODUS 24:12-18 tells the story of Moses summoned before God on Mt.Sinai. We have few details about this 40-day experience (sound familiar, Noah? 40 is TWICE what you can count on your fingers and toes), but lots of things changed. The People. Certainly Moses himself. And the Law became the driving marker of the new community of desert-dwellers (habiru). Please note that this epiphany, as in all epiphanies, is for the benefit of the Greater Community. Wherever God surprises God’s agents should be seen as a message for ALL.

2 PETER 1:16-21 may be seen as the last writing to be encapsulated in our currently accepted Scriptures. Attempting to restore some holiness to the ongoing fuss of “Who was Paul?”, the author recalls the reader to the Old Story of Transfiguration, claiming that he was part of it. And aren’t we all? The “lamp shining in a dark place” involves us as actual participants in the enlightening work of Christ and his Church. Through the years we’ve maintained this lamp in different ways–yet it continues to be a beacon to an incredible world.

The Gospel is MATTHEW 17:1-9, the story of Peter, John & James going with Jesus up the peak of the mountain, there to be met with the Spirits of Moses & Elijah, the Law & the Prophets. This, of course, legitimizes Jesus as a part of the team. It energizes the disciples–and through them, the Church–with an overview of a still-radiant Presence despite the machinations of the System. Given the sharp contrast between the Glory of the Kingdom and the shadows of the System’s “dark places” often puzzles us to a point of paralysis. But we’ll never be the same…

Hall, again, (ibid. 454)–“Epiphanies are rarely confined to the moments of their alleged occurrence; indeed, their character as extraordinary experiences of illumination may always, or usually, require significant lapses of time for contemplation.” So think about how God has surprised you: may holy light shine upon you!

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Every Tuesday you’re invited to join me at horacebrownkingcom to explore (and be explored by) Lessons designated to be heard on the upcoming weekend.