Luke 9:28-43a
“The Third Epiphany”
Preached Sunday, February 27, 2022
8 Sundays ago, I stood up here and preached an Epiphany sermon - about the magi following the star to the place where Jesus was. And once they encountered Jesus, God-in-flesh in the form of a babe, they had an epiphany - a realization, they could not go back the way they came. Because they met Jesus they now had to travel a new path. We too, once we meet Jesus, are called to travel a new path - a path of peace, a path of justice, a path of love.
7 Sundays ago, I stood up here and preached a sermon I called “Another Epiphany” although it was on Baptism of our Lord Sunday.I shared that in this season that we call Epiphany there are 3 major realizations, or epiphanies, of who Jesus is that change us. The first - as I just shared, Epiphany Sunday, that God is human in Jesus. That epiphany causes us to go home by another way. The second - Jesus’s baptism at which he is declared God’s Son and called beloved. The epiphany for US being that we too are God’s children and beloved by God - an epiphany that changes everything.
And now, many weeks later, the 3rd and final epiphany of the season, today, Transfiguration Sunday. We just heard the story read to us in the Scripture, and a little background on where we are in Jesus’s ministry:
Jesus had just fed the 5,000. He asked his disciples who people say he is - Elijah or John the Baptist or one of the prophets resurrected. He asks, who do YOU say that I am? And Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” This is then followed by Jesus’s first foretelling of his upcoming death and resurrection.
And then, 8 days later, Jesus takes Peter, John, and James with him up the mountain to prayer. And while they are up there he is transformed, transfigured, before their very eyes. “The appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” And alongside him appeared Moses and Elijah..”
I can’t imagine what this would be like to see with my own eyes. In the book of Exodus there is a story of Moses going up the mountain to talk to God, to receive the law - and when he comes back, his face is glowing. Think residual radiation of the power and glory of God. And it was too much for people to look at! He had to wear a veil over his face! And that was just from being exposed to God…so for Peter and James and John to see this shining, dazzling - DIVINE form of Jesus…wow! I think Peter is in a little bit of a shock as he is like, wha, wha…what do I do!? Let’s build tents and stay here! But alas, it was only, at this time, for a moment.
So how does this act as the third Epiphany?
Remember that question: Who do you say that I am? If seeing is believing, Peter has now seen - and us too, through his eyes. It is one thing to say “You are the Messiah of God.” It is another thing to see with your own eyes - to SEE the Divine Jesus - that Jesus is not only only God’s beloved son, enfleshed, but also GOD, God’s self, Divine radiance shining from his face. Wow. Light bulb above the head! Epiphany moment. Jesus REALLY is GOD. Look at him! Wow, oh wow, oh wow….
So if an epiphany is a realization that completely changes how you view things - how does seeing the Divine change you? I’d say, once you see the Divine in one place, you can start to see God everywhere…
Now, let’s pause here for a moment, and indulge me in sharing from my camp counselor days - I know I did last week too, and it’s just such a huge part of who I am.
So as a camp counselor at Camp Asbury, Thursday nights were always the big night. We celebrated communion, gathered around the campfire and made smores with our groups, and we asked them to do Rose-Thorn-Bud - as we did for the children’s moment today.
So Rose was your absolute highlight of the week.
Thorn was maybe a not so good moment or even a downright bad moment.
And bud is something you’re looking forward to.
Now, we did this with kids from as young as 6 or 7 to as old as 18. I myself grew up doing it. But as I grew up, I started seeing this not just for the processing and reflective exercise it was, but for the theological exercise that it was. And often, I still use this now, for my week or even my day.
What was a highlight of today? What was a struggle? What am I looking forward to? And the question that we didn’t ask as counselors but was kind of under the surface, and the question I do ask myself as an adult now is…And where was God in all this?
It’s easy to jump right to the rose, right? Like, obviously God was in that moment, in the success of the day, the win, the highlight.
But what about the thorn? Where was God in that?
It can be easy to see God in the roses of our lives. The mountain top moments, if you will, when God’s presence is just so obviously present - a bright shining beacon of Divinity. Yes! God was here! I saw God here!
It can be harder to see God in the thorns of our day. In the parts of the day that hurt us, that were hard - if the rose moments are the mountaintops then our thorns can be the valleys.
But that’s the thing about the epiphany of the transfiguration, Jesus doesn’t stay on the mountain top. He comes down and he immediately has some thorny situations. There is a boy with a demon, or, well, some sort of epilepsy, there is a father begging for help, there are a whole lot of people who Jesus is frustrated with for, I think, not helping, not healing, not being there. He is totally in the thorns.
BUT. If the Transfiguration Mountaintop Epiphany was our rose - our “wow! I can see God in Jesus!!” moment.
And coming down the mountain top to the ill boy was the thorn…well, wasn’t Jesus there too? In the thick of it? Wasn’t the Jesus on the mountaintop and the Jesus healing that boy…same Jesus, same Divinity, same God.
Sometimes it’s really really easy to see God, to be aware of God’s presence - our roses, our mountaintops, our epiphanies.
Other times we can’t seem to find God anywhere - our thorns, our valleys, our dark nights of the soul…But the thing is, God IS there, for God is only ever as far away as our next breath, if we look for God’s presence with us, if we quiet our minds and search our hearts - we will realize God is right there. Right here. God is always right here and we can trust that whatever tomorrow brings - our buds, whether they bloom into roses or get thorny - God will be right there too.
So today, as we close this season of Epiphany and this next week enter the season of Lent, a season of preparation, of reflection, of working out our relationship with God, I would invite you into the practice of God’s presence.
It might be doing Rose-Bud-Thorn in the evenings before bed. Or simply asking yourself, “Where was God in my day?” It might be pausing - in the midst of playing with your child or grandchild, walking the dog, doing the dishes, commuting to or from work, brushing your teeth - and realizing, this may not be a rose or a thorn, but God is here too. For God, that same God who took on human flesh in Jesus - Jesus who is God’s son, beloved by God, that same Jesus who shone brightly, overwhelming those who saw him with utter divine presence - that same God is in every single moment of our lives. The mountaintops, the valleys, the inbetweens - and if we just pause, take a moment, say a prayer, become aware of God’s presence - we can see it, even if dimly, even if through a veil - the shining presence of God in our lives.
May we all see it.
Amen.
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