Transfiguration – Sunday before Lent 2024
Today our readings, hymns and prayers focused on The transfiguration. We welcomed Hugh to play.
Arrangements for Ash Wednesday – The Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion will be celebrated onThursday at the 10am service.
Our Lent Group this year will start on Thursday 22nd February 3pm at All Saints, Bearsden. It will run throughout Lent on Thursday afternoons. The book to be studied is “Rooted in Love” Lent reflections on Life in Christ introduced by Rt Rev Sarah Mullallay, The Bishop of London. Let me know if you need me to order you a copy.
Also available is the Ignatius Spirituality Centre Lent Retreat both online and in book format which Steve Parrott is very kindly able to provide. The theme is Through Lent with Pope Francis, drawing on some of the wisdom in the Pope’s homilies and encyclicals over the past 10 years covering some important themes, such as mercy, friendship, love and care.
This week
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room.
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion for Ash Wednesday with Imposition of Ashes followed by coffee in Friendship House
Readings for next Sunday – 1st Sunday of Lent – Genesis 9:8-17 1 Peter 3:18-end Mark 1:9-15
Today’s readings – 2 Kings 2:1-12, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, Mark 9:2-9
We all have things that keep us awake at night. Last week David Cameron said it was the situation in Ukraine which kept him awake. This week for me it’s the fact that it’s my turn to decide the book club choice for next month. Its surprisingly difficult finding a good story, with sufficient depth for discussion, that isn’t too long and that you think everyone will enjoy.
But there is nothing like a great story to share and the bible is full of great stories. On Thursday we had the story of Solomon and his three hundred wives and how these wives led him astray. This morning, we hear the dramatic tale of Elija being taken up into heaven in a whirlwind aboard a chariot and then in the gospel the astonishing account of the transfigured Christ.
The bible is full of amazing and extraordinary stories so much so that the greatest and most difficult task of all of us is to convince others and even ourselves sometimes that the unbelievable is true. This is particularly so in the NT: the virgin birth, the miracles, the raising of Lazarus and, of course, the ultimate miracle of all – the resurrection.
As Jesus the risen Christ says to the doubting Thomas “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” John 20:29
Today’s gospel the account of the transfiguration is also up there with these great events and once again we are asked to believe the unbelievable.
The transfiguration comes at a vital turning point in the gospel. Jesus has ended his relatively popular ministry in Galilee and about to start a journey to Jerusalem and to his death. Peter has declared that he believes that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus has begun to explain to his disciples that Messiahship means not glory and fame but death and betrayal.
So, at this crucial point in his ministry Peter, James and John were on the mountain with Jesus. While there the disciples were dazzled with the most extraordinary vision. Jesus was transfigured before them. He was utterly changed before their eyes. There the human Jesus of Nazareth was transfigured into this divine Christ of glory. Here on this mountain, the disciples in this vision could truly see who Jesus really was. The Son of God.
But suddenly, it was all gone. The vision was all gone. And there was Jesus. It was one of those amazing moments – a rare moment of realisation a moment in life when the disciples saw clearly see the truth about God and the truth about Jesus Christ.
Visions still happen today – not necessarily as dramatic as that. But there can be moments of truth. Moments when we may have glimpses of the divine. Moments when we are taken out of ourselves. They can occur at any moment and often quite unexpectedly – even in the mundane.
One of the joys of being human is that we are susceptible to experiences which lift us out of ourselves and put us on another plane. We have moments when we are especially vulnerable and especially receptive. It may be when we hear a piece of music, read an absorbing book, watch a moving film. But it is the very nature of these experiences that they do not last, they may affect us permanently, but they are themselves transient.
Peter James and John had to leave that place. The memory of what had happened would be with them for ever but the nitty gritty world of everyday things was waiting for them at the foot of the mountain.
But the point is they can bring us strength and hope. And this is one of the great gifts of Christian faith. That we can see beyond the face value of life. That there is a sense of “other” And this is what the transfiguration is all about.
Jesus is not just a prophet who speaks wise and good words, heals and helps people. He is more than that – he is special – he is the son of God! And as we look towards Lent, Holy week and Easter, the crucifixion and the resurrection. We are about to be confronted with some of the most faith stretching parts of the Christian story. We will stand at the foot of the cross and in front of the empty tomb and reflect deeply on what they mean.
Faith is seldom a question of lining up the facts and making a cold hearted decision. Christianity asks us to believe the most unbelievable things. But that is why we need imagination and trust. Not the kind of imagination which makes the untrue believable but that which make the unbelievable true.
In the transfiguration the true face of Christ was revealed reminding us of the divinity of Christ. The distinctiveness of Christ who through his suffering at the cross and subsequent resurrection brings real hope to us.
A real hope of the divine, a hope that will transform and transfigure our lives.