The Road of Love

Luke 9:28-36

February 18, 2007

Every year, on the Sunday before Lent begins, we hear this story – the story of Jesus going up the mountain to pray with some of the disciples. Even though the disciples were exhausted and sleepy, they managed to stay awake and through their sleepy fog, they witness Jesus being transfigured and transformed as his clothes changed to a dazzling white. In the midst of this, appear Moses and Elijah. They witness a meeting point between heaven and earth right before their very eyes. They witness, see, and feel God’s presence.

As I reflected on this, I kept coming back to the questions, how is God present in my life - in your life?

For me, one of these moments did happen on a mountaintop. I was hiking with a bunch of my friends, a steep, rocky, dusty hike. We thought we were lost and people were starting to get really tired. The guy in front, Mike, who had arranged the hike and planned it kept telling us, “I swear we are close,” but we knew that most of the landmarks the guide book had talked about, we had not seen. It would be dark in about 3 hours and we had been hiking for 4 hours. There was nowhere in sight to pitch camp because we were on a steep incline. We were all frustrated, wondering when Mike was going to give up and turn around. So we stopped and talked about the situation and finally decided that if we did not see then next landmark, which was supposed to be an open field, that we would stop and turn around. As we all began to hike, ready to turn around, essentially having given up on our fabulous trip, there it was. It was not just an open field like it had been described, but a lush, green meadow with wildflowers and trees surrounding it. We dropped our bags, screaming and yelling, thanking God for this sight, for this wonderful place. Some wanted to go on, some, including me, wanted to stay and camp there – we wanted to preserve that moment when it had all come together. I wanted to preserve that moment, because it was in this moment that I felt my heart change, I felt God rush through me, I felt at peace. Well, we didn’t stay, and we moved on to the campsite another mile away which was by a lake, a beautiful lake, but all I could think about what that incredible meadow we had walked through and I wanted to go back and stay there forever. Why? Because in that moment, my life made sense. I was working with young people in the outdoors, I was with friends and I felt like I never wanted it to end.

I was like Peter – wanting to stay, wanting to keep that moment just as it was, not wanting to forget or move forward or anything because that moment had overwhelmed me and filled me with a sense of the presence of God in my life. But the thing is, we cannot stay there – we get that message loud and clear in the Gospel message today. We have to move on to the mission that God has given us to do in this world.

On that mountaintop, we see Elijah and Moses, with Jesus. Moses, a man driven from his home in Egypt who fled because he killed another Egyptian who was beating on a Hebrew. He fled from Egypt in fear for his life and made a new life for himself as he married and settled down. He is far from the place he knows as home, and in that place, he finds God. God calls out to him from the burning bush, not just to reveal himself, but to give Moses a mission.

Elijah, a prophet, a man whom people did not like to see coming around because he usually had something to say that they did not what to hear. Elijah is alone – or seems to be – and spent a lonely night in a cave where he encounters God, not in a burning bush, but in the sheer silence. God also does more than show God’s self to Elijah, God gives him a mission, to go and find a new leadership that will restore true religion and true justice. He is to be God’s hands in the world, working to initiate a new beginning.

On that mountaintop with Moses, Elijah and Jesus are the trusted disciples that Jesus brought with him – Peter, James and John. These are men who have been called out of their lives to follow Jesus. These are men, who, like the other disciples, are confused and not sure that this future brings for them. And now, on this mountain top, they see something they have never seen before. Jesus is transfigured before them. Jesus is changed, made into something they had not seen before.

Our faces tell what is inside of us. Our faces can tell the world if we are tired, having a bad day, if we are hopeful, if we are joyful, if we are scared. Our faces can tell the world about the state of our soul, the state of our being. Today, Jesus’ face shows his inner glory, his true nature – heaven and earth, God and human coming together in Christ.

So, what is the power that transfigures us? If we look to the epistle lesson, Paul is very clear about what should be our guide, what should direct us in this world. Paul tells us that no matter how the world around us elevates people, no matter what score we get on our test, no matter what degrees we have, no matter what you give away and do for others – none of this matters if you don’t have love. Love is the thing that gives real meaning to our lives. Love is the power that truly guides and directs us. You can see it when someone is newly in love – it is written on their face and in their actions. You can see it when someone is doing something that they love – you can see it in how they do their job and how they treat others. You can see love emanating from people. I’m not talking about the love that is the mushy, sentimental, buy someone diamonds and chocolate love that we see depicted on commercials for valentines day. This is the love that is a verb – the love that is not easy, but it is necessary. The love that keeps people together even when they are fighting. The love that guides us through difficult times and helps us elate together in good times.

Paul reminds us that love along with faith and hope, are eternal – and it is love that wins the day. Love is what we are remembered for, love is what transfigures and transforms us in to people of God.

One of the priests that I worked with liked to tell us about his seminary professor who told him that one of the most important things that we could do is to lead the people around us to be able to “epiph” – the root word of epiphany. To “epiph” means to show forth or to manifest the holy that is within you, so “epiphing” meant so show forth or manifest the beauty that is within each of us. This is the last Sunday of the Epiphany and I wonder how each of us is showing forth the glory of God within us? How are we transfigured by God? How do we show our love, God’s presence, to the rest of the world?

I was just on the annual clergy retreat and this year it was lead by Fr. Gregory from the Order of Julian of Norwich. He is a man of deep faith and love and he is a man that exudes God and God’s love for the world. I’m not sure that I will be able to describe it, but as I listened to him and as I talked to him over the three days we had together, it became clear to me that he had been through some deep struggles in his life and in his faith, and the only thing that got him through all of that was God’s love – even when he didn’t know what was guiding him. In his deepest struggles, in his darkest moments, it was only when he brought himself back to the center, back to God’s love that he was able to move forward and find his way. It is through God’s love that he was transfigured.

I don’t know if you have ever been up to a really high mountain peak, but if you have, you will know that the growth at the top of mountains is sparse. The place of growth in our lives does not come from our mountain top experiences. We have to take these moments with us and allow them to burn the image of God onto our hearts so that it will emerge and show on our faces and in our actions. We have to take these moments with us and bring God into our everyday lives – into the muck and the mundane, into the boring and the scary, into the joy and the fear. I often struggle with this, because I get so busy living that I forget to bring God along. So, this week, since I have returned, I have been trying to constantly remind myself, when I’m driving, when I’m changing a diaper, when I’m working, when I’m washing dishes and making dinner, when I’m playing with my child, when I’m not feeling particularly motivated to do anything, when I’m grocery shopping – no matter what I’m doing, God is there and God is a part of it. When we bring God into our everyday, we are transfigured into a person of faith, hope and love. When we bring God into our everyday, the people around us will be transformed and transfigured.

I want to end by sharing something with you that my friend, Ed Bacon once shared with me. He said, “I believe that each of us is faced with some decision or discernment. Perhaps today that decision or discernment in your life is relatively minor. But tomorrow the discernment or the decision you face may be completely life changing. I have come to believe that every decision is a fork in the road and though every decision or discernment may have many different factors or many different complexities, yet in almost every discernment or decision all of those factors can be seen as a choice between the road of fear and the road of love.

“My friends, love is the best road to take every time. The most fruitful road to take every time. Love is the most empowering road to take every time, the most lasting road, the road that will help you grow. The road of love leads to glory. The road of love lead to the epiphany of the divine within you. The road of love is the road that Jesus chose. The road of love is the road to take this Lent.”[i]

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[i] The Rev. Ed Bacon, The Best Road to Take Every Time, Sermon preached at All Saints Church 2/22/04