26th February 2006Quinquagesima

Fr John Hicks

II  Kings  2  :  1 – 12; II  Corinthians  4  : 3 – 6; Mark 9.2-9

How might we transfigure our lives to reflect Christ?

+In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen

In today’s Gospel reading we hear Mark’s well-known description of the transfiguration.  It is a powerful and rich image of Christ being beyond all known brightness.  Whiter than white.  A truly transfigured moment.  To some of us, it might seem like a nice story, or an awe inspiring image, or a passage that reinforces the divine nature of God’s only son.

But what does the transfiguration depicted in Mark’s gospel mean for us today; as individuals attending St Cyprian’s and as followers of Christ?

Jesus had the make-over of all make-overs…. A truly divine one.

Having been a headteacher of a primary school for a little over six years, I often slip into teacher mode, so I thought I would look the word up in a variety of dictionaries; something I often remind the children to do. What does the word ‘transfiguration’ mean?

Metamorphosis
A change that glorifies or exults
A striking change
A marked change

With these dictionary definitions and the image and excitement of building huts on a mountain… it all felt very Grand Design or Changing Rooms or any number of makeover shows that seem to be so proliferate.  Western society seems to have an obsession with changing things, for making things better, flashier or more contemporary.  But is this right and how does this relate to today’s gospel reading?

Jesus had the make-over of all make-overs…. A truly divine one.

This divine change, is a message, an image that we, the followers of Christ are called to emulate.

Cardinal Newman wrote, ‘to live is to change’ which he continued with, ‘to be perfect is to change often’.

How do we respond to change?
Some love change, others loath it.  Congregations often wait with baited breath when a new priest arrives to see what he or she will do.  Some dread it, and make their views plainly known.  Others acquiesce. And some are quick to get to the priest first to tell them what needs changing.  

I can’t necessarily give you the answers, but whatever your mindset, we are all called to respond and I believe there are three things we should to consider as Christians in the 21st Century if we are to make the connections between Christ’s transfiguration and ours:
·    Personal Transfiguration
·    Corporate Transfiguration
·    Religious Transfiguration

Firstly, personal transfiguration.  We are called to reflect the divine nature of Christ in our lives on daily basis.  That is not to say that we are going to glow radiantly in such a visual way but whatever we do; be it in our employment, in our retirement, whether we a seeking work or if we work in the home.  We need to reflect what we are called to be; Christ like.  This needs to be done in relation to how we interact with those we encounter on a daily basis.  To love our metaphorical neighbours as well as our physical ones; desk to desk, home to home or queue to queue.  We all need to consider how this love is exhibited. It is not easy, but we must consider it so that we can change.  And help other change.  For change is the key element in transfiguration and I am sure we all will be able to think of situations where we did not do what we know we should have done in a certain situation. So to be truly transfigured in Christ we must look to how we engage with those around us in a Christ like way.

Secondly, corporate transfiguration.  We so rarely act alone.  We can be swept away with societal expectations, rules, regulations as well as acts of parliament.  We can, if we are not careful become complacent about change for changes sake or for the sheer fact we feel ‘there is nothing we can do’ and therefore we do not bother to assist change.  There have been more socioeconomic, scientific and technological changes in the past century than we can probably comprehend.  But we need to ensure that we do not always get swept away on corporate wave.  We need to consider how our actions and responses impact on corporate change within our work, within our home communities or in the wider sense of society.  The transfiguration of society is immense.

Finally, religious transfiguration. This is possibly the most contentious element, the most heated and the one that is both inter Christian and interfaith.  We must look to the transfiguration of our religious community, to change, to develop, to evolve, to change as Christ changed.  

Areas of change that our faith may need to engage with, depending on your current views, are; women in the episcopate, civil partnerships and an Anglican response, how we engage with Islam, or how we respond to those of different faith positions.

Jesus was by far the most controversial person in history with regard to religious transfiguration.  And it is with this in mind, we may need to step beyond our personal experiences and to stretch ourselves.  

Being religious, can sometimes equate to being closed to other views or to be comfortable in the views we hold.  As a church we must change, we are called to change, and to change often, but not just for the sake of it or because everyone else is.  Jesus resisted consensus.  But challenged all to change.  Because we are all called too.

So with all this in mind we go back to today’s gospel.  In the story that Mark tells we have signposts of how we should respond.  We must do as Peter, James and John did.  We must follow.  We must see what they saw, which was to see the unexpected, the dazzling and terrifying – a transfiguration of what they previously thought was clear.  And we need to be attentive to the call of God in our lives.

To conclude: Next time you are watching the television and you happen across one of the many programmes that is devoted to miraculous make-overs think on how we are to understand the transfiguration in the 21st Century.  Not just change for changes sake, or because we are a little bored or tired of what we see, but because we know that our knowledge and understanding of the one true Saviour changes as we grow, and it changes in relation to our circumstances and the people that we encounter. It is a relational transfiguration.  God wants inward transfiguration, not just gloss and a new facia.

We must think on how we respond in terms of truly following, truly seeing and truly listening; in a personal, corporate and religious way.  If this is how we respond, with openness and integrity, we will have a personal transfiguration, a corporate one and one where we find our faith in Christ is transfigured too.  We can then all call ourselves followers in Christ.

Amen.