6th AugustTHE TRANSFIGURATION
Fr David Cherry
Daniel 7 : 9 – 10 & 13 – 14 ; II Peter 1 : 16 – 19 ; Luke 9 : 28 - 36
“This is my Beloved Son; Listen to Him”
It is idolatory if the vision doesn’t give us a new vision : an ability to see God constantly operative, stirring up, blowing ‘where he lists’ in my life and in the world.
The long revealing or disclosing of God in the story of a People
culminates in the coming among us as a Man in Jesus. He is the
revelation of the True God : YAHWEH, the God who is utterly for us and
with us, the One who says: “Where you are – I
am” I am not a god at all, shut up in a shrine.
In Jesus, YAHWEH, the name that could not be said, is seen among
us: IMMANUEL ‘God with us’. Here I
am. “To see me is to see the Father”
(John 14 : 9)
In the vision of the Transfiguration, the three disciples see him as the fulfilment of the Old Covenant.
They see him with Moses, as the fulfilment of the Law but they are to
discover themselves no longer in a slave to Master relationship in
obedience to the Law. Rather, something more: fellow heirs with
Christ for the law is to be written in their hearts because of the
divine indwelling. They will find themselves desiring according
to the desire of the Father of all with Jesus as first born Son.
And they see him with Elijah, as the fulfilment of the teaching of all
the prophets – that emanation of God from the Holy of Holies of
the first Temple, the place of visions, that space outside time, coming
forth to his people, the Creator to renew the whole earth, the One who
is all mercy and tenderness, who desires not sacrifice, but the worship
from hearts broken open by love. Here he is: “God of God,
Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
The human temptation is to arrest a vision and create a cult around
it. And the disciples are going to have to come to an
understanding where they (and we) see that this is idolatrous
because the true God that is revealed is not like other gods, a static
entity or projection of human idealisation who can be grasped and used
to justify the exploits of humans.
The reverse is true. It is not we who must enshrine God and make
sure we keep him special. As Peter writes : we are not selling
you a cleverly devised myth. (cf 2 Peter 1 : 16)
Rather than enshrining God, you and I are invited to discover this open
secret: a Creator-God who has come and enshrined himself in us;
‘tabernacled’, pitched his tent among us, invested his life
in humanity. The vision on the mount remains a cultic thing if it
has no influence in human affairs, if it is not renewing the earth; if
forgiveness is not abounding. It is idolatory if the vision
doesn’t give us a new vision : an ability to see God constantly
operative, stirring up, blowing ‘where he lists’ in my life
and in the world.
A new vision will enable us to see and own, in the words of S
John’s first epistle, that we are already the children of God and
that what we are to be in the future is as yet unknown, yet to be
revealed; but that we are being brought to see that we shall be more
like him and will see him as he really is. (cf. 1 John 3 : 2)
We are being given eyes to glimpse and see anew, a new vision which
frees us to be surprised and challenged away from the certainties we
worship.
“This is my Beloved Son; Listen to Him” Attend to him, notice where he is.
“And since thou bidst us leave the mount ; Come with us to the plain” we sang.
The disciples must go down the mount and to Jerusalem. They must
attend to what this faithful God is doing among them; ever present and
creative in the midst of human affairs and human relationships; in the
mess we make of them; and the rivalry between ourselves and between the
nations which we have created. And the true God, who is beyond
human grasp, unshrinable, deals with us – not according to our
common sense – but gratuitously, always faithful in mercy and
bringing about forgiveness in the hearts of people – even to the
extent of being killed off on a refuse heap outside a violent and
famously religious city.
He is always inviting you and me: “Come share in my divine
project. Come be part of what I am creating in my
world.” When the true God is active among us we discover
ourselves “being changed into his likeness from one degree of
glory to another” (cf. 2 Cor 3 : 17 – 18)
Such a scandalous and dangerous God is unconscionable to the
pious. But could any lesser god do? Could any other
kind of God be worthy of our love, our trust and worship?
“This is my Beloved Son; Listen to Him”
This active, creative, dynamic God, is at work now among us in the
liturgy. He comes to make himself one with us, utterly faithful
to his covenant in Holy Communion. May we recognise him here in
the breaking bread so that with vision renewed we may attend to him
throughout and within our ongoing story.
“This is my Beloved Son; Listen to Him”