Transfiguration Sunday
From the archives of February 27, 2022 (and March 3, 2019, February 7, 2016, and February 3, 2013, below)
Worship Resources for February 27th, 2022—Transfiguration Sunday
Revised Common Lectionary: Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:26-36 (37-43a)
Narrative Lectionary: The Man Born Blind, John 9:1-41 (Psalm 27:1-4)
On Transfiguration Sunday, we read the story of how Moses came down from Mount Sinai and his face shown in Exodus 34:29-35. Even his brother Aaron was afraid to come near him, for Moses’ skin shone bright because he was talking to God. However, Moses spoke to the people, teaching them what God had commanded them, and afterward he wore a veil when he was among the people. He would take the veil off when in the presence of God, but keep the veil on when he returned from the mountain to tell the people what God had spoken to them.
Psalm 99 is a call to worship of the people, a song praising God in the holy throne room. God is the mighty king, the lover of justice, and the earth quakes under God’s reign. The psalm calls Moses and Aaron the priests of God, for God spoke to them in the pillar of cloud and they kept the commandments of God. God answered their prayers and was forgiving, but God also executes justice. The psalmist concludes by calling the people to worship God at God’s holy mountain. Mountains were seen in ancient cultures as places where heaven and earth met, where the divine and human could encounter one another.
The Epistle reading shifts to 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, where Paul recalls the passage from Exodus about Moses wearing a veil. Paul uses the veil as a metaphor for the people of his day when they heard the word of God through the covenant. According to Paul, for the believers in Christ, the veil is removed, and they can see the image of God as if it is reflected in a mirror by the Holy Spirit within one another. In this same manner, Paul urges the believers to be truthful, to not hide behind a veil, but to be steadfast and bold. True believers don’t use deception or misuse God’s word; instead, they publicly commit themselves to the truth.
In Luke’s account of the transfiguration, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain with him to pray. While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah spoke with him, and in Luke’s version, they are speaking about Jesus’ soon-to-be departure in Jerusalem. Peter, James, and John are tired, but they behold this scene, and as Moses and Elijah are leaving, Peter speaks up. Peter tells Jesus it’s good they were present, and they want to make three dwellings, one for each of them. The Common English Bible uses the word “shrine” instead of dwelling, indication a sort of worship for Elijah, Moses, and Jesus. Then a cloud suddenly overshadowed them all and the disciples were terrified. A voice came from the cloud telling them to listen to the Son, the Chosen One. When the cloud lifted, Jesus was alone, and they didn’t say anything. In verses 37-43a, it is the next day when they come down the mountain, and a man begs Jesus to heal his son of a spirit. The other disciples could not cast the demon out. Jesus tells the man to bring his son to him, but not before declaring this is a faithless and perverse generation and complains about putting up with them. Jesus rebukes the spirit and gives the boy back to his father, and everyone was amazed.
The Narrative Lectionary focuses on the story of Jesus healing a blind man in John 9:1-41. The disciples see a man born blind, and ask Jesus who sinned. There was a common understanding that disabilities were caused by sin, though there was debate at that time as to who was responsible for that sin. We must tread carefully in these stories of healing. Jesus is quick to declare that no one sinned. However, some interpret this story that God made people disabled so that they could become inspirational stories (miracle healings), and that is not true. Healing is not the same as curing. When Jesus heals this man, who used to beg (because in that day, if you were blind or had other disabilities, you could not work, you could only beg to survive), he no longer has to beg. He is no longer known as the blind beggar—"Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” (vs. 8). Now, he is one who testifies to Jesus. Jesus uses the metaphor of this man’s blindness with the Pharisees later, who cannot see that this is the work of God. However, we must be careful in using these metaphors. They are in our Scripture, but it doesn’t mean that using the term “spiritual blindness” is the best way for us to convey ignorance of God’s ways and God’s healing. There are other ways we can speak without using ablelist terms. But this story still has a powerful point: the man who was once unable to participate in society, because of the restrictions that society placed on those who were blind, is now able to participate. That’s the healing moment, not that he is no longer blind. Jesus has freed him from those restrictions.
Psalm 27:1-4 declares that God is our salvation and light, our strength, and we have no reason to fear. Instead, the psalmist declares they will seek God, and the only thing they desire is to live with God all the days of their life, to be in God’s presence in the temple.
The Transfiguration is a mystery. Just like with Moses, the physical description of Jesus on the mountain just doesn’t cut it for our human understanding. Our words fail us. Something happened, enough that Peter wanted to worship Jesus differently and perhaps worship Moses and Elijah, but God declared that instead they needed to listen to Jesus. When Jesus called out, “You faithless and perverse generation, how long must I put up with you?” I’m sure that was not comforting to the father who came with his possessed son, yet Jesus healed him. There are misunderstandings between what the disciples experienced and what we read today, perhaps some religious or cultural nuance that has been lost. What we can say is this: somehow, human beings continue to try to understand God and Jesus in our terms, but we fail, and when we fail, we fail one another. Instead, we ought to listen to God, to the teaching through prophets and Jesus, and follow their ways. Rather than trying to figure out right worship, perhaps it’s more about right listening and living with one another.
Call to Worship (1 Corinthians 15:51-52a, 56)
Listen, I will tell you a mystery!
We will not all die, but we will all be changed.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
At the last trumpet blast.
The trumpet will sound,
And the dead will rise.
We will be changed,
Death will be swallowed up in victory
Come, worship our God,
The God of Mystery, the God of Life.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Ancient and Holy One, we confess that we have fallen into the same patterns as our ancestors. We have sought to worship an ideal instead of worshiping You. We have worried about practicing right religion instead of loving our neighbor as ourselves and practicing justice. We have put much weight on the words we say and less on how we live out Your teaching. Forgive us. Call us back to the teachings of the prophets. Call us back to the way of life in Jesus Christ. Call us back to love and forgive one another, to work for healing and restoration. Call us into Your way, Your truth, and Your life, in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance
God is ancient and new. God is from the beginning and what will be. There is so much mystery, but so much love for you. Out of all we do not know, we do know this: God loves us enough he sent Jesus to us, who laid down his life for us, calling us to do the same for one another. God loves us enough that he asks us to love one another, for by loving one another, we love God. Know this and live.
Prayer
God of our ancestors, You drew closer to us in the mountains, where we built our temples to worship You, believing we were touching heaven. You drew closer to us in ritual and practice, where we attempted to show You our devotion and care. You came to us in community, calling us together, and lived as one of us in Jesus Christ. We are continually breaking through boundaries that we have made, or believed were there, and finding the Mystery goes deeper, to the root of the universe, to all You have made. We find You in our hearts, in one another, and the more we love one another, the more fully we know You. Remind us always that love is at the heart of it all—despite all mysteries and all knowledge and all faith, if we do not have love, we are nothing. Help us to always hold on to love, to treasure it as a priceless gift, and also, to give it freely. Amen.
Worship Resources for March 3rd, 2019—Transfiguration Sunday
Revised Common Lectionary: Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12:4-2; Luke 9:28-36 (37-43a)
Narrative Lectionary: Transfiguration, Matthew 16:24-17:8 (Psalm 41:7-10)
On Transfiguration Sunday, in the Hebrew Scriptures we recall how Moses’ face shown when he spoke with God in Exodus 34:29-35. Aaron and the others were afraid of him when he came down the mountain with his face shining. Moses shared with the people the covenant God had spoken through him, and then he covered his face with a veil, so the people would not be frightened. But when he spoke with God, he took the veil off.
Psalm 99 is a song of praise to God who is the ultimate king. The psalmist calls upon all people to praise God, who is holy. Recalling Moses and Aaron, who served God as priests, and Samuel, God’s prophet, the author sings of how God spoke through them. They were the ones who were given God’s statutes and decrees, and God answered their cries and prayers—but God also avenges the wrongdoing against them. The psalmist concludes by calling the people to worship at God’s holy mountain, where in ancient times, the peoples believed God lived.
In 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Paul uses the image of Moses covered with a veil as a way of showing how God was not yet fully revealed. This is Paul (or a student of Paul’s) image of how those who still followed the Jewish laws were not seeing God fully revealed in Christ. However, that is not how the Exodus story has been understood in the Jewish community, and this is clearly an out-of-context metaphorical use. Through Christ, the letter teaches us, God’s glory has been fully revealed, and we see that glory in one another. The faithful do not hide with cunning and false truths, but by being open and vulnerable in front of God, they are revealed in the image of God.
In Luke’s account of Jesus’ Transfiguration, Jesus has taken Peter, James, and John up the mountain with him to pray. They are “weighed down with sleep” but they experience Jesus’ clothes turning dazzling white, and the appearance of his face changed. Moses and Elijah also appear with him. However, in Luke’s account, the figures are leaving when Peter declares it is good to be there, and suggests making dwellings for all three of them (suggesting Peter wants the other two to remain). A cloud overshadows them, and Peter, James, and John are terrified. After the voice booms down from heaven that this is “my Son, my Chosen; listen to him,” they find Jesus alone, and they don’t say anything to anyone. In the continuing verses, it is the next day that they are met by a great crowd, and a desperate father looking for help for his son possessed by a spirit. Jesus appears to be angry at the “faithless and perverse generation” after his own disciples were unable to cast the spirit out. Jesus rebukes the spirit, heals the boy and gives him back to his father. While we don’t know why the disciples were unable to cast out the spirit, it seems that they had given up and left the father to fend on his own for help.
The Narrative Lectionary also follows Jesus’ transfiguration, but from Matthew’s account. In Matthew 16:24-17:8, we begin with five verses before the Transfiguration account that happens six days later. In these five verses, Jesus tells the disciples that if they want to follow him, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. Those who want to save their life will lose it. Then, at the Transfiguration six days later, Peter, James, and John accompany Jesus on a high mountain where they experience his transfiguration: Jesus’ clothes become dazzling white, and his face shines like the sun. Peter, as in Luke’s account, declares it is good to be there and that he will make three dwellings for them. While he was speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, telling them to listen to the Son. They were overcome by fear, but Jesus tells them to get up and not be afraid.
In Psalm 41:7-10, the psalmist has experienced betrayal. They write of those who hate them, that they imagine the worst for the psalmist, that something deadly is holding the psalmist down and that they will not rise again. Even their closest friend has betrayed them and is against them. However, God is gracious, and will raise them up.
The Transfiguration is a strange story we read each year the Sunday before Lent begins. It marks the end of the season after the Epiphany, the season of revealing Christ to the world. Jesus is revealed in full glory to his disciples on the mountain, but what exactly does that mean? Peter seems to still think of Jesus in worldly terms, as a divine king now establishing his eternal throne on earth, but this isn’t what Jesus set out to do. Instead, Jesus came to heal those who were sick, to restore those who’d been left out. The kingdom is not of this world in the way that earthly kingdoms are, but to be part of the kingdom of God means to become last of all and servant of all. To serve those in need.
Call to Worship
Bless one another, love one another, serve one another;
For by doing so, we bless, love, and serve Christ.
Forgive one another, seek peace, do justice;
For by doing so, we follow the way of Christ.
Live into hope, keep to faith, stay close to the truth;
For by doing so, we know Jesus as Lord.
Come, enter this time of worship, coming before Christ our Lord;
Who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
We confess our weary spirits, O God. We confess our tiredness. We confess that at times we are burned out and broken down. We confess that the work of justice, peace, and mercy has been difficult, and has yielded more sorrow at times than joy. We come before You, knowing You have taken this burden upon Yourself, so that we might know the fullness of Your reign. Grant us inner peace. Grant us a renewed spirit for justice. Grant us mercy beyond what we can imagine, and rest, so we may take upon the mantle You have bestowed upon us: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with You. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance
God restores. God heals. God brings rest for the weary. God binds up the broken-hearted. God renews our spirits. God is with you, now. Healing is with you, now. Even if you do not feel it at this time, know that God is right with you, God is working in you and through you, and God loves you. Amen.
Prayer
Holy Healer, we call upon You in our brokenness, in our distress. We call upon You in our times of simply feeling run down and tired. We call upon You to restore us. Help us to say no when needed. Help us to set boundaries that are healthy for ourselves as well as for others. Help us to seek You, and in our well-being, may we do the work You have called us to do, to bring healing to the world. Amen.
Worship Resources for February 7th, 2016—Transfiguration Sunday
Revised Common Lectionary: Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-43a
Narrative Lectionary: Transfiguration, Mark 8:27-9:8 (Psalm 27:1-4)
On this last Sunday before Lent, we begin with the story of Moses coming down from the mountain, with his face shining, and the people afraid of his appearance. Moses didn’t know that his face shone from talking with God. When the people came near, Moses gave them the law that he had been given on Mt. Sinai. Afterwards, Moses wore a veil except when he spoke with God, but that was he didn’t frighten the people with his shining face.
Psalm 99 sings of God who establishes justice and equity, and rules over all the earth. The psalmist calls upon the people to worship God, remembering that Moses and Aaron were the priests of God, and that Samuel was a prophet of God. God gave the people the law, and forgave them, though they still bore the consequences of their actions. The psalmist concludes with another call to worship God at the holy mountain.
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 uses the image of Moses wearing the veil as a metaphor for being veiled from God, unable to see God fully, and with Christ, the veil has been removed. God has come among us as Christ Jesus, and God is present in the Spirit that is among us. God’s glory, once veiled, is now reflected through a mirror. With the Spirit of God, there is freedom, and there is endurance and encouragement.
The passage from Luke contains both the account of the Transfiguration and what happened the next day. In Luke’s account, Jesus has taken Peter, John and James up the mountain to pray. While they are there, Jesus’ clothes become dazzling white and the appearance of his face changes. Peter, James and John are “weighed down with sleep” but stay awake for this, as Moses and Elijah come to talk with Jesus. Peter, of course, wants to immediately make tents for the three, and Luke’s account reads that Peter didn’t know what he was saying. When the voice comes from the cloud, in Luke’s account Jesus is referred to as “my Son, my Chosen.” Once the voice has spoken, Jesus was found to be alone. The next day, a man comes to Jesus begging him to look at his son who has a spirit that causes seizures, but the disciples weren’t able to do anything about it. Jesus condemns the “faithless and perverse generation” and heals the boy. The man had not been able to find help, even among the disciples, and had begged Jesus to take a look at his boy.
The Narrative Lectionary also focuses on the Transfiguration, but from Mark’s account. In Mark’s account, Jesus asks the disciples who do people say that he is. After Peter answers that he is the Messiah, Jesus teaches them that the Son of Man will be betrayed, and will suffer and be killed. Peter tries to talk him out of it by rebuking him. Perhaps Peter didn’t want to hear it. So Jesus replies with “Get behind me Satan!” Peter was setting his mind on worldly things. And after teaching the disciples along with the crowd that they needed to take up their cross to follow him, six days later Jesus goes up the mountain with Peter, James and John, and his appearance changes before them, and Moses and Elijah appear with him. Mark’s account is similar to Luke’s above, but the voice calls Jesus “my Son, the Beloved.”
Psalm 27 begins with this beautiful phrase of knowing God as one’s light and salvation, and that there is no fear of anything with God. The psalmist asks in verse 4 to dwell with God all the days of their life, and to behold the beauty of God.
The Transfiguration is one of those strange stories where we don’t really know what happened, or why Peter responded the way he did, but Peter, James and John experienced Jesus differently, and understood Jesus’ relationship to God in a new way. In that moment on the mountain, heaven and earth intersected.
Call to Worship
Turn our thoughts away from the busy-ness of the world;
Turn our minds to you, O Christ.
Turn our hearts away from the desires of this world;
Turn our love towards one another and you, O Christ.
Turn our whole selves away from ways of this world;
Turn us to love, compassion, and justice, O Christ.
In this time of worship,
May we be one in spirit, mind, and body,
Worshiping Christ Jesus, who calls us to love. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, we confess we are still setting our mind on worldly things even though you give us glimpses of the heavenly kingdom. You show us great love and mercy but we are unwilling to show love and mercy to others. You share with us a vision of eternal life but we are focused on our lives now and worldly gains in this lifetime. Forgive us for being shortsighted. Renew in us the call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with You, so we may also live in the kingdom now, with eternal life that begins now. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance of Pardon
Christ sees you as one of his own. You are God’s beloved. You are forgiven and loved, and given the strength and courage to love and forgive others. Let your love shine, as God’s love shines in you. Amen.
Prayer
Shine Your face upon us, O Christ, so that we might see one another as made in God’s image. Shine Your face upon us, O Christ, so that we might love one another as You have first loved us. Shine Your face upon us, O Christ, so that we might remember that the line between heaven and earth is very thin, and that eternal life begins now. Shine Your face upon us, O Christ, so that we might remember that we are not alone, that You have never left us, but You will return to us in a new way. All of this we pray. Amen.
Worship Resources for February 10th—Transfiguration Sunday
Revised Common Lectionary: Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; Luke 9:28-36; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
As we end the season after the Epiphany and prepare to begin the journey of Lent, this Sunday in the Revised Common Lectionary marks the change, the transformation that is taking place within us, within our worship life and in our liturgical calendar.
We begin with Exodus 34, in which Moses’ face shines so brightly he has to wear a veil. Moses’ face shines because of his encounter with God, with the tablets of the covenant in his hands, but at first he does not know that his face is shining. In today’s world, our faith has become private, something we don’t discuss along with our politics. What kind of transformation would need to take place to make it obvious to others that we have encountered the Divine in our lives? What kind of transformation happens when we truly encounter God, and how do we share that transformation, or do we veil it in the face of others?
Psalm 99 sings of God’s praises as the ruler of creation, the one who establishes equity and executes justice (vs 4). The song sings of the priests, those who have been faithful not only in following God’s ways but in leading others to God, in speaking on behalf of God to the people, in declaring God’s reign, and in worshiping God. So we look to their example as we follow God and worship God.
Luke 9:28-36 contains the story of the Transfiguration, a story that, as I write every year, still puzzles me. What exactly did happen on that mountain? What exactly did Peter, John and James see? We immediately link the story of Moses, but the Gospel accounts say that the appearance of Jesus’ face changed. His clothes become dazzling white—perhaps they seemed bright—but we don’t know what Jesus’ face looked like. But what we do know is this: Peter, John and James have had an encounter with the divine beyond Jesus. Their experience so far has been of Jesus the teacher, the healer, the miracle-worker. Now they are seeing a new vision of Jesus, a new understanding of him as the Christ. And they don’t quite know what to do with it. Because Jesus is with Elijah and Moses, Peter offers to make them all three dwellings to be under. And we don’t know why God’s voice says what it does—was God offended by the inherent equating of Jesus to Moses and Elijah? Was Peter just caught up in earthly matters? We don’t know. But what we do know is this: Peter, James and John encounter Jesus in a new way on that mountain, and that experience changes their understanding of Jesus and their relationship with him. Instead of the encounter being reflected in their faces, as with Moses, it is reflected in their experience with Jesus—but they didn’t tell anyone about it. Well, obviously they did, eventually—but they didn’t understand quite what it meant. Have you ever had experiences with God that you couldn’t explain, but seemed frightening, or silly, to share with others? How do we share our experiences with God?
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 uses the image of Moses veiled as an example of how we are not to be anymore. We are to let go of the veil, to reveal our encounter with God through Jesus Christ, to let our experience with God shine through. When we are focused inward, about what others think, we cannot follow God fully. The writer of this passage uses this image of Moses veiled as what happens to our minds, even when we read the scriptures attributed to Moses: we read with a veil over our minds when we are turned inward, away from the concerns of the world and away from the call of God. The veil is removed when we turn to Christ, when we see God reflected in us, and we shine outward God’s goodness, mercy, justice and love.
This is the call of God. As we turn away from the season after the Epiphany, we have left the celebrations of Christmas and Epiphany far behind. We have witnessed some of the teachings and miracles of Jesus in the scriptures as he began his ministry. But now we are turning towards the end—the road to Jerusalem, the road to the cross. We are turning to the heart of the Gospel. The journey in the beginning was easier—we left everything to follow him, and to follow meant to learn his teachings and to live his ways. But now the journey will become much harder. We have to resist temptation and seek repentance for the forgiveness of our sins. Most of all, we will journey to the cross of death. As Christ laid down his life for us, so we are called to give of our life to him, to give up being first, to give up our wants and desires to serve others. And like Christ, we will be called to give all for the sake of God’s love of the world. How do we live this transfiguration in our lives? How do we share what our faith means to us? It is more than a conversation that can be controversial. This is our very lives. Do we let it shine, or do we hold it back? Do we still misunderstand? How will you live out your faith differently this Lenten season?
Call to Worship
Though we see in a mirror dimly
Then we will see face to face
Even though we only know part
Then we will know in full
We come to this time of worship seeking God
Though God is already present with us
May we journey with God towards a greater understanding
May we journey with each other to deepen our faith. Amen.
Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Author of Life, we come to You knowing we have tried to write our part on our own and have failed. We have believed we could do it all ourselves, and then come seeking You only when we are broken and hurt. Forgive us for not seeking You and Your ways first and foremost. Forgive us for not seeking out the stranger and the oppressed first before giving into our wants, above the needs of others. Call us away from the temptation to write our own lives as the hero in the tale, and instead to follow in Your steps, giving to all in need, joining in solidarity with the outcast, praying with the sick, caring for the poor, visiting the imprisoned. These are not actions the world recognizes as heroic, but these are the roles You have called us into. Help us to live out our story free from the veil of the world. In the name of Christ, who lived and died for us, and lives again, we pray. Amen.
Blessing/Assurance of Pardon
You are written into the Book of Life. You are breathing, You are alive. You are loved and forgiven. You have been given the opportunity to live into New Life. You have been given the opportunity to start afresh. Your future has not been written yet, but there are plans full of hope. Go forth and live into the goodness and mercy of our God. Amen.
Prayer
God of Light, shine in us, so that we might show Your love to the world. Burn in us, so that we might be inspired to make a difference in our world for the oppressed and the downtrodden. Kindle in us sparks of hope when the darkness creeps in, and help us to share this holy fire with others. Cleanse us from the old fears and haunts, so that we might grow deep in faith of Your everlasting love. Help us to share Your light with the world, and help us to shine always without fear. In the name of Christ, who baptizes us with the Spirit and with fire, we pray. Amen.