On a Power That Changes Us
March 2, 2025
Traceymay Kalvaitis
Exodus 34: 29-30
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.
Luke 9: 28-36
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
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Today’s sermon is titled On a Power That Changes Us.
Today is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany. Next Sunday will be the first Sunday in the season of Lent. So we are here at this place of transition. We are here at this place where change is inevitable. And we are offered two stories that, in their very essence, are all about change.
The first story, from the First Testament book of Exodus, is nearly four thousand years old and it would have been a very familiar story to both Jesus and his disciples, having grown up in the Jewish culture. This is important for us to keep in mind because it means the disciples had a frame of reference for what they witnessed on that mountaintop simply because they knew of a similar story, the story of Moses coming down from the mountain with his face so full of light that people could not look upon him. Moses was visibly changed, he was transfigured by his working with the power we call God. Theologian Teri Daily writes, “Transfiguration usually describes a change in appearance that unveils that which is most true.”*
Jesus, too, is visibly changed in our reading for today. We call this event the Transfiguration and it is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). In all three accounts, the Transfiguration occurs on a moutaintop with only three disciples, Peter, James and John. And in all three accounts the Transfiguration comes very soon after Jesus reveals to his disciples, for the first time, that he will face persecution and death. It seems to me as if Jesus’s disciples needed this experience in order to face what was on the horizon. Perhaps Jesus needed it, too.
In the book of Luke, the Transfiguration marks a turning point in Jesus’s ministry. In the first 8 chapters of Luke we have traced, over these last 8 weeks since Christmas, Jesus’s coming of age, his baptism, and the many signs that are recorded as testament to Jesus being the embodiment of the Christ. The Transfiguration is perhaps the ultimate epiphany, the ultimate reveal. Appearing with Jesus is Moses, representing the law, and Elijah, representing the lineage of prophets, a lineage that includes our teacher, Jesus of Nazareth. Biblical scholars love to expound on the significance of these three figures inexplicably appearing together in this mystical event.
You may remember the passage in Matthew 22 (35-40), “ One of the Pharises, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” In our tradition, one could say that Jesus, as the embodiment of the divine love we call God, is the living example of how to “Love God with all our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves.” Through the scriptures and stories and lessons we see how Jesus shows us how to move through the world while centered in God and I think what we so often miss is that unless we, too, are centered in God, centered in love, we can not fully succeed in “loving our neighbors as ourselves.” We can not fully succeed in lifting up others’ concerns and needs as equivalent to our own.
Sometimes, Friends, circumstances are so dire that we are able to lift another’s concerns and needs to a place equal or even above our own. I have witnessed this in the past week after an ICE raid at MiJalisco’s in Peterborough resulted in four individuals being taken out of the community and placed in custody. The response from the wider community blew in like a nor’easter. People were up all hours of the night for days on end sharing information, studying, researching, organizing, and planning. People mobilized right away to share critical information with minority owned businesses. It’s ongoing.
A grassroots movement to support MiJalisco’s and other ethnic restaurants across our region was launched, encouraging people to dine in or take out and to leave generous tips with a token of something yellow to show solidarity and support. Feel free to take a bundle of yellow ribbon with you today if you choose to participate in this movement. And take a safety pin, too, if you want an outward sign that you are a safe person, a person who is not quick to judge, a person who looks for the Godspark in others, a person who sees a stranger not as a threat, but as a potential friend. These may seem like small things but they can make a big difference, both inwardly and outwardly, visibly and invisibly. We can choose where and how to spend our money, we can consciously change our behavior, we can add a simple thing like a safety pin to send a very strong message about who we are aiming to be. Friends, when we commit ourselves to alignment with the goodness, the God-ness, in the world we are transformed and we are transfigured.
Now we might not glow in the dark like Moses and Jesus, but I’m sure our smiles will be brighter and our eyes will convey more light. Paul writes about this in II Corinthians 3:18, “We all, with open face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.”
In closing, Friends, I want you to know I often see this transfiguration that Paul writes about. I’m sure you see it, too…this incandescence that love ignites. It shines through in our smiles and through our eyes. It is manifested in our actions when we seek to serve. It is the Christ consciousness we embody. It is the force that has the most power to change us because it arises from the very source of love; it arises from God and it allows us to be a force of goodness in this world that can not and will not be overcome. So be it. Amen.
*https://www.openhorizons.org/when-the-light-shines-through.html
Pastoral Prayer
Dearest Beloved, we come again to this quiet place, where the concerns that press most heavily upon us can rise to the very surface of our awareness. With the illumination of Your Holy Light, help us to see more clearly what we need to hold onto, what we need to work through, and what we need to let go of. Remind us, when we question, that Your presence is alive within us, preceding before us, inspiring us in the moment, and supporting us when we falter. We ask blessings on those who are without, those who are in pain, and those who are frightened. May we be receptive to Your Holy Spirit working through us to nurture them and nurture ourselves, in ways unexpected and profound. This we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Benediction
I leave you with these words from the book of Thessalonians, chapter 5:“May the God of Peace sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be sound.”