February 3 , 2008 Transfiguration Sunday Commentary by Bruce G. Epperly

See also: [2002]

Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

The season of Epiphany concludes with the affirmation of the glory and wonder of God as revealed in the world. According to today’s lectionary readings, the law-giving and justice-seeking God is also the awesome source of all life, dwelling in unapproachable light. While divine revelation is universal, it is also intimate and variable. God reveals Godself more fully in certain times, places, and persons than in others. Sometimes, God’s work is gradual and imperceptible in our lives; at other times, God works dramatically to transform our lives. In either case, process-relational theology asserts that God works within the dynamic interdependence of life, rather than supernaturally from the outside, to seek healing and wholeness for humankind and the world.

Healthy theology embraces both the kataphatic and the apophatic. All things reveal the divine: God is in all things and all things are in God. Theophanic transfigurations point to the God-fullness of all reality. But, the immanent God cannot be confined by any human theological system or experience of the Holy. God is “more” than we can describe, imagine, experience, or fully understand. The intimacy of God is shrouded in mystery, provoking wonder and awe for all who contemplate the cosmos or their own encounters with the divine. “Transfiguration moments” can neither be fully understood nor controlled by humankind.

The readings from Exodus 24 and Psalm 99 connect God’s “awesome” glory with God’s equally “awesome” justice. The universe in its grandeur, as well as the human spirit in its concreteness, reflects both the action and the judgment of God. Our hymns of praise are inspired by God’s aim at justice as much as by God’s grandeur.

Matthew’s narrative of the transfiguration connects the transfiguration of Jesus with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. The disciples experience Jesus as uniquely related to the law-giving God. The God who calls all things into being also calls Jesus the “beloved one.” Jesus’ uniqueness is not accidental or entirely a matter of Jesus’ openness to the divine, but rather the result of the interplay of Jesus’ wholehearted and ongoing response and God’s unique and constant call. The continuity and universality of revelation remind us that God is always speaking in our lives and that lively experiences of the Holy are always possible. The variability of divine revelation also affirms Jesus’ unique relationship to God and the possibility that God may also choose to act decisively in our own lives and communities.

2 Peter speaks of certain disciples – most notably the “author” Peter – as “eyewitnesses of Jesus’ majesty.” Their affirmation of Jesus’ uniqueness is the gift of experience rather than doctrine. They have seen the light and heard the voice of God. Their experience of Jesus Christ confirms the doctrines they now preach about him.

2 Peter asserts that all prophecy, including the words from the heaven at the  transfiguration of Jesus, occurs as a result of the movements of God’s spirit. While a process-relational perspective affirms the variability of revelation and, thus, prophecy, process-relational thought questions the text’s assertion that “no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s interpretation.” In a dynamic-relational world, interpretation naturally accompanies every revelatory experience. This relational and contextual understanding of revelation honors our own contribution to the divine-human relationship, but also serves as antidote to idolatry. The contextual nature of revelation reminds us that all revelation, even life-transforming revelation, is as limited and contextual as it is transformational. New and more expansive revelations may occur in the unfolding of the God-world relationship.

Today’s preachers and worship leaders may choose to focus on God’s grandeur at the cosmic and personal dimensions of life. Media presentations highlighting the universe as seen from the Hubble telescope may be juxtaposed with images of a human cell or the immune system, reminding the congregation of the ubiquity of divine wisdom and revelation. In considering the transfiguration of Jesus, preachers may invite congregants to consider where they have been, or might in the future be, recipients of divine revelation.

Worship, preaching, and adult education may also be focused on the question, “how do I live a transfigured life?” While theophanies reflect God’s lively call that illuminates everyday life, experiencing a theophany is a matter of response, rather than passive receptivity. Moses obeys God’s call to climb Mt. Sinai. Jesus’ disciples accept his invitation to go to the mountaintop. Neither Moses, the disciples, or perhaps even Jesus can predict the nature of the divine revelation, but they prepare for it by pausing, listening, and noticing. Congregants may be invited to consider how they might prepare to experience God in more illuminating and transforming ways. Are there “practices of transfiguration” that awaken us to God’s enlightenment and guidance in our lives?

Bruce Epperly is Director of Continuing Education and Professor of Practical Theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary and co-pastor of Disciples United Community Church in Lancaster, PA. He may be reached at bepperly@lancasterseminary.edu or www.ducc.us.

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