Almighty Father, whose Son was revealed in majesty
before he suffered death upon the cross: give us grace to perceive
his glory, that we may be strengthened to suffer with him and be
changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; who is alive and
reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.
ON THIS final Sunday before Lent, the collect prays us into a
world where suffering and glory belong together, both for Jesus and
for us. We pray to be conformed to the image of Christ; to become
more Christ-like.
Specifically, we ask for grace to perceive
Christ's glory, and to be strengthened to suffer with him: let
there be no doubt, there will be suffering. The collect, however,
does not stop there, but envisages our being changed into God's
likeness from glory to glory.
Last week, we heard Paul's encouraging the
Romans to wait patiently, because God's glory is to be revealed to
us. He might have had this week's story of Moses in mind: it took
seven days before God, having told Moses to wait, called to him out
of the cloud, and God's glory was revealed. God was in no
hurry.
The transfiguration was the revelation of
God's glory in Jesus Christ. Perhaps unexpectedly, however, it also
included the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and was seen by three
disciples. The author of the epistle also describes the eyewitness
of Christ's majesty, when he received the honour and glory from the
Father.
Like Moses, these disciples had an
extraordinary encounter with the holiness of God. God's impulse is
to draw humans in to share his glory, an instinct that we hear time
and again in the biblical story - from God's forlorn "Where are
you?" to Adam (Genesis 3.9) to, ultimately, the ascension, when
Christ took humanity into the heart of God.
But why Moses and Elijah in particular?
Traditionally, they represent the law and the prophets, which point
to and were fulfilled in the coming of Christ. I wonder, however,
whether it is also because both men had known the loneliness and
suffering of fidelity to God, in the face of the disloyalty of
their people. They were, therefore, able to strengthen Jesus at
this pivotal moment in his life and ministry.
Next week, we will be reminded that Jesus was
vulnerable to the temptation to take short cuts to glory, while
Matthew has just recorded Jesus's foretelling of his death and
resurrection, and his call to the disciples to take up their cross
and follow him (Matthew 16.21-28). Jesus knew the terrible cost of
his calling, and perhaps, like us, needed to be strengthened by
people who had proved God's faithfulness.
Matthew refers to the disciples' fear when
they heard the voice from the cloud (in Luke, the cloud itself
caused the fear), and Jesus's response of touching them - so
tactile and reassuring amid the ethereal glory and dazzling
brightness - and speaking to them, telling them not to be
afraid.
Again, there are echoes of last week's
readings, when Jesus repeatedly told the same disciples not to
worry. Fear and worry are slightly different: fear is often a more
instant, involuntary response to threat, whereas worry is more of a
continuing condition of dis-ease. Both, however, share the same
root, and both need the reassurance of God's present grace.
So, as we tramp around in fear and worry,
learning to wait with hope, we end this pre-Lenten season as we
began it at Epiphany, assured of the revelation of God's glory in
our world. However sharp our fear, in Jesus Christ, God's light and
glory shine in the darkness. Truly: "The world is charged with the
grandeur of God."
The light has come! Our world is changed
No more can darkness terrify,
The star shines out, Immanuel's sign
Emblazoned in the sable sky.
The light has come! The Son of God
Transfigured on the mountain stands,
God's glory seen by human eyes
Disturbs our peace, our hope expands.
The light has come! it seeks us out,
Unmasking secrets long concealed;
Then truths we know but have not faced
Are named and owned, by light revealed.
The light has come! It penetrates
So deep within where beauty lies;
From hidden and uncharted depths
The treasures of our darkness rise.
The light has come! Our world is charged
With glory dazzling, holy, true.
God's radiant and resplendent light
Transforms our lives, makes all things new.
© 1995 Rosalind Brown