The Jesus We Get
“The Jesus We Get”
Transfiguration Sunday, Year C, February 27, 2022
Exodus 34:29-35 Luke 9:28-36, (37-43)
First Presbyterian Church of Sandpoint, Idaho
Pastor Andy Kennaly
As we read about Transfiguration and the shining face of Moses, and Jesus brighter than the sun, it got me thinking about “Radiant Glory.” Last Friday, I had an article in the Bonner County Daily Bee, The Pastor’s Corner on Friday’s Faith Page. I’m signed up for the fourth Friday of every month to share our church’s outreach into the community. I’d like to read that article now, because it talks about “radiant glory” and, like Moses and Jesus, cultivating conscious awareness of living in God’s Presence. Here’s the article:
Have you ever noticed a difference in heat? Furnaces warm the air to control the climate of an indoor space. People also pile on blankets or coats to protect from cold air and capture heat generated by our body. Some folks use hand warmers, heating pads, or hot water bottles to focus on specific areas. But there is one type of heat that has a quality to it that is very special. Radiant heat.
Radiant energy moves from a source to an object, and the temperature of the air doesn’t necessarily negate this transfer. Layering is not as needed to capture the heat because it is continuous. The other day, the air temperature outside was around 10 degrees, and one didn’t want to linger too long without protection from February’s Arctic blast. But the sun was out, and the radiant heat felt surprisingly good. While some parts of my body were cold, other parts were basking in this brief gift of solar amazement.
Light travels through space as waves of energy. Sound also does this, but slower as it moves through air at 1,125 feet per second, which is not even a quarter mile per second. Light moves much faster, at about 186,000 miles per second. The sun is around 93 million miles from Earth, so we travel back in time when we feel the warmth. The radiant energy we experience in the moment was generated by nuclear fusion 8 minutes earlier, and it’s just a slice of the pie. One-one billionth of the sun’s energy reaches Earth, and much of that gets reflected back into space. It doesn’t take much to keep the Earth just right.
On that cold day out in the sunshine, although I noticed the benefit of radiant heat, this was soon offset, overwhelmed by a breeze, the wind biting with that arctic chill. But in calm places, in direct sunlight, radiant energy was shared in ways that provided light, comfort, and warmth amidst an otherwise cold winter day.
As days get filled with busyness and distractions, it’s easy for fears or anxious thoughts to creep in. We hear headlines of wars and rumors of wars, and divisiveness is experienced in various arenas like political systems and religion. There is much suffering in the world, and it is easy to lose our footing. It can be a struggle to maintain health and well-being, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But we are always invited to claim our center, in Christ.
Natural cycles teach us about deeper truths. The Bible mentions the sun, moon, and stars, along with mountains, trees, fields, rivers, seas, birds and flowers, and many other parts of creation. All participate in praise that point us toward God’s glory revealed.
Every day eventually ends, and night brings on darkness. Both day and night are important for natural cycles on Earth, but for the sun there is no darkness, no night. The sun burns bright continuously in every direction. But even the sun is bound to laws of nature and at some point, will die. Brother Sun has his own cycles to run, and all this coming in and going out is held in the care of God, with whom there is no shadow, no turning. The Divine Origin, the Living Christ, our Source, is ever-present.
Jesus would have known Psalm 121 and the biblical reminder that “He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” Jesus spent much time on the mountains in prayerful communion with God, both day and night. Jesus invites us to follow him deeper into trust that God’s love and sustaining Spirit is always with us. The radiant energy of God’s constant presence sustains our soul as Source connects.
On a clear February day, the sun shines. It’s optional whether we notice. Like our skin welcomes radiant warmth reaching out through time and space, we are invited to prayerfully open our heart to perceive God’s love reach toward our soul, our life-essence.
When you’re outside on a sunny day, invite the generosity of life to help you notice. Feel the warmth of the light. Breathe deep the gift of air. Then give the breath back to natural cycles as we participate together as children of God. At First Presbyterian Church we observe the season of Lent which begins next week on Ash Wednesday. In worship at 6:30 p.m., we use ash from last year’s Palm Sunday branches and mark the sign of the cross on our forehead. I say, “Remember you are stardust and to stardust you shall return.” Truly, we are sustained by the grace of radiant Glory.
That was the article I submitted last week. Today these themes echo as we read of Moses and Jesus both having Theophanies, encounters with the Divine, both taking place on mountain tops and having a shiny effect on their appearance. They talked with God.
If only they could have stayed shiny. If only the people would allow Moses to radiate rather than ask him to put a cover on because they were frightened. If only Jesus could have stayed in those dazzling white clothes and with his face changed in appearance as well. But thankfully, they don’t stay that way. Jesus comes down from that mountain of transfiguration and the next scene is an example of how the world is healed. It’s hard work to bring this healing, the demons convulse, and generations miss the point. But Jesus comes down, heals, and unites, and the greatness of God is astounding.
To conclude, I’ll mention that a few years ago at Luther Seminary in Minnesota, Rolph Jacobson heard a sermon by Mark Throntveit, Professor of Old Testament. In that sermon he says, “This is the Jesus we want. On either end of Lent is a mountain, on one is the Jesus we want, on the other is the Jesus we get. Here is Jesus lit up like the Vegas Strip, all in glory. Let’s stay here! This is so awesome! And then God says, ‘No, the way I want to be apprehended is I wish to be apprehended only in the cross.’ The glory of the transfiguration does come to us, but it comes to us in the cross. God has promised to meet us in our suffering, and we are to meet the world in its suffering.” (Working Preacher, sermon brainwave podcast, SB461, Transfiguration Sunday).
Perhaps this is why a convulsing demon in a healing story is the very next thing as Jesus and the disciples come down from the mountain of glory.
As we begin the Lenten season and journey toward the cross, may God’s radiant glory help us be healed from the inside out so the world may see our joy. Thanks be to God! Amen.