Exodus 24: 12-18 & Matthew 17: 1-9
Roger Lynn
March 3, 2019
Transfiguration Sunday
“What was that!?!” Sally thought to herself, opening her eyes and looking around. A moment before she had been deep in prayer, with the pastor’s prayer filling in the background while her own meditations flowed free form through her mind and across her soul. She had been immersed in her praying when suddenly something happened. Well, maybe “happened” wasn’t exactly the right word. It was more like something had changed, or someone else had walked into the room. Describing the experience was difficult, but something was definitely different. As she looked around, trying to figure out what it was she was struggling to find words for, she noticed two things. The first was that whatever it was she had noticed was still there. She couldn’t say why she felt that way because she still didn’t really have a clear idea of what was there that hadn’t been there a moment before, but she knew something had changed and it hadn’t changed back yet. The other thing she noticed was that she was not alone in her experience. Pastor Robin was continuing on with her prayer, but the expression on her face told volumes about what was going on behind the words she was speaking. It seemed to be a mixture of awe, wonder, confusion, and fear, in roughly equal measure. That pretty much agreed with what she was feeling. Scattered around the sanctuary were others who were also showing signs that they were experiencing something out of the ordinary. Some of them were looking around, while others were simply sitting very still, with that same expression on their faces. Something was definitely going on.
The experience lasted for most of the rest of the service. After the initial shock wore off most of the fear faded away. It was replaced by a sense of exhilaration, which, when coupled with the sense of awe and wonder, tended to leave her a little breathless. At one point, as she caught a few words of the sermon, she found herself wondering how the pastor was managing to maintain her concentration. Sally could barely think at all. She only knew that something wonderful and amazing was happening around her, and somehow she was a part of it. And then it was over, almost as suddenly as it had begun, just as they began to sing to the closing hymn. What remained was the memory of the experience and a kind of warm glow which only slowly faded.
Sally felt something like relief when she walked into the conference room and saw the dozen or so other people already gathered there. She wasn’t going crazy, or at least she wasn’t doing so alone. Knowing glances were exchanged with several of those standing around as she moved to find a chair. Three or four more people found their way to the room before Pastor Robin joined them.
As she walked in she asked everyone to please find a seat. Then she took a deep breath and jumped straight to the heart of the matter. “As I’m sure all of you are aware,” she began, “something extraordinary happened this morning during the worship service.” Lots of heads nodded in agreement and one man muttered under his breath, “That’s an understatement.” A few nervous chuckles followed, but things quieted down again very quickly. “Let me begin by confirming our common ground. Do words like “awe” and “wonder” do anything to describe what you experienced this morning?” Again there were lots of heads nodding. “It was a little bit frightening at first,” one woman added. “Let’s be honest,” said the pastor. “It was a lot frightening at first. I think that’s a very understandable reaction. But what else did you feel?” “Overwhelmed!” came one response. “Tingly,” said one of the youth. “It was as if God was in the room,” said the grey haired 85 year old man up front. “Yeah!” said everyone else in the room, almost with one voice. “Precisely,” said the pastor. “It took me half the service to figure out what was going on, but when it dawned on me it all made sense. It sent chills down my spine all the way to my toes, but it made sense. Did anyone notice what day we were celebrating in church today?” “You mean Transfiguration Sunday?” asked the young woman with the baby in her arms. “That’s exactly what I mean. And can someone tell me what the scripture lesson was about?” “It was from Matthew,” came the reply from the old man up front. “It was about Peter and a couple of the other disciples seeing Jesus in his glory. I’ve always liked that story.” “So have I,” said Pastor Robin, “but I have to confess that it wasn’t until this morning that I really understood it. We like to read the stories in places like Exodus and Matthew about people encountering God first hand. But most of us don’t really expect to have it happen to us. Not really. Well, today I think it did. It was during my pastoral prayer that I first felt as if something were different, and judging by the reactions I noticed around the sanctuary, I’m guessing that you noticed it about then as well.” Sally nodded and noticed the others joining her in their agreement. “Well, what I was praying for at the time was...” “...that we might recognize God’s presence in our lives,” interrupted Sally, as the light of understanding flooded over her. “Exactly!” said Pastor Robin. “I’m still not quite sure I understand what happened today, and I have no idea why we noticed it while some of the others didn’t seem to, but I’m not prepared to dismiss it as indigestion or imagination or mass hysteria or any other “logical” explanation. We say we believe that God is all around us all of the time. Well, maybe sometimes we’re fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of that glory. I don’t think I’m prepared to deal with much more than a glimpse, but what I experienced today was exhilarating. I don’t know about you, but I plan to be more attentive to what’s going on around me from now on.” With that the room exploded into excited conversation about what they had shared that morning and what it might mean in their lives.
In many ways life in that congregation continued on much as it had been before. They still had their ups and downs, their good times and bad times. Even Sally and the others who had shared something special on that Transfiguration Sunday were not somehow transformed into “Super Christians.” But they did tend to pay more attention to what was going on around them. And every now and then they would look at each other and smile. Suddenly life was full of surprises.
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