Transfiguration Sunday
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Scripture |
Luke 9:28-36, (37-42) 28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem . 32 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. 33 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. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen ; listen to him!” 36 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. 37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. 39 Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. 40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
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Devotional |
Jesus, Peter, John, and James went up on the mountain to pray but we see that only Jesus prayed. Peter and his companions were sleepy but they manage to remain awake to see Jesus’ glory and the two men, Moses and Elijah. Peter’s great revelation was to build three dwellings in order to capture the present moment. This was the opportunity to place Jesus in a box, where he could be confined for their private worship, but Jesus chooses to return to a society in need of transformation. Jesus rejects the idea where “vertical relationships are emphasized at the expense of horizontal engagement.” 1 Jesus chooses to go to the foot of the mountain to heal and return a boy to his father. Eddie Gibbs in ChurchMorph relates the difficulties of the church today: “This book is intended for two categories of readers. It is for people, like myself, who struggle to assess the extent and overall significance of current ecclesial trends, or who are worried about such trends, based upon the critiques of scholars and church leaders. It is also intended for leaders who are immersed in one of the streams to such an extent that they have little opportunity to view the bigger picture.” 2 “The morphing of the church describes the process of transformation of the church as it was, or as it exists today, to the church it needs to become in order to engage appropriately and significantly in God’s mission in the context of the twenty-first century.” 3 What, Gibbs says about the church, I believe can be said about us individual disciples. The morphing of the disciple describes the process of transformation of the disciple as he of she was, or as he or she exists today, to the disciple it needs to become in order to engage appropriately in God’s mission in the context of the twenty-first century. Are disciples today like Peter and his companions too sleepy to pray for their own transformation and transformation of the church? Is it much easier to build dwellings in which to place Jesus? If we can keep Jesus in a box, we can remain in control. Peter and his companions find it impossible to keep Jesus in their box. When Jesus finishes praying, he heads down the mountain. Peter, John, and James can stay on the mountain and build or they can leave the mountain and face a great crowd in need of healing. Which comes first, morphing of disciples or morphing of the church? If our spiritual formation is intentional, we may not have time to wait on the church to achieve transformation, but we have a process to achieve personal transformation.
1 Eddie Gibbs, ChurchMorph : How Megatrends Are Reshaping Christian Communities. Grand Rapids: Baker Academics, 2009.p.12 |