This Sunday, commonly known as Transfiguration Sunday, we remember the appearance of Jesus to his disciples on the mountain with evidence that his mission ranked him alongside the likes of Moses and Elijah. Certainly a triumphal moment if there ever was one!
Jesus is transfigured on the mountaintop. But sitting down and beholding the triumphal glory isn’t the point. Jesus is who he is regardless of whether he is dressed in glowing glory or in more humble attire. What transfigures in this encounter is us, in that we become the love that he is as we look upon him. In the folds of his garments, whiter than any earthly hand could bleach, is to be found all the love that is, or was, or shall ever be. We, like the disciples, want to build a tent around that love, bind it to the spot, make it stay, not trusting that there is more than enough of it, inexhaustible and endless; and that in giving and sharing it, there is always more of it there.
Let us give of ourselves this day, not as if we feared for our own destruction, but in confidence that God in Christ can take the things and selves we give and can–and will– transfigure and regenerate them.
Submitted by Brian Cubbage, Elder at Douglass Boulevard Christian Church (Louisville, KY)
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