Transfiguration and Transformation
How transfiguration invites us to participate in God's transformation of the world.
Yesterday was Transfiguration Sunday! Not to be confused with The Feast of the Transfiguration, which happens on August 6th. We use the same collect for both days (which I is at the end of this post) but since the feast day doesn’t often happen on a Sunday it’s great to have this text land on the last day of the Epiphany season every year. With this narrative as our Sunday gospel text we are given the opportunity to explore the depth of this mysterious and beautiful story. A story with implications for life and formation, even for the transformation of the world. So here’s a little bit my exploration. Enjoy!
The Transfiguration for the Transformation of the World
Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, is enshrined in a stained glass window on the campus of Nashotah House Theological Seminary. In this window Ramsey holds a book and the cover reads, "The glory of God is the living man." The full quote comes from St. Irenaeus and follows with, "…and the life of man is the vision of God."
This famous quote has been associated with Archbishop Ramsey because he centered his life and ministry on the embodied participation in the glory of God. Ramsey reflects on this in his famous book The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ. One can hardly study the transfiguration without encountering quotes from and praise for this title. Even one of my favorite Roman Catholic theologians, Hans Urs von Balthasar quotes Ramsey in his brief engagement with the transfiguration narrative.
Ramsey says that "in every aspect of glory the person of Jesus Christ becomes the dominant face." Whenever, wherever glory is manifest, Jesus is encountered. In the transfiguration narratives, the gospel writers are highlighting glory, they are highlighting an encounter with God.
This display of glory, this encounter with God in the person of Jesus has some significant implications, not least of which is that the transfiguration is for the formation of the person and the transformation of the world.
It’s vital to understand that to encounter the glory of God is not to interact with an abstraction, a glimmer of the divine, or an analogical attribute; it is to encounter God! The transfigured and resurrected God that has been revealed in Jesus. Once we are overshadowed by this glory, as the disciples were (Mt. 17:5), we are transformed ourselves and able to live more fully into the reality of the kingdom for the good of the world.
A major point of Balthasar's work on beauty, which he’s says is the theological correlate to glory, is to point out the effects of encountering the divine form in Christ. The disciples are enraptured and transported when bear witness to this glory, they become participants in transfiguration, not merely observers. Indeed, only true beauty, true glory can have this transformative effect. I would even suggest that gospel action, mission, and participation in the life of Christ are lived and sustained from such encounters.
The Transfigured Life Rooted in the Kingdom
The transfiguration, among other things, reveals that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Though we can’t see it with our eyes, it is always and already present. In this apocalyptic event this reality is made visible, even if for a moment.
Believing that the kingdom of God is not far off but rather at hand, even if beyond our sight, becomes a framework for a life that has experienced a transfiguration, which is a life that has been transformed for the sake of the world, because it is a life that has encountered God.
Understanding the apocalyptic nature, this unveiling nature of the transfiguration has been crucial in my formation and living with this reality of God’s ever present kingdom in mind. When we keep the apocalyptic beauty of the transfiguration before us, we can remember that in all the moments of our lives, we are safe and loved, that our present suffering and tensions are not the only realities in which we exist. The transfiguration reminds us that we not only belong to Christ and his kingdom but that our citizenship is there (Phil. 3:20), and our King is always on the throne, no circumstance can change that.
This truth extends to the martyrs, who by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, lived with such a clear vision of the kingdom to which they belonged that not even death shook their resolve to live for Christ. God gave these martyrs an apocalyptic vision of his presence and the kingdom reality to which they belonged, in turn they lived a transfigured life. Having seen and experienced the reality of Christ and his kingdom, they fixed their eyes on it even in the face of death. With Paul, they could say, "For to me, living is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:22).
Even though most Christians will not face martyrdom, living with an understanding of this transfigured reality is important. When we live with the apocalyptic beauty of the transfiguration in mind, we understand that the conflict at work or the argument at home is not our ultimate reality; the chaos of our disfigured world is not the only thing that is real. Anger, greed, selfishness, corruption, and injustice are not the things that have to define our present reality. Disciples of Jesus do not have to lie or fight or manipulate to bring about the good life they desire. Christians can, even amidst the worst tension and the heaviest pressure, fix their eyes on Jesus and his kingdom—always present, even if just beyond perception—knowing they are safe and loved, even when all visible signs might call that into question. Their life may not be in danger, but maybe it's their job, or a relationship that is in danger; maybe it's their honor or authority that is being called into question. The faithful response of the martyr can be lived in all these moments when there is an understanding and a vision of the eternal reality to which we have been invited to participate in, right here and right now.
How do we speak truth when a simple lie will get us what we want?
How do we hear criticism and refrain from dismissive rhetoric and overpowering communication?
How do we love our enemy or pray for those who persecute us?
How do we actually live any of the biblical demands for holiness and Christlikeness in the midst of our broken and disfigured world?
WE REMEMBER that Jesus became incarnate of the virgin and was made man; that he was crucified, died, was buried and then rose again on the third day. And we remember that in the very middle of his life, in the middle of all he said and did, he was transfigured, and the apocalyptic beauty of that moment reveals the eternal reality of who Jesus, the kingdom he inaugurated, and the present reality of his glory and goodness.
Though the kingdom might compete for primacy on the stage of this world, it must not compete for primacy in the lives of those who have this prophetic message more fully confirmed. With those who originally received Peter's word, we too would "do well to be attentive to this (message) as to a lamp shining in a dark place." (2 Peter 1:19) There will come a day when his kingdom will have no competition, and He will make all things new, but we must not forget that the kingdom is real now and we have been invited to participate. Christ reveals his glory and his kingdom in a profound way in the transfiguration, and we live now by faith in what will one day be made sight. Until then, we cling to the transfiguration, live in light of the reality to which it points, and let the ourselves and the world around us be transformed by the glory, truth, and goodness of what was witnessed of that mountain, the Kingdom of God is indeed at hand!
The Collect
O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen
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2 Peter 1:16-21
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved,[j] with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
