2 Kings 2:1-12
Psalm 50:1-6
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Mark 9:2-9

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The Gospel according to Mark 9:2-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.  Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

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HOW MANY OF YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR 16TH BIRTHDAY? IT IS RARE FOR ME TO REMINISCE ABOUT THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT THESE PAST FEW WEEKS I’VE BEEN CONFRONTED WITH THOUGHTS ABOUT WAR, SO BOMBARDED ALMOST WITH TALK OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, THAT THE SUMMER OF 1945 AND MEMORIES OF IT SEEM UNAVOIDABLE.

THE SUMMER OF 1945....THE WAR HAD COME TO AN END EARLIER IN EUROPE, BUT WE WERE STILL LIVING WITH RATIONING - GAS, SUGAR, SHOES, AND MEAT SHORTAGES. TERRIBLE REPORTS WERE STILL COMING FROM THE PACIFIC BATTLEFIELDS. IN MY SCHEME OF THINGS HOWEVER, THESE WERE THINGS WE HAD LEARNED TO LIVE WITH. MY LIFE WAS FOCUSED ELSEWHERE. I WAS IN LOVE WITH STANLEY. I HAD HIS PIN AND HE HAD MY ID BRACELET. I HAD MY FIRST REAL JOB, NOT BABYSITTING, AND ON AUGUST 4TH I HAD A SWEET SIXTEEN BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH 16 LIFESAVERS ATTACHED TO COLORED RIBBONS. IT WAS A HIGH POINT.

WHEN THE BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA TWO DAYS LATER I REMEMBER WE WERE IMPRESSED, BUT THE DETAILS WERE HAZY. AND IT WASN’T UNTIL THE JAPANESE ACTUALLY SURRENDERED ON THE 14TH THAT I CAN RECALL ANY EXCITEMENT. MY FRIENDS AND I TOOK THE BUS TO DOWNTOWN NEW HAVEN THAT NIGHT TO CELEBRATE WITH THE MOBS ON THE GREEN. IT WAS WILD WITH NOISE MAKERS AND FIRECRACKERS AND SPEECHES. THE WAR WAS REALLY OVER. AND STILL, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BOMB SEEMED BUT A BACKGROUND DETAIL IN MY LIFE.

THE FIRST MOTION PICTURES WE SAW OF THE EVENT WERE THE NEWSREELS. THERE WAS NO TV THEN, SO WE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL WE WENT TO THE MOVIES TO SEE ACTION. WE COULD SEE THE MUSHROOM CLOUD RISING OVER THE CITY, AND THE LOOK OF HORROR ON THE JAPANESE PEOPLE. THE FOLLOWING WEEK LIFE MAGAZINE RAN A SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHARRED BODIES AND DISFIGURED SURVIVORS, AND FLATTENED CITIES, AERIAL VIEWS OF THE VAST AND TOTAL DEVASTATION. THIS DID MAKE AN INDELIBLE IMPRESSION ON MY MIND, ALTHOUGH MUCH WAS DROWNED OUT BY THE VERY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF MY 16TH SUMMER. AND IT WASN’T UNTIL MUCH LATER THAT I REALLY UNDERSTOOD WHAT MASS DESTRUCTION WAS.

I THINK I HAVE RELIVED THAT EXPERIENCE MANY TIMES SINCE THEN, READING MORE ABOUT THE DETAILS AND THE QUESTIONS RAISED. DID WE NEED TO DROP THE BOMB? WERE WE TRYING TO IMPRESS THE SOVIETS? WHAT WAS TRUMAN’S MOTIVATION? SO MANY QUESTIONS WERE RAISED IN MY MIND. "MY GOD, WHAT HAVE WE DONE?" WAS THE QUESTION OF THE PILOTS IN BOTH MISSIONS AFTER THE BOMBS WERE DROPPED.

HIROSHIMA/NAGASAKI/TRANSFIGURATION, SOMEHOW FOR ME THERE IS A LINK TODAY BETWEEN THESE EVENTS, EVENTS WHICH WITHOUT QUESTION HAVE CHANGED THE COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY. NOTHING HAS BEEN THE SAME SINCE THEY OCCURRED. THE VISUAL PICTURE THAT THEY SHARE STARTLES ME, THE SIGHT OF "DAZZLING WHITE..." A CLOUD CAME OVER THEM. THE THREE DISCIPLES WERE TERRIFIED AND DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY, AS PEOPLE WERE TERRIFIED AT HIROSHIMA AND WE WOULD BE TERRIFIED IF SUCH AN INSTRUMENT OF WAR WERE TO BE DROPPED ON US. AND I WONDER IF SOMEONE BOMBED US NOW, WOULD WE RESPOND IN KIND? WOULD WE USE A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION? I READ JUST THIS LAST WEEK ABOUT THE HUGE NUMBER OF MINUTEMEN MISSILES WE HAVE IN PLACE CAPABLE OF REACHING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WITH NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON THEM. AND OUR MILITARY IS WONDERING WHETHER OR NOT TO DISARM THEM.

GETTING BACK TO THESE WORDS FROM MARK DESCRIBING THE TRANSFIGURATION, I HAVE A VAGUE MEMORY OF WHEN I FIRST HEARD THEM READ IN CHURCH MANY YEARS AGO, WHAT AN IMPRESSION THEY MADE ON ME. THE SITUATION SEEMS REAL. I COULD IMAGINE MYSELF WITH THE HUMAN JESUS, THE CARPENTER FROM NAZARETH, THE PREACHER FROM GALILEE, WHO HAS JUST TOLD HIS PEOPLE THAT HE MUST SUFFER, AND BE KILLED. IT IS THE HUMAN JESUS THAT IS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THE THREE, THE HUMAN WHOSE CLOTHES BECOME DAZZLING WHITE, WHO TALKS WITH THE LAWGIVER, MOSES, AND ELIJAH THE PROPHET. AND AS HE IS CHANGED, A DIVINE VOICE SPEAKS OF HIS SONSHIP, HIS CHOSENNESS. WE ARE TOLD TO LISTEN TO HIM. A MIRACLE HAS HAPPENED, AN EPIPHANY, A MANIFESTATION OF GOD. AND THEN, BACK TO NORMAL. JESUS WAS LEFT WITH THE THREE, AND THEY TRUDGED DOWN THE MOUNTAIN.

I SENSE THAT JESUS HAS BEEN CHANGED. HE HAS BEEN GIVEN ASSURANCE, AND A PROFOUND VISION OF HOPE THAT GOD WILL SUSTAIN HIM AS HE COMES TO THE END. BUT FIRST, THERE IS MORE TO BE DONE. PETER, JAMES AND JOHN MUST HAVE BEEN CHANGED TOO, THEIR FAITH STRENGTHENED, PREPARING THEM FOR THE STRUGGLE AHEAD. I WONDER HOW MANY TIMES THEY WOULD RECALL THE EXPERIENCE TOGETHER. "DO YOU REMEMBER THE VOICE OF GOD SAYING ‘THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, LISTEN TO HIM?’" IT WAS CLEARLY A HOLY TIME FOR THEM.

WE ALL NEED THESE HOLY MOMENTS, MOMENTS WHEN WE HAVE EPIPHANIES, TIMES WHEN WE KNOW GOD IS WITH US, WHEN WE KNOW WE ARE BEING CALLED TO SOMETHING NEW. THE COLLECT, THAT PRAYER WHICH WAS SAID AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS SERVICE SPEAKS VOLUMES TO ME. IT GOES, "O GOD, WHO BEFORE THE PASSION OF YOUR ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON REVEALED HIS GLORY UPON THE HOLY MOUNTAIN: GRANT 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." IT SAYS THAT THE TRANSFIGURATION IS NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED OVER 2000 YEARS AGO. IT IS A PETITION THAT ASKS THAT TODAY WE WOULD BE STRENGTHENED AND CHANGED INTO HIS LIKENESS. IT SAYS TO US WE CANNOT SHARE THE GOSPEL IF WE HAVEN’T SEEN THE MANIFESTATION OF GLORY OF JESUS IN OUR LIVES.

AS THE SEASON OF EPIPHANY CLOSES, WE ARE CALLED TO ASCEND THAT UNNAMED MOUNTAIN AND BE CHANGED IN SOME WAY ALLOWING OURSELVES TO BATHE IN THE LIGHT OF HIS FACE, THAT WE MAY BE MADE MORE CHRISTLIKE. AND THEN WE MUST COME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN, HAVING BEEN GIVEN STRENGTH FOR THE JOURNEY AHEAD, AND A CALL.

DOES THIS SEEM CRAZY. HAVE WE ANY BUSINESS PRAYING THAT WE BE CHANGED INTO THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST? CERTAINLY THE WRITER OF THE COLLECT THINKS WE DO. AND IN MY HEART, I REALIZE THAT I TOO WANT TO ENCOUNTER JESUS, TO LISTEN TO HIM, TO ALLOW MYSELF TO CHANGE.

FOR EACH OF US, THIS WILL BE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE., OFTEN UNEXPECTED. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE EXPERIENCE THE REVELATION OF CHRIST IN OTHER PEOPLE. I CAN GET GLIMPSES OF GOD IN THIS WAY, WHEN I SEE SOMEONE’S DEVOTION TO GOD EXPRESSED THROUGH THEIR LOVE OF GOD AND THE CHURCH. I HAVE A FRIEND THAT I MET WHEN I WAS THE CHAPLAIN TO THE AIDS CLINIC AT GRADY. HE IS HIV+, AND AT TIMES HAS BEEN CLOSE TO DEATH. BUT MODERN MEDICINE HAS BEEN A GODSEND FOR HIM. I LEARNED OF HIS STRONG FAITH WHEN I DID THE BURIAL SERVICE FOR HIS PARTNER AND FOLLOWING THAT, INTRODUCED HIM TO A PARISH. IN HIS THANKFULNESS HE HAS TAKEN ON THE TASK OF CAREGIVING FOR THIS GROUP, TIRELESS IN HIS EFFORTS TO VISIT AND CARE FOR THE SICK AND HOUSEBOUND. HE GIVES ME A GLIMPSE OF GOD.

AN OLD HASIDIC, REBBE NACHMAN OF BRESLOV, HAS SAID THAT "MOST OF ALL, PRAYER IS THE GATE THROUGH WHICH WE ENTER TO GOD. LEARN TO PRAY AND YOU WILL BECOME ATTACHED TO THE HOLY ONE." THIS PAST WEEK WE ATTENDED A CLERGY RETREAT AT WHICH WE HEARD BARBARA CRAFTON TALK ABOUT, AMONG OTHER THINGS, PRAYER. SHE REMINDED ME THAT OFTEN WE PRAY, BABBLING ON WITH "TREATMENT PLANS FOR GOD." GOD KNOWS WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, SHE SAID. WE NEED TO LISTEN, TO GET THAT GLIMPSE OF GOD. BARBARA, ALSO NUDGED MY THOUGHTS BY HER ENCOURAGEMENT TO US TO USE THE MANY RICH FORMS OF PRAYER WE HAVE IN OUR BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. WHEN MY WORDS SEEM INADEQUATE, AND SCATTERED, IT IS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO FIND WORDS THAT ANSWER MY NEEDS, AND THAT DISCIPLINE MY PRAYER LIFE.

AS I SAID, TODAY WE END THE SEASON OF EPIPHANY, THE SEASON WHICH BEGAN WITH JESUS’ BAPTISM AND ENDS WITH THE TRANSFIGURATION. IT IS THE TIME IN WHICH JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, IN DIVINE GLORY IS REVEALED. THIS WEEK WE BEGIN OUR LENTEN JOURNEY. WE WILL BE WALKING WITH JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES NOT UP THE MOUNTAIN, BUT DOWN TO THE CROSS. I PRAY THAT WE CAN CARRY SOME OF THAT TRANSCENDENT LIGHT WITHIN US REFLECTING GOD’S GLORY, AS WE ARE BEING TRANSFORMED INTO THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST. AND I PRAY THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE TO WITNESS THE BLINDING LIGHT OF BOMBS DROPPING ON INNOCENT VICTIMS.

The Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate

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