I am returning to Shipton Bellinger for the last Sunday before Lent begins. It is always an honour and a delight to be invited to preach and celebrate Holy Communion when a church is in Vacancy and without their own clergy.

Wow, some really exciting readings for this last Sunday of Ordinary Time before we enter Lent. Perhaps the lectionary writers, those who decide which Bible passages are read in which services and when, wanted us to have something joyful to hold on to before the solemnity of the Lenten Fast starts. We begin with a story about Moses.

Moses was an intriguing character. He had been saved from infanticide by a daring mother and compassionate princess, raised as an Israelite, a Jew, but educated as an Egyptian Prince. Inheriting both daring and compassion he murdered a slave driver who was endangering Israelite lives, took refuge in the desert as a shepherd and married his boss’ daughter. He returned to Egypt after God spoke to him from a burning bush re-igniting that daring and compassion in him, and leading him to confront Pharaoh with a series of plagues until the slaves were released. Moses then led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years until they had shaken off the yoke of slavery and were ready to be God’s people once again. Moses was the one who brought the tablets with 10 commandments down from Mount Sinai, a place where he would regularly meet with God, and that is where we find him today.

Moses has been in communion with God, in their favourite place, their sacred space for forty days and nights without food or drink. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It is the same length of time that Jesus will spend in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. The number 40 is symbolic in Jewish culture (and by inheritance, Christian culture too); it is the number which means completeness. Moses was completely in God’s presence, with nothing, not even food or drink, to distract him. When Moses returns from the mountain to deliver the ten commandments to the Israelites, his face is literally glowing with the after affects of time spent in God’s presence. God’s holiness has quite literally rubbed off on him. Moses is unaware of this change in his appearance, but to those waiting at the foot of the mountain it is blinding, and Moses is forced to wear a veil in order to protect them.

Read it here.

This encounter with God is quite literally awesome. We will see something similar in Jesus’ time when he climbs the mountain with Peter, James, and John. There Jesus will meet with Moses and Elijah, and as God’s presence comes upon them, this glow will appear once more, the veil to protect the three disciples will be a holy cloud. Just as Moses received a special message whilst in God’s presence, so do the disciples. Theirs is simply to listen to Jesus. The disciples had already overcome the impossible: despite being so weary at the end of the day that they are described as being ‘weighed down with sleep’ they manage to stay awake, and in doing so are rewarded with this sacred experience, this intimacy with God, an intimacy which belongs to spiritual heroes such as Moses, not fishermen.

Read the Transfiguration here.

There is a message for us here. Many of us find prayer difficult, dry, wordy, perhaps even boring. We may have favourite prayers which we can recite by heart and which bring comfort, but have we ever found our faces alight with the after effect of prayer? Perhaps we have sympathy with Peter, James, and John, in that we often struggle to stay awake when we pray. If we are serious about our relationship with Jesus then we need to find a way to spend time in God’s presence without being distracted, without falling asleep, but how do we do that? Life is distracting, we are all world wearied.

Paul gives prayerful advice to the Corinthian church, they are to lift their veils. We are no longer like the Israelites who forced Moses to wear a veil so that they wouldn’t be confronted with the true light of God. In Jesus, God has come near; we have found a way to God that will not blind us, or cause us harm if we fall short, let us bask in that holy and healing light, not hide away from it.

Read Paul’s advice here.

As we prepare for Lent, a time when Christians traditionally seek to spend more time in prayer, we need to seriously consider how we are going to make this possible in our busy lives. We need to prepare in advance for a holier, more prayerful Lent, otherwise we will be bounced straight from the tossing of pancakes into our go-to abstinence of chocolate, or wine, or coffee, without a second thought, other than, perhaps, a sense of guilt that we need to do something.

Moses, Jesus, the three disciples, prepared themselves to meet with God by removing themselves from the ordinary. Physically they removed themselves from other people, those who usually clamour for their attention, those who to different degrees were dependent upon them. We may not be able to do that for forty days and nights, but just one evening can have a profound effect as Peter, James, and John discovered. Planning when to spend time with God and sticking with it is the key. Blocking out an hour each day, or a day each week, from the diary. Setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to stop and pray; setting a timer so that you don’t get distracted and wonder off until the set-aside time is complete. Perhaps (shameless plug coming up…) book yourself on a quiet day or retreat, either at a venue where you can hide away, or at home in your own sacred space.

Moses didn’t just remove himself physically, but removed himself from his own physicality by fasting from food. Although some have completed (or attempted) 40 day fasts, they are extreme and not practical if we have to be busy at work or home. Fasting from one meal a day may be a possibility though. This is something I try to do, spending lunchtime without food, but in prayer and meditation (although, to be honest, I have to set the timer on my phone for 5 minutes of meditation time to keep me focussed!). As the disciples returned from their mountain top experience they hear God tell them to listen to Jesus. This is the aim of any fasting and prayer, to listen to Jesus, to allow Jesus to transfigure us, to become so close to God that our faces glow with the reflection of their presence.

Lent is a time for us to lift the veils, the veils of work and chores, the veils of frustration and outdated methods of prayer which no longer work for us, the veils of falling asleep, the veil of not caring about our spiritual well-being… Lent is almost upon us, let us spend these last few days preparing for a time of fasting, of praying, of coming close enough to God that we begin to be transfigured, that we are set aglow with a renewal of our faith in Jesus.

For details of Ash Wednesday Retreats at Lopcombe Quiet Garden and Online, click here.