This Sunday I am returning to St Swithun’s Church, Martyr Worthy for their 10am Holy Communion. You will be very welcome to join me.

Something kind of magical happens right under the eyes of the three closest disciples to Jesus. It is late at night, they are exhausted from having climbed a mountain, and they are terrified. Is this an illusion, though, or are they seeing something no-one else has ever seen before?

Previous to this passage Jesus has been talking about his upcoming death and resurrection, and how difficult it will be for his disciples. Peter, James, and John (for some reason Andrew has been left behind again), have been chosen to join Jesus in prayer. This is an honour, a great honour indeed, to be chosen by the rabbi for a special time of prayer together, even if they are tired and have to climb a mountain in order to do so. As they set off up the mountain together, they don’t yet realise just how much of an honour has been bestowed upon them.

This passage is one we consider every summer, every school holiday, and one I feel I have preached on many times as other clergy take their summer holiday. It can feel like old news. The Transfiguration is a beloved story for artists to recreate, and I have used images in preaching often, poets too, find much creativity within this moment of history, my favourite being Malcom Guite’s

For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’,
On that one mountain where all moments meet,
The daily veil that covers the sublime
In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet.
There were no angels full of eyes and wings
Just living glory full of truth and grace.
The Love that dances at the heart of things
Shone out upon us from a human face
And to that light the light in us leaped up,
We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,
A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope
Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.
Nor can this blackened sky, this darkened scar
Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.

Malcolm Guite

I have also challenged congregation members to erect tents, or build shelters from Lego whilst I preach. Today I don’t have anything so exciting planned, so I will have to let the words and actions of the passage speak for themselves.

Jesus and his favoured disciples are praying. Nothing dramatic is described, no charismatic hands in the air, or speaking in tongues, or being ‘slain in the Spirit’. The disciples are not being worked up into a frenzy of hysteria, there are only three of them after all, four if you count Jesus, but something amazing, quite unbelievable happens: Jesus is transformed. As he stands before the disciples they notice his face change (although we are not told how) and his clothes become dazzling white. Back in the day Paul Daniels managed to do some amazing tricks, and today Penn and Teller astound huge crowds at Vegas, yet I have never seen or heard of a magician manage to change a person’s appearance like this.

This is not an illusion, it is the power of prayer. As Jesus prays his way into the presence of the Almighty, his true divinity is revealed, and Peter, James, and John, faithful in prayer are there to witness it. This is truly and literally ‘awe-some’; and yet there is more to come.

Elijah and Moses appear next to Jesus. Two legends, one of prophecy the other other religious law, stand with Jesus. Two mighty men whose legends claim they never died, but were taken straight up to heaven, now appear to be very much alive and in communication with Jesus. It is as if Elvis entered the building, but so much more.

There is symbolism here: at the beginning of his ministry as he preaches his sermon on the mount, Jesus claims that he has not come to ‘abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them,’ and here he is with the most prophetic of Prophets and the one to whom the Law was given.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish, but to fulfil.

Matthew 5:17

The disciples are scared, it is as though they have seen a ghost. Two ghosts, two much revered ghosts, and Peter’s first instinct is to provide hospitality for them, to build them a shelter. Peter wants to hold on to this moment, hold a holy camp out.

Just prior Jesus has been talking about his death, the disciples are now reminded that the Law and the Prophets will not be abolished, but fulfilled in Jesus. Nothing will change until heaven and earth pass away, but just what on earth, or in heaven, is happening now? This is a foretaste. It is a warning, a hint of what is to come, but it doesn’t last, as soon as the disciples begin to get their heads around Elijah and Moses’ presence, they disappear. The disciples were tired, they had ben ready to doze off, and yet because they stayed awake they witnessed this transformative, holiest of encounters, and now there is more. The fully awake disciples are taken into the cloud of God’s presence and audibly hear the Divine speak,

This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!

Luke 9: 35

Jesus hears the words of affirmation and commission spoken over him at his baptism repeated. We are moving into the second half of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus is travelling towards the cross and he calls these disciples specifically to be an intimate part of that journey. It is time. Through the invitation to join Jesus in prayer both he and his disciples are fortified in their faith.

Do we need to be fortified in our faith? Hell, yeah! We are living in troubling, terrifying times. As yet another nation launches an attack on its neighbour, rumours of a World War 3 feel as if they have some clout. Basic rights for women (especially when it comes to reproduction) are taking a step backwards in countries which have previously been considered ‘civilised’, ‘democratic’. Safety for members of the LGBTQ+ community is also diminishing, especially for our transgender siblings, and the church is often part of the problem, not the solution. We need to be fortified in our faith.

Perhaps we are coming close to ‘end times’, although none of these issues are new, we have certainly been here before. Either way, it’s time get serious about praying. It’s time to enter into God’s presence and prepare to be transformed. This world needs Christians who are serious about following Christ, and that begins by being woke, by not sleep walking into a spiritual ambush, by getting on our knees and transformatively praying.

To read the gospel passage click here.