To Walk With Jesus

Exodus 34:29-35    Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a]

All of us have done some travelling.  Some may have crossed the ocean to visit foreign lands, or perhaps we just a border, to Canada or Mexico.  Some of us just go for walks in our neighborhood.  We are well acquainted with the idea of travel – we even call life a journey.  Each life journey is different, influenced by experiences and pressures, some of which we are aware and others of which are so subtle we fail to notice them.  But at some point, or points, we make conscious decisions, which way to go, which path to follow.  At some point, as we say, a light dawns, and it is time to make a choice.

Jesus disciples had all made a decision.  Each one had left behind what they were doing, be they fishermen or tax collector, and had abruptly changed course, changed the direction of their lives.  From stable, well-established positions in the community, each had abandoned what they knew, to follow a man, a Rabbi, who had called to them to come and follow Him.

In this morning’s Gospel we join members of this samll group after Jesus has fed the 5000, and after Peter has identified Him as the Messiah.  Of course, Petere is still thinking of a Messiah who will liberate the Children of Israel from Roman rule, and reestablish the Jewish Kingdom. 

Jesus has asked HIs friends, Peter, James and John, to accompany Him up the mountain, where ancient people felt one was certainly closer to God. The men must have found nothing unusual in this, as Jesus often went to high places, away from the others, to pray.  The practice was so well established, the three men almost fell asleep while their friend prayed. 

Up to this point, for them it had been a day like any other day, with Jesus performing miracles and teaching the general populace.  The disciples must have been somewhat accustomed to the unusual, though still dazzled by the miraculous.  But nothing could have prepared them for what happened on the mountain.

And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory.

One minute, the three men are fighting off sleep, and in the next they are gazing at the glory of the Lord. A light they have never experienced shines before them, lighting their world in a way they have never before known.  Peter’s instinctive response is to set up camp, to remain in the glory of this newly illumined world. But that is not the reason Jesus has reveled Himself to them in a new way, a way they had not previously experienced.  Petere has called Jesus “Messiah”, but now it is clear He is more than that.  He is the point where heaven touches earth.  Hew is both the conduit and the Person of God.

We hear this story, and it seems too fantastic to be true, so the temptation is to try to talk about what really happened. But the truth is, there is no way for us to get behind the story itself, to judge it based on what we would consider to be the facts alone. The other mistake we can make is to see it as so miraculous, so out of the ordinary, it could not and cannot be something we could ever experience in our lives.

Why would Luke, have recorded this story, if it is something beyond our grasp, something we will never experience? The answer is that each time we have one of those moments of particular insight into life, not just an “aha” moment which makes what we already know crystal clear, but a moment when something new illuminates our world, changes the path on which we walk, and redirects our future, these are moments of grace. Grace is a particular moment of insight, one freely given to us by God. Grace can change the path on which we walk.  When we recognize this, we can see that heaven does still touch earth.   

You can remember such moments if you think about it.  There are sad ones, a death, a divorce, a diagnosis, a loss of any kind, and there are joyous ones, falling in love, the birth of a child, a big win, coming home.  Grace is a moment when elements of the same old world we live in are reconfigured in a way that reveals the Presence of God.

This coming Wednesday, Lent begins.  Our Wednesday will probably be not much different from other Wednesdays – one more day in our week.  In today’s Gospel, the disciples and Jesus are sharing another usual day in a manner to which the disciples are accustomed.  But traveling with Jesus on His path is filled with the unexpected.  As we go about our daily lives, if we choose to travel with Him, even when things seem very ordinary, that’s when the unexpected, the unimaginable will occur.

Lent gives us a time specifically set aside by the Church in which we can pay special attention to walking with Jesus.  Lent is a time for bettering our relationship with Jesus, for reestablishing and deepening our friendship with Him.  And as we walk companionably with Him, we will encounter curves in the path, stones in our sandals, waterfalls and detours, moments of grace we never anticipated. 

Lent calls us to choose the path that Jesus walks and to go with Him, and to, no matter what the grace given us, respond with humility and awe, as our lives are touched and redirected, by the Presence of the Love of God.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we praise you for your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit who transforms our lives and us, that we may grow into Christ’s image. Help us to increase in holiness each day that we may reflect your glory to the world. In Jesus Name. Amen.