Transfiguration: A Lenten Call to Change
From The Pastor’s Desk—
On the final Sunday before Lent, we celebrate the Transfiguration. This event -when Jesus ascends a mountain with his disciples and encounters both Moses and Elijah- has deep spiritual significance. The disciples witness these two pillars of the faith appear alongside their teacher and friend, and all three of them glow with Heavenly light. For (perhaps) the first time, the disciples see the greater story they are a part of; that Jesus is the culmination and continuation of the Law (represented by Moses) and the Prophets (represented by Elijah).
This episode is designed to echo experiences in the lives of both Moses and Elijah. The latter was told to go to Mount Sinai, where he would experience the presence of God not in fire, or earthquake, or rushing wind, but in “the still, small voice.” Moses had famously ascended Mount Sinai generations before, where he received the 10 Commandments. But, there’s a catch. Moses comes down from the mountaintop, only to find that the people have fashioned, and are worshiping, a golden idol in the form of a calf. Furious, Moses throws down the tablets of the Law, smashing them.
The story doesn’t end there, though. Moses heads back up the mountain, and after conversing at length with God, he fashions a new set of tablets and descends a second time. This time, our Bible tells us that Moses’ face shines, just as it does for the three figures during Transfiguration. Rabbi David Wolpe asks why his face shines the second time, and not the first? Because the second time, Moses himself has carved the tablets and we are changed, not by what we receive, but by what we do.
As we enter into this holy season of Lent, I encourage you all to consider what it is you are choosing to do, or *not* do. If you devote yourself to daily prayer, if you give up on chocolate: what are you making the change for? Is it to better attend to the voice of God speaking in the stillness of your spirit? Is it to help draw your attention to the needs of others or this community? During these 40 days, how will you be changed by whatever it is you choose to do?
—Pastor Jon
