MATTHEW 17:1-9
I'M SURE YOU ALL REMEMBER
THE STORY OF CINDERELLA. WHAT DID THE FAIRY GODMOTHER REALLY DO
HERE? SURE, A BEAUTIFUL GOWN, GLASS SLIPPERS, AN ELEGANT CARRIAGE
MADE OUT OF PUMPKINS; BEAUTIFUL HORSES TRANSFORMED FROM MICE. BUT IT
WAS STILL CINDERELLA – BUT PLACED IN A SETTING SO THAT PEOPLE
LOOKED AT HER IN A NEW WAY.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE LOOK
AT ANOTHER PERSON? THINK ABOUT POPE FRANCIS; WHEN HE WAS FIRST
RAISED TO THE PAPACY, HE QUICKLY BECAME A MEDIA HERO. LIBERALS
THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO BRING WORLD-SHATTERING CHANGES TO THE
CHURCH. CONSERVATIVES WERE AFRAID THAT WHEN HE GOT THROUGH,
CATHOLICISM WOULD NO LONGER BE RECOGNIZABLE. NOW, ALMOST A YEAR
LATER, WE ALL BEGIN TO SEE A MORE REALISTIC PICTURE – A MAN WHO IS
DEVOTED TO THE POOR BUT FAITHFUL TO THE CHURCH; A MAN WHO LIVES WHAT
HE PREACHES, AND SEEMS TO BE TOUGH ENOUGH TO MAKE SOME CHANGES THAT
HAVE BEEN DESPERATELY NEEDED.
OR CONSIDER OUR
PRESIDENT. WHEN HE WAS ELECTED THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT ACTED AS
THOUGH HE WAS THE SECOND MESSIAH. AND OF COURSE THERE CONTINUE TO BE
PEOPLE WHO HAVE DECIDED THAT HE IS THE REINCARNATION OF KARL MARX OR
JOSEPH STALIN. BUT MOST PEOPLE HAVE MOVED TO THE MIDDLE AND SEE A
FLAWED HUMAN BEING WHO IS TRYING TO DO A JOB THAT PERHAPS NO ONE
COULD DO WELL.
ALL OF US GO THROUGH
LIVES WITH TWO SELVES. THERE IS THE SELF THAT EVERYONE SEES AND THAT
LIVES IN OUR HEARTS AS WELL. DEPENDING ON WHO IS LOOKING AT IT, IT
IS DIFFERENT. TO SOMEONE ELSE THAT SELF MIGHT BE A FOOL OR SOMEONE
WORTH IMITATING AND LEARNING FROM. TO MYSELF, THE SELF IS THE IMAGE
I HAVE OF WHO I AM – A DOCTOR OR A LAWYER; A HUSBAND, A FATHER,
SOMEONE WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR, SOMEONE WHO IS REACTING TO TRAGEDY.
PROBABLY THE SELF THAT I SEE IS EVEN MORE DISTORTED THAN THE SELF
OTHER PEOPLE SEE.
BUT REGARDLESS, FOR ALL
OF US THERE IS A FALSE SELF. AND PART OF THE JOURNEY OF A CHRISTIAN
IS TO DISCARD THE SELF THAT IS FALSE AND FIND THE SELF THAT IS TRUE,
THE GENUINE SELF. AND WHEN THIS HAPPENS, WE DISCOVER WE DON'T EVEN
MISS THE FALSE SELF.
TODAY, JESUS TELLS US
SOMETHING ABOUT HIS TRUE SELF. HE IS TRANSFIGURED, HE APPEARS
SPOTLESS AND BEAUTIFUL AND GLORIOUS, AND THE DISCIPLES CAN BARELY
LOOK AT HIM. HE TRANSCENDS TIME AND SPACE, AND SPEAKS WITH THE
GREATEST OF LAWGIVERS AND THE GREATEST OF PROPHETS; TIME AND SPACE DO
NOT LIMIT HIM. AND HIS TRUE SELF IS RECOGNIZED BY GOD THE FATHER WHO
PROCLAIMS HIM “BELOVED” AND TELLS ALL OF US TO LISTEN TO HIM.
JESUS FROM NOW ON WILL SPEAK FOR THE FATHER, WHO NO LONGER SPEAKS TO
US DIRECTLY. THE FATHER HAS SPOKEN HIS LAST WORDS WHEN HE SPEAKS THE
SON, THE WORD MADE FLESH.
JESUS WILL CONQUER SIN
AND DEATH, AND WHEN HE RISES FROM THE DEAD HIS APOSTLES WILL AGAIN
SEE HIS TRUE SELF, THE SELF THAT HAS NO LIMITATIONS, THE SELF THAT
CAN GIVE THE SPIRIT, THE SELF THAT PROMISES TO LIVE IN HIS CHURCH AND
TO PREPARE A DWELLING PLACE IN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE FOR HIS FRIENDS.
AND HERE'S THE THING. AT
THE TRANSFIGURATION, I THINK JESUS REVEALS NOT ONLY HIS TRUE SELF,
BUT YOURS AND MINE. SOMETIMES WE ARE SO AWARE OF OUR SINS AND OUR
LIMITATIONS THAT WE START TO THINK WE AREN'T WORTH VERY MUCH. SOME
OF OUR THEOLOGY SEEMS TO SAY THAT WE ARE INSIGNIFICANT, WE CAN'T DO
ANYTHING RIGHT, WE DESERVE HELL, AND FOR REASONS THAT TOTALLY ESCAPE
US, GOD HAS CHOSEN TO PULL US OUT OF THE MUD AND GIVE US ETERNAL LIFE
AND ETERNAL HAPPINESS. BUT THINK ABOUT IT. JESUS WAS HUMAN LIKE YOU
AND I, AND HE WAS HUMAN ON THE MOUNTAIN AS WELL. YOU CAN'T SEPARATE
JESUS INTO A DIVINE PART AND A HUMAN PART; HE IS DIVINE AND HUMAN AT
THE SAME TIME. THE APOSTLES DIDN'T GET A GLIMPSE OF THE SON OF GOD,
THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY; THEY SAW THE HUMAN BEING JESUS AS
HE REALLY WAS, THEY SAW HIS TRUE SELF. AND THAT TRUE SELF ISN'T VERY
DIFFERENT FROM YOURS AND MINE.
WHEN SAINT FRANCIS
KISSED THE LEPER, WHEN MOTHER THERESA CLEANED THE SORES AND COMFORTED
THE DYING STREET PERSONS IN CALCUTTA; WHEN ST KATHERINE DREXEL SPENT
HER FAMILY FORTUNE IN THE SERVICE OF FORMER SLAVES AND SUBJUGATED
INDIANS – THEY SAW THE REAL SELVES OF THE PEOPLE THEY WERE SERVING.
THAT'S A GIFT GOD GIVES HIS SAINTS. AND THEY SAW THE LEPER, THE
BEGGARS, THE OPPRESSED PEOPLES AS THEY REALLY ARE – BELOVED OF GOD,
SHINING WITH AN INNER LIGHT, HAVING WITHIN THEM SOMETHING
WONDERFULLY LOVEABLE, SO MUCH SO THAT GOD IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH
THEM. AND THE MORE YOU AND I BECOME OUR TRUE SELVES, THE MORE WE ARE
TRANSFIGURED TO OUR OWN VISION, THE MORE WE SEE THE TRUE SELVES OF
THOSE AROUND US.
THAT'S THE REAL REASON
THE CHURCH OPPOSES ABORTION AND EUTHANASIA – WHAT IS BEING KILLED
IS BELOVED OF GOD DESTINED FOR ETERNAL LIFE. THAT'S WHY THERE IS
SOMETHING OF INFINITE VALUE IN THE PERSON WHO IS BEING CRIPPLED BY
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OR THE CHILD BORN WITH SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION.
YOU MY NOT SEE IT, BUT ASK THE LOVING SON OF THE MOTHER WITH
ALZHEIMERS, OR THE PARENTS THAT GAVE BIRTH TO THE CHILD, BECAUSE THEY
HAVE GLIMPSED THE TRUE SELF.
OUR GOAL IS TO GROW OUT
OF OUR FALSE SELVES AND BECOME THE SELVES THAT WE REALLY ARE, THE
SELF THAT GOD SEES, THE SELF THAT IS VISIBLE TO THE SAINT. ON THE
MOUNTAIN JESUS GAVE HIS APOSTLES A VISION OF THAT TRUE SELF. HE
WANTS HIS FOLLOWERS TO HAVE A PICTURE, SO THAT THEY CAN WORK TOWARDS
SEEING THEMSELVES AS THEY REALLY ARE – REFLECTIONS OF GOD HIMSELF.
AND ODDLY ENOUGH, THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS IS TO SEE OTHERS AS THEY
REALLY ARE. IT DOESN'T COME EASILY; WE SEE THE OTHERS FALSE SELF
THROUGH OUR OWN FALSE VISION. WE COMPARE, WE MEASURE, WE ACCUSE, WE
ARE UNFORGIVING, OR WORST OF ALL, WE IGNORE. BUT IF WE BEGIN BY
LOOKING AT THE OTHER PERSON AS AN ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST, GRADUALLY
WE BEGIN TO SEE HIS BEAUTY, HER GLORY – WE SEE THE OTHER PERSON AS
TRANSFIGURED, AND WE HEAR GOD CALLING OUT, “THIS IS MY BELOVED”.
AND WHEN WE TRULY RECOGNIZE THAT OUR NEIGHBOR IS GOD'S BELOVED, WE
START TO SEE THAT WE ARE AS WELL. AND OUR FALSE SELF BEGINS TO
WITHER AWAY – IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW SMART OR RICH OR ATHLETIC I AM.
IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER WHETHER I PRAY MORE OR LIVE A BLAMELESS LIFE,
BECAUSE THOSE ARE REACTIONS TO GOD'S LOVE, NOT THE CAUSE OF HIS LOVE.
AND WHEN OUR FALSE SELF WITHERS AWAY OUR TRUE SELF WILL SHINE FORTH.
IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION THE AUTHOR DESCRIBES THOSE WHO HAVE
WITHSTOOD THE TEST; THEIR GARMENTS WILL BE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF
THE LAMB AND MADE WHITE AS SNOW. MAY WE LOOK AT EACH OTHER AND BE
BLINDED BY OUR TRUE SELVES.
