Clothesline 259 "Be that light"

Today, August 6th, holds a special place in our church calendar. It is designated as the Feast of the Transfiguration. Holy Scripture tells us of the time Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. But what happened on the mountain would change the apostles understanding of Jesus forever.

While they are praying, a cloud comes over the foursome and Jesus’ emerges glowing in light, so much so that the apostles have to cover their faces, the light is that bright. And in that exact moment, figures of Moses and Elijah appear in that same light, one on Jesus’ left and the other on his right. The apostles are awe-struck. Peter thinks they might be here for a while, so he suggests building three booths, one for each of them. A crazy idea? Perhaps. But it was surely more about wanting to react to the amazing sight and not knowing what to do or say. We do that sometimes, don’t we. We’re caught off guard by a question or a request and without thinking, we make a comment that doesn’t seem to fit the occasion.

Eventually, things return to normal—at least regarding the vision—and they come down from the mountain, and Jesus tells them to tell no one what they had seen. Can you even imagine keeping such a secret to yourself? Living in a world of darkness, and having seen the glory of the Lord break through, I would want to shout it out to the world: Jesus is Light. Jesus is the Light of this dark world!

I like to think that even though we do live in a world that seems dark at times, we know the truth. We as Christians know that darkness has been overcome. Each day may bring with it pain and sadness, but if we focus on the big picture, we can always find the “Light”! Look at the glory in a sunrise, the beauty of the flowers, the miracle of a newborn baby, the majesty and unbelievable colors in a sunset…just add your own ideas of beauty and light, and you will see Jesus in our own human way of transfiguration.

The message is about light. We are to be that light in this hurting and broken world. That’s why when we give candles to our Sunday morning visitors, we say, “We give candles to our visitors because we are the Light of Christ in this place, and we hope we can be that light to you.” Remember that when you are in a dark place…the Light of Christ is closer than you think.