Transfiguration Sunday
John 9:1-41
After
he tells the blind man to go wash, Jesus disappears from the story until verse
35. Nowhere else in this gospel do we get 28 verses without Jesus speaking and
acting. Instead, we have a man who has been touched and affected by Jesus, but
who has never seen him.
Is
there anyone here who can relate to that- having been affected by Jesus’ words
or presence or actions, but never having seen Him? The blind man is seeking Jesus, working toward understanding
his transfiguration, rejoicing in the change in his life.
Remember
that in this gospel, in John, sin is not about actions. Sin is not what you do-
it is what you believe or fail to believe. So the man’s blindness is not in
this story so that we (or anyone else) might reflect on sin, what causes sin,
and what happens after sin. The blindness just is.
In this circumstance, it is an opportunity for God’s
work. God’s work in Jesus is revealing the divine nature and desires. The
Spirit’s work around Jesus is supporting belief, trust, faith that Jesus makes
God plain.
The people around Jesus, even in his absence in
these verses, are being transfigured by his presence and his actions. They are
coming to faith, coming to a deeper understanding of God in their midst, or
they are resisting that understanding. Transfiguration, being transformed,
undergoing change isn’t easy. It can be painful, frustrating, and feel lonely.
In the beginning, God created out of clay and breath-
bringing people into being and into relationship. God transfigured with an eye
toward relational possibility, a new way of being together. Here, Jesus heals with clay and with
breath- bringing this man into a new being and into relationship. Jesus
transfigures with an eye toward relational possibility, a new way of this man
being together with his community.
We can get stuck in these stories because of our modern
understanding of disability. We know that blindness or deafness or other
physical difficulties (or mental difficulties) are caused by congenital problems
or by accidents. We are caught in the action part. Try to let your modern mind
go for a minute. This isn’t now, and never was about the disability. Instead,
God is using the opportunity (again) to reveal the Divine Desire and ability
through Jesus.
For us, this becomes a story about transfiguration-
about the areas of blindness in our life, about truths we don’t want to see,
about relationships we don’t want to embrace. The tough gospel news about
Transfiguration is this: we, you, I can be transfigured by something we haven’t
seen. We are being transformed by something that is beyond us. We can be, and
are, shaped by something we don’t fully understand.
That is God’s work in Jesus, through the Spirit, in
us, in our lives, in our world.
Transfiguration
of Desires
Transfiguration
Sunday comes right before Ash Wednesday. Next Sunday will be the first Sunday
in Lent.
In
the coming week, many of you will be choosing something from which to fast in
the next forty days.
May
I recommend that you reflect on Transfiguration? Approach Lenten fasting and
feasting with a desire to see Jesus.
Let’s
take a moment to reflect on what we want God to transfigure in our lives and in
the world.
