Luke's Transfiguration story (Luke 9: 28-36)

     I always empathize with Peter when I hear the Transfiguration story. Who wouldn't want to capture that moment of shining glory and certainty on the mountain and live there as long as possible? But the story is full of reminders that Peter is missing the big picture. Moses and Elijah are not congratulating Jesus on a victory already won, but talking about "his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem"– that is, his suffering and death. A week earlier Jesus himself told the disciples that the Messiah must be rejected and killed in order to fulfill his mission (Luke 9:21-22) and that his followers must take up their own crosses. Now the voice of God confirms the message: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
 
     The Transfiguration is more than a temporary respite on the way to the cross, however. The memory of this shining, transcendent assurance of God's presence and grace must have sustained Peter and the other disciples during the hardest periods of their lives. Knowing the story can sustain us, in turn, as we embrace the work that God has given us to do. Like Peter, we are called to follow Jesus down from the mountain, back into the everyday world of struggling, confused human beings that he came to redeem. If we can see the glory of Jesus's example through the eyes of faith, we should be able to respond wholeheartedly when he calls us to share in his mission of redemption. If we can hope to be gradually changed by grace into the likeness of our Lord, we should have enough strength and courage to keep working against systemic injustice, undaunted even by big, complicated challenges like gun violence, global poverty, and climate change.