15
Feb. 2015 Mark 9:2-9
The
Transfiguration in this Sunday's gospel happened on a mountain top — the disciples were
granted a vision of a perfectly complete unification of the promises of God’s love. Every one of us,
especially as children, has experienced a split second when the world is
perfect, whole, the Kingdom is spread out before us. We are in awe of something we don’t understand and
yet know it’s
the way things really are. Theologians
call this a perception of the ‘numinous.’ Sometimes
we call it “a mountain top
experience.” Usually it’s so powerful, we
can only marvel in silence, wanting it to last.
But
it doesn’t
last, does it? Suddenly it’s gone as quickly
as it came. “Suddenly they saw
no one with them any more, only Jesus.” What
happened? Why were the
disciples left with such an imperfect world and ‘only Jesus’? Why are we left
with such an imperfect world and ‘only
Jesus’? Why didn’t God create a
perfect world to begin with? Why is there so much suffering in this world that God could
have made perfect?
Or
did God create a perfect world — not
a perfect world in the daily news, but a perfect world for human beings to grow
in holiness? How so? As Christians, we
believe that our growth in holiness, in becoming more Christ-like, depends not
on transcending suffering, but on facing it with courage and trust. And we need ‘only Jesus’ to
show us how.
This
is not a perfect world and it will never be a perfect world, and yet it is
replete with opportunities to grow more Christ-like. What can we do
today, this week, to become more Christ-like toward our suffering brothers and
sisters in this community of Madison, Wisconsin?
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