Epiphany/Lent

Today is the last Sunday after the Epiphany, the last Sunday in our commemoration of this season of Epiphany. Every year on this Last Sunday in Epiphany we hear one of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ transfiguration. We just heard the story from Matthew. Jesus goes up the holy mountain with Peter, James and John and, while they are there, somehow the disciples are able to perceive the radiant glory of God shining forth from Jesus’ face and his clothes. Jesus is dazzling.

This story, of course, fits with the theme of Epiphany: recognizing the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Peter, James and John saw the dazzling glory of God shining forth from the face of the man Jesus.

As the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, this Sunday is also, of course, the last Sunday before Lent. In the old calendar today would have been Quinquagessima. Remember the "gessima’s"? Did you every really know what they were? They were sort of a pre-Lent (as if Lent weren’t enough already). We don’t do the gessima’s anymore, but today is sort of a fulcrum, a hinge between Epiphany and Lent. We look back today to the Epiphany season and its message of recognizing God’s glory, and we look forward to the Lenten journey that lies just before us.

Within this context this Sunday prods us to consider another sort of Epiphany recognition. Yes, this story is about the disciples’ recognizing the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. But remember the words that God’s own voice speaks at the end of the transfiguration story. God’s voice from heaven says "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased." We heard these same words back at the beginning of Epiphany season when we celebrated Jesus’ baptism. As Jesus is baptized, God’s voice from heaven says, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased." And we were reminded then that God’s own voice says the same thing to us as we are baptized. "You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased." The Word of God, the voice of God, speaks to each of us in baptism. "You are a child of God. You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased. My glory I give to you." Can you have an Epiphany recognition of the presence of God’s glory present in your own heart? God’s glory dwells in your heart, shines in your face, abides in your life. As a baptized child of God, you are God’s beloved. With you God is well pleased.

Most of you know that the Presiding Bishop is in town. She was here for the consecration yesterday of Jeff Lee as the twelfth Bishop of Chicago. On Friday morning, she took the time to meet with all of the clergy of the diocese who were able to get downtown in the snow. One of the things she did was lead us in a meditation, encouraging us to hear God’s words spoken to us. "You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased." She challenged us to examine our resistance to hearing and believing those words… the ways we deflect and deny and avoid really hearing and believing these words spoken to us. But they are spoken to each one of us. "You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased. My glory dwells in you."

This morning’s collect says the same thing. It begins with a description of the transfiguration. "O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain." But then we pray that we, beholding the light in Jesus face, may ourselves "be changed into his likeness from glory to glory." We pray that we may be transfigured by God’s glory.

We always hear the story of the transfiguration on this Last Sunday after the Epiphany before Lent begins. In Jesus’ own life, the transfiguration took place just before he began his final journey to Jerusalem and the cross. For Jesus the journey to the cross is a glorious journey. It’s very important to remember that it was the human Jesus who was transfigured on the mountain. The shining glory of God did not come only after the resurrection. It was the very human Jesus on a dirty difficult journey to Jerusalem who shined with God’s glory. Human beings can bear and shine with the glory of God.

Without really thinking about it, I’ve always imagined that Jesus looked normal again after he came down the mountain, but now I’m not so sure. I wonder if a faint ember didn’t still glow, if somehow his face didn’t still shine. I think the disciples knew that they walked accompanied by God’s glory as they walked with Jesus towards Jerusalem. Maybe they heard God’s voice in their own ears. "You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased. My glory I bestow upon you."

This Last Sunday after the Epiphany reminds us of the very best that we, as human beings, can be by God’s grace. Transformed by God’s glory. Today the voice of God speaks to us. "You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased." No matter who you are or where you are in your human journey. You are beloved by God. Your life is rich with God’s glory. God’s Word, God’s voice, reminds us of the very best that we human beings can be, by God’s grace.

We need this reminder as we begin Lent. Because Lent reminds us of the very worst that we human beings are or can be operating on our own devices.

When you come to church on Ash Wednesday, you will hear the Word of God say to you, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."

The seasons of the church calendar are cumulative. We do not leave Epiphany behind as we enter Lent. The journey of Lent is about recognizing that we are both glorious and dust. Lent is about feeling and acknowledging within our own hearts and lives the worst of who and what we are on our own as human beings. And Lent is also about feeling and acknowledging within our own hearts and lives the best of who we are and what we can be as human beings glorified by God’s grace.

You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased. Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Both of these are the refrains of Lent. Step by step. The voice of God speaking one phrase then the other to each of us. You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased. Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. The journey of Lent is hearing and internalizing both of these statements spoken to us.

The best way to do that is by keeping Lent, observing Lent as a holy, special time. I often say that the Episcopal Church, as an institutional church, requires very little of its members. But it expects a lot. This is true for Lent. The Church does not stipulate or require any specific observance of Lent. But the Church does expect you to take responsibility yourselves for this time as an opportunity for spiritual growth. You must choose, out of your own will, to use Lent to strengthen your own faith, to deepen your awareness of God’s presence in your life. Lent is not about following some rules imposed by the church; Lent is about each of us claiming responsibility for our own faith.

On Ash Wednesday you will hear the Church’s formal invitation to you to observe a holy Lent. You must choose to make that a priority in your own life. You must take on your own Lenten discipline. Something that is significant for you. I want to urge you as strongly as possible to keep a holy Lent this year, to choose and follow some Lenten discipline.

If you have not already chosen a discipline or if you do not have a practice that is traditional for you, I have prepared a sheet informally subtitled "Lent for Dummies." It has a lot of suggestions for Lenten disciplines. Pick one that seems right for you or maybe these suggestions will generate some other idea for you. At a minimum, everyone should, during Lent, attend church every Sunday, on Ash Wednesday and every day during Holy Week. You should keep the fasts of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Different ways of keeping the fast are listed on the sheet. And everyone should have at least some sort of Lenten discipline.

It is by keeping a holy Lent, by following a Lenten discipline, that we hear God’s voice speaking to us in the places and events of our daily lives. You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased. Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. The Lenten journey, step by step, God speaking to us. You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased. Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. It is as we take this Lenten journey step by step, listening to God’s voice, that we will be transformed from glory to glory.