The Long Perspective of God's Power

Beloved in Christ, 

Mount Tabor, the site of Jesus’ Transfiguration in this week’s gospel lesson, rises sharply and dramatically from the plains of the Jezreel Valley in southern Galilee. Because it stands alone, it offers an incredible perspective from its peak, and you can see for many, many miles in all directions, noting the ways in which all the major landmarks and geographic features are interconnected. 

The Transfiguration itself is also about perspective. Jesus has been teaching his disciples some hard truths. Being the Messiah will require that he give up his life, and discipleship will ask the same of all who follow his way. When the whole scene is overtaken by a mystical “bright cloud" - Jesus is flooded with light and joined by predecessors of God’s promise - it is illumining the present struggles from the perspective of eternity, offering a preview of the end of the story, when the power of God’s love proves unstoppable by even the worst our world can be or do. The moment is meant to strengthen the disciples before they enter into the hardest days. 

In hard times, it is easy to be consumed by the very real urgency of the work in front of us. Without perspective, we can think we are to beat back the darkness and save the world through our own efforts. But faithful action requires regular trips up the mountain to reset our perspective in the light of God’s power. 

Sitting with God in prayer will never feel urgent. There’s always plenty of good and holy things tugging at our attention down on the plains. But if we don’t allow our faces to be enfolded by Jesus’ light, if we don’t allow ourselves to be overtaken by the bright cloud, we will be unable to fully reflect that light through our work in the world. We can’t give what we don’t have. 

Jesus liberates the world by setting its cruelty and brokenness in the long perspective of God’s power. Our call is to constantly place our struggles in that perspective, and invite others to live in it, too, until the present darkness positively dazzles with God’s pure light. 

Grace and Peace, 

The Right Rev. Craig Loya