Revelation and Change Through Encounter (Lk 9:28b-36)

Second Sunday of Lent, Year C (2016)           

            Many of us have been changed in a profound way by an encounter with someone or by some event.  For Peter, James and John, the transfiguration of Jesus was that kind of experience.  These disciples were profoundly changed by their encounter with Jesus during his transfiguration on the mountain top.  But, there are really two transfiguration stories in Scripture.  One is about the mountain top experience of Jesus, and the other is about the mountain top experience of Moses.  Both stories are about revelation and change through encounter, and both have spiritual meaning for our own lives today. 

            The transfiguration of Moses takes place on Mt. Sinai where the Lord speaks to Moses and forms a covenant with the Israelites.  During this encounter, the power of God shines on Moses and he is transfigured.  His face becomes radiant because God has empowered Moses to speak on his behalf.  Moses is to proclaim the covenant in terms of God’s patience and mercy due to his fidelity and boundless love for his people.  For Moses, this is revelation and change through encounter!   

            When Moses comes down from the mountain with the stone tablets, Aaron and the leaders of Israel see the shining face of Moses, but they do not recognize him.  They are afraid and run away.  They come back only after Moses calls out to them, because they hear and recognize his voice.  They listen to Moses, and as they listen, they come to understand that God gave Moses authority to speak on his behalf.  The Israelites then agree to do all that God commands through Moses (Ex 34). For the Israelites, this is revelation and change through encounter!

            Like the followers of Moses, Peter, James and John also react with fear when they see Jesus transfigured, but they do not run away.  Rather, they remain steadfast and courageous in faith.  Such courage motivates Peter’s proposal to build three tents.  The model for Peter’s proposal is the tent, or tabernacle, used during the Exodus as a sanctuary to house the Ark of the Covenant.  In this context, the word “tabernacle” means the indwelling presence of God.  Therefore, Peter’s proposal shows that he and the other disciples know they are in the presence of God.  As witnesses to the transfiguration, they come to understand that Jesus is God made present.  This is revelation and change through encounter! 

            The voice from the cloud during the transfiguration of Jesus is an echo of the voice heard at his baptism.  The voice speaks of Jesus’ identity, and also of his relationship with the Father.  As a result, when God says, “This is my beloved Son,” he connects the two experiences of baptism and transfiguration in the person of Jesus and thereby reveals the divinity of Jesus. 

            This same connection also occurs at our own baptism.  In baptism, we are identified as the beloved of God and formally welcomed into his family.  We are transformed into a true child of God in our faith community. Our baptismal experience is an encounter that shows we are loved by God and we are formally called to love.  From that point on, we are profoundly changed.  For each of us then, baptism is revelation and change through encounter! 

            Like the Israelites of long ago who had good reason for listening to Moses and the revelation from the “old mountain”, we too have good reason for listening to Jesus and the revelation from the “new mountain”.  Moses spoke on the authority of God, while Jesus speaks on his own authority.  Jesus is the Word of God that must be heard and taken seriously.  When we listen to the Word of God like Peter, James, and John in their encounter with Jesus, we can expect change no less dramatic.  When we listen to the Word of God and allow that Word to transform our hearts and our way of living, this is nothing less than revelation and change through encounter.

            There is a significant difference, however, between the mountain top experience of Moses as compared to the mountain top experience of Jesus.  Moses went up the mountain alone, while Jesus took three of his closest friends with him.  These three had already come to believe in Jesus, and by calling them to go with him, Jesus showed that he believed in them as well. The disciples therefore go up the mountain with Jesus as a faith community.  In and through this community, the disciples have the courage and ability to experience the transfiguration of Jesus as the presence of God.    

            Likewise, our own faith journey to the mountain top, so to speak, is one that we also do not take alone.  It is one that we take with others—indeed, must take with others—in a faith community.  In this community, the faith of others strengthens our own faith, and in turn, our faith strengthens theirs.  Together, we encounter the transfigured Jesus through Word and sacrament, especially in the Eucharist, where we become one with Jesus and one with each other. Together in our community, we come to know the love of God, and we are changed for the better.  Through this encounter of love in faith, we come to believe in Jesus because Jesus believes in us.  This is revelation and change through encounter!

           

Forgiveness, Human and Divine (Jon 3:1-10; Lk 11:29-32)

            The story about Jonah and the Ninevites is a story about repentance.  The gospel for today repeats that theme.  In the same way that Jonah preached repentance to the Ninevites, Jesus likewise came to call sinners to repentance (Lk 5:32).  He calls us to repentance so that we may have life to the full (Jn 10:10).  Jesus points out that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance (Lk 15:7).  Since by definition repentance is the renunciation of sin, repentance is a process of transformation that seeks healing through forgiveness.  A scriptural understanding of repentance therefore begins with an understanding of sin. 

            Scripture introduces the concept of sin with the story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit.  From this Old Testament story, we get the basic idea that sin is about breaking rules.  In the New Testament, however, the Greek word for sin is amartia, which means “to miss the mark.” In this New Testament sense, sin is not about breaking rules. Rather, sin is an orientation in one direction as opposed to another.  Sin is an orientation away from God. 

            The story of Adam and Eve, therefore, shows that we miss the mark when we turn away from the way we know God wants us to follow.  The story further illustrates that this departure constitutes a breach in our relationship with God because we no longer follow the true way.  That is, we are no longer with God, and Jesus makes it clear that whoever is not with God is against God (Lk 11:23).  But, follow a god we must.  So, when we do not follow the true God, we follow a false God.  Sin is nothing less than reliance on a false god.

            Repentance is the very opposite.  Repentance is a reorientation, a turning away from a false god and turning back to the true God.  Repentance is a process of transformation that seeks forgiveness as its goal.  Forgiveness is confirmation that the relationship damaged through sin has been restored.  Forgiveness confirms for us that we are healed.  This is true on a spiritual level as much as on a human level. 

            On a spiritual level, repentance is a two-step process.   The first step is to turn away from our false god, and the second step is to turn back to the True God.  Because the goal of repentance is forgiveness, however, it is not enough to say, “I’m sorry.”  Most of us tend to think of repentance and forgiveness as a moment in time, rather than as a process.  We experience sorrow for the wrong we have done, and then act as though feeling sorry is enough.  But, repentance is not just about feeling sorry.  The essence of repentance is transformation.  To repent means to turn away from sin and turn back to God.  On a spiritual level, if our sorrow reflects true repentance, we can be sure that God’s forgiveness is sure to follow and we are healed. 

             On a human level, however, forgiveness and healing can take time for both the one who does wrong and for the one who has been wronged. This can take time because forgiveness on the part of the one who has been wronged often requires genuine sorrow on the part of the one who did the wrong, along with a track record that shows such sorrow is in fact genuine. Sometimes we must demonstrate that our repentance is indeed genuine transformation.  For this reason, forgiveness does not necessarily happen all at once as an automatic response to an expression of sorrow and request for forgiveness.  Rather, forgiveness on a human level is a mutual process that more often happens over time.

            The readings for today do not provide the details of how transformation and healing that comes from repentance and forgiveness takes place.  The lack of such details illustrates that Scripture is not a narrative about rules and formulas, but a story that invites participation in the mission of Jesus.  The good news of Jesus is that our lives can be an expression of his love.  Our real humanity—the person we are called to be—comes to fruition through a spiritual transformation that enables and inspires us to express the love of Christ in our daily lives. 

           

The Difference Between Sheep and Goats (Mt 25:31-46)

          Divine loving is the basis of the story about the sheep and the goats.  This story is yet another illustration of the two great commandments that Jesus gives:  love God with your whole heart and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.  In fact, these two commandments are a summary of all that Jesus taught.  They are the measure of our actions and the measure of genuine Christian teaching.  Christian teaching follows the example of Jesus, who said to love others as he loves us. 

          Jesus provides many examples of how to love others; the parable of the sheep and the goats is perhaps the most familiar.  With this parable, Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick.  In other words, Jesus urges us to do more than wish others well and send them on their way without the necessities of life (Jm 2:16).  Jesus urges us to love others by taking an active regard for their well being. 

          Taking an active regard for others at times can be a difficult challenge to be sure, especially in regard to the poor.  The word “poor” sug­gests destitution—a lack of nutritious food, clothing, reasonable shel­ter and the economic resources to acquire these necessities.  When we are aware of people in such circumstances, our response is usually generous.  We do not lack compassion for those in need. 

          The difficulty, however, is that the poor are often invisible to us.  We simply do not see them.  Their invisibility stems primarily from geographic, occupational and social barriers that block one group from seeing another.   We feel bad for poor people, but they are hidden from our view.  They live someplace else.  Socially and geographically isolated, the poor these days are without name or face.

          Yet, these are the very ones Jesus urges us to love with real care and support.  In this light, John Paul II spoke of the need to abandon “a mentality in which the poor…are considered a burden, as irksome intruders trying to consume what others have produced” (Centesimus Annus ,1991, n.28).  The U.S. bishops first sounded this same call in their pastoral letter, Economic Justice for All (1986).  In that 1986 letter, the bishops present economic standards based on biblical norms and the social teaching of the Church. 

          The bishops relied on those norms to affirm that “all members of society have a special obligation to the poor and vulnerable.”  They note that the “preferential option for the poor” does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, strengthening the whole community by assisting those who are most vulnerable (EJ 16). 

          The bishops conclude that, “As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response” (EJ n. 16).  Therefore, the “invisible poor” must not be marginalized in society or in societal consciousness.   Neither should a “preferential option for the poor” be invisible in guiding social policies or a marginalized principle in the consciousness of Christians.  Because of its biblical grounding, this pastoral letter remains as compelling today as when it was first published.   

          This perspective therefore challenges us to uphold a different vision of life.  Jesus reminds us with the parable of the sheep and the goats that a person’s worth is determined not by appearance or income or ethnic background or even citizenship status.  Rather, each person is created in the image and likeness of God, and thus has a sacred worth as an inviolable gift of God.  In this way, Jesus reminds us that compassion and justice—especially in our care for the least of his beloved—are not arbitrary values agreed upon by politicians and sociologists, but holy commands from the One who created us.