The Transfiguration is a story about the sudden awareness of the presence of God. Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain in Galilee and began to pray. Divine light shone from his face and clothing, and they heard the voice of God identifying Jesus as his son and commanding them to listen to him.
They’d been sleepy – but they woke up! They’d heard Jesus pray and speak many times before, but this time was different. They realized they were part of something larger than themselves. For a moment, they felt one with the universe. We are just like them this morning. As we gather to pray, sing, and tell the stories, we always know that we’re part of something larger than ourselves. We know that in Christ Jesus, we are one with the universe and one another.
Indeed if I am in Christ Jesus, I’m always on the mountaintop with my Lord and my companions, hearing the voice of God saying, “Listen to him.” Listen, when he says love my neighbor as myself. Listen, when he says that when I feed and house someone who is hungry or unhoused, it’s though I am feeding and housing Jesus. Listen, when he says my faith can move mountains and make a difference. Listen, even when I’m feeling weak, if I’m sick or lonely. Listen, because my Lord and savior is with me.
For the Christian, the White House is the ultimate mountaintop. President Trump says he believes we are a Christian nation. But he didn’t welcome President Zelensky as a friend in Christ. For three years, President Zelensky has led his people with courage and vision, but our president didn’t treat him with respect.
When we’re on the mountaintop with our Lord, we treat everyone with respect. We may believe the United States should have a stronger border. But millions of immigrant workers and their families are already here, doing work we have offered them, paying their taxes, and caring for their communities. We’re on the mountaintop with Jesus, so we treat them with respect.
Human life is complicated, including orientation and identification in all their diversity and complexity. But we Christians, we reside up on the mountain with our Lord, and we’ve promised God over and over that we would respect the dignity of every human being. So we do what Jesus and his friends did. We lead with love every time.
The Hebrew Testament says Moses’s face also shone like the sun on the day he brought the law down from Mt. Sinai. If you show me any law or commandment in the Bible, I can show you that it’s about protecting the community and every individual it contains. Our Lord gave us the law to keep all the people safe.
If the law says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” it’s not to punish the sinner. It’s because God needs us to understand that the easiest way to hurt someone is break our promises. If break my promises to my spouse, I hurt them, our children, our friends, the whole family, the whole community. Our God in Christ wants us all to be safe on the mountaintop. The purpose of God’s law is not to make us feel bad about ourselves but help us do the best job we can caring for one another and God’s whole creation.
We stand with Jesus on the mountaintop every day. We see him there with all the prophets, Moses and Elijah, Isaiah and Amos, all those who proclaimed God’s eternal word of righteousness, justice, and love, God’s promise of safety and freedom. They don’t need us to build them shelters! We may as well build them for one another and ourselves. For the neighbors we know, and those we don’t know yet. We may as well build safe, just communities according to the commandments of Almighty God, give everyone we can a place to lay their heads, and keep doing it until no one is left out.
[A portion of my sermon Sunday at Iglesia Episcopal De Todos Los Santos in Highland Park, where I also presided at the bilingual service. the priest in charge these five years, the Rev. Otto Vasquez, has served at the church for 31 years, beginning the day his son, Alex, was baptized. While working long hours as a contractor, Fr. Otto has poured enough energy and love into building up his parish as to defy belief. Another tireless Todos Los Santos friend of many years, senior warden Dan Valdez, served as my kind chaplain and also assisted during Holy Eucharist, Michael Rose drove in from the desert, as usual, to play keyboards exquisitely. Fr. Otto thanked all who worked on Saturday night’s Mardis Gras party, which 150 attended. I learned from longtime member Nadia Casildo, who works for the California Conservation Corps, of her work on wildfire recovery. We prayed over Digna Martinez, who is off today for a two-week visit to the Philippines. At a delicious lunch after church, three delightful younger members, all siblings, inquired about how my hearing aids worked and why I was there, precisely.]
