Spiritual Treats - Transfiguration

SPIRITUAL TREATS

'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah' (Mark 9.5)

I am sure we can all recall some magical moments in life when we have wished that time could stand still - moments when we have been ecstatically happy and contented,

One such moment occurred for me at the Eucharist in Johannesburg Cathedral, South Africa, on the Second Sunday in Advent 1983. Yes, I can still recall the time and the place!

I remember it so clearly, as if it was yesterday.

When I close my eyes, I can still hear the organ thundering out the hymn "Lo, he comes on clouds descending". I can still smell the fragrance of incense which filled the air with its smoke drifting upwards to the rafters. And I can still recall the natural and spontaneous embrace of the Kiss of Peace, as black and white worshippers greeted one another.

There must have been 300-400 worshippers in that building. The service was, dignified yet robust. There was a tremendous warmth about the fellowship created through that act of worship. Suddenly I became aware that my worship here on earth was caught up with the eternal worship of God, with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven.

And as my heart and mind was lifted up high, I did not want that magical moment to end. I wanted it to go on, and on, and on.

But end, it did,

At the end of the Eucharist I stepped out into the bright sunlight of the commercial and shopping centre of that great city. I stepped out into the real world of South Africa, where in 1983 black and white people lived segregated lives. 'Whilst having shared the same cup at the altar, one could not share the same transport, schools or even public lavatories in the city.

How I wished that I could just close my eyes to the evil of apartheid and continue that heavenly experience of that cathedral worship.

But I could not.

All I could do was to take hope and encouragement from that spiritual treat, whereby the disfigured world of apartheid had been briefly transfigured through that act of worship.

For the first time, I think I knew how Peter, James and John must have felt when Jesus was transfigured before their eyes upon the mountain. No wonder Peter exclaimed: “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here”. No wonder they wanted to prolong the experience by making three dwellings to contain their religious experience. No wonder they were reluctant to go back down the mountain

For a few brief moments, all their worries and concerns about the impending suffering of Jesus had been put on hold. They knew, as did Jesus himself, that there was mounting opposition to Him, as the religious and secular leaders of the day began to collude with each other as to how they could put a stop to his ministry.

But alas, all good things must come to an end. So reluctantly, they returned to the disfigured world of hatred and bitterness; of devious plotting and character assassination, carrying with them the memory of that experience in their hearts and minds.

Just as parents will sometimes give their children a treat to encourage them to persevere, so the disciples were given a brief spiritual treat to encourage them to persevere in the dark days that lay ahead which would culminate in His death upon the cross.

God continues to give spiritual treats to us who are his disciples today, and never more so than in the Holy Eucharist, where Sunday by Sunday, we join with the angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven in the eternal worship of God.

Here in this Holy Eucharist we are given a glimpse of God; a taste of heaven, a vision of how things can be on earth. Such moments are precious and essential to our spiritual life for they give us hope and encouragement for the days that lie ahead.

It is natural to want to prolong the experience and put life on hold. It is natural to want to close our eyes and shut out the outside world as we become lost in eternity. It is natural to want to remain upon the mountain top for ever.

But we cannot.

We cannot escape behind stained glass windows and cut ourselves off from the world outside.

Dag Hammarskjold, you may recall, was the Secretary General of the United Nations in the 1960s. He was also a deep-thinking Christian. Throughout his diplomatic career he kept a journal in which he recorded his innermost feelings and thoughts. These were eventually published in a book called "Markings".

Perhaps one of the most profound thoughts recorded in the book is the observation: 'In our age, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action’.

Yes, a world of action created by God but disfigured by man. A world of wars, fighting and political instability; a world of hunger, disease and squalor; a world of corruption, greed and exploitation. Yet a world that is capable of being transfigured by God, through those who are his followers today.

But this can only be achieved, if first we have been with God upon the mountain top and have come to know him in all his mystery and glory; and if secondly, we are prepared to go down the mountain into the world where the “road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action”.

So having encountered God in the form of bread and wine in the Holy Eucharist, the service concludes with the words “Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord”.

And if you think you cannot make a difference, just think how South Africa has changed since I worshipped in the cathedral of Johannesburg in 1983. A change in which Christians – not just the heroes of our faith like Trevor Huddleston or Desmond Tutu but ordinary men and women like you and I - have been at the forefront of the gradual transfiguration of that disfigured country.