The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
February 22, 2009
Vol. 12 no. 08

Everything But...
           There is no escaping it today: we are going to hear two stories that are not ready for 21st century ears. No scientific minds can grasp a chariot of fire or a transfigured Jesus. Elijah appears in both tales, a fiery character in one, a surreal presence in the other.
          Too much surreality to cope with here, so let’s focus for the moment on the Gospel account of the Transfiguration. This is more than a miracle, not just water into wine or loaves and fish a-multiplying. It’s closer to the vision of Isaiah being ushered into the presence of God and all the angelic company than anything else we’ve experienced in the Gospels.
          Jesus knew what was coming and brought along his trusted three disciples, but when the heavenly voice spoke, it said something odd, “Listen to my beloved Son.” How can you listen when what you are seeing is so mind-blowing? You are not even able to keep your senses in order, so much is bombarding you.
          Only three ‘regular’ human beings saw this happening, and were sternly told by Jesus not to report it until after he was gone. Obviously, we are reading the written account of their experience, probably at third or fourth hand at best. While one always has to keep in mind is that God can never be described, yet, generations have tried hard to put God into words. Amazingly, many people want to take those words for the literal final word, and all that does is limit our understanding of God. By putting God into words we make our God too small.
          That’s what this odd Transfiguration story is supposed to do for us - goad us into realizing that God doesn’t fit our expectations. God is beyond our imagination, but we need to keep trying to imagine who God is.