Sometimes, what would it have been like? What
would it have been like? We look at this fresco.
Well, you heard the Apostle Peter tell you what
it was like. He was there. We have the prophetic
word confirmed, which you will do well to heed,
said Saint Peter, reflecting on this feast day
as a light that shines in a dark place until
the day dawns and the morning star, that's Christ,
arises in your heart. It's about light. It's
about change. Many of you speak to me about concern
about the division in our country on so many
different levels. It's amazing how many different
levels it really is. This brief look at the news
reveals a deep satisfaction with people. No bright
stars, no morning stars there. Mostly... People
are dissatisfied with how other people are. What
they say, how they act. We're here in this church
as Orthodox Christians and we regularly go over
to that corner to be honest about what we say,
what we do, how we act, our assumptions. Not
to feel guilty, but to feel cleansed by God so
we can stand here and receive the Eucharist as
a vessel of grace, to use the phrase that was
used at the All -American Council. A vessel can
be a ship, of course, and the church is this
vessel, but also a vessel is a holder, and that's
what we become. This dissatisfaction in this
country, as I say, we'll apply it to ourself.
Now, all this can be complicated. I apologize
for overgeneralization about the political, spiritual,
emotional, psychological divisions. But it seems
to me that this discontent, this dislike of that
group or another group, this strange discomfort
with one's own body, which we read so much about,
and the prejudice of all that, it truly reveals
that we're not really in the right place. That
heaven is our home. That we yearn to be changed.
We yearn for others to also be glorified. We're
not just earthbound, consuming, computing, cloning,
pleasure -seeking beings. We're not free without
God. The only true freedom is God. And we're
bound to him when we offer ourselves to him.
Because he gives us freedom from sin and death,
from fear and the devil. Any other freedom is
just a phantom. God boundlessly loves us. We
instinctively yearn. to be changed, to become
what Christ is. When our Savior appears at the
resurrection, we use the term second coming,
but we also say Christ is in our midst, so he
hasn't gone from us. When he appears in the resurrection
on the day of the Lord, as St. Peter the Apostle
says, we will see what the Apostle saw that day.
Christ Even his clothes were changed and sanctified.
It says they became whiter than any fuller, any
cleaner could make them. St. Gregory Palamas
calls this light from Christ, the uncreated light,
inexpressible, God's divinity, his kingdom, the
beauty and resplendence of the divine nature,
the vision and the delight. of the saints in
the age without end the natural ray and glory
of the divinity and we will not only see what
the chosen disciples peter james and john saw
that day and they heard this is my beloved son
we ourselves are going to share and we do even
now but fully and completely will share in the
uncreated light of God's presence with the saints
and experience fully his boundless love, which
we talk about so much. St. John would write of
the vision he saw near the end of his life about
the truth of this statement by St. Gregory Palamas.
He said he heard a loud voice from heaven saying,
Behold! The tabernacle of God is with men, and
he will dwell with them, and they shall be his
people. God himself will be with them and be
their God, and there will be no sun because God
himself will be the light. We have a destiny
not defined by biology, not defined by economics,
not defined by suffering, not defined by death.
not defined by our sin. Our destiny, our true
calling, our true nature, the meaning of our
life is to become, to change, to be like Christ.
On the mountain, for now, we cleanse ourselves
as we can. Transfiguration tells us that if we're
going to attain this, our faith... for 2 ,000
years, tells us that if we're going to attain
this, this shining in our hearts of the day star
of Christ continually, well, we have to ascend
the mountain. We have to labor. God will not
send us a taxi driven by an angel. It's the way
up to heaven. But sometimes, as... Abbott, Sergius,
and St. Tecans want to say, we have to go down
before we go up. We have to move towards humility
before we're ready for what God has for us. In
the chapter before what we read today, chapter
17 of the Gospel of Matthew, just previous to
that, just previous to that, there's St. Peter
saying to Christ, when Christ says, The Son of
Man is going to be crucified. You follow me,
pick up your cross, deny yourself. And Peter's
like, no, no way. The Messiah does not go to
the cross. Lord, you're a little mistaken here.
What kind of Messiah is crucified? Peter pushes
back against the message of the gospel, which
contains God's love for us. And this is a good
reminder that this comes just before transfiguration
because we might have a little trouble following
Christ. We might have a little trouble with that
message of the cross. We might unfortunately
question Jesus. Well, an honest and heartfelt
question to the Lord, our Savior, will be answered
with love, for sure. But a contradiction? of
what he says, out of fear, frustration, or pride,
will not go very well, as we know from how Jesus
responded to St. Peter. Get behind me, Satan.
You speak of the things of man, not of God. We
will learn looking at the saints through prayer,
through the gift of peace, peace of heart. Have
you experienced that peace of heart after confession
or communion? If so, Hold on to that precious
gift. And when it is gone, when there's anxiety
in the soul, when there's turmoil in your heart,
then that's not your normal state. You want to
attain that. But you have to get up there by
going low, by carrying the cross. The Lord is
good. He is trustworthy. Psalm 100 says, He is
good. His loving kindness is everlasting. His
faithfulness is to every generation. Let us rejoice
in this day, knowing that he will transfigure
us. And we offer ourselves to him like this fruit
is offered to him. It started from a seed. It
didn't look like this when it began. Neither
shall we. We don't know how we shall be, but
we know that we shall be like Christ. Amen.