WEBVTT 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:09.519 Christ is in our midst. It's good to be with 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:13.740 you today, brothers and sisters, to parallel 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:19.219 what Peter said to our Lord on Mount Tabor. Lord, 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:22.879 it is good for us to be here. So it's good to 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:30.620 be with all of you on this day. This feast... 00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:34.729 is sometimes hard to define because in the middle 00:00:34.729 --> 00:00:38.329 of our Lord's ministry, this remarkable event 00:00:38.329 --> 00:00:40.530 happens. And we ask ourselves, or at least I 00:00:40.530 --> 00:00:44.329 did, early on when I first began to study the 00:00:44.329 --> 00:00:46.149 scriptures and go to seminary and everything, 00:00:46.710 --> 00:00:50.570 what is this kind of almost resurrectional event 00:00:50.570 --> 00:00:53.810 doing in the middle of the gospel? And it's in 00:00:53.810 --> 00:00:55.909 all three synoptic gospels, and I believe in 00:00:55.909 --> 00:00:59.390 John also. What is it doing there since the resurrection 00:00:59.390 --> 00:01:03.380 is coming? The cross is coming. And of course, 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:09.140 we've already had the virgin birth. And I think 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:13.379 the answer comes a little bit from these words 00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:17.180 from St. Paul that I picked up from a sermon 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:25.900 from St. Leo. But St. Paul says, for I reckon 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:30.480 that the suffering of this time. In other words, 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:33.400 the struggles of this life, the persecutions 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:35.200 that were certainly going on in their lives, 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:38.420 but just the struggle of being human, if we want 00:01:38.420 --> 00:01:43.319 to be clear about that, and all the disappointments 00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:47.620 on the one hand and the joys on the other. You 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:50.379 know, we have been baptized into our Lord Jesus 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:54.879 Christ's church. There's no greater sort of joy 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.299 than this, and this knowledge or this understanding. 00:01:58.229 --> 00:02:00.250 And yet at the same time we find this kind of 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:02.230 paradox going on within us, and that is on the 00:02:02.230 --> 00:02:04.750 one hand I rejoice, on the other hand I'm so 00:02:04.750 --> 00:02:07.469 easily drawn back into, I don't know what it 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:09.530 might be, my preoccupations, the things that 00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:13.030 I want, my depressions or whatever you want to 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:15.810 call them, but my fallenness, our general fallenness. 00:02:16.110 --> 00:02:18.669 And so we find ourselves in this struggle constantly, 00:02:18.770 --> 00:02:21.669 don't we, brothers and sisters? It's not a struggle 00:02:21.669 --> 00:02:24.189 that we should ultimately lament because God 00:02:24.189 --> 00:02:27.689 has placed us... in this situation. And he has 00:02:27.689 --> 00:02:30.150 given us the tools and the means through the 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:33.830 life of the church to fight the good fight and 00:02:33.830 --> 00:02:36.689 to struggle, as St. Paul says. I reckon that 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:40.370 the sufferings of this time, he goes on to say, 00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:43.250 the sufferings of this time are not worthy to 00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:47.030 be compared with the future glory which shall 00:02:47.030 --> 00:02:51.030 be revealed in us later on, which shall be revealed 00:02:51.030 --> 00:02:53.759 in us later on. So even though we're going through 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.000 all of this, the promise is that if we live according 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:01.360 to the life in Christ, if we struggle with our 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:03.639 sins, not in spite of them, but with our sins, 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:07.280 asking forgiveness, asking repentance, participating 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.080 in the life of the church, especially within 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:15.860 the Holy Eucharist, who can be against us, so 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:18.379 to speak? Who can be against us? Who can fight 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:22.849 against us? So we are engaged, let's make no 00:03:22.849 --> 00:03:26.770 mistake, every day in spiritual warfare, aren't 00:03:26.770 --> 00:03:30.610 we? Every day when we wake up, we are engaged 00:03:30.610 --> 00:03:33.509 in spiritual warfare. And let us not shrink away 00:03:33.509 --> 00:03:36.349 from that warfare, but embrace the things that 00:03:36.349 --> 00:03:41.409 God has given us and fight the good fight. Now, 00:03:41.469 --> 00:03:45.270 with regards to this event on Mount Tabor, we 00:03:45.270 --> 00:03:50.669 see, really, if we read what comes before, this 00:03:50.669 --> 00:03:53.849 event in the scriptures. And a lot of the commentaries 00:03:53.849 --> 00:03:57.590 on the transfiguration like to say that it's 00:03:57.590 --> 00:04:00.710 kind of the center point of the gospel. The gospel 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:04.189 is very different after and before the events, 00:04:04.389 --> 00:04:07.750 but certainly before, certainly before, and especially 00:04:07.750 --> 00:04:11.110 after Pentecost to the church on Sundays, we 00:04:11.110 --> 00:04:13.789 hear about all the things that established Christ 00:04:13.789 --> 00:04:17.389 as the Messiah, as the one who was expected to 00:04:17.389 --> 00:04:21.209 come. the one we've been waiting for, the healing 00:04:21.209 --> 00:04:24.589 of the blind man, all these healings, not just 00:04:24.589 --> 00:04:28.589 of the blind man, the feeding of the 5 ,000, 00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:31.790 the casting away, the casting out of demons, 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:36.430 especially in that reading of the demoniacs or 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:39.889 the demoniac who live across the Sea of Galilee, 00:04:39.990 --> 00:04:44.300 our Lord walking on water. And then, of course, 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:45.860 there's this remarkable, just in preparation 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:48.699 for this feast, there's this remarkable discussion 00:04:48.699 --> 00:04:51.920 that Jesus has with his disciples when he says 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:56.160 to them, who do people say that I am? And there's 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.160 a lot of speculation. Well, some say you're a 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:00.899 prophet, others say you're a very holy man. On 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:03.899 and on it kind of goes. It becomes kind of almost 00:05:03.899 --> 00:05:05.980 an intellectual exercise. And then you get the 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:09.079 impression from the gospel that then Jesus interrupts 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.060 them and says, but who do you? Who do you say 00:05:12.060 --> 00:05:15.100 I am? And this is the same sort of question that's 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:17.319 leveled at all of us. But who do you say I am? 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:21.259 What is your confession concerning me? And of 00:05:21.259 --> 00:05:24.199 course, Peter, we know what Peter says. You're 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.699 the son of God. You're the Messiah. You're the 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:28.899 expected one. And then our Lord says, flesh and 00:05:28.899 --> 00:05:32.439 blood didn't reveal this to you, Peter. You know. 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:37.019 Okay. But the kingdom of heaven. But God in heaven. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.319 And so only after all of this. Only after all 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:44.660 of these kind of, I suppose, preparations of 00:05:44.660 --> 00:05:48.600 miracles does the event of transfiguration occur. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:51.819 And how does this happen? Our Lord takes Peter, 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.319 James, and John, doesn't he? And they go up Mount 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.019 Tabor. And when they get there, we've just heard 00:05:58.019 --> 00:06:01.540 about it in the reading so beautifully done by 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:06.800 our deacon. In the reading, our Lord is transfigured. 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:10.230 His face becomes as bright like the sun. And 00:06:10.230 --> 00:06:14.310 he is bathed in this uncreated light. We hear 00:06:14.310 --> 00:06:18.209 about not just in the gospel, but also sometimes 00:06:18.209 --> 00:06:21.389 in the readings of the fathers, the ability to 00:06:21.389 --> 00:06:24.730 somehow, on very, very rare occasions, but nevertheless 00:06:24.730 --> 00:06:28.949 genuine occasions, to perceive the uncreated 00:06:28.949 --> 00:06:31.550 light, the uncreated light, the light of heaven. 00:06:32.110 --> 00:06:35.089 And it is always referred back to the uncreated 00:06:35.089 --> 00:06:38.920 light that the apostles beheld. on Mount Tabor, 00:06:39.019 --> 00:06:43.839 and with our Lord are whom? Moses and Elijah. 00:06:44.060 --> 00:06:47.759 Moses, in a sense, representing the law and the 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:49.800 fulfillment of the law in our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:54.019 and Elijah representing the prophets. I like 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:56.879 it in the gospel, and they were speaking to one 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:59.639 another. You know, I'd like to know what that 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:02.120 discussion was all about. It doesn't tell us 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:04.420 what's being said there, but they were speaking 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:09.279 to one another. And then, of course, the apostles, 00:07:09.399 --> 00:07:11.259 as we know, are frightened to death. They can't 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:14.079 bear it, as it says in the hymnology, as far 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:17.180 as they could bear it. And in the icon you look 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:19.360 at as you entered into church today and venerated 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:22.459 it, the apostles are faced down, aren't they? 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:27.560 They just simply cannot bear in fear what's going 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.459 on. But our Lord goes and touches them and brings 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:33.680 them up and says, don't be afraid. At the same 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.180 time, a voice comes, doesn't it? And it's the 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:39.649 voice. It's the voice of God. You know, fear 00:07:39.649 --> 00:07:44.149 not. This is my beloved son in whom I am well 00:07:44.149 --> 00:07:46.949 pleased. You know, listen to him. That's the 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:52.810 final. Listen, obey, do what he says. So we're 00:07:52.810 --> 00:07:54.589 at that point in our lives, brothers and sisters. 00:07:54.649 --> 00:07:57.069 Well, some of you are eight years old, like my 00:07:57.069 --> 00:08:00.829 grandson here or my granddaughter. My two granddaughters, 00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:05.100 one who is four and the other who's 12. But nevertheless, 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:11.279 we're old enough to understand that the time 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:13.259 has come, especially given the fact that the 00:08:13.259 --> 00:08:16.920 church is called upon in this age, this age of 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:19.839 confusion especially. My goodness, what a confused 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:23.920 age we live in. Violent, foolish, at times remarkably 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.680 ignorant. In this age, more than ever, we're 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:30.120 called upon to, well, how do we respond? We respond. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.419 through the witness of the church. Look at this. 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:36.559 Look what we have. Look what Father Lawrence 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.559 has led us to here in this church along with 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:41.899 his father and the other clergy that have served 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:44.679 here over the years. But look at this. The church 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:50.320 is, in fact, the earthly heaven. Gathered around 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:54.000 the table of God, receiving Christ's body and 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.580 blood, being nourished to go forward, we are 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:00.419 given this wisdom. To participate, to endure, 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:04.419 not only to endure, but to witness. So God give 00:09:04.419 --> 00:09:08.899 us the strength to witness in this age with courage 00:09:08.899 --> 00:09:14.379 and with a degree of surety when we speak to 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:17.120 others about the life of the church. We're so 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:20.580 fortunate, we're so fortunate ultimately to be 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:22.600 here. And then within the life of the church 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:25.299 we have each other, don't we? To encourage us 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:30.019 and nurture us. And we often ask ourselves, how 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:33.679 did I get here? I'm a convert, and I would imagine 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:36.779 most of you nowadays are converts. I don't know. 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:40.919 I won't ask for a show of hands. But nevertheless, 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:46.460 I ask myself, how on earth did I end up in the 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:49.940 Orthodox Church, you know, kind of a product 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:52.580 of middle -class America, California, in the 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:56.009 Bay Area? How did I ever end up here? And the 00:09:56.009 --> 00:09:58.610 only answer we can finally give is it's a blessing. 00:09:58.929 --> 00:10:02.429 It's a blessing from God. I love all the remarkable 00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:05.529 coincidences of meeting each other and knowing 00:10:05.529 --> 00:10:07.330 about things within the life of the church. All 00:10:07.330 --> 00:10:10.210 you have to do is travel and go from one church 00:10:10.210 --> 00:10:12.470 to another and you run into these coincidences 00:10:12.470 --> 00:10:17.389 and these comings together. And today I had the 00:10:17.389 --> 00:10:19.169 same experience with Father Lawrence when I walked 00:10:19.169 --> 00:10:22.549 in. He said, you know, he said, today is the 00:10:22.549 --> 00:10:27.220 day. remarks the, I don't know, how many years 00:10:27.220 --> 00:10:29.000 has it been, Father Lawrence, that Father George 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:33.860 marks the 30 years, the 30 -year anniversary 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:37.059 of the death of Father George Benningson. Did 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:40.019 any of you know him? A few of you did. Well, 00:10:40.179 --> 00:10:44.759 guess what? He baptized me. He baptized my wife 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:49.159 and I, Matryoshka that's here. And he received 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:52.059 us into the church, of course. He baptized us. 00:10:52.509 --> 00:10:55.610 and brought us into the life of the church. He 00:10:55.610 --> 00:10:58.950 and Matryoshka Helen were our godparents, and 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:01.429 we were simply baptized alone with the two of 00:11:01.429 --> 00:11:05.230 them one Saturday morning. We kind of stumbled 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:07.649 into the life of the church, and thanks be to 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:09.529 God, it's been given to us. Well, this is kind 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:12.029 of my personal goings -on, so forgive me for 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:14.809 talking like this. It's not very dignified. I'm 00:11:14.809 --> 00:11:20.200 sorry. I'm sorry. So, we've got it all. And the 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:24.580 experience of transfiguration reveals to us, 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:26.740 you know, and to those who are kind of struggling 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:29.980 along the way, the apostles, you know, as St. 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:34.860 Paul says, you know, that this revealing, this 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:37.639 experience of the uncreated life is just another 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:40.519 reinforcement for the church and for the apostles 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:43.080 and for those who are transfigured in our lives 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:46.500 because of it. We are transfigured, in a sense, 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.820 right along with Peter, James, and John, or at 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:51.840 least we're witnesses to this transfiguration. 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:54.960 But our lives are transfigured because we are 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.360 in the church. And if at times it's a struggle, 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:02.080 never doubt that you haven't been transfigured 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.340 through your baptism and through what it means 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:09.919 to just be here. Lord, it is so good to be here. 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:11.240 Christ is in our midst.