BECOMING FULLY AWAKE

 

February 26, 2025

 

Lk 9:28b-36

Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up the mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,
but becoming fully awake,
they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is good that we are here;
let us make three tents,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But he did not know what he was saying.
While he was still speaking,
a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,
and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
They fell silent and did not at that time
tell anyone what they had seen.

 

Last Sunday in our Worship at Church we followed Jesus into the desert where He fasted and prayed. There he encountered a season of testing to abandon God’s plan which would include suffering, and instead take in the Devil’s invitation to take a short cut to accomplish God’s goal. Our Gospel reading today, leads us up a mountain to witness His Transfiguration.In these two events Jesus is preparing us to go with Him, as we do each year during the season called Lent, to another hilltop, called Golgotha, and there He will lay down His life for us, and then we will be led to an empty tomb where Jesus would triumph over sin and death once and for all.

The purpose of these two types of experiences, desert testing and Transfiguration mountain is summed up in the description of the disciples who were with Jesus at that mountain-top experience in today’s reading: “Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory….”

I do not know about you, but here is what I know about me, it is all too easy to get lulled into complacency in my daily routines, to “sleep or sleepwalk” through life. To not be “fully awake” to see God’s glory. Can you relate? Getting up and getting ourselves going out the door, and going to work or into a busy and full day, returning home for supper and dishes, maybe a meeting, or sports activities, and finally flopping on the couch to stream a few episodes of a sit-com or favorite drama until bedtime. While there is nothing fundamentally wrong in this routine, as Jesus followers we are called to more than a sleepy daily walk of the same old. I’d trade that same old for an experience of God’s glory, wouldn’t you.

These mountain-top moments of desert or transfiguration, bring us back to our senses, wake us from our slumber and fill us with gratitude to God. The outcome of which encourages us to give Jesus more of ourselves by the sharing of our time, talents, and treasure.

When we surrender ourselves to Jesus in this way, we allow Him to train us, disciple us to say “Yes” to His will and to offer our lives back to Him. It is in this gesture of obedience to God that we are “transfigured.” I believe, this is what it means to live fully awake; this is a way of life that is truly glorious.