At a Loss

“At a Loss”

Rev. Stephen Milton

Lawrence Park Community Church

Transfiguration Sunday

March 2nd, 2025

Today is Transfiguration Sunday. It always precedes the beginning of Lent, which starts this Wednesday. It is a curious story in many ways. Jesus has invited his three closest disciples, Peter, James and John to come up a mountain to pray with him. But instead of a regular time of quiet prayer, they see as astounding event. Jesus suddenly begins to shine in a pure white light. He is flanked by two heroes of the Hebrew faith: Moses and Elijah. They discuss Jesus’ coming death and resurrection – his “deliverance” from mortality. Then, as if that wasn’t enough,  a cloud descends on the mountain top, and they hear God’s voice declare that this is God’s son, listen to him. Then, as soon as it began, it is all over.

A few things to notice. Luke tells us that Jesus’ clothes shone like lightning. 

Angel in Tomb

Later on in Luke’s Gospel, when he describes the angels in Christ’s tomb, he will say that they also wore clothes that gleamed like lightning ( Luke 24:4). The angels are clearly heavenly beings. 

So, when Jesus is described in the same way on the mountain, we are seeing what Jesus looks like in heaven.

Peter, James and John are freaked out. They don’t know what to do. This has come as a total surprise. Peter jabbers something about perhaps he should build some booths, some huts that Moses, Elijah and Jesus can stay in. Luke provides a dry comment that Peter didn’t know what he was saying, he is so beside himself. This heavenly vision of Christ will have a profound effect on all three disciples. None of them will doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. Peter will go onto the become the leader of the church after Jesus dies, the first bishop of Rome. James will become the first bishop of Jerusalem. And John will be the one who will write the Book of Revelation. None of them will be the same after this.

But on this day, they are at a total loss. And when they come down the mountain, Luke tells us another curious story. A boy is possessed by a demon who has him frothing at the mouth. Christ’s other disciples have tried and failed to cure him. They, too, are at a loss about what to do in the face of this demonic force. 

I think all of us right now can identify with that feeling of being at a loss. In the last two months, it feels like the world has been turned upside down. The new American government is changing all the rules, not just inside their country, but across the world. I doubt any of us ever expected to be wondering if the Americans would take over Canada before this year. Suddenly, our big brother to the south has become our greatest security threat. We have lived and fought together in wars for a century, and now it appears we are their next target. What can we do to protect ourselves? Why should we have to protect ourselves at all from our next door neighbour? We are torn between just ignoring it all, and feeling dread and worry. We are at a loss, just like the disciples were.

This situation is made even more complicated because the people in charge of the United States claim that they are acting as Christians. J.D. Vance has been providing a Christian justification for the administration’s policies. He argues that modern society has become too “woke,” undermining the traditional family and the identity of men and women. 

Vance

Last week he argued that men and women today are being asked to become androgynous.[1] He has argued for a return to traditional gender roles, where women find most of their identity raising children, rather than being “childless cat ladies.” 

He is a recent convert to Catholicism. He has been citing old Catholic doctrines to justify his views against refugees[2]. We should note that Pope Francis has taken issue with his views, 

Pope

calling them outdated and at odds with Christian values that demand that we help refugees[3]. There’s nothing Christian about deporting children and refugee claimants.

Trump is intent on alienating America’s allies, while cozying up to traditional enemies like Russia’s Putin. He has threatened Canada with punishing tariffs, despite no wrongdoing on our part. Everything feels upside down and backwards. The comedian Robin Williams once described Canada as a nice neighbour who lives on top of a meth lab.[4] That meth lab is now blowing up, and the flames may come our way. So how do we cope with this? How do we find hope in a situation like this? 

Today’s scripture suggests we take a broader view of life. Up until this day, most of the disciples thought Jesus was a regular human being, perhaps a prophet sent by God. But on that mountain top, they saw his heavenly identity. They saw him next to Moses the law Giver and Elijah the Prophet, both of whom were in heaven. God speaks and says Jesus is God’s son, that we should listen to him. 

When Peter sees this, he stammers that perhaps he should make some booths. This is what Jews did once a year to remember their time in the wilderness with Moses. It is also meant to anticipate the easy living that will be possible at the end of time, a time to rest under beautiful arbours. When Peter sees Moses, Elijah and Jesus all in one place, it feels like the end of time has come. So, Peter suggests making booths of cool leaves so they can rest beneath them.[5] Paradise is here.

But it becomes clear that Peter doesn’t need to do anything. This vision is meant to widen the perspective of the disciples. It gives them a deeper sense of who Jesus is, the Messiah, who lives in heaven and earth, simultaneously. It also shows Moses, who died as a mortal, is alive in heaven, as is Elijah. That’s important. Normal mortals do not simply have an earthly life, we also have a heavenly dimension to us. Most of the time we are not aware of it. But it is there. We, too, are holy beings in whom God is pleased. We have a heavenly home waiting for us. This earth, with all its troubles, is not our only home. We are not just earthly beings, but also citizens of heaven.

That’s important to remember when earthly life becomes so confusing, when we are at a loss. When Jesus walks down from the mountain, he encounters that boy whom his disciples could not heal. Our faith does not tell us that because we follow Christ, we will be able to fix every problem. We are not expected to. There are times, especially in times of crisis, when we will not be able to come to the rescue and fix it all. We can be like the disciples, at a loss on the mountain top, and at a loss when healing this boy. 

 So, what should we do when we are faced by problems that are out of our control? What should we citizens do about a foreign government that we can’t control? Today’s scripture suggests two strategies. First: remember that you are more than your bank account or your job security. We are beloved children of God, blessed with a heavenly identity, which no amount of earthly trouble can take away. Should the economy crash, should bombs fall, God forbid, we are still beloved children of God. We are spiritual beings, not just citizens and consumers. We have a holy identity that cannot be taken away by any force in the world, no matter what happens. We are loved by God, and God will be with us, always ready to help us get through whatever comes our way. This is why we respect the refugee – they have truly lost everything, their country, their home, their belongings. But they are still children of God. Should we become refugees, we deserve no less. 

We are loved by God, and so are the Americans. Should Trump’s government continue to threaten our country, it will be very tempting to hate America and all Americans. Nationalism has a way of demonizing other people. But we should recall that most Americans did not vote for Trump. 

Graph 1: Trump

He won the election with 77 million votes[6]. 

Graph 2: Harris

Another 75 million voted for Kamala Harris[7]. 

Graph 3 Didn’t vote.

But 90 million people didn’t vote at all[8].

Graph 4: Didn’t vote for Trump

That means most Americans did not vote for Trump, and they may not agree with what he is doing. 

Moreover, even for those who do agree, let us remember that they are like us. Children of God. Each of them has good in them. They are complicated like we are, a mix of hope and worry, love and resentments. It will be hard for American voters to admit they may have made a mistake, that their President is a  dangerous con man. America’s citizens need respect and love to dispel their demons. Hatred won’t do it. So let us remember that all of us deserve respect, even when we disagree.

The second lesson from today’s scriptures is to admit that we can’t fix every situation. Peter didn’t know what to do on the mountain, and the disciples didn’t know how to cure the boy. That happens. But Jesus didn’t kick any of them out of his movement. He kept them. They tried to live by the values Jesus taught them as best they could. Peter and James were both killed for staying loyal to Christ. That may sound like bad news, but their loyalty to the values of honesty, compassion and faith created the foundation for the church we are worshipping in today. Their lives were not wasted. 

This is a good time to remember that the heroes of World War Two were the ones who stood up to the fascists, not the ones who ran away or capitulated. This is a time when we need to stand firm without lapsing into nationalist hatred or paralyzing despair. Christ doesn’t call us to have the most comfortable life possible, but to have a good life. We have seen a vision on a mountain of where we are going, and we have walked with the man from heaven who dispels demons and helps the helpless. Let us walk with Him, stand with Him, come what may, knowing that one day, we, too, will glow like lightning.

Amen.