Transfiguration

​Transfiguration Sunday marks the transition between the season of Epiphany and the season of Lent. Epiphany is a season where we remember the ways Jesus was revealed to the gentiles, most notably the Magi who came from the east to the stable to see the newborn Christ. Lent is a season where we remember Jesus in the desert at the very beginning of his ministry.

God of the waters and the mountains
God of the fires and the forests
God of the skies and the earth
God who loves all of your creation, I come to you this day.
Here I am Lord, seeking to learn more of you,
To love you.
As I come, broken as I am,
Come Lord Jesus, be my end and my beginning
Bring your perfect love, your love divine.
I have come, come Lord Jesus.

Lord’s prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever.
Amen

Hymn: Everlasting Arms – with Lou Fellingham and the National Methodist Choir

Reading: Matthew 17:1-9

Response to the reading
How often do you find yourself able to pause for a moment in awe and wonder? How often are you enchanted by the world around you?

Transfiguration Sunday marks the transition between the season of Epiphany and the season of Lent. Epiphany is a season where we remember the ways Jesus was revealed to the gentiles, most notably the Magi who came from the east to the stable to see the newborn Christ. Lent is a season where we remember Jesus in the desert at the very beginning of his ministry. As a society, we’re very good at embracing the magic of the Christmas season, but once we’ve taken down the tree, recycled the cards, and packed up the crib scene we can easily slip back into an expectation of mundanity in our everyday lives. And then, in the season of Lent, we take that a step further and root out any whiff of extravagance. But here, just before we slip into the wilderness of Lent, we’re reminded by Transfiguration Sunday to pay attention to the inexplicable acts of God all around us and to stand in awe and wonder at the mystery of them.

The Celtic Christians speak of ‘thin places’ where heaven and earth are closer, where God feels more tangible, where spiritual experiences happen more easily, where our stuffy, logical, reasonable, busy minds are quieted enough to notice the divine permeating the place. Today’s scriptures feature such thin places. Do you have a thin place you can go, where you expect to meet with God? It might be a small space in our home or community, it might be a church, or a location outdoors. Perhaps you’ve already found such a place, and have met with God there. Transfiguration Sunday and our mystical reading of its story, bids you to make room in your lives for visiting such a place. As Peter’s epistle tells us: “You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” It is our task to seek out the lamp, even when our lives feel dark. So, find your own sacred space and go there, with the expectation of having an extraordinary encounter. Go there, ready to sit in awe and wonder in union with God. Go there, with your eyes and hearts and minds open to how God might be seeking to transfigure you and the world around you.

- What do you first think of when you hear the word transfiguration?
- How often are you enchanted by the world around you?
- Do you have a thin place you can go, where you expect to meet with God?
- In what ways are you able to be present to the presence of God all around you?

Reflection written by Holly Adams

Hymn: 362 STF – Meekness and majesty, manhood and deity

Blessing
Go out to meet a God of love.
Go out and find love at work throughout God’s creation.
Go out and seek to build a better, safer, more sustainable world,
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.

This worship at home is used with permission from The Vine at Home which is compiled and produced by twelvebaskets.