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Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Fr. J. D. Ousley
6 August 2006“Transfiguration Central”
In the Name of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.
Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration. Because this feast occurs in the middle of the summer holiday season, it tends not to get much attention.
Those of us who are New Yorkers are either out of town when this feast occurs, or we're getting ready to go out of town or we're wishing we were out of town. So this remembrance of the unique occasion when Jesus appeared to a few disciples in a transfigured form — this major feast from the church calendar doesn't get a lot of attention.
But because the Feast happens to fall on a Sunday this year, we will take this opportunity to think about it. We will think about the time that Peter, James, and John traveled with Jesus to a high mountain and saw Christ in white and glistening clothes. When Jesus appeared to his disciples as a divine being, as the son of God, the Christ who would be raised from the dead on Easter Day.
And, however interesting this event is in itself, the Transfiguration is more than an esoteric feast. For this holy day prompts us to think about change. Remembering Christ's transformation, we reflect on all the unexpected things that happen around us. We consider our own moments of transfiguration.
And isn't change one of the most challenging aspects of our life today? Those of us who live in New York City, or who work here, or who spend time in this chaotic urban maelstrom know that transfiguration is a central fact of our existence.
In this existence, nothing is stable. There are no certainties. One day you can be the CEO of a giant corporation sitting in a grand office — and the next day you're an early retiree heading out the door.
You can be enjoying a blissful romantic relationship one day, and then there are troubles and the next day, you find yourself all alone.
Nothing is stable. Even appearances are always changing, as people embrace the latest clothing designs and hair styles. Transfiguration is all around us.
Of course, New York at least has long been a city of change. If you have read any of the old novels of Dawn Powell, for example, you know that New York was a rapidly evolving place back in the 1930's. (And your realize that the social scene back then was just as "diverse" and complicated as it is today!)
On the face of it, though, modern transfiguration seems to have little to do with the Transfiguration of Our Lord. For our urban culture is aggressively secular. And the changes we face revolve around competition — one person tries to gain at another's expense.
You lose the person you thought was your soul-mate because someone else attracted the soul-mate away from you. You lose your job because someone stole your business.
Thankfully, Christian transfiguration isn't a matter of survival of the fittest. Yet it does teach us crucial lessons about how to keep our heads above the competitive waters of the cut-throat society we live in.
For transfiguration demands vision. Vision is what the disciples were given when they journeyed with Christ to the high mountain.
They saw Jesus as who he really was. And although they first stumbled a bit, they eventually came to see themselves in a new way.
Our Men's Group had a memorable discussion a few years ago of the topic, "thinking outside the box." This phrase was popular in business at that time. Workers who could think outside the box were able to find solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. They were able to market their products in new ways; they devised creative methods to finance necessary improvements in their businesses.
Thinking back to that discussion, we in the Men's Group might have been a little too uncritical of this idea. We might not have recognized how "creative financing" can sometimes slide into shady deals that loot the company.
In religion, too, vision isn't always a blessing. People can mistakenly believe that God is leading them to do things that really are just for their own benefit. St. Paul had to admonish the early Christians to put their selfish visions aside so they could work together to serve God.
Applied to the struggles of modern living, though, spiritual vision is just what we need. Take the ever-increasing hours that people now have to work.
Attorneys and investment bankers, for example, who are beginning their careers can expect to work far more than the old standard of 40 hours per week. And at first, they may like it. They may enjoy the stimulation of work: it's fun to be needed; it's a thrill to get those urgent messages on the Blackberry that summon them back to the office.
But the long-term effects of such a schedule can be less pleasant. Jesus once noted that if people are going to build a tower, then before construction starts, they must be sure to count the cost. If they can't pay the price of finishing the tower, they shouldn't begin.
A punishing work schedule can cost you sleep and good health. It can isolate you from your friends and prevent you from making new friends. Thoughts of work can even invade your days off, making your free time less than free.
Here too, though, vision is helpful. Jesus observed that, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
And Jesus told a story about a man who slaved away for many years. The man carefully saved what he earned so that when he retired, he possessed barns full of grain and plenty of money. Unfortunately, the man's time on earth was finished. He would never enjoy the fruits of his labor.
And besides warning about the dangers of working too much, religious vision also helps us balance our jobs with the rest of our lives.
Worship, prayer and meditation all serve to diminish obsessions we have with work. Even casual social encounters with fellow church members offer a break from the office.
And above all, the Christian philosophy of serving God and our neighbors puts work in perspective. We're forced to think outside the corporate box, as we live in the presence of God as we prepare for eternity.
This philosophy can also help us to survive upheavals in relationships. These changes are among the hardest to bear. Our faith assures us that God always loves us, and our faith gives us comfort wherever our social life leads us.
In the course of my day, I frequently speak with people who are struggling with such changes. And as I observe the course of their lives, I'm often struck by how God helps people in the most difficult situations. Even when urban life seems overwhelming, transfiguration happens. People who didn't think they had a chance of happiness struggle with change — and they win.
That's why even though religion is a minority interest in contemporary culture, those who do find faith discover that it makes a huge impact on their lives.
God helps us to pick up the pieces and get moving. God gives us vision and structure. God leads us outside the box of pessimism and defeat — into a new life of grace.
And now unto that same God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be ascribed as is most justly due all might, majesty, power, dominion and praise, now and forever, Amen.