Transfiguration - When the Glory Breaks Through

Me - The story of being at the capital this week

This Thursday I joined many of you, at least 20 United Methodist Clergy and thousands of others in an action that some have referred to as the largest show of people to the Iowa Capital in history

The showing of people was to express dissent from a bill that removes gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which shields Iowans from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and more. The law takes effect July 1.

Perhaps if you weren’t there you saw pictures like these

As I entered I was wearing a clerical collar and as often happens at demonstrations like these they invite clergy to the front lines to form somewhat of a protective barrier. A calming pressence, an intermediary between two sides.

So I stood right on the cusp of this demonstration. Literally on one side thousands of people is what I can only classify as lament and vigil

and on the other side a line and a barrier separating a couple of hundred people who not all, but a majority, ultimately passed a bill representing the opposite perspective.

I was left with this thought which is that this probably the most tense building I have ever been in

I grew up with two older brothers and there were times let me tell you when we needed to go to the opposite sides of our house to give each other space.

There were times where I have been in buildings and communities that have tension, but this probably is the most physically divisive building that I have ever been in. Where the tension is just so clear. Where the unmet competing needs of different groups people seem to just collide.

And I am aware that we in this space are not of one mind about this particular issue or probably any issue

In the words of Pastor Lee’s first rule, everything belongs, and your needs and your stories belong in this conversation too.

I was thinking about how common the word division is

It’s one of those words that feels like uniquely describes our times

I have heard people of all traditions and perspectives using this phrase.

We - The Tension of Holding Complexity

Our world thrives on binaries. Left and right. Sacred and secular. Male and female. Believer and nonbeliever. Right and wrong. Success and failure. We are taught from an early age that clarity is good, and nuance is a problem to be solved.

What happens when we are people of both faith and doubt?

When justice feels urgent, but the political landscape around us tells us that we must choose between two equally flawed options?

When we watch friends and family struggle with identity, purpose, and belonging, and we don’t have easy answers?

We see this struggle play out in real ways in our communities here in Iowa.

Some tell us that being a Christian means voting a certain way. And yet, Jesus constantly disrupted that kind of thinking—choosing justice over power, mercy over legalism, people over institutions.

At the Transfiguration, Peter faced a similar tension. He saw Jesus in divine glory but didn’t know how to respond—so he defaulted to what was familiar. “Let’s build tents,” he says. He tries to put God’s mystery into a structure he understands. A place he can return one day to visit.

ainAnd don’t we do the same? When confronted with complexity, we scramble for certty. We want categories. We want control.

But what if, instead of trying to define everything, we simply stepped back to be people that known for their listening?

What if we recognized that some things—like God’s glory, human dignity, transformation—are too vast to be contained in the categories we’ve been given?

Would you pray with me?

Transforming God I pray that the words of my mouth, the meditations of my heart, and the ears that hear would all co-conspire to a message of love, justice, and faith. You are our rock and our redeemer, Amen.

God’s Glory is Both/And

From it’s very core the message of the transfiguration is about both/and

It is the basis of what I consider to be one of the most significant theological claims that Christians have to make which is that Jesus is fully human and fully divine.

In our tradition we focus on the cross and the ressurection as the big pivotal moments, but in other traditions particularly in certain Eastern Orthodox traditions this story, the transfiguration is the central one to remembers

The Transfiguration reveals Jesus as both fully human and fully divine.

It reveals the past and the future

He stands with Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) but surpasses them both.

It is in Transfiguration that we see a glimpse of Resurrection

It is also in the midst of the transfiguration that we see a glimpse of the glory of God and the kindom of God

We also see the future

Peter - going to make the church

James - who later becomes a martyr

John - whom we hear about again in revelation and whom we believe outlived the other disciples

The sacred and the ordinary, the past and the future, the human and the divine all converge in this moment.

Transing the Story

Which brings me back once again to this experience earlier in the week....

It would feel strange to preach on a passage called Transfiguration and not draw a parallel in my mind to the news of a new anti-trans bill that has come through the legislature recently

Now I know they are in different context, and I don’t really believe that in the passage God was secretly planting a hidden meaning for 21st century progressive Christians about gender and sexuality but

In preparing for preaching I struck by the number of theological readers and thinkers out there that had drawn parallels between the transformed Christ and lived experience of transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people in our modern setting. On of the examples is this piece of art “Trans Deities” by Immanuel Paul Vivekanandh

It challenges me, maybe it challenges you

I don’t think that Jesus, or the disciples were likely to have the same perspective and understanding about identity that we do today.

But art like this moves me beyond my own either/or thinking, and helps me to see a God that is bigger than that. A message that is more robust than I expected

One of the buzz words in progressive theological higher ed right now is phrase “Queering the Bible” or at time “transing the Bible”

It is not just a way of reading the gotcha passages that people of marginalized identities have been harmed by for far too long. It is a way of reimagining theological truth by and through a god that defies categorization

No, this passage is not about gender identity—but it is about God breaking our either/or thinking and showing us a reality that is broader, deeper, and more expansive than we expected.

This lens of biblical reading and biblical interpretation is about getting to a both/and

As we have been engaging in a series of conversation circles over the last 2 months culminating a leadership summit last week, I heard time and time again both/and being a part of our church.

Our church council will be hosting some information sessions in the coming week to share more of the details of those results

The absolute gift that trans and non-binary theologians have taught me is learning to read scripture differently

God’s transformation reveals what is already true

The words spoken from the cloud are the same ones spoken at Jesus’ Baptism you are my son

Luke 9:35 NRSV

35 .......“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

The thing to triple underline in this passage is the word LISTEN!!!

The Greek word for transfiguration that we read earlier in the , metamorphoo, speaks of a revealing, not a replacement.

releasing

I think about the example of a cocoon and a butterfly

The cocoon fades and reveals what it already has, a reality that is already true

Or you could think of it as a sculptor chiseling away at a piece of rock knowing that the sculpture is already in there it is just a matter of revealing it.

Jesus doesn’t change into something else; his true nature becomes visible.

Transformation in faith, justice, and identity isn’t about abandoning who we are but stepping fully into the truth of our being.

God’s presence cannot be contained—it calls us to listen and let go

The thing to triple underline in this passage is the word LISTEN!!!

We will never get in trouble for LISTENING too much

We will never offend someone by LISTENING to them

We will probably not every loose money by LISTENING to others (though maybe)

We won't produce any poor legislation by LISTENING

No one is getting deported for LISTENING

LISTENING is not a civil right that is being taken away from us (yet)

Peter’s instinct is to build shelters, to structure and control the experience.

But God’s voice interrupts: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.”

When the cloud lifts, only Jesus remains—beyond categorization, beyond containment, calling us to trust in something greater than our limited understanding.

The pressence of God gives us a sense of the glory of God's Kingdom.

You - Moving to Both/And

If God’s glory is beyond binary thinking, then what does that mean for us?

It means faith is not about choosing certainty—it’s about holding uncertainty.

It means loving our neighbor isn’t about deciding who is worthy—it’s about recognizing all people as reflections of God’s image.

It means justice isn’t just about righting wrongs—it’s about reimagining the world as it should be.

It means transformation doesn’t require us to become something other than who we are, but rather, to reveal what is deepest and most true.

Us - We are Invited into transformation

The disciples walked down the mountain changed, even if they didn’t fully understand what had happened.

Our calling is the same: to be people who embrace mystery rather than fearing it.

To be a church where transformation is expected—not into some rigid ideal, but into the fullness of God’s creation.

To listen—to God, to one another, to the stories of those whose experiences challenge us.

And to trust that the glory of God is always bigger than we can imagine.

Prayer Time

We can pray in so many different ways, and our worship is always as we spoke about last week covered in prayer. And on this transfiguration Sunday I want to offer as a prayer a reflective sonnet by Malcolm Guite called Transformation. Here these words and this prayer for us:

For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’,

On that one mountain where all moments meet,

The daily veil that covers the sublime

In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet.

There were no angels full of eyes and wings

Just living glory full of truth and grace.

The Love that dances at the heart of things

Shone out upon us from a human face

And to that light the light in us leaped up,

We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,

A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope

Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.

Nor can this blackened sky, this darkened scar

Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.

Benediction

Lee: Lewis has an announcement

Lewis: As we close our worship today I wanted to let you know that I am preparing to leave my role here at Collegiate Wesley. I have accepted a position as a resident in Hospital Chaplaincy in Des Moines at Unity Point Hospital. I will still be with you for several months and transitioning this summer to that role.

On that Mountain Jesus is transformed, the disciples are transformed, Peter is transformed, and most importantly you are transformed and are offered redemption. Go out this week in the midst of the trials that lay in front of you with the knowledge that redemption is offered for you here and now. Amen