9th Sunday after Epiphany, Transfiguration - Year A (Matthew 17:1-9)

The intent of placing the Transfiguration account on the last Sunday after Epiphany in the Common Lectionary is, I suspect, twofold. First it is itself an Epiphany story, a revelation of divinity. Secondly, it serves as a kind of “pep talk” prior to our collective entrance into the rigors of Lent. My current reflections on the text, however, have taken me to a slightly different but not unrelated place, the liturgy.
I think that the Transfiguration account can serve as a model for Christian worship.

1. The faithful gather in the presence of Christ and in company with the communion of saints.
2. This gathering is a kind of homecoming in which the faithful rejoice in the goodness or rightness of the worship event.

3. Ultimately, however, our human desire to domesticate God and our worship is upended by the divine voice spoken in scripture and sacrament.

4. Worship is not about the worshiper.

5. Comfort gives way to awe, with the word awesome carrying the full weight of meaning it had before it was commonly used to describe chewing gum flavors.

6. We cannot stay on the mountain.

7. The silence enjoined on the disciples prior to the resurrection has been replaced with the Great Commission.