It struck me when I was reading Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians, that there is a question that we need to be asking ourselves each day, and then committing ourselves to the answer that the question brings forth. Who is our God? Is it ourselves? Is it some idol that we pursue, such as wealth, perceived power, or special standing? Or do we acknowledge each day that our God, is truly God? He who created and maintains all in all of known creation. It seems like such an obvious answer, and yet it really is not. At least not if we weigh our actions to be as relevant and answer as our words.
Saint Paul tells us that our true citizenship is in heaven and that the form that we currently know as ourselves is nothing compared with what is to come. A form that is a glorified new body, such as the one that Jesus himself appeared to his disciples in when they saw him transfigured before them while speaking with Moses and Elijah. A form that knows neither heat nor cold, pain or suffering, injury or disease, nor any of the maladies that are part of our current earthly existence. What we know as a body now is merely flesh, but there is still our other nature – the spirit even in this lowly form. Imagine though, a form that is far more closely perfected to a being of spirit, and that allows us to interact with the realm of spirit as naturally as any of the physical world we currently perceive in the flesh. This is what awaits us.
When Jesus’ disciples saw his glorified form, they were both fearful and awestruck. So much so that they didn’t quite know what to do. Saint Peter himself simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind when offering to build tents for our Lord, and for Moses and Elijah. It seems like a nice gesture, and it was, but completely unnecessary for beings in such a form. Beings of spirit and light, beings who had transcended the earthly boundaries and now were beyond all want or need. It was both a revelation of our Lord’s true nature to them, as well as a foreshadowing of what was to come when our Lord was resurrected. Remember that this also took place through light and power. It is this light and power that we can hope in to bring us away from death’s darkness when our time comes and instead to not only be in but to become beings of this same light. This is what we are called to, this is what we prepare for, both now in this time of Lent, but also in all the time to come until we are called home to become our true selves.
Our Lord promised much to Abraham, so much so that it was impossible for Abraham to truly grasp or quantify it. Yet his limitation made the limitlessness of what our Lord offered no less in magnitude. It is the same with us. We cannot fully grasp now what our Lord has in store for us, but we can rely on His word because we have seen the love and commitment, He has to each of us by recognizing what His Son did for us on the cross, and in the empty tomb. We approach the time of year when we celebrate all of this, but first, we now have this time of preparation, and a chance to ask ourselves that question, I mentioned at the beginning of this homily, and really press ourselves to choose the only correct and life-giving answer.
The Deacons Bench 