Transfiguration Poem

March 2^nd, 2014                           “Transfiguration Poem”               Rev. Heather Jepsen

Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9

Today the church begins to turn toward Lent
The time of Holy Mystery
And this Sunday before the purple season
Is always Transfiguration History

Stories of mountains and men and God
Of going up and coming down
Of dark and light, fire and cloud
All this can make a pastor frown

What can we say of this strange text
That appears year after year?
While the story is one we know by heart
The meaning’s not entirely clear

We begin today with Moses and God
Up high upon the mount
God calls to Moses, come up and see
I’ve commandments too many to count

For six long days he sits in a cloud
Wondering when God will show
It’s only on the seventh day
That the mountain begins to glow

For forty long days and nights he sits
As God tells his tale to man
Make me a tabernacle he says
Follow this detailed plan

Bible readers are shocked to find
Chapters and details galore
God has everything all planned out
Like a grocery list for the store

The people they wait down below
They quarrel and they fight
What in the world is God doing up there
They ask night after night

And before long the people grow tired of waiting
And build a calf of gold
Go down Moses, God calls in anger
The people are leaving the fold

I can’t help but wonder at this silly God
Spending all his time planning a house
That doesn’t seem like what the people need
As they wait below and grouse

Fast forward several thousand years
And it’s Jesus that we find
Climbing a mount near Jerusalem
With his friends not far behind

Glowing like a super star
They see Jesus dazzling white
Moses and Elijah too
Chatting about their plight

Just like the God of Exodus
Peter is planning a church
Let’s build a house or two or three
A place to stay when in a lurch

No houses this time my poor son
The voice of the Lord booms
We’ve moved beyond those days of old
Jesus’ time is coming soon

Like the early people of Exodus
The disciples cower in fear
But rather than a God of fire and smoke
They experience a God who is near

Jesus reaches out to touch
He says “do not be afraid”
God he lives among us now
Not in some temple that we’ve made

So often when we preach this text
We talk about growth and change
For that is what transfigure means
To no longer be the same

This week when I saw God on two mounts
I wondered could it be
Not that people we have changed
But God, that it was he

The God of Exodus seems so young
He is irritable and often mad
The God of Matthew seems so calm
Much more like a loving dad

Perhaps God thought the tabernacle
Was the way to reach the people
But maybe in the end of things
It’s not all about a steeple

Perhaps as time went on and on
God came to learn and grow
It’s not in buildings that we see our Lord
It’s in a touch we can feel and know

Stories of temples and curtains and gems
Become stories of a man who is God
A God who approaches with a calming presence
Rather than a punishing rod

Perhaps that’s the real transformation here
From distance now to close
A God who touches us in so many ways
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

This too I think can come to be
The story of us all
It’s not about buildings and churches and such
It’s about picking each other up when we fall

We too the church are called to be
Those who touch the world
Not on some mountain with lots of rules
But in the valleys with arms unfurled

That is the call of the followers of Christ
To bring touch and love and grace
For that is the change we see in our God
As the disciples saw him face to face

Transformation, change, and growth
It’s available to us all
Following a God who grows and learns
A God who becomes Emmanuel

Let us reach out hands and touch everyone
Let us say “be not afraid”
We are more than a church or a building plan
When love in our arms is laid

The sanctuary of the church
Is not about steeple or place
It’s about reaching out with the hands of Christ
Embracing the whole human race

From mountain highs to valley lows
People are in for a ride
But with the power of Jesus Christ
We can walk through life side by side

Amen