Gospel
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”
And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,
“Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
How hard must it have been not to tell others what they saw. Up until this moment if they had any confusion as to who Jesus was to the world and to each one of them I would expect it to be cleared up. Jesus they would finally understand was the Messiah. The Christ. The Son of God. The one who was prophesied as the Son of Man.
Of course, that last warning in itself would have left questions too. What!? Raised from the dead? He dies? But why? And then raised up? What does it mean.
What at first looks like a wondrous and amazing event, and it is, also leaves questions in their mind. Any confusion on who Jesus is, is now gone. But now clouds form in their mind about what will happen next.
They are not to talk about it. Not yet.
So they continued with Jesus who teaches them and shows them more and more about the Father and why Jesus was on earth. He teaches them love. True love. Because God is love above all else.
We too can have questions about what Jesus means to us. How he will actually impact our world. Sometimes it is not clear what we can expect. We can have our own epiphany and finally understand and believe Jesus is the Christ and is the creator. We can take him into our heart since we have the Holy Spirit as an advocate.
But we too are still left not knowing everything. Not always knowing what he asks of us or how we should integrate him in our life.
The one who says yes to Jesus does not actually integrate him into their life but rebuilds their life from the bottom up with Jesus as the foundation. We build a life on our faith in him. And while we may not have all the answers, we do have his word and the Gospel to show us the way in this new life we build.
And it makes sense that Jesus is the foundation of our life since he created all.
He was called the stone the builders rejected.
And those who refuse to relinquish their lives to him reject him.
For there is only one life with Christ in it and it is where he forms the base, the foundation, the template, and roadmap for the life of the one who believes and says yes.
Today we have heard the Transfiguration of Christ. We have been shown who he is. As we come down from the mountain of first saying yes to Jesus let us remember he is where our life starts. We build on the faith and love of Jesus Christ.
And as we live, as we were created to live, with Jesus as our center, all else we need to understand and how we are too live will be shown to us. It may not be the way we want. But it will be the way he has planned for us. Let us hold on to his words and truth. And live as he lived. With God at the center.
Deacon Tony Pynes 
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