Socks off

A homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Feb. 28, 2021

Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18, Rom 8:31b-34, Mk 9:2-10

When was the last time you let yourself be wowed, be amazed, to have your socks knocked off?

We’ve all been in some degree of lockdown for about a year now, and there haven’t been a lot of opportunities or reasons for our jaws to drop. We do have Zoom, and we do have our small joys, but all in all, many of our lives these days are more humdrum than historic.

So:

When was the last time you let yourself be wowed, be amazed, to have your socks knocked off by Jesus?

Today’s Gospel retelling of the Transfiguration of Christ on the high holy mountain — a familiar story each year in the season of Lent — goes into great detail about how awesome the Son of God is when he reveals his divine nature to those who know only his human nature. Jesus’ friends immediately recognize him as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets — part of a trinity (not the Trinity) with Moses and Elijah — and are awed right down to their toenails.

They are so awed, in fact, that they’re not sure how exactly to react, and thus they fall back on their well-indoctrinated culture of hospitality, offering to set up tests — homes away from home — for the three Men of God.

Then things go back to normal, they’re puzzled for a little bit, and they go on their way, changed but not entirely certain how.

Let’s put ourselves in their smelly sandals for a minute.

Because they ate and slept and traveled with Jesus most if not all of the time, the first disciples saw him all the time. They opened their eyes, and there he was. There was no special preparation required. They didn’t have to go looking for him.

Over their three years together, the disciples got to know a lot about Jesus, and after his passion, death, resurrection and ascension, they came to know a lot more.

Which, as evangelists, they shared with us.

When we open our eyes, are we prepared to see Jesus? Are we prepared to see Christ in every person, every child of God? Do we have a culture of hospitality to draw from, to welcome the stranger and The Other?

And beyond that, do we reserve the word “awesome” for God, or do hamburgers and fries qualify?

(Not awesome. Not sorry.)

Are we wowed by God’s beautiful Creation, the flaming sunrises and purple sunsets and the waves pounding the beach, the waters cascading over falls and snaking through water gaps, the changing of the seasons, and the migration of the birds and butterflies?

Do we share the Good News we have learned about our Triune God as modern evangelists?

The Transfiguration of Christ is a revelation.

It’s also a call to action.

We are called to be awed and nearly blinded by the brightness of God’s love and to get everyone we know equally as excited and flabbergasted and thrilled.

We are called to see all there is to see and know about Emmanuel, God with us, Savior and Messiah, and then go tell it on the mountain.