A Sermon by Father Peter A. Chamberas
The Transfiguration of Christ then reveals not only the divine nature and glory of Jesus, which is always there in His unified person, – though not always observable by all and at all times; it also reveals the spiritual transfiguration of our own human nature as well. Jesus, shining in pristine beauty and unfading glory, reveals in His human nature the natural, the original condition of the human person – created in the image and likeness of God. This is the condition of Paradise which man has lost and which he seeks to regain in Christ. In Christ, in the transfigured Christ, we see exactly this pristine state of human nature restored to its original natural beauty and glory. But this also indicates the natural and spiritual potentiality of every human being who chooses freely to be united through faith and love with Jesus Christ – the light and the life and the savior of the world.
At the time of the Transfiguration of Christ on Mt. Tabor only three chosen disciples went up to the mountain with Jesus to pray throughout the night as St. Luke reminds us in his account of the event (Lk.9:28-36). These three disciples, having ascended to the mountain, having prayed through the night, and having received the grace of God, were enabled to receive within them this light of God and to see their beloved Lord transfigured in glory. To see Christ transfigured means that the seer must also be transfigured, overshadowed by the very light of God, which is not a mere symbol, or a created object, but, as the Fathers of the Church assure us, an eternal, uncreated light that can be seen by the faithful who are indeed tried and true. This then is not only the mystery and the joyful good news of the Transfiguration of Christ Himself, but also the great challenge and the great attraction that it is for the great Fathers and Saints of the Church, and certainly also for the innumerable pious believers who yearn for, who pray for, who shed tears of repentance and of joy for the light of God which they know in their heart is there – available to be seen and shared by those whose hearts have been purified and dedicated totally to God.
In the liturgical life of our Orthodox Church, the beautiful event of the Transfiguration of Christ is intimately connected with the August Lent and the wondrously transfigured person of the Theotokos, whose blessed Dormition we will also be celebrating soon. In fact, as the one Feast ends the other one begins. As we proceed into this period of spiritual edification and renewal, we are all the more powerfully reminded of the personal challenge that is placed before each one of us: to respond fully and wholeheartedly to God, as the all- holy Theotokos did, as all the Saints did, and as all the truly faithful people seek to do. We cannot expect to see Christ transfigured unless we are enlightened by His light – “In your light we shall see light,” as we are reassured when we sing the Doxology. We need to be constantly renewed and regenerated; we need to climb up high; we must struggle and apply ourselves fully and completely and thoroughly to this task of a new physical, moral and spiritual way of life; we must leave behind all that is useless, all earthly things that do not edify and raise us up to God, so that unburdened and free from all these things, we may rise toward the mountain of God, toward heaven, toward Christ transfigured in glory. It is precisely this gradual ascent toward God that prepares us, through cleansing and enlightenment, for the mystery and the gospel of the Transfiguration to be revealed also in our own heart and mind, and to reflect the spirit and the light of God. We are all called to partake of Christ’s glory – having first of all shared in His effort, His struggle, His life of humility and suffering, which is also the effort and the life of all the Saints and all the truly faithful people of God.
This present world, this present life, with all of its evil and suffering and grief, can be transformed and transfigured by the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by the glory of the transfigured Christ, shining in our hearts and minds. St. Paul reminds us that as faithful Orthodox Christians, we can live “as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; …as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2Cor.6:9-10). This paradoxical view of Christian life that is so full of real and sober optimism and joy derives, ultimately, from the Cross of Christ, which can and does change the “loss” into victory; the “dishonor” into honor and glory; the death into life eternal as it is perfected in Christ. The life of the Christian can be changed, it can be transformed and transfigured little by little, from glory to glory, and in the soul of the transfigured Christian the whole world is also gradually transfigured until everyone and everything is seen and experienced in and through the light of God and embraced by the infinite and unconditional love of God.
The wonderful experience on Mt. Tabor made St. Peter want to prolong it and to stay there. “Lord, it is good for us to be here!” But Jesus insists that we go down again into the valley where people are struggling and suffering. We do not experience the grace and the delight of the Transfiguration so that we may isolate ourselves and avoid our responsibilities. True and faithful Christians “descend” to the world; they are not indifferent to the rest of the society, but transmit to all the health and the vision of their own heart. Daily life is transformed precisely when each one of us assumes the pain, the loneliness and the sorrow of other people in our environment.
At the end of every Divine Liturgy the celebrant invites the faithful to “go forth in peace.…” This is never a mere dismissal from public worship, but precisely our evangelical commission as Christians to “come down” from the Mt. Tabor of our Church, to go out into the world and to transform it. Christians who “have seen the true light, who have received the heavenly Spirit,” can now return to the pain of the world; they can now carry the Cross of Christ with the certainty of victory, with the certainty of the Resurrection and the Transfiguration. This is the real transforming and evangelical work of the Church in every place and every time, so that the world, society and every human being may become a friend of God and be transfigured by the divine light of the holy Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Neither the personal life of each believer, nor the collective life of our Church communities can be true and effective unless and until we have experienced first the transforming power of God’s light in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. This is what happened to the three disciples on Mt. Tabor when they were given the grace to see Jesus Christ transfigured in glory. This is the same experience, which all the believers are now called, and able, to experience by ascending to the “Mountain of the Transfiguration.” By entering the Kingdom of God, that is, by participating actively in the Divine Liturgy, which serves now and perpetually as the Transfiguration of Christ, the faithful have the place where, and the time when, the transfiguration of the human person in Christ can become a reality.
As we celebrate and commemorate the Transfiguration of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let us be mindful of its profound significance and centrality in the life of the Church and in our own personal lives as faithful members of the Church. As we approach and prepare to celebrate again this year the Feast of the Transfiguration, let us indeed take the hand of Jesus as He leads us up to the mountain, where not only He is transfigured for us in glory, but where we too may bask, for a little while, in the glory of His divine light, and then joyfully may go forth to share this light for the life of the world.
Amen.
~Website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA), http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/outreach/resources/sermons/2006/ser-transfiguration-08-06.
Fr. Peter Chamberas is a graduate of Holy Cross, class of 1961. He has also earned an STM degree from Boston University, a Licentiate and a Doctorate from the University of Athens. Prior to and during the early years of his ordination, Fr. Chamberas taught at St. Basil’s Academy, Hellenic College and Holy Cross School of Theology. Previously he has served St. George Cathedral in Manchester, NH for ten years, and, for seventeen years he served St. Nectarios Church in Boston, MA, a parish founded under his leadership in 1974.
In addition to his dissertation on The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, he has also written Baptism and Chrismation: Beginning Our Christian Life in the Orthodox Church, The Divine Liturgy Explained, and This Is a Great Mystery: A Commentary on the Sacrament of Marriage. His published translations include: The Essence of Orthodox Iconography by Constantine Kalokyris, A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel by St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain, The Mystery of Death by Nikolaos Vassiliades, and several books written by Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos. Presently, Fr Chamberas is translating and editing some additional writings of our saintly spiritual Father, Bishop Gerasimos of blessed memory, which were left in his care for this purpose.
