Everything you wanted to know about Christianity at the Anglican Parish of the Otways Please join me each week for our reflections of sermons conducted during our church service. Plus, occasional splashes of humour and epiphanies! With much Love and Blessings Rev. Jenny Brandon |
![]() IN life we all see things from a certain perspective, coloured by our life experiences that may very well prevent us from seeing things clearly. We all form certain opinions of events and other people based on how we see them, and sometimes how we see them, and our opinions of them can be mistaken. After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John (the brother of James) and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone.2 Jesus’ appearance changed in front of them. His face became as bright as the sun and his clothes as white as light." Matthew 17:1-2 A man tells of how he could only see his priest as an aging sickly man, long past his prime. Then he found out how active he once had been in the civil rights movement as a young man. That fact changed the way he thought about him. Sometimes seeing people from a different perspective changes our entire understanding of them. In today’s gospel, Peter, James and John were all given a vision, a new way of seeing Jesus when he was transfigured before them. This changed their perspective of him and gave them a new understanding. It was indeed a mountain top experience for them. Those of you who have ever climbed to the top of a mountain or flown in an airplane know that the view “up above” is much different than “down below.” Peter, James and John marvelled at the transfiguration of Jesus. It is interesting to note that the description of the transfigured Christ is strikingly similar to the description of the risen Christ in the New Testament resurrection accounts. Jesus tells his disciples as they go back down the mountain not to tell anyone about the transfiguration until after he had risen from the dead; because the transfiguration event was a preparation for them for the future; for the cross and resurrection. Sometimes it is not until much later in life that we come to see the purpose of the events of our lives, especially difficult events and how they all fit together. It is then that we realise how God works through such events to prepare us for the future. Our mountain top experiences, those times when the joy and goodness of God has totally overwhelmed us, also prepare us for the future. When we, like Jesus and his disciples, face our hardships and crosses, we can draw strength from the beauty and wonder of the mountain top perspective. In the transfiguration God assures us there is much more beyond waiting for us, much more within us that can emerge and be realised. And although we may wish to remain at the top of the mountain, we come to realise that we cannot live on the mountaintop forever. The valleys beckon us to come down and live our lives as servants with other people—just as Jesus did with Peter, James and John. Jesus and his disciples, like Moses of old, descended to the valleys of life to serve and give of themselves. The mountaintop had prepared them all for loving service of others. The same is true of us.
We are called to loving service. May our mountaintop experiences help us to see Jesus more clearly; in order to follow his holy will in lives of cross-bearing service of others. The Lord Be with You! With Blessings Rev Jenny
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About the author
Rev. Jenny is an ordained Priest of the Anglican Diocese delivering services at Anglican Parish of the Otway churches every week. With great depth of knowledge and a spiritual practice that shows she walks her talk and has taken her to the far reaches of N.T. Australia working with indigenous youth and elders.
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May 2018
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