Baptismal Transfiguration: A Sermon for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany

With the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, this “season of light” is drawing to a close. In case we’ve been missing the sometimes-subtle light imagery over the past six weeks, the light in today’s scripture readings are anything but subtle. First we hear about Moses going up on Mount Sinai, where the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire. And then we hear about Jesus ascending a mountain and being “transfigured” before the very eyes of Peter, James, and John. Now you might be wondering, “what in the world does it mean to be transfigured, anyways?” Well in this case, what it means is that Jesus’ face was shining like the sun and his clothes were dazzling white. So in a nutshell, our story from Exodus and our story from Matthew are stories about light – not just any light - but the brilliant, radiant light of God. Jesus was so bright that the “Sun of God” moniker bears an entirely new meaning. 

Now, as we talk about light today, we do so knowing that around the corner, forty days of darkness awaits. But for now, we are still in the season of light. And as we wrap up this season of light, I’d like to reflect on the sacrament holy baptism. And while baptism is about washing away our sin, dying and rising with Christ, and grafting a new member into the Body of Christ, I believe that it is also about light and transfiguration.  

While the word “transfiguration” might seem a bit otherworldly, it simply means an “exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change.” And through the waters of baptism, the change that the candidate undergoes is, among many things, exalting, glorifying, and spiritual. And when we bear witness to the transfigurative moment of holy baptism, those who are being baptized are not the only ones who will be transformed. The entire Body of Christ – the Church Universal - will have brand new members grafted into it. And together as members of Christ’s one Body, we – along with the newly baptized -  will reflect Christ’s dazzling light shining forth in the world. And that is why I think the day when we have this mountaintop celebration for the season of light is an appropriate day to reflect on the meaning of baptism.  

And while holy baptism is a universal sacrament – we are baptized into the one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church – it is also a contextual sacrament. We are also being baptized in a particular parish church in a particular context. Now if anyone is hoping to find or thinks they have found the perfect expression of the Body of Christ here at Christ the King – or any other church -  they had better keep looking. There is only one perfect Body, and that is Christ himself. But I have experienced Christ the King to be a wonderfully faithful, loving, servant-minded church, that we can all be proud to call our church home.  

One way you can see if a parish church is nurturing a healthy “baptismal culture” is to check out the church calendar, schedule, and announcements. In other words, what is happening in between the weekly Sunday worship services that promotes a baptismal culture? Are there opportunities to gather as a body throughout the week to offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, as well as to offer intercessory prayer for the Church, the world, and our fellow parishioners, family members, and friends? Does the church actively engage initiatives that invite us to be in solidarity with people that live, work, and worship beyond our church walls? Is it a church that acknowledges that not only God matters, but God’s people matter too? I can truly say with confidence that Christ the King is parish family that takes seriously our calling to live into our baptismal covenant by seeking to serve Christ in all people, by loving our neighbors as ourselves. And by doing so, my family and I have experienced Christ the King to a bright light, shining forth in the world.

Another lens through which we can examine a parish church in light of the baptismal covenant is Christian education and spiritual formation. Here at Christ the King, we are working hard to nurture a culture of lifelong learning, regardless of one’s age. You will see in your bulletin this morning a description of the new full-time staff position we are creating here. It is called the Director of Family Faith Formation. Over the past 18 months, our Children and Youth Ministry Renovation team worked with our consultant to establish noteworthy Christian Formation milestones and Core Competencies from birth through high school graduation. That way, when they graduate from high school, they will know that here at Christ the King, they are loved and nurtured by a whole host of adults other than just their parents. After all, the old saying is true - it takes a village to raise a child. And we aim to raise our children so that they will reflect Christ’s dazzling, transfigurative light shining forth in the world.

But as wonderful as all of this sounds, anybody here who is a parent of adolescent and teenage children knows that the older our children get, the busier their lives will become. It is no longer assumed that families go to church on Sundays. In my experience, the church isn’t losing teens to things like alcohol, drugs, sex, or death metal music. We are losing them to soccer, lacrosse, dance, SAT prep courses, and the like. Now don’t get me wrong - these are important, wholesome activities for our kids. They just happen to be going on seven days a week now, and families now are being forced to choose between club sports and church on Sundays. When we baptize children, the congregation is asked, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these children in their life in Christ?” The challenge for all of us who answer this question is to find a way to make life in the church normative for young families. The challenge for all of us here - is to raise our children and grandchildren up so that church on Sundays is simply something that the family does – just like school and work during the week. Of course, the challenge for the church is to make “church on Sundays” – or perhaps Church on another day at a different time - worth the effort, especially when so many other compelling options are available. And that is why we are investing in a full-time staff position that is dedicated to children, youth, and young family ministries. If our children, youth, and young families aren’t being introduced to the exalted, glorifying light of Christ, how can they go out and be the dazzling light shining forth into the world? If you would like to be a part of one of the teams that we are forming that will serve to support our new staff person, please contact me today or this week. 

Now, we must remember that the end purpose of Christianity isn’t to care for others who are less fortunate than we are or to be well educated and formed in the Christian faith – as crucial as all of these things are. The goal is that by being baptized into Christ, and by being a member of a church family that values and outreach, pastoral care, education, and worship, all of us here at Chris the King will reflect Christ’s dazzling light into a world that is inhabited by darkness. But we must remember, that when we invite folks to our church, we are not inviting them to our programs. We are inviting them meet Jesus Christ. And through the sacrament of holy baptism, we are inviting them to be grafted into Christ’s very own body. Think about that for a second – we aren’t just learning about Christ…through the sacrament of holy baptism we become a part of Christ’s very own body. Our work here at Christ the King is to nurture a culture that invites Christ’s transfigurative light to shine in, through, and from us – those who are recently baptized and those who were baptized decades ago - so that we serve as bearers of God’s exalted, glorifying love in the world, compelling those who we meet to come and see who and what this Jesus is all about.