Second Sunday of Lent, A March 8, 2020
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Jesus doesn’t like to share. He wants it all. That’s why God shuts Peter down when he offers to build three tents. Three tents? What, you want Jesus to share the mountain top with Moses and Elijah? No, this is my son. He gets the whole thing. The mountain is your heart, your priorities, your life and Jesus doesn’t want to share.
You see, Moses and Elijah are kind of a big deal to the Jews. Moses gave them the Ten Commandments and Elijah was the great prophet who battled kings, raised the dead, and rode into heaven on a fiery chariot. To see Moses and Elijah is kind of like an American suddenly running into George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
Peter realizes that Jesus is the Messiah, and does still call him “Lord,” but he nonetheless puts him on similar footing with Moses and Elijah. As if Jesus is just the latest prophet and leader in a line of prophets and leaders. Three tents – one for each of my heroes.
He’s half right. Jesus is the next great prophet. He is the next great lawgiver. He is the next great king. He’s also infinitely more than any of them or all of them together. Jesus doesn’t just come after Moses and Elijah; His very presence includes them. The point of this amazing vision is not that Jesus is like Moses and Elijah, but to teach the disciples – and us – that to see Jesus is to see Moses, Elijah, and more all at once.
When Moses and Elijah went up the mountain, they met God. When Jesus goes up the mountain, he reveals that he is God. Moses comes back with the Ten Commandments. Elijah comes back with more power. Jesus is the Law of God; He is the power of God. Jesus isn’t part of a trio of prophets; he is part of the Trinity with the Father who reveals himself in the voice from heaven and the Holy Spirit seen in the “bright cloud.”
This revelation overwhelms the three apostles; It literally knocks them down. But Jesus comes to them and says “rise.” He uses that word on purpose. In both Greek and English, it’s the same word he uses to tell them not to talk about it until he has been “raised from the dead.” Jesus doesn’t just raise them off the ground, he foreshadows the promise that he will raise them from the dead and into eternal life.
But to raise them up – to raise us up – he has to have it all. We can’t give Jesus just part of the mountain and expect him to raise us up. That’s why he lets them see the Transfiguration. Jesus knows the Apostles misunderstand. He knows they will stumble and fall when he is crucified. So, he gives some of them a chance to see why all this suffering and crucifixion stuff is going to happen, and chance to see what comes after. That way, they will have the strength to endure, to repent, to come back after the cross and to bring the others back with them to share in the resurrection.
Jesus wants it all. As God, he deserves everything we have. As our loving savior, he wants everything we have the way a young man wants the woman he loves to spend her whole life with him. We all have interests and heroes and daydreams and all of that is fine if Jesus remains Lord above it all. We have many heroes that we call saints, including Moses and Elijah, and they are truly worthy of our devotion, but we worship the Trinity alone and Jesus is the Son in that Trinity.
Jesus wants it all and that’s why we have Lent. There are many, many good things in the world. We can and should use and enjoy these things, but we cannot be attached to them. We cannot let them steal even the tiniest bit of our love for Jesus. Christian life in general and Lent in particular calls us set aside sin and to deliberately set aside some of the good things in life. We fast, pray, and give alms to clear of the mountain of our hearts, to take down the tents that crowd in around Jesus, stealing the space that belongs to him alone.
When I say Jesus wants it all, I mean all. He wants every aspect of your life, every second of your day, to be in some way connected to your faith, offered to him out of love for him and for our neighbor. In other words, he doesn’t just want nice people. He wants saints. Some of the harshest words Jesus ever speaks in the bible are the words he directs to the mediocre, the lukewarm. He promises to vomit them out – not just reject them, but to be revulsed and spew them out.
Paul in the second reading reminds us that Jesus “saved us and called us to a holy life.” Holy, not comfortable. There’s a reason the passage starts with encouragement to “bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” Hardship is part of what you signed up for by being Catholic. 5 Billion people got to eat meat Friday and can still enjoy their Netflix, chocolates, and alcohol without guilt right now. Lent is one tangible experience of the “share of hardship” that comes with the Gospel, with being Catholic.
So, how are your Lenten penances going? Too easy? Too hard? How many of us have already broken them? Or just given up, even though it’s only been a week and a half? Just being a decent Catholic can be pretty tough, how is anyone supposed to be a saint? Better yet, if just being decent is this hard, how much “hardship” and suffering will I get for trying to be saint? Why should I bother?
Because of the transfiguration – moments of light and joy along the way and the final glory at the end. Because of what happens when you do clear the mountain and the glory that comes after every crucifixion of your desires. Jesus asks you to get rid of the things you love so that you can love them better… so you can love them in him.
“When the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.” And yet, Moses and Elijah were not lost to them. Only transcended. Your wealth and possessions, your friends and family, your health and comfort, your freedom – these things are not lost. They, like you, are transfigured, shining the glory of what God made them to be: reflections of his own love. You cannot earn this, it is given freely according to God’s generous design. But you do have to accept it… to let go of the other tents, to see Jesus alone above everything else and to do what the Father says: “This is my beloved son; listen to him.” Listen to him because you too are his beloved, and he doesn’t want to share you with anything else.