Do you trust in God’s promise?
Can you count the stars? When, in the Book of Genesis, God makes his covenant with Abram, God says, Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so shall your descendants be. Abram has no tangible number he can attach to the stars, but he puts his faith in the Lord’s promise and believes in the impossible: descendants beyond number. The covenant is sealed with the nighttime sacrifice of various animals and birds. In the deep, terrifying darkness that ensues, Abram may feel dread, yet he is not dominated by fear, for he trusts still in God’s promise, and a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch will light the night for him. Abram will not see the Promised Land, but his vision is nonetheless transformed by God’s action in his life. The Lord is Abram’s light and his salvation; Abram’s confidence is in God and in God’s power beyond his comprehension. As in Psalm 27, the Lord does not hide his face from Abram; Abram seeks to be seen by God, opening himself to a kind of vision that can only come from God.
The Transfiguration of Jesus similarly transforms the vision of those who are present: Peter, John and James awaken to see Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him on Mt. Tabor. Luke describes Jesus’ transformation: while he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white, as if lit by a light from within. Peter and his companions have the opportunity to see Jesus as the Father sees him, and they almost do not recognize him. We, too, are called to witness this sight: behold! Faith is meant to shift how we look at our world, that we might see it as God sees it; we must look past the surface, stepping beyond what is visible, transcending it, that we might attain a new depth of understanding in faith. Paul’s message to the Philippians is similar: while on earth they must observe and imitate those who imitate Christ, acknowledging the centrality of the cross of Christ even as those around them deny it, so that God’s glory can be revealed in them as well.
We tend to conceive of Lent in negative terms, but, with proper vision, we can see that Lent is in fact uplifting in its focus on transformation. Abram will forever look at the sky differently; Peter, James and John can never look at Jesus in the same way again. A change in vision was required of them, as it is required of us, that we might understand the fundamental purpose of the cross of Christ and the glory of the Lord it reveals, and trust in the promise of God.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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