Readings: Gen. 12:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9
Move and be Transformed
Today is the second Sunday of Lent. We are called by
God, in the first reading, as Abram was, to move from where we are to the land
he would show us. “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your
father’s house to a land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12:1). This call implies
three things: (1) God’s free choice, (2) God’s mission and (3) God’s promise.
We must respond to God’s call and go on his mission if we must receive his
promise.
(1) God’s choice: God calls us, not because we are
good, or what we have done or what we own, but because he loves us. “It was not
you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit
that will remain” (Jn. 15:16). To Timothy, Paul said: “He saved us and called
us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began.” (2 Tim.1:9). Isaiah
reminds us, “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and formed
you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name:
you are mine.” (Is. 43:1). God’s call is based on his mission: “Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to
the nations I appointed you.” (Jer. 1:5). God has a mission for everyone, the
mission that is connected to our call.
(2) The mission: God’s mission for us may entail
sacrifices. It may mean leaving our safe environment, the familiar, the known,
the tested and the tried to the unknown, unfamiliar and the untried. It may
demand speaking different languages, eating different foods and being with
people of different cultures, races and creed. I am sure Abram went through
these and more. He moved and left behind a prosperous commercial area to settle
in a land that was relatively primitive and underdeveloped. Paul told Timothy,
“Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel.” (2 Tim. 1:8). For Abram’s
mission, God would establish a new covenant with him. “Walk in my presence and
be blameless. Between you and me I will establish my covenant, and I will
multiply you exceedingly.” (Gen. 17:1-2). God would later change his name to
Abraham and make him a father of a multitude of nations.
As Christians, we have a mission to love our family,
our community, our job, our church and our friends. Our mission is determined
by our relationship with God. The closer and more intimate our relationship is
with God, the stronger would our commitment be to those we are called to serve.
God is constantly calling us to move from our emotional stagnation, our social
ineptitude, our moral decadence, our spiritual stupor, our psychological
blindness, our religious laziness, our mental slavery and our physiological
sloppiness and experience a transformation brought about by our obedience to
God’s will. Our mission here and now is to wake from our sleep, to have a
change of heart, a redirection of our steps towards God so that we may receive
our reward - salvation. St. Paul exhort us: “And do this because you know the
time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is
nearer now than we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let
us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not
in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the
Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh” (Rom.
13:11-14).
(3) The promise: “For I know well the plans I have in
mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give
you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will
listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me
with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the Lord, and I will
change your lot.” (Jer. 29: 11-14). God promised to be with his chosen people,
he is faithful to his promises. In Abram’s case, God promised him posterity.
Before the promise was made, Abraham was 75 and his wife, Sarah was 65, both of
them were childless. Yet, in the fulness of time God visited them and gave them
a child who became the father of nations, as promised.
This brings us to the Gospel of today. Today we
reflect on the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. Christ had to move up
to be transfigured. He left the known to the unknown and there found a
blessing, a confirmation and affirmation of his identity and mission. On this
scene were Peter, James and John. We will meet them again in the garden of
Gethsemane. They, who witnessed the glory of Christ on the mountain top, would
also witness his agony at the garden. Now they are prepared to face the scandal
of the cross. Jesus called them to be in communion with him, to see his glory
and splendor on that beautiful mountain. He will call them again for support
during the lowest point of his life, as he would struggle to do his father’s
will. He will need them to pray with him and be prepared for their own mission
as well.
Before the transfiguration, there was a lot of
argument about the person of Christ. Who was he? Was Christ in doubt of his
identity and mission as well? In the 16th chapter of Matthew’s
Gospel he asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, “Who do people say the Son
of Man is.” This may have been a hot topic at the time. But at the
Transfiguration, God answered this question definitively in the presence of
Moses, (the law) and Elijah (the prophets), “This is my beloved Son, with whom
I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Mt. 17:5).
Jesus was called by God and given a mission and a
promise as Abraham was. His mission was confirmed, and his blessing assured.
His mission was to save the world and for his blessing – the resurrection.
“Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11).
On this Sunday of Lent, God equally calls us to move
from the known to the unknown. To move away from where God is not present, from
darkness, selfishness, evil, pettiness, sin, division and backwardness to the
land of light, peace and joy. We are called to be transformed and transfigured
to a new existence; to belong to a community of God’s people. “But you are “a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that
you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light.” (1Peter 2:9). We must listen to the voice of Christ and walk
with him day by day, taking on his ways of thinking, speaking and relating to
people. We must leave our selfish ways and take up Christ’s selfless ways. We
must die to ourselves and live for others. We must so obey God that we would
say with Paul, “I live now not I but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 3:20).
So, my friends, look around you, perhaps there are
some habits you may want to leave behind as you move: like drunkenness or being
engrossed in pleasure-seeking, or quarreling and tearing people apart. Or
laziness that creates problems in your family. Tell Jesus in prayer that you
are ready to move and leave all those vices behind. Move then to the land that
God will show you. In that land, promises await you, so that like Peter you
will say: “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP.
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