Trans-Jesus
2 Corinthians 3:12 - 4:2
Good morning. Today is TRANSfiguration Sunday. Just hearing the name that way, doesn’t it suggest it should have special importance for our community? I propose to you that it does indeed. The truth is it is a wonderful lesson for all people.
Transfiguration Sunday recalls Jesus appearing in glorious form on the mountain with Moses and Elijah. The story is recorded in Matthew and Mark and Luke’s Gospel. Each account tells of Jesus taking Peter, James and John up on the mountain to pray and in the midst of praying Jesus’ face began to change into his true radiance and his clothes became dazzling white. No more wondering if Jesus was fully human and fully divine. The truth was in front of them.
Now according to the story, James, Peter and John were sleep deprived so this probably would have been plenty to witness. Moments later a cloud overshadows them and they hear the voice of God saying, “This is my Son, My Chosen; Listen to Him.” Jesus makes no attempt to hide his brilliance.
This is a very sweet passage of scripture. Before God’s voice is heard the men were so excited they wanted to build houses up on the mountain, get a u-haul and never leave. “Master, it is good for us to be here. I will build three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah”. That’s pretty gay don’t you think? But after they hear the voice of God, they are terrified and tell no one of what they witnessed. This makes me conclude these men were not gay because we’re not good with secrets-Amen?
This gospel story presents a contrast to an earlier bible story recorded in Exodus. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai after receiving the Ten Commandments, he was not aware that his own face was glowing in radiance. The people could clearly see God’s presence in him. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw the radiance they were afraid to come near him. From our scripture today, we read that Moses veiled his face in response to the people’s fear. We’re told that whenever he entered God’s presence he would remove the veil, puting the veil back over his face when he was finished.
So why did Moses face shine? His face shone because he reflected the glory of God in whose presence he had just been. Moses’ response was to veil his reflection.
Jesus did not mask the glory of God, he embodied it. Jesus did not transform into something else, Jesus transformed into who he was in God. Trans-Jesus.
I want that to sink in as I tell you a story of another TRANS figuration more familiar to our community. I want to tell you about my friend Doug. Doug is an FTM, a female to male transgender person. Doug was born female…or was he?
Ten years ago when we met, Doug was Deb and Deb and I found ourselves producing the first ever Pride celebration in the coastal California town of San Luis Obispo. Deb was president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance that year and I was the president the next. We became immediate friends. Deb was a civil engineer for the state of California and she and her partner Eveline had been together nearly fourteen years. One fateful day I got a phone call that TRANS-formed me forever.
The tone of her voice suggested something important. We met at a favorite Italian restaurant, ordered lunch, made small talk and then she dropped the bomb. I don’t remember the exact words. What I remember was how honored I felt knowing that something HUGE was about to be disclosed. This wasn’t just about Deb. WE would never be the same again.
She told me that for as long as she could remember, she was journeying towards the ultimate truth that she has always been a man. My lunch invitation was one of several as she met with her closest friends, letting them know she was officially embarking on a journey to wholeness and full personhood. She had a plan, she had selected a doctor. She would travel to Canada. She was now entering the medical process that would facilitate completing his TRANSformation.
I was curious, as I’m sure most of our irreverent friends were. “So you gonna change everything up here and down there?” I asked sheepishly. Deb smiled, explaining this was a journey to congruency. She didn’t know how far she would travel until the person on the outside matched the person on the inside; in other words until his true radiance was evident to the world.
She changed her name to Doug and he and Eveline lovingly walked through this journey together. At times it was poignantly funny. After he’d been on hormones for a while he laughed about entering a brand new puberty.
Doug was committed to a full becoming so he also entered law school about the same time I entered seminary. I was honored to witness Doug becoming Doug. Be assured Deb did not change into Doug. Doug became reconciled to who God created him to be. Doug had the courage to cast off his veil and show his full radiance. He could no longer let fear veil his destiny.
In our scripture today, the apostle Paul contrasts the glory of Moses with the glory of Christ. The Israelites could not see Moses’ face because of the veil. In Christ we see the unveiled glory of God and are transformed into God’s likeness. If we are called to be Christ in the world (and we are), are we courageous enough to reflect a thousand watts of the God that lives in us? Or are we only ready to reflect a 40 watt God? I want us to become Halogen bright Christians who stand tall as beloved children of the creator of all nations. So are you a night light or a halogen flood lamp? Which do you think God would have us be?
TRANS-figuration Sunday could be one of MCC’s high holy days. As a community we are called to reclaim our holy identity, modeling for others how to cast off the fears that have held us down. Coming Out is a spiritual practice because by coming out you choose to stand in the full voltage of your authenticity.
This doesn’t apply only to those of us who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. It is an act of sacred courage for each of us to surrender to God’s greatest call for our lives, to live into our fullest personhood-- whatever that entails-- and to become God’s effective instrument in the world. I thank God for every trans person who models the courage to become.
The apostle Paul said it best, “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away…. It had not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away.
Now the Creator is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Creator is, there is freedom.”
The freedom to be you is a powerful and healing thing. It came full circle at Doug’s law school graduation party. There were congratulatory cards displayed all over the walls of their home. One card brought me to tears. The card was from Doug’s mother. The card she lovingly selected read “Congratulations on your graduation SON”. What a gift of unconditional love his mother gave us all that day.
Months later Doug and Eveline made another fateful phone to me. Doug’s birth state of Illinois had corrected his birth certificate, finally listing him as male. We met at that same Italian restaurant and, this time, we planned their wedding. On January 27th, 2002 I performed MY first wedding, pronouncing them legally married. Hallelujah.
Doug is now a civil rights attorney and he and Eveline continue to be respected community leaders and activists. They both taught me about courage and commitment. They are reflections of God, whose glory shines through their lives, actively loving and serving in the world.
In verse 18 “And all of us, with UNVEILED faces, seeing the glory of God as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Creator, the Spirit.”
People of God, unveil your faces. Let God shine through you. Let this TRANS figuration Sunday and the image of a TRANS-Jesus; lift you to new understanding. Jesus did not mask the glory of God, he embodied it. May we all embody and follow his example.
We are children God
We’re on a mission with God to love the world
We will not veil our holy identity one more day!