Prayers of the People: The Cloud of Glory ~ The Transfiguration (10th Sunday after Pentecost) '23 Yr A

For Sunday, August 6, 2023, Readings: Exodus 34:29-35, Psalm 99:5-9, 2Peter 1:13-21, Luke 9:28-36 

   [Moses] came down from Mount Sinai...with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand...Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God...When Moses had finished speaking with [Aaron and the Israelites] he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord...he would take the veil off until he came out. [Exodus 34:29-30, 33]

   ...they called upon the Lord, and he answered them. He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud.  [Psalm 99:6b, 7a]

   We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven...So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. [2 Peter 1: 18-19]  

   Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. [Luke 9:28-31]

    We begin the readings for this Sunday with a taste of the Moses story veiling his face after his divine encounters as his own radiance is nearly blinding to the Israelites on his return.   

   As with Moses and the stone tablets, the Transfiguration of Jesus is at once mystery, miracle, and milestone. Jesus became a dazzling, shining, glowing, gleaming, shimmering beam of radiant glory! A momentary, visible metamorphosis. At the top of the mountain, Jesus becomes the connection, the conduit between human and divine ~ between God and us. Another cloud of God in glory then overshadowed them and again, God spoke to say, as at his baptism, “This is my Son, my Beloved…” and most importantly for Peter, James, John, and us: “…listen to him!”  These particular kinds of clouds in which God is present, are known in Judaism as the Shekinah ~ a feminine Hebrew word for a name of God. It also translates to "settling or dwelling of the Divine Presence."

   The Transfiguration was a miracle of God in which Jesus is not the one performing but the one receiving. We don't know if Jesus knew this moment was coming when he took several of his disciples to the mountain to pray. His three companions were certainly blasted awake from the sleepiness that was about to overtake them as suddenly, at the top of the mountain, in a near-blinding all-encompassing cloud, when the temporal and eternal sparked a dazzling display of transcendent, Majestic Glory, all in the sight of the chosen disciples who then bore witness to the prophecy confirmed.  

    Moses and Elijah appear, representing the Law and the Prophets, converse with Jesus about his coming departure at Jerusalem, then they vanish. Luke, in the original Greek, carefully chooses exodus as the word to describe the coming departure of Jesus. Through this new Exodus, the departure of Jesus in death and resurrection, a new order, that of the Messiah is established, leading God's people out of the bondage of sin and into the true and eternal promised land of the Kingdom of Heaven.       

    The Transfiguration is a critical piece in the significant events in the life of Jesus. The others are his Baptism, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. It is at this moment that Christ is confirmed by God as His Chosen, to those present. The mission of the disciples is then fully inaugurated in their own minds and they spend the rest of their lives in Christ's service, spreading the Gospel. It is this moment, in this spectacular cloud, that the Reign of Christ, our King, begins. It is this moment, now, that we must emerge as if from a cloud to listen, to learn, and to live into the Reign of Jesus by our thoughts, our words, and our actions. God knows we are marked as Christ's own forever. It's time that we know it again. As we enter the Cloud of Glory with the disciples, we emerge with hearts and souls shining with Christ’s radiance to guide us in the fullness, in the emptiness, and in the regular-ness of life here and now in Christ’s Kingdom on Earth, until the time to cross into the Forever Kingdom of Heaven.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
 
Leader:  ~ God of Majesty and Glory, upon Your Sacred Mountains you gave Moses the Law for our instruction and transfigured the Being of Your Son, Jesus, as the shining example for our lives. Rise in our hearts as the morning star, as we seek to lift the Gospel veil to listen and live according to Your Word.
 
                                            Beloved Jesus, Face of God                             
         RESPONSE:            Transfigure us for Your Service
 
~ God of Majesty and Glory, transform the hearts, the souls, and the minds of the leaders of this world, this nation, and this community, so that their judgments are unclouded by personal ambition, and they legislate for justice with wisdom, tempered with mercy for all.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions
 
                                                Beloved Jesus, Face of God
                                                Transfigure us for Your Service
                                                
~ God of Majesty and Glory, comfort all who are ill, weary, or anxious, with Your Presence and grant unfailing strength of body and heart to all who care for the weakest of Your children. We now join our hearts to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions
 
                                                Beloved Jesus, Face of God
                                                Transfigure us for Your Service
            
~ God of Majesty and Glory, we give You thanks for those we love who are now received into the holy whirlwind of Your divine radiance, to live again with You in the glory of Christ Jesus forever. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions
 
                                                Beloved Jesus, Face of God
                                                Transfigure us for Your Service
 
~ God of Majesty and Glory, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently… add your own petitions
 
                                                Beloved Jesus, Face of God
                                                Transfigure us for Your Service
            
~ God of Majesty and Glory, endow with fortitude and vitality all who are chosen and anointed as the exemplars of Your Word and Will, our spiritual beacons on the sacred path. We pray especially for: add your own petitions
 
                                                Beloved Jesus, Face of God
                                                Transfigure us for Your Service
                                                                                                         
The Celebrant adds:  God of gods, Lord of lords, infuse us with greater strength and purpose to faithfully reaffirm our covenant with You. May our lives and souls be purified through the dazzling brilliance of the Transfigured Christ, and the mystical breath of the Holy Spirit, who together with You reign as One God, now and forever. Amen.

 

 

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