2nd March 2025
Reflection with readings after
Are we changed though relationships with God? I hope so!! I hope we become more fully the best person we can be. I guess we won’t see it through the medium of shining faces, but maybe we see it in people’s demeanour – their being more patient, more honest, kinder, empathetic, more loving. Maybe we see it in changes in the environment around them – calmer workplaces, more efficient meetings, meaningful worship – or in activities and actions such as open house cafes, gardening events, tree planting, book swopping events, community projects etc.
We are currently seeing the effects of Donald Trump presuming to take on the role of king of the whole world – it is not very inspiring. But what would the world be like if we all accepted God as king, if we all agreed to God’s reign being paramount, if the law ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ was the prime factor in making decisions?
Even if God is not (yet) universally acknowledged as King, what would the world look like if we – as many as believe it to be one of the two great commandments – acted as if the law that we should love our neighbour as ourself, was always the prime factor in any decision we made whether in our homes or churches or communities? I recently read a book about a fictional future earth – Aerth – where the populace (transformed by the impact of a devastating pandemic) had as it first rule ‘Do no harm’. This simple determiner did produce for the community carefully thought through decisions.
St Paul tells us that through God’s glory we “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” which sounds so wonderful and amazing. But I think St Paul is aware of the effort, the cost, involved. When the disciples saw Jesus radiant with glory, they were terrified. And when they heard him talking with Moses and Elijah it was about the suffering and trauma that lay ahead. St Paul goes on to write that it is through God’s mercy – which is a power of love – that we “engage in this ministry” (which is the transforming of the world through the wisdom of the gospel) and “do not loose heart” which points to the difficult uphill nature of the task. What we must do says St Paul is always be truthful as we prick the conscience of the world.
So this is our calling: to live as if God’s reign is supreme, to allow that to transform us, to love our neighbour, and to do so truthfully even when the truth is uncomfortable to hear. And our strength will come from God – God’s mercy will be with us even when things seem set against us.
So that is our calling: to love our neighbour, and to do so truthfully even when the truth is uncomfortable to hear. And our strength will come from God – God’s mercy will be with us even when things seem set against us.
Exodus 34:29-35
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain 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 Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Psalm 99
1 The Lord is King;
let the people tremble; *
he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
let the earth shake.
2 The Lord is great in Zion; *
he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; *
he is the Holy One.
4 “O mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity; *
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”
5 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God
and fall down before his footstool; *
he is the Holy One.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *
they called upon the Lord, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *
they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them indeed; *
you were a God who forgave them,
yet punished them for their evil deeds.
9 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God
and worship him upon his holy hill; *
for the Lord our God is the Holy One.
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord 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 Lord, the Spirit.
Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.
Luke 9:28-36
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. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”–not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
The Green Tau 