The title just about says it all, but a little extra general information:
My father is a Russian Orthodox priest, and these are the sermons he gives during Sunday Divine Liturgy.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
As St. Gregory Palamas points out in his homily for the feast, the Transfiguration, or Metamorphosis, as the Greek has it, was not a change or transformation in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the Uncreated Light that shines from him is not something that appears and then vanishes, for he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Rather, the metamorphosis occurred in the disciples, as their spiritual eyes were opened (and even their bodily eyes) and they beheld the glory of the Son of God to the degree that they were able.
And we must also have this change, or metamorphosis, wrought in us, or Christ will profit us nothing. Anyone can read about Jesus and learn the details of his life and teachings, but if that is all we know of Christ, we are like the Pharisees who only knew the letter of the Law. We have to experience Tabor for ourselves and see Christ transfigured.
So how do we do that? The answer is only by the Sovereign grace of God, as Jesus tells us: "All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." But since we are not Calvinists, we need not despair. There is something WE can do to put ourselves in the position ourselves to receive Divine revelation, and if we just make a little effort, God will in his time and in his good pleasure reveal himself to us.
Last night at Vespers we read about how God appeared of old to Moses on Mount Sinai and to Elijah on Mount Horeb. And likewise it was on Mount Tabor that Jesus was transfigured before his disciples Peter, James, and John. God likes to reveal himself on mountains and climbing mountains is hard work. To give it some perspective, Mount Tabor is roughly the same elevation as Mars Hill Mountain which we can see from our road, some 30 miles away. And Mount Tabor stands out from the Galilean countryside quite like Mars Hill here in Northern Maine. I really think the first settlers made a mistake in naming the mountain. At any rate, I know I would have a hard time climbing Mars Hill or Mount Tabor in my physical condition, and neither could I climb to the heights of contemplation in my own strength.
But we should not despair-- God has made a way! There is a Divine escalator that will take us to the very mountain top! As Jesus tells us, whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Humility is a spiritual law that defies the law of gravity! So, it is a descent, really, and not a climb-- and as you know it's so much easier to go down stairs than to climb them! And I'll tell you a secret--the Mount of Transfiguration is not far away in the Holy Land, but is found in our very hearts, for the kingdom of God is within you. And as we make this descent into our hearts, we find ourselves, like Moses, enveloped in the "cloud of unknowing". And in that cloud we won't know up from down--and on a mountain that can be hazardous! So we just stand still, completely dependent on God's mercy. Maybe we should read "unknowing" as a verb, for it is in that cloud of unknowing that we "un-know" all that we think we know until, like Socrates, we can say, "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." And in that place of stillness and unknowing God will speak to us as he did to Moses, and he will show us his glory. Oh, we may not "see" anything, for the Uncreated Light is invisible, like ultraviolet or "black" light. But when we come down from that mountain our hearts will glow just like "glow in the dark" objects after being exposed to black light, even as Moses' face shone when he came down from the mount.
And then there is the case of Elijah who climbed Mount Horeb after his journey of 40 days and 40 nights without food, having exhausted his outer man. So if you're weary and exhausted from your daily cares, rejoice! You're in a place where you are ripe for a Divine encounter! There was no cloud on Mount Horeb, but Elijah was tested in a different way than Moses. He had to endure sensory distractions--the wind, the earthquake, and the fire-- just as we encounter a multitude of distractions in our modern world. So many voices are vying for our attention-- Lo, here or Lo, there--they cry--all trying to divert us from the still, small voice that speaks in the depths of our souls. As St Tihon of Zadonsk says:
"Grow calm, grow quiet after harmful noise... you will experience a certain movement towards eternity; gradually, like a still, small voice, a thought will come to you as to who you are and what is your end and purpose... this is a sign of the approach of the word of God to your soul."
And so, in a nutshell the way to experience the Transfiguration personally is through humility, by descending into our hearts and becoming still, with our gaze fixed steadfastly past all the distractions toward the Unseen One who dwells in the depths thereof-- until he affords us a glimpse of his glory. Only Peter, James, and John were chosen to witness the transfiguration. This is the promise to ALL, not just to a chosen few: "But we ALL, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18. It is one of my favorite Bible verses. That is how theosis takes place...with every glimpse of his glory, we are changed from glory to glory into the very image of Christ!
Glory to Jesus Christ!
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