In the Shakespeare play, “Twelfth Night”, a young woman, Viola, is shipwrecked and disguises herself as a man in order to enter into the service of the Duke of Orsino. The Duke despatches Viola, now disguised as a man, to the woman the Duke loves, Olivia, in order to convince Olivia of the Duke’s love for her. Olivia however falls in love with Viola who is dressed as a man. Viola herself has fallen in love with the Duke but cannot reveal her identity yet. It then takes the rest of the play to sort all of the relationships out. Suffice to say, Viola may appear to the other characters as a man, but her true nature is that of a woman. It is only when she reveals this that matters become clear. It is this idea of true identities being revealed that comes to my mind as we end Epiphany and come to Transfiguration Sunday.
We know about the Transfiguration from the gospel accounts. Jesus and some disciples climb a mountain where Jesus is transfigured. His appearance becomes shining bright and Moses and Elijah appear alongside Him. But this is actually who Jesus is in reality. The Transfiguration is less about Jesus being changed, but rather the disciples seeing who Jesus actually is for the first time. In the transfiguration they see the true nature of Jesus and it has a profound impact on those present at the time. Peter writes about it in his second letter as a means to remind the church of both the identity of Jesus and the truth of the promises concerning His return. He encourages disciples to live as God calls them because Jesus is coming back and the church needs to be ready for this event.
Living as disciples of Jesus is important, not simply so we are ready for the return of Jesus, but so that we too can show our true nature. Over the last few weeks we’ve been looking at how we are supposed to live out our faith in the world. We are to become transformed from within by God’s grace. This inner transformation is then the source of an external change in how we live and love one another. By living as God calls us to live, we actually reveal who God is to the world. This becomes our true nature and, like Jesus on the mountaintop, becomes visible to those around us. Our faith should not be hidden away and glimpsed only by a select few but lived out for all to see so we show the way to others. May our lives, lived as God calls us to live, shine God’s love out into the world as we wait for the return of our King.