One day I was reading the news on the net, I do that most every day. I ran across a headline for an article titled, “Death of an International Language.” The title sounded intriguing so I read it. It made both sad and nostalgic. The article talked about the death of Morse code, the only language other than English I am fluent in.
The article talked at length about how the code was developed by Samuel Morse in the 1800s. Along with the invention of the telegraph, Morse code literally helped to settle the west. It cut the time it took to send communications, using wires to link one part of the country with another. Later, with wireless communications, principally radio, the code became an indispensable tool, particularly for the military. It was used by armies and on ships for both radio and visual communications. A Morse code message was used by the Titanic to tell the world it had hit an iceberg and was sinking.
Since that time, as we all know, voice communications have long since replaced the telegraph. Because we use voice to communicate over the radio, the need for the code drastically diminished.
Until relatively recently, the military still used the code fairly extensively in visual communications. That is what I did in the Navy. I was a signalman. I worked on the bridge and used Morse code for flashing light messages. We also used semaphore, and all the bright colored flags you see on ships for visual communications with other ships.
That article said even among merchant ships the communications code was available until February 1999 though few people used it. Beginning then, international law required all maritime ships to have satellite navigation and communication systems. Though the military still used Morse code some, it was on life support. When the Army and Navy quit using Morse code a few years ago, it was pretty much the end with only a handful of amateur radio operators keeping it somewhat alive. That made me a bit sad because at least at one time, Morse code was an important part of my life.
As I read the article I thought back on my Navy days. I remember standing on the bridge of my ship at night and being amazed at how much of the ocean became lit when we would send flashing light messages to other ships, even when we used filters. Or, when I would see some old salt (a term of endearment for an old sailor) that had been working for years as a signalman, operate the light. He could run that light so fast and smooth. Sometimes it would look like gibberish and I would have to slow him down.
Occasionally we would have to send a task force wide message. We would use the yard arm blinkers. At night they really lit up the sky. The blinkers made the night sky seem to become day. It was really bright.
The article and all those memories came back to me as I was studying the texts for today. Matthew tells us Jesus, Moses and Elijah were glowing to the point they were shining like the sun. Then Peter says, “You will do well to be attentive to this as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Light and darkness are important metaphors in Scripture. Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, came into the world as a light in the darkness. He came into the world to light up the night sky.
If Peter, James, and John hadn’t gotten the message Jesus was the Messiah, our lesson should have made the point. Remember by this point these three, and the other disciples, had seen thousands fed, heard Jesus teach and preach and had seen people healed. Peter had even publicly declared who Jesus was to the other eleven. Now with the Transfiguration it was confirmed before their eyes and ears Jesus was the Christ.
I think it is difficult for us to place ourselves in this story. It is harder than most of Scripture because it sounds like something from a movie script. It is so different from our reality. First, we look up and see Jesus standing there. Not so strange, except he is standing there with Moses and Elijah. Don’t ask me how they knew it was Moses and Elijah. I don’t know. We have pictures of departed family members and famous and not so famous people of the past. Some time ago my Dad gave me a picture of my great-great grandfather. He died over 20 years before I was born. If I suddenly had a vision, I might recognize him. But these three didn’t have the luxury of a picture of these two fathers of Israel. Yet they still knew Moses and Elijah. And, it must have been a frightening thing to look up and see two men, seemingly alive they knew had died centuries before.
Then, as if fear alone were not enough, they see Jesus shining like the sun. It must have been a little like watching an episode of the old TV show Touched by an Angel. When the angels told people they were angels a light shines on them. Only with Jesus, he had to be even bright. Matthew says, His face shone like the sun and His clothes were dazzling white.
It would be scary. It would probably be enough to scare even the most ardent viewer of horror films because this was no movie. The disciples were living this. It was all very real, probably too real. It’s no wonder Peter’s reaction was to say, “Let’s build three shelters.” He didn’t know what to say.
I think maybe the part that bothers me most is Peter wanting to build three shelters. It just doesn’t make sense. But with all that was going on around him, we probably wouldn’t make much sense either.
But God wasn’t through that day. One more bit of fright was still out there. A voice comes from a cloud saying, “This is my Beloved Son, listen to Him.” Had the three been present at Jesus’ baptism it might not seem quite so frightening. They may have even expected it. But I think I might break lots of world records running down off that mountain. I might not stop for a week. Then Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid?” Opps, too late.
This is an important lesson. In several places in the Gospels Jesus is referred to as light or the Light of the World. Here, he shows Peter, James, and John that truth. Through the lesson he shows the truth to us as well.
Peter must have known and understood. He relates the story in 2 Peter and then says, “So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed.” That prophetic message is Jesus is the Light of the world. Jesus was the light in the night sky, a light brighter than any light humanity has ever invented. Jesus shone as bright as the sun and that transfigured Jesus.
Even more importantly it transfigured Peter, James, and John. These men were changed, not by their own doing, they weren’t changed because they said they wanted to be, what they saw and experienced in Jesus changed them. As they went out into the world in the days ahead Jesus told them not to talk of what they experienced. I think maybe he said this because their transfiguration was not yet complete. But after Jesus’ death and resurrection they were free to talk about it, in fact, talking about it was to be their mission for the rest of their lives. They were transfigured from fishermen to evangelists. The transfigured disciples were to go out into a dark world and light up the night sky with the message of the risen Christ.
It seems that maybe something similar happens to us. Because of the world of the disciples and many generations of believers since, we have had light, bright light, the light of Jesus Christ, brought into our world during every generation. The message of the risen Christ exists and is alive today because of what many have done before us.
We too have those same kind of responsibilities. When we accept the transfigured Christ and become followers of Jesus we become transfigured, changed. And, with that change comes the responsibility for going out into a dark world, a night sky and bring light, bring God’s love to all those around us. And on one promises this will be easy. But God goes with us just as God has gone with all past generations of Christians. That is good news. Without God in our lives this task and many others would never be possible.
You know, with today’s modern technology we can light up the night sky. In a certain limited area, around a ship, or a ball field, we can seemingly turn part of the sky from darkness to the light of day with just the flip of a switch. But it is limited. It will only light up a certain small area. Try as we might, we cannot place a sun in the sky that would light all the area around us, much less half the globe. But God can and does.
It is also true, we can’t take the darkness of someone’s life and transfigure it so God’s light will shine. Only God can do that. But God chooses to use us in that process. God made Jesus shine bright to bring a change in the disciples lives so they might go into the world as instruments of God’s love and peace.
The same is true for us. God transfigures us and sends us out into the world to share His love. God uses us to light the sky of the darkest nights of the soul. Praise be to God.
