Yesterday was Transfiguration Sunday, and we were having an abbreviated service to allow time for a congregational meeting. So my children's address had to do double duty as a sermon (not altogether a bad thing).
I was reflecting on the Transfiguration, and wondering why Jesus was only revealed in this way to a limited number of his disciples for a limited time. Surely he could have done this at any time he would want. But then I thought of bright lights in darkness: the shock in a child's eyes if you turn on the lights of they are talking after lights out. No wonder the gospel records that Peter goes out and says something that shows a complete lack of understanding - Peter always has to say something. The disciples did not know what to say, they were just kangaroos transfixed in the headlights of Christ's glory.
When I was in research one way we used to soften light was to use mirrors. A mirror can be used to take a small part of the light of a bright object and reflect it into an area of shadow. So, can discipleship be seen as being a mirror. A mirror serves to assist the light to shine into the darkness. A mirror does not produce any light. A mirror does not need to understand electromagnetic theory or practical optics - a mirror reflects because that is what a mirror does. I pray that God polishes us all into more effective mirrors for the world.
But now I have a second image coming into my mind : a mirror works only in constant connection. This does not really express the cycles of our lives in ministry - those of going out and coming back. When my sister was in her early teens, she was really keen on a collection of toys called glow-bugs. They were moulded plastic figures made of a dullish yellowy-green plastic. But when they were exposed to sunlight for a few ours, and then taken into darkness they shone with a soft green glow that would last all night. As a physicist, the knowledge that the light the toy gives off is less energetic than the sunlight appeals to me - we can never shine with the full glory of God in this place. But isn't that more like our lives of worship, witness and service? If we fail to enter into the presence and appreciation of God, or if we fail to enter the dark places of the world, we can never reach our full potential nor appreciate what we truly are - bringers of the light of God's love into the world. Now all I have to do is work out how a glow bug can point back to the source of its life (as the mirror does), rather than just displaying what is happening.
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