Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday of Epiphany and the Sunday before Lent starts.  We went to worship at the Date Grove, as we have for the last three Sundays, and Laurie preached on the Transfiguration.  Laurie explained the difference between the seasons of Epiphany and Lent in this way:  Epiphany is when God reveals his face to us in new ways and Lent is when we turn our faces back to God.  So in Epiphany we have the revealing of God through Jesus to the wise men, to Simeon and Anna at the Temple, to John the Baptist in Jesus’ baptism, and to the disciples through the Transfiguration.  And in Lent we repent of our sins and try to scrub our lives clean in order to receive the revelation.

I think this is a wonderful way to explain the transition into Lent.  Over and over God has revealed himself to us and we treat this revelation as if it were an everyday, ordinary phenomenon.  What a wonderful, patient God we have who is willing to put up with our sinfulness, our ignorance (ignoring his revelation), and our disinterest.  Even when he is transfigured, we yawn and treat it like any other day.  For all these things, we need to repent and turn again to the God who loves us so much that he never gives up on us.

Everyday Tom and I marvel at the beauty of the desert and the mountains.  These things are new and amazing to our eyes.  With the Transfiguration, we are reminded that God should be new and amazing to us everyday.  One day may follow another and look much the same to our jaded eyes.  But God is still working and revealing himself and each day is a new opportunity to wonder at his glory.

How is God revealing himself in your life now?  And how will you turn your face to him anew during this Lenten season?