Transfiguration is the foretaste of transformation.

Transformation through the Holy Spirit means that we are never the same again.

Our lessons today teach how transfiguration leads to transformation. Both of our stories this week are stories of transformation.

I love the picture of transformation in the 2 Kings reading.

As Elijah is nearing death, in the Old Testament tradition, he asks his longtime disciple Elisha, how can I bless you.

Elisha answers him, "Let me inherit a double share of your spirit."

"I want a double dose of your Holy Spirit." I like that image.

I had a taste of transformation when I attended a Cursillo retreat in 1986. I came back from that weekend really uplifted spiritually, but it was more of an internal lift. In that community the men went on the retreat the first week, and the women the next. My wife watched me during that week, and when she went to the retreat the following week, the first thing that she said was:

"I do not know what they did to my husband last week, but whatever it was, I want a double dose!!"
I think she got what she wished for.

My point is that when the Holy Spirit touches us, other people will notice the transformation. And when we become transformed by the Holy Spirit, it is not just so we can feel good about ourselves.

We are transformed because God has a job for us to do.

That is what is happening in our scripture this week.

The people are being prepared and anointed for God's ministry.

Sometimes when we read the Bible, or we study church history, we forget that most of the people who we think of as spiritual giants started out as ordinary people.

Ordinary folks, just like you and me, who answered the call of God. The men in our scriptures this week were ordinary men.

Elisha was a poor farmer, when Elijah walked by. Elisha left his plow in the middle of the field and followed him.

Peter, James, and John were young fishermen when Jesus came by their boats. They left their nets in the water and followed Him. They left their places of comfort in order to follow the man of God. They watched as their teacher was welcomed by some people, and rejected by others; worshipped by some people, yet ridiculed by others.

They watched as their man relied upon God, and miracles happened. And as they watched and served, they learned how to do ministry; they learned how to share the message of God.

When the time came for them to receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit, they were ready and able to step out.

We read in our lessons today that Elisha received an anointing of the Holy Spirit as a blessing from Elijah.

Peter, James, and John saw the anointing of the Holy Spirit as a gift from Jesus, even though they did not realize it at the time.

These two incidents are closely connected; the first is a forecast of the second. Every spiritual act that Jesus did in His ministry, had a basis in the Old Covenant.

The spiritual connection in both of these readings is the cloud. It is not an accident that Moses and Elijah appear in the cloud, with Jesus, at the time of the transfiguration.

In the Old Testament scriptures, the Holy Spirit was often represented as a cloud.

Jewish Scripture and tradition is very familiar with the cloud. In the Exodus saga we are told that the Hebrew people were guided on their journey with: "A cloud by day and the fire by night." When Moses went into the holy tent to pray, it was surrounded by a cloud, and when Moses came out his face was brilliant.

Moses was transfigured.

In the text today, Elijah is caught up in the cloud, and taken to heaven. And the power of the Holy Spirit that he possessed was given to Elisha. Elisha was transformed.

So it is not an accident that when Moses and Elijah appear upon the mountain with Jesus, they appear in a cloud.

Moses and Elijah represented the Law and the Prophets.

Moses and Elijah were on the mountaintop with Jesus because God Almighty, the Holy Spirit, was about to declare a new thing. In the presence of Moses and Elijah, God declared:

"This is My Son the Beloved. Listen to Him."
Jesus was given authority over the law and the prophets.

The New Covenant had been declared!

Peter and John and James were there, not to be witnesses to this historic event, but to receive the rewards of this historic event. Peter and James and John were there to receive their double share of the Holy Spirit.

Because, like Elisha, who was anointed to continue the ministry of Elijah; the disciples were anointed to continue the ministry of Jesus. As they were transfigured by the Holy Spirit, they were transformed for the rest of their lives.

Their lives were never the same, but more importantly, the lives of the people that they talked to every day were never the same. God had a job for them to do. And they accepted the call. Every one of us has a portion of the Holy Spirit; it is our birthright as Christians.

But when we answer the call to use that Holy Spirit to the Glory of God, then we are accepting our double share of the Holy Spirit.

My wife returned from our Cursillo weekend bouncing off the walls & with a bucket full of Holy Spirit; and it has not run dry in twenty years because the more we give the Holy Spirit away, the more God fills us up again!!

Sometimes our experience on the mountaintop might seem to get a little cloudy.

I would suggest that when the clouds begin to sneak up onto our mountain, it may not be a bad thing.

It may be your time for transfiguration.

It may be your opportunity for a transformation.

In the middle of the cloud is the place that you may claim your double share of the Holy Spirit.

And when you accept that transformation, get ready, because you will never be the same again!!

AMEN