Pregnant women are experiencing something I never will. The knowledge that there is a life, a new life growing inside them. Their bodies and their lives are being changed by this new life.

The stories of Moses with his shiny face and the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain are familiar stories. They both speak of physical changes taking place as new life grows within them.< p> Moses has been given the law. In Hebrew the tablets are said to contain the 10 Words of God. This is a new covenant between God and God's people. God had covenanted with Noah that never again would God cleanse the earth. God had covenanted with Abraham that the Israelites would be God's people and he would be their God. Now, God is offering, through Moses, life under a new covenant, a new Word of God.

God has given the people a new life. A life under the Torah, the instructions of God. Moses may have changed appearance, but the entire people of the Hebrews were transfigured into a new people in a new relationship with God.

The books of the prophets tell of how Israel lived into that covenant. It tells of falling away, followed by a call to return and a welcoming by God until the cycle repeats itself, through to the sending of God's Son.

As Jesus stood on that mountain, experiencing the changing of his physical self, he was joined by the man of the law, his glowing face unveiled for he was in the presence of God, and the chief of prophets, Elijah radiating light as he would have as the chariots of fire lifted him into heaven. And when it was done, only Jesus, glowing, radiating, shining, remained.

In this transfigured man was the completion of the both the law and the prophets. All that Moses and Elijah stood for was made complete in the shining person of Jesus. The covenant with Moses, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Moses and the Hebrews now rest in the person called Jesus, the Son of God. In him was and is, the whole substance of covenant life with God. In his body is new life for us all.

I want to be real careful here. Our Presiding Bishop elect has caught all sorts of flak over using a ancient image of Jesus as Mother, so I don't want to push the metaphor too far. But the idea of radiance of the one carrying new life within him was seen by the frightened and confused disciples.

New life. Brought down the mountain for all to receive. New life in the Body of Jesus Christ given birth by his death and resurrection.

Oh sure, "new life" is one of those religious terms that seems to point to something, but not very clearly. We talk about a new life in Christ, but what do we really mean?

We say that if we are baptized into Christ's death and resurrection, we are mad a new creation. What do we mean. I tell candidates for baptism and their sponsors that Baptism isn't magic. If you're a jerk before your baptized, you'll probably still be a jerk after you're baptized.

It is true that many people do experience a life changing event when they make the conscious decision to dedicate their lives to Christ. We call these "mountain top experiences" such as Peter, James and John might have experienced. I know a man that as soon as he said that Jesus was the Lord of his life, he gave up addictions tobacco and alcohol immediately. Truly a life changing moment.

But, how about for the rest of us? What does this new life really mean to us. Most of us were baptized as children. I was all of 4 months old. I hadn't had enough time with my old life to recognize my new one. I was adorable before and adorable after. No comment on the present.

I believe that something very profound happens at our baptism whether we know it or not. I believe that the very core of our Being, that spot we may call soul or Essence, is changed by the sacraments of the church, especially the two sacraments mandated by Jesus, Eucharist and Baptism. It may not change how we act, but it changes the expectations of our behavior.

I believe that when we take communion, we as individuals and as a community of faith becomes what we eat, the Body of Christ. We may not act differently, but we are different. We are the Body of Christ. We are the Incarnation of Christ to the world. Often, the only Christ people see. If we consciously focus on that, that we are Christ to the World, it may impact our behavior, in fact, probably should.

Do we act as though we have been buried with Christ and resurrected into a new life at our baptism? We're different people. Again, we are the incarnation of Christ to the world. We are renewed into the full image of Christ.

I think that's a major reason why church attendance in this country is declining. Those of us whose very being has been changed into the perfect image of Christ don't act like it. Now, that's not an excuse for those who don't go, but too often they're right. Gandhi once said that if Christians acted like Christians, there would be no Hindus in all of India.

We can raise the same questions about marriage. If our souls are changed so that our relationship manifests Christ's love, do we act like it? Again, why should our young people rush to get married when they see most new marriages fail, usually in the first couple of years?
Of course, I can't talk about any of the sacraments and our inability to fully live into them without talking about ordination. As with baptism and the Eucharist, I believe that ordination changes our very being, our essence. Not for the better, just changed. Now, I have to admit that my view of the Church and Holy Orders is a pretty extreme stance. It would be called very Catholic or High. See, that's why I don't have a problem with holding pastors to a higher standard. And, the higher the order, the higher the expectation.

I fail miserably in many ways. If Jesus expects me to be an icon of a new life in Christ, I hope he has some other options. Regardless, I accepted the honor and burden of ordination fully aware of the expectations that sacrament carries with it.

No matter what or position in the church is, or whether we're married or not, we are new creations. The old essence is replaced by the perfect essence of Christ. We either try to live as an image of Christ or we don't. God has helped us out in that we are born with a character that sees the good and tries to do the good, so our natural character is to strive toward a Christly image. But it is not a guarantee.

To live a new life, to be a new creation is a gift of God given to us through the sacraments of the church. How we reflect that life is up to us. Being a part of a community of faith is so necessary. Living a life in the image of Christ is counter cultural. It puts you in front of me. It puts God ahead of gain. It puts mercy and compassion ahead of justice.

Remember me talking about pregnant women? The radiance that comes from having a new life in them. Christ's radiance at the new life born by him is ours to share. As we live our life in Christ, may we too glow with the expectant radiance of bringing new life to our selves and our world.