Last Sunday after Epiphany - 2025
Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Epiphany, Year C
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. Andrew McLarty
Making Space for the Divine
Good morning on this Last Sunday of the Epiphany. Today, we stand on the threshold of Lent, a season of reflection and renewal. But before we enter that holy wilderness, we are given a glimpse of glory—the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. This moment on the mountaintop is not just a revelation of Christ’s divinity; it is an invitation to us, a call to transformation.
In today’s Gospel, we hear Peter’s reaction to the Transfiguration: “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Peter, overwhelmed by the holiness of the moment, wants to capture it, to contain it, to build houses for it. And don’t we do the same? We, too, are builders of houses—not just physical ones, but spiritual and emotional ones. We compartmentalize our lives, creating spaces for the important things, the holy things, the adulting things. We build houses for our responsibilities, our relationships, our survival. And yet, in our efforts to manage and control, we often miss the point.
Peter’s desire to build dwellings is understandable, but it misses the deeper truth of the Transfiguration. This is not a moment to be captured or contained; it is a moment to be experienced, a moment to listen. From the cloud comes the voice of God: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” This is the heart of theophany—the revelation of God’s presence. It is not about building houses; it is about making space for God to speak, to move, to transform.
He have been blessed to host the staff for the upcoming Happening weekend in a couple of weeks. These teenagers and adult leaders have prepared.
Throughout the weekend, a series of talks are delivered by youth and clergy to logically present the elements that define the catechism process and a mature profession of faith. These presentations by youth use personal life experiences is intended to offer Christ's message to attending Happeners on a level they can understand and to answer many of the faith questions youth struggle with daily.
And how do we make space for God? Paul gives us a clue in his letter to the Philippians: “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Christ emptied himself. He let go of his divine prerogatives to become one of us, to serve, to love, to die. And in that emptying, he was filled with the glory of God.
This is our invitation, especially as we prepare to enter Lent. Let us empty ourselves—our pride, our fears, our distractions—so that we might be filled with the divine. Let us make space for God to come in, not by building more houses, but by clearing out the clutter of our hearts and minds. Let us listen to the Beloved Son, not just with our ears, but with our whole being.
The discipline of Lent is not about adding more to our already full lives; it is about letting go, about emptying ourselves so that God can fill us. It is about creating space for prayer, for reflection, for service. It is about listening—to God, to one another, to the cries of the world. And as we empty ourselves, we will find that we are not left empty. We are filled with the presence of Christ, thereby not to becoming less, but to becoming more. And may we, like the disciples, be transformed by what we have seen and heard.
So, as we leave this mountaintop and journey into Lent, let us take with us the words of the voice from the cloud: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.”
Amen.
