Beam me up

-CoNnEcT- When I was growing up my one of my family's favorite TV shows was "Star Trek." It didn't really matter which one it was. It could have been the original, the next generation, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager. All of them were good. And at least for me, one of the most interesting parts of the show was the way they could be beamed from one location to another. I'm sure you've heard the famous phrase "Beam me up Scottie." Sometimes, I still find myself wishing that I could be beamed into another existence. Waiting in traffic or waiting for the bus. I just want to get there, I am sick of waiting. I wish there was a way that someone could just "beam me up. "

-ReFlEcT- Read Matthew 17
Key verse: 1-13

For some strange reason, everytime I read this passage in Matthew 17.1-13, I think about being beamed up. I'm not sure if there is any deep connection here. Maybe, it's just my weird imagination or maybe it's the way that Jesus is described. It's as if he's entered some other existence. But when I step back and ask myself "what exactly is going on here?" I quickly begin to see the deeper connection that Star Trek has with the transfiguration (change). For in this passage, Jesus is showing us his true nature, and the cool thing is that this can be our new nature as well, if we place our faith in him. One of the fathers of the early church used to say that Jesus became human so that we might become divine. So as Jesus is here transfigured, he is showing us what we can look forward to.

-DiReCt- Sometimes life gets pretty difficult. Sometimes we really want to be beamed out of this world. And in the same way that Jesus was transfigured here and now, he can transfigure us here and now. We can have the same sort of "beaming up" experience if we will but find our faith in him. When school, family, or friends become to much to bear, Jesus can transfigure (change) our situation. He can change us even now. We don't have to wait until we get to heaven to experience this transformation ---we can have it now. So long as we focus on Jesus, the one who was transfigured in our midst, so too can we be transfigured forever.