Sermon on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord: On Spiritual Light

On this great day, we commemorate the glorious Transfiguration of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, when He revealed to us the Divine light of His Countenance and His entire Being.

It is fitting for us to contemplate what spiritual light is. My sermon today will be about this spiritual light.

You all know how every living creature yearns for the sun, for the material light shining from the heavens. Every insect, blade of grass, leaf, and flower reaches toward the light. The sunlight, the material light, is known to all of you—and you all love it.

But do you all know that besides the sunlight, there is another great light—an immaterial, spiritual light? Do all of you yearn for this spiritual light?

Oh, how hard it is for me to say it, but no, not all of us—far from all. Very few reach for it, while the vast majority of those living on earth have no need for spiritual light and do not wish to know anything about it. They only need material light and the blessings associated with it.

I said that all living things reach for sunlight. No, I did not make a mistake—but there are many nocturnal birds, animals, and insects that seek darkness and avoid sunlight; there are toads and worms and fish that live in deep waters that do not perceive light.

There are also many people like them—unfortunate people who need not light, but darkness. All thieves and robbers, fornicators and adulterers seek darkness; they do their deeds in the gloom of night. Light bothers them; it is unbearable to them.

And if they do not even love material light, how much more unbearable for them is the spiritual light—the light that shone upon the world from the Lord Jesus Christ.

But nevertheless, that Divine Light which Christ revealed to us on Mount Tabor still shines and will never cease to shine.

Often, heavy, black clouds block out the heavenly sun. There are people who close their eyes to the sun, and there are also blind people who cannot see the light.

Concerning those who cannot bear spiritual light, the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian spoke in his marvelous Gospel, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Light that came into the world:

"That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not."
— John 1:9–11

Oh, what terrifying words—His own received Him not.

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
— John 1:12

And this Light shines, and it will shine forever, no matter how many people turn away from it.

But in the eyes of the world, this light grows dimmer and dimmer. It shines in the heavens, but in human souls it grows dim, like sunlight obscured by heavy clouds.

Do you not remember how the light of Christ dimmed, how a terrible, bloody darkness settled over the world not so long ago when our enemies committed unspeakable atrocities?

Do you not see what impenetrable gloom resides in the hearts of those who destroy innocent lives? Darkness—bloody, impenetrable darkness.

And this darkness grows ever thicker. It frightens us when we see it reign in the hearts of so many people. Outwardly, they seem well-off; they have everything—strength, beauty, abundance, fine clothing. It seems they are alive, but this only seems so, because the darkness in their hearts is spiritual death.

"Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
— Revelation 3:1

The Apostle John the Theologian also said:

"He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now… He that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."
— 1 John 2:9–11

For true life, it is not sunlight that is necessary, but spiritual light that illuminates and enlightens our hearts.

Were there not many great bearers of this light in the caves of the Kiev-Caves Lavra? These holy men lived without sunlight—yet in their hearts shone a light more brilliant than the sun.

One can be a bearer of light even while living without light; and one can live in sunlight while being dead, having no spiritual light within himself.

In ancient Persia, people worshipped the sun. Though this was paganism, it showed that they at least partially understood spiritual light—seeing in the material sun a symbol of the Sun of Righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ.

There were also fire-worshipers, and even they grasped that fire could symbolize the Divinity—purifying all and consuming wickedness.

"For our God is a consuming fire."
— Hebrews 12:29

They should be placed above those who acknowledge nothing beyond material goods, nothing beyond the visible light of the sun.

To us Christians, on this great feast, the Lord has shown that His human body could shine with divine light. If the body of the God-Man could shine with divine light, then the bodies of Christians—destined for union with Him—can also shine with heavenly light.

When Moses descended from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the Law, his face shone with divine light so brightly that the Israelites asked him to veil it.

When St. Stephen the Archdeacon stood before the Sanhedrin, “they saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.”
— Acts 6:15

Even in our own age, the face of St. Seraphim of Sarov was seen to shine with this same heavenly light during his conversation with Motovilov.

Thus, the Lord, revealing to us the path to union with Himself, gave us the possibility to shine with heavenly light—just as His body shone on Mount Tabor.

Oh, how great and desirable this is!

If we can shine with spiritual light, with divine light—will we not make every effort to become worthy of it?

"The righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."
— Matthew 13:43

Thus said our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

And now, while we live in our earthly bodies, we must remember what the Lord said:

"Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you… Believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light."
— John 12:35–36

Sing in your hearts the hymn you so often hear on this day:

"Thou wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, showing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. Let Thine everlasting light also shine upon us sinners, through the prayers of the Theotokos. O Giver of Light, glory to Thee."
— Troparion to the Transfiguration (Tone 7)

St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), Archbishop of Crimea
August 19, 1950

Source:
https://orthochristian.com/162966.html