Facebook or Facetime?

I started using Facebook.com shortly after I entered graduate school in 2003.   Facebook is a social networking internet webpage that connects people, organizations, families, and business. Some of my college friends began to use Facebook and I saw it as a way to stay in touch with people.  Facebook was confusing.  Why I could see everyone’s business: who they talked to, what they posted, what they said, etc…   Now, Facebook is ubiquitous.  My parents, who are retired, even have a Facebook page!

Facebook is a great way to connect, but have we replaced Facebook with true “facetime?”  Have we replaced what we would do with our friends and family with what we should do in person?  Have we lost a sense of personal touch with the use of Facebook? A social networking website cannot replace what we experience in real life.

In our scriptures for Sunday, so much is made about “facetime” with God.  In the Old Testament lesson, Moses is face to face with God.  After the experience, Moses’ face changes.  Moses puts a veil over his face to hide it from the Israelites.  In our Gospel text, Jesus’ face and complexion change during the Transfiguration.

Why all this attention to the Transfiguration? The Transfiguration is important and Darrell Jodock in the Christian Century explains why:

Moreover, in Luke the transfiguration does not look back so much as it looks forward. It inaugurates Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem – the goal that Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus. From here to the cross, Jesus will increasingly journey alone. For Luke the journey has universal significance: at his own expense Jesus opened the door for all. (link)

Jesus changed the way people come “face to face” with God.  With Israel, they always had a go-between like Moses or Elijah to receive God’s instruction. Through Christ, the door was open to have direct “facetime” with God.  No longer would God’s people need a priest to be redeemed. Jesus became our high priest, who we have direct access to.

God desires that there no longer be a veil between us and Him.  God desires for us to be like Jesus.  To go to a quiet place, to pray, and to experience God’s glory.  We may not be transfigured with Moses and Elijah when we have “facetime” with God, but each time we spend praying, meditating on God’s word, and worshipping God we are transfigured into Jesus likeness.

Being transformed into Christ’s likeness is key.  2 Corinthians 3 reminds us:

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

As we go deeper into discipleship with Jesus, the more we learn.  The more we learn the more we grow.  The more we grow the more we become like Christ: good, pure, humble, forgiving, loving, and holy.

Sometimes, we want to treat God like we do a friend on Facebook. We want to “leave” a Facebook message to God saying, “I’ll spend time with you later” when we really should be seeking God face to face.  God desires that we seek him directly.  Let us put away our veils or the things that separate us from God and seek God’s holiness.

Transfiguration C