The Rt. Rev. Dr. James Tengatenga – Sermon for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany

·20 min·2 clips

Bishop Tengatenga returns after 12 years to explain why the Last Sunday of Epiphany ends with a transfiguration, not a transmogrification.

Bishop James Tengatenga opens by noting his return after over 12 years and honors the occasion of the Anglican missionary calendar and a 20-year partnership. He defines Epiphany as unveiling and revelation, ending with transfiguration, where what is known becomes more. He discusses belonging as argued before an invisible God, linking it to the Transfiguration on the mountain where God speaks from a cloud. The speaker uses personal anecdotes, like living in Suwannee and references to Cape Town's Table Mountain and Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls, to illustrate mountain experiences. He analyzes the biblical trope of mountains in Matthew, Moses, Elijah, and Psalms, noting Martin Luther King Jr.'s use of it in his 'mountaintop' sermon. The sermon contrasts transfiguration with the devil's temptation on a high place, which leads to megalomania and exclusion. It critiques Peter's attempt to fossilize Moses and Elijah, missing Jesus' inclusive message. References to Charles Wesley's hymn and resurrection narratives like Mary Magdalene and Thomas show personal transformation. St. Paul's experience of blindness and new sight in 2 Corinthians is cited as an example of seeing the world as God sees it. The sermon emphasizes that transfiguration creates a community of justice and reconciliation, not an exclusive club. It concludes with practical mission outcomes from the 20-year partnership, such as electricity and maternity clinics in Malawi, and a call to listen to Christ as beloved Son.

As heard by us

A reflective sermon that turns the Transfiguration toward belonging, justice, and the obligations of mission partnership.

A sermon on the Transfiguration opens into a considered reflection on belonging, identity, and the risk of confusing power with revelation. Moving from Peter's impulse to preserve Moses and Elijah on the mountain, the preacher turns toward empire, exclusion, and the ways…

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Why you'd press play

You get a Transfiguration sermon that travels from Peter's booths to southern Malawi's maternity wing and back to the cloud.

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