In the life of our Lord, transfiguration precedes His death. In our lives, His death precedes our transfiguration. We are changed into His glorious body only because His body took on our sin, weakness, sorrow, and death. The church becomes what it is because He takes what belongs to the church and cleanses her from all sin, to present her to Himself as a beautiful bride without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish (Eph 5:27). She is radiantly beautiful; transfigured. That radiance is now unseen. The church appears still in the tatters of a beggar, the offscouring of world, an outcast from the halls of influence.

Some Christians grieve over the loss of moral influence that used to be wielded by the church in the world. This is true enough, as far as it goes. Christians must recognize that they cannot live like pagans and still be seen to be Christians. But this only goes as far as the tenets of basic morality, and not farther. Such moral influence is not the unique provenance of the church, but is open to all rational human beings, believers and atheists alike. Government and community are ordained by God to recognize moral boundaries in the world. This takes no uniquely "religious" instruction to know, understand, and bring into practice. Another flaw in this thinking is that one of the goals of the church is to wield moral influence in the world. What in the world makes us think that, if we are faithful to the confession of the crucified Lord, the world will be delighted to receive our counsel and thrilled to give us entry into the halls of power? Christ's kingdom, the last time I checked, is not of this world. Our transfiguration will only reach to its full glorious effulgence at the consummation of the age, when what is hidden will be revealed. Until then, we walk by faith, not by sight (2Co 5:7).

Our sightless walk, is not aimless, however. The Lord leads His church through sorrow and trouble by keeping us focused, not on ourselves or our "influence on the world," but upon Him and His cross, which glorifies His body here on earth. He Himself knows what it is to live without influence in the world, choosing the path of servanthood over power, weakness over strength, humility over pride, suffering over ease, and death over life. Christ, our Lord, who had the right to all power and could have "influenced" the world by divine fiat, declined to do so, gladly and freely taking up His cross of suffering that He might save the very world that despised Him for His weakness. We ought to thank the Lord that His act of hiding us under the cross has rescued us from the immediate demand of moral influence in the world. Instead, we are free to preach Christ and His cross even when the world hates and despises us.