Back in the 1970s, many families had a room somewhere in their house with plastic on the furniture. These formal sitting rooms were usually off limits to the messy children in the house, as great care was taken to keep the room in showroom condition, always ready for people to gather for conversation. There may have been flowers neatly arranged on an end table, magazines fanned out on a coffee table and pillows in just the right places. Devoid of entertainment — the television and games were in the den — the sitting room was set up as a place for connection, with the furniture arranged so people could sit facing one another.

            Ironically, when someone came over to talk, they were typically escorted past this gorgeous room with the plastic-covered furniture to the kitchen for conversation over coffee or tea. The room designed for this very purpose sat beautifully unused. For many families these sitting rooms became almost like shrines — beautiful and special, but with no practical use. Their preservation became more important than the connections they were designed to produce.

            Jesus doesn’t seem very interested in our shrines filled with plastic-covered furniture, always clean but never used. He is far more interested in something else.

Transfiguration

            In today’s text, Peter responds to this special moment with Jesus by offerin

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