February 28, 2009 - Transfiguration Sunday

Jesus Leads Disciples to the “Real” World
Mark 9:2-9
Transfiguration Sunday – February 22, 2009

I think I was in my mid-20s when I had my first literal mountaintop experience. I mean when I actually climbed, myself, to the top of a mountain and looked out over the world before my eyes; took in the sky and the clouds and the trees in the valleys below; breathed in the fresh clean air; soaked in the silence, listening just to the sounds of the birds and the breeze. It was awe-inspiring. It was spirit-renewing. It was good to be there, for there in that place, my breath was taken away, the world opened up and there on the mountaintop, I saw things I had never seen before, could never see from any other place.

Yes, it was good to be there, & so I think I can understand these words that come tumbling out of Peter's mouth up there on the high mountain apart with Jesus by themselves, when suddenly Jesus is transfigured, changed somehow before the very eyes of this inner circle of disciples, just Peter, and James, and John. I understand Peter's reaction when Jesus' clothes became dazzling white, whiter than even Clorox bleach could make them, understand his response, when out of nowhere, Moses and Elijah, “the law & the prophets” so to speak, appear on this mountain & talk with Jesus - their very presence a sign of the coming Messiah. It makes sense to me that Peter would blurt out, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.” It is good for us to be here in this holy place with you. It is good for us to have this time away from the crushing crowds and the demands of every-day life. “It is good for us to be here,” Peter says. “Let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He's not talking anything too fancy, just some little huts, some booths, some lean-tos. It is good for us to be here – so let's stay a while! Peter, in his terror, in his awe, wants to revel in this experience, to prolong this holy moment. Let's hold on to it, savor it, make it last as long as we can. It is good for us to be here!

Now if you've ever had a mountaintop experience, you recognize Peter's response, because it's just normal to want to hold on to those mountaintop experiences. And I'm not just talking about the ones that take place on a physical mountain; I'm talking those times when God takes our breath away, when God's glory is revealed to us in new & unexpected ways, when we know we are standing on holy ground. Those moments when somehow we are lifted up out of the burdens and demands of our everyday lives and into the presence of something, some One beyond ourselves, when we feel connected with God in ways we almost can't imagine or understand. When that type of moment comes along, we chime right in with Peter: “It is good for us to be here! Let's stay for awhile!” Because just like Peter, we we want to hold on to our spiritual highs, we want to make them last as long as possible. That's kind of how I felt after I climbed that first mountain years ago, and pretty much every mountain since. It is good to be here. Let me stay a while! Who wants to go back to the real world?

But what I've learned from my hiking days is that you can't stay on the mountaintop. It's not a place that you can live. And so, no sooner are those words out of Peter's mouth than a cloud comes & overshadows them - and a voice comes from the cloud, the voice of God, reaffirming what Jesus heard at his baptism, way back in Mark, Chapter 1, only this time, the disciples hear it too. This time, God's message is for them... “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” And not just listen, as in “hear,” but listen as “obey.” Listen to what Jesus has to say, follow the way that he lives, watch what he does & imitate it.

And just like that, the mountaintop experience is over. Elijah & Moses disappear, and it's just Jesus, regular old Jesus, leading them back down the mountain. Because as glorious as Jesus' transfiguration was, it couldn't last, not then, because Jesus has more work to do, and that work can only be done back down at the bottom of the mountain, down there in the real world. So that is where Jesus leads them, to the “real” world, back to the crowd where the other disciples have gotten into an argument with the scribes; back to the real world where those same 12 disciples, including James & John & Peter will squabble & compete with each other about who will be the greatest among them; back to the real world where there are real people who are hurting and suffering and crying out for someone to heal them, to save them. That is where the road leads for Jesus – to the real world that is broken and unable to fix itself.

It's why we hear this story as we end the season of Epiphany and turn towards Lent. Because this is the turning point. Just before our story this morning, Jesus began to teach his disciples that he must suffer and die, and once they come down off the mountain, that's where his road will lead. It will take him to Jerusalem and the cross, and there is no turning back. This story from Mark reminds that as much as we might like to stay, mountaintops are sending places, not ending places. It was that way for Moses and Elijah, who both fled to the mountains when they were in trouble – and there they met God, who encouraged them, and then sent them back down the mountain to do God's work. It was that way for Peter and James and John on this day. And it was that way for Jesus, who came down from this mountain to the valley of the real world. Because it was on another mountain, Mount Calvary, where Jesus would find true glory, as he hung on the cross and died for that real world. But even that was not an ending place - because in 3 days, he rose again!

The road that Jesus followed was never an easy one. But it is the road that leads to true life, and as we listen to him, we hear him calling us to follow him down this same road, down from our mountaintops and back to the real world, where people are still hurting and suffering and looking for someone to heal them, to save them. Jesus is calling us, now that he has risen from the dead, to share what we have seen & heard and experienced up on the mountaintop, to introduce our broken world to the one who walked the road to the cross for all of us, and who walks with us still, wherever the road may lead.

Thanks be to God! Amen.