Matthew 17:1-9
In college I
went on a service trip over my spring break to Mexico. One day we were planning to hike up a
mountain. This trek was expected to take
us about two hours. About fifteen
minutes into the experience I couldn’t breathe.
I knew I wasn’t in very good shape and I had never really been
hiking. The air was also much different
than I was used to, it was a higher elevation and I was having troubles
breathing. I sat down and tried to catch
my breath, but I felt like I was hyperventilating. It was a scary feeling. After a few minutes I let the rest of the
group continue up the mountain without me.
If you have done any hiking at all you know that it isn’t always easy.
Recently I heard someone talking
about what it takes to climb Mount Everest.
Mount Everest is 8,848 meters, which is just over 29,000 feet. After my hiking experience in college this is
not something that will ever be on my bucket list! Sure, it is a long strenuous climb, but there
are a lot of other risks that go along with this grandiose hike. First there is the high altitude, which
causes headaches, lack of oxygen, and dehydration. On Mount Everest there is a third of the
amount of oxygen that is available at sea level. As if that isn’t enough, then there is the
weather. We know how rapidly the weather
can change here, and it can change even faster at high altitudes. So there can be avalanches, hurricanes,
whiteouts, blizzard conditions, high winds.
Most of all there is a 5% possibility of death. To date, over 200 people have died trying to
conquer this mountain.
Now whether you have climbed a high
mountain, aspire to climb Mount Everest, or, like me, you have struggled to
make it up a mountain, I know you have had at least one mountain top experience
in your life. Often we refer to those
“high” moments in our lives as mountain top experiences. They are monumental. They include a view that you never want to
forget. They may take a lot of effort to
reach, but once you get there you wish you could stay there forever. Recall your own mountain top experience. Was it a great accomplishment at work or
school? Was it the day your child was
born or the day you said “I do”? Was it
a week at Bible camp or on a mission trip?
When have you been on the top of the mountain?
I imagine if we were to interview
Peter, James and John they would cite this literal mountain top event as one of
their personal mountain top experiences.
It was a huge moment in their lives.
It was a life changing experience.
It was a formative experience.
For a lack of better words, it was a pretty big deal. Why was it a big deal? To start with it was an experience none of
the other disciples got to have. It was
a special, set-apart moment for them with Jesus. Moses and Elijah were also present, which
made it even more important. Peter,
James and John were surrounded by the greatest people: Moses, who had brought
the law; Elijah, who had been an incredible prophet; and Jesus, their beloved
leader. As if that wasn’t enough, something
pretty profound happened while they were up on that mountain – Jesus was
transfigured. Jesus was changed. Jesus was transformed. Jesus was shining and his clothes were
dazzling white. Jesus had been through a
metamorphosis. Then they heard a voice,
the voice of God, declaring Jesus as the beloved, as God’s son. And as they traveled down the mountain I am
sure they were getting psyched to tell the other disciples what they had missed
out on that day. Then Jesus told them to
keep everything a secret until after his resurrection. If they still hadn’t recognized the
importance of what happened on the top of the mountain that should have hit it
home. It was so important that Jesus
didn’t want anyone to know about it, at least not until he had died and rose
again.
Now that you think about the
mountain top experience that Peter, James and John had that day on the mountain
with Jesus you may feel that your mountain top experience was less
significant. I assure you that your
experience was pivotal in your life. Mountain
top experiences are personal. It is your
mountain top experience that has made you the person you are today. It is my mountain top experience that has
made me who I am today. It is the
experience that Peter, James and John had that day that changed their lives,
too.
I recognize that the mountain top
experience you recalled a few minutes ago may not have entirely related to
God. Maybe if you really thought about
it you could relate it to your relationship with God. Maybe it could have something to do with the
beauty of God’s creation or a blessing bestowed on you. Maybe it could be related to a miracle or
healing in your own life or the life of someone you love. Maybe it is a moment that caused you to stop
and praise or thank God.
In
all honesty, if we really believe in Jesus and all that he has done for us,
then I think we should all have another mountain top experience, a communal
mountain top experience. It should be
about the salvation, forgiveness, and grace we receive on the cross. It should be about the new life we receive
through Christ, even though we don’t deserve it. That should be the most monumental experience
in our life. That should be a
picturesque view that we don’t want to forget.
And that mountain top experience should be one we are sharing with the
whole world. It isn’t a message that
needs to be kept a secret. But it is a
message that has the power to change the lives of others. It has the power to transform them in ways we
can’t even begin to imagine.
Ash Wednesday is this week and that
begins our Lenten journey toward a different of mountain, not a literal one,
but a pretty pivotal point in our faith life and in our belief in Jesus. At this moment we begin orienting ourselves
toward the cross, toward Jesus’ death, toward the forgiveness of our sins once
and for all. I would invite you as we
make that journey toward the cross together once again that we would be
intentional about sharing our mutual mountain top experience, which is a
powerful message of the good news of Jesus Christ, filled with forgiveness,
grace, and light. Amen.
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