The Mountaintop Experience

March 2, 2003

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Mark 9: 2-9

The Transfiguration

²After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

³His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁶(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

⁷Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"

⁸Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! For those of you who like the outer reaches of spirituality, have we got a Gospel story for you today! My word, climbing up a high mountain, the transformation of Jesus’s appearance, conversations with great saints of the past, and the very voice of God all appear in this morning’s Gospel. And there’s a very exciting and important message in this for us, too.

This is an amazing story. It seems that Jesus called together His closest disciples, James and John and Peter, and they went up into a high mountain by Jesus’s invitation. Jesus wanted to go up to a high place – the high place of consciousness, the high place of spirit. He wanted to be in place where He wouldn’t be dragged down by the worries of this world or the negative thoughts of this world. He said, “Come up higher,” and He took the disciples whom He thought would best understand with Him.

They climbed Mt. Hebron. Mt. Hebron is 9000 feet tall. There is snow on the top of it all year round. They climbed up and up, and in this rarified, remarkable atmosphere something amazing happened. The disciples looked at their friend Jesus, and as He stood before them, His being was transfigured. It was Jesus, but something was terribly different. His clothes started to glow with a color they couldn’t describe.

I was reading in a spiritual book this week about one man’s thoughts of what things look like from the other side. He said, “From heaven you can see colors that you could never see on earth. They’re amazing. Dazzling, brilliant colors, colors we cannot imagine, beyond our currently visible spectrum." This is what the color of the robes of Jesus must have been like.

The word that's used to describe the way Jesus looked originally described the quality of highly polished brass, like brilliantly glittering stainless steel, or the intense glow of the sun itself. It's interesting that this description was also given of the angels at the tomb of the Lord on Easter morning. Jesus was surrounded by this kind of light. How radiant was the sight of the Lord! The disciples were amazed.

And then they saw another thing that they could not understand. There were two figures coming toward Jesus, and together they were deep in conversation. Jesus must have introduced them. They were the figures of Moses and Elijah. Why these two? Moses was the great lawgiver of the Old Testament. He was the most respected lawgiver in the Hebrew tradition. And Elijah was the greatest prophet. And they were talking to Jesus.

What do you think they said? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but the implication is clear. To Jesus, “You are the One. You are the focus of history. You are the One in whom our work culminates. All that we’ve done, all that we’ve worked for, all that we’ve said, the tradition we represent, is all finding its fullness in You, Jesus of Nazareth. Carry on, Son of God. Be brave. Do what must be done.” And Jesus, on His way to the cross now, is filled with courage by these two great prophets.

And then, Peter – Peter is there and he’s watching this whole thing. And Peter, in his humanness, goes over to them and to Jesus. He taps Jesus on the shoulder. “Uh, excuse me, Jesus. Lord, it’s good that we’re here. We can build three tents for you – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. How about that? Pretty good, huh?”

I wonder what Jesus did. I think He smiled. And His smile told Peter that that was not the point of the day. But Peter was just feeling so good to be on the mountaintop, and he watched again. And then, the Bible says, something remarkable happened. You see, there was a cloud, a mist, like today’s weather. A cloud of mist came over them. And any Jewish person of the day would have known what that meant. The cloud of mist symbolized the nearness, the presence of God. The Israelites were led by a cloud by day and by a pillar of fire by night through the wilderness. When Solomon consecrated the holy temple, a cloud filled the temple to symbolize the presence of God. All of a sudden, the disciples and Jesus were surrounded by a cloud.

And in the midst of that cloud, through which they could not see, they heard a voice. The voice said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Friends, they must have just fainted dead away, because they said when they looked around, they saw no one else but themselves and Jesus.

And that’s the way it is for us. Sometimes there’s no one else around. But Jesus is.

And then they went down from the mountain, but they were different than they were before. They were encouraged. Jesus was encouraged for the difficult task ahead. And the disciples were encouraged for the mighty things that Jesus could do. They were encouraged by their mountain experience.

How about for you? “Oh Pastor, that’s a remarkable story, but my life’s pretty ordinary. My life’s pretty much day-to-day, kind of dull maybe, sometimes. I watch TV, do what needs to be done, go to work. Mountaintop? I don’t know. Have I ever…? Well, I think I did once, perhaps, when I felt very close to the Lord, but it hasn’t happened in a very long time. Days are pretty ordinary. I don’t think I have a mountaintop right now.”

Well, if that’s true for you, let me make an invitation. I’d like to invite you to come with me now to a mountaintop experience. The year is 2013, Transfiguration Sunday. We’re all a little bit older. I’ll let you do the math. We’re standing at a high place, looking out from a mountain over a high valley. We see houses and trees and roads, and a mist rolls in and surrounds us. And out of the mist we hear a voice that we know is the voice of the Lord. And the Lord says, “My beloved child, what would you have me do for you?”

And we say, “Oh, Lord, I know what. Make me twenty years younger. Take me back twenty years. I remember how things were then. I loved those people I was around. Take me back twenty years.”

And the Lord says to you, “My child, what would be different? What would you do differently if I let you go back twenty years?”

“Oh, Lord, I would worry less. I would trust more and worry less.”

“What else, my child?”

“Oh, Lord, there were so many things that bothered me back then. I wouldn’t let those little things bother me at all. There were so many more things to pay attention to.” “What else, my child? What would you do differently if I let you go back twenty years?”

“Lord, I’d be closer to you. I’d have less doubt and more faith. I’d have more faith in your goodness; I’d worship you more; I’d follow you more closely.” “What else would be different, my child?”

“Oh, Lord, you put projects in my heart. You gave me ideas. I’d turn off the TV! I’d read more books. I wouldn’t waste time. I’d make the most of every moment, and I would just glory in all the sights around me.”

“What else, my child?”

“Oh, Lord, those wonderful people that you blessed me with! How I’d love to go back and embrace them. Everything would be different.”

“How, my child?”

“I would be closer to them. I would speak my love more. I would express my love more. I would just enjoy looking into their eyes and beholding the wonder of their presence, Lord.”

“You do well, my child, but, I’m sorry, the door to twenty years ago is closed. Is there anything else I can do for you?” “Okay, Lord. Fifteen years. Take me back fifteen years.”

“Alas, my child, the door to fifteen years is closed. Is there anything else?”

“Lord, can you take me back ten? Just ten years?”

“What would be different, my child, if I let it happen?”

“Oh, Lord, all those things I said – I’d worry less and trust more. I’d doubt less and believe more. I’d read those books and pursue my talents and share them with others. I’d work for you more, and I’d love the people around me with a fuller heart. And I’d walk with a lighter step.”

“Ah, my child, there is good news today. Because, as I clap my hands, your wish will come true. It will be ten years before. You will go back to Transfiguration Sunday, back to the year 2003.”

“Is it so, Lord?”

“Yes, my child. One more thing as you go back …”

“What’s that, Lord?”

“Forgive. Forgive, and let things go more. Forgive others and, my child …”

“Yes, Lord?”

“Forgive yourself. Learn to forgive yourself. Treat yourself with the mercy and gentleness that you would treat others with.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Then let it be so.” [CLAP!]

And we are here.

You all look so much younger!

We are here, and this is the day that the Lord has made. And this is our opportunity to live out all of those things. May it be so for you, in abundance, because God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.