A Mountain Top Experience (Feb 19, 2023) Matthew 17.1-9

On April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. ascended the pulpit of the Mason King Church of God in Christ in Memphis, TN, and delivered an extemporaneous sermon. He came to the city to bring a calming presence to an increasingly hostile strike of the sanitation workers there. He had not planned to speak and had no notes, but he delivered one of his powerful, prophetic sermons. He called the people to action and called them to peaceful protests rather than violence because he knew that the peaceful protest would win more than anything that violence would.

As he came to the end of the sermon, he told of a time when he was attacked and told that had he sneezed he would have died. King recalled the events that he would not have participated in that brought about change in the country. Times that were hard and times where there was violence against those who were marching and protesting. But he said that God brought him and all those who worked through this time. He concluded with what is a soaring piece of rhetoric. I will quote him here: “Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live—a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”[1] He did not know that the next day his life end on a balcony of his hotel. But because of his prophetic stance there would be those that carried his message of the mountaintop in the days that followed and down today.

The disciples, Peter, James and John, were on a mountain. They had accompanied Jesus to the top of a high mountain and they had no idea of what to expect. Six days earlier Jesus asked who they believe that he was. Peter answered that he was the Messiah, the one for whom they had been waiting. Jesus answered that this was the correct answer. But then he went on to tell them that he would suffer the humiliation and pain of one of the most cruel and hideous ways to die: crucifixion. Peter, again, spoke up. He took Jesus aside and told him that “God forbid this would happen to you. You are the Messiah for crying out loud. The Messiah is supposed to be a hero, a savior to the nation. Not someone who dies.” He thought this was what Jesus should hear. But Jesus turns to him and rebukes him calling him Satan and telling the rest of them that to follow him, they must all take up crosses and lose their lives. Not a word that any of them (or any of those listening to this text) wanted to hear.

So, following this rebuke and troubling words, these three are on a mountain. And as they are wondering just what they are doing there, Jesus is transfigured, literally transformed. The text tells us that “…his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.”[2] The disciples would think that this was what happened to Moses when he beheld to glory of God on Mount Sinai. They would see Jesus ( might have already seen him) as a new Moses, one who would fulfill the law and who would lead the people to where God wanted them to be.

While this is happening, two other figures appear; Moses and Elijah. Now in a time when there were no depictions in art and no photography, I wonder how they knew that who these two were. Did they know because one was the greatest prophet of Israel and the other the prophet who was to be the precursor of the Messiah? Or did Jesus extend introductions all around? We do not know and it is not necessary to know. What is known is that these tow figures were talking to Jesus as he was transformed before the three disciples.

While this is going on Peter, always Peter, thinks of something to say. His words were these: “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”[3] Now Matthew does not say this but Mark tells us that Peter spoke this because he did not know what to say. But here is what I believe happened. The three men saw what was happening and did not know what to think. But they might have thought (when they calmed down some) that this would be a great thing to commemorate, a place of worship and a place of memory, for here are the two greatest of the Israelites with one who is greater than them. This was a mountaintop experience. A place that was close enough for heaven to break through and show the glory of it to earth. Have you ever been to a place where you could feel the presence of God and know that heaven was close? That is what is known as a “thin spot”, a place where heaven and earth come so close together that you feel that you could reach out and touch what you long to see. It can be any place but for many it is on a mountaintop.

Peter felt that he said all the right things at this moment. He was going to make sure that this place was known, that there would be pilgrims who would pay homage to this place. It would be like the shrines that are set up in the Holy Land today to commemorate where Jesus was born, or died or was buried. These are places where people go and try to feel the presence by seeing where they believe that Jesus was.

But as Peter is speaking a cloud comes across the mountain. This would be akin to a cloud coming across Pilot Knob. You know the Knob is there but you cannot see it. So, here on the mountain there is a bright cloud that overshadows them, that wraps around them and they know something, or someone, is there. From this cloud comes a voice that tells them the same words that were spoken on Jesus’ baptism: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased…”[4]But there is a follow up to this: “Listen to him.” This tells the disciples that they are to listen to the teachings of the one whom they saw transformed. They are to listen because this is the one whom Moses foretold In Deuteronomy 18.5 that would come who was greater than him. Not only are they to listen to him, but they are to obey him.

The disciples fall on their faces in terror. They just heard the voice of God and they know what happens to those who encounter God face to face: They are no longer alive. They fall to their faces in terror of losing their lives but they also fall to the faces in fear of God, not fear as in being afraid, but fear in reverence to God.

They lay there for what seemed like forever to them, but it was probably just a few moments. Then the gentle touch of a hand and a familiar voice comes to them and says, “Hey guys. No need to be afraid. Come on, get up we need to get going back down the mountain. The others will be wondering what has happened to us.” Here is where we see the God with us moment. Here we find the God who is willing to stoop down and touch those who are terrified and give them calm assurance that all is well. Patrick J. Wilson says this about what happens here when Jesus reaches out: “This is the way that God comes into the world: not simply the brilliant cloud of mystery, not only a voice thundering from heaven, but also a human hand laid upon a shoulder and the words, “Do not be afraid.” God comes to us quietly, gently, that we may draw near and not be afraid. God’s glory is majestic and so far beyond our capacity to receive it that we can take just as much of God’s glory as a human hand can hold. God’s glory and magnificence and power and majesty are unsurpassable, we say; but we must also declare that God’s glory and magnificence and power and majesty are surpassed by God’s willingness to shed them all in order that we might finally recognize God’s love and gentleness. The measureless power that made the heavens and the earth concentrates in a hand reaching out to us. Some would say that God is much too much to be contained within the walls of a church. Of course they are right. Some would remind us that God is so great that neither the earth below nor the heavens above can hold God. Certainly we must agree with them. God is certainly so great that God can never be contained in something as small as a crumb of bread or a sip of wine. We nod our heads, yes; but we must hasten to add: furthermore, God is so great, so majestic, so glorious, that God deigns come to us in a crumb of bread and a sip of wine, just as much of God as a hand can hold.”[5]

They go down the mountain. Jesus is telling them not to tell anyone about what happened until the resurrection. He might also be telling them that they have greater things to do. See, after this experience on the mountaintop, they are heading to Jerusalem. There they will see and hear the crowds, there they will see Jesus crucified and there they will experience the empty tomb.

We all have had mountaintop experiences. Moments when we can look out over the area below us and see for miles. Like King, we can see the promised land. But for King there were great things that needed to be done in the valley. G. K. Chesterton said this: “One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.” There is work to be done in the valley. There is work to end systemic racism, to care for the poor, to help those who are abused and neglected, to make sure that the government is treating all people with justice and mercy. On the mountaintop we see lots of things, but they look so tiny to us. In the valley we see great things and they seem, sometimes, to be overwhelming. But like King, we have been to the mountaintop and we have seen what lays before us. Our eyes have seen the glory of the Lord. But we have also felt the gentle touch of the hand of Jesus and heard the words, “Do not be afraid.” When we hear those words, we know that the valley must follow the mountaintop, but we can go to the valley because we know the one who walks with us is the same one who was on the mountain with us and who will never leave us alone. Amen.

[1]Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (p. 318). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [4] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [5]Bartlett, David L.. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration (Kindle Locations 16429-16439). Kindle Edition.