Transfiguration Sunday

After 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. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter 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.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As 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.

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So I want us to think about this episode from the perspective of the disciples, namely Peter.

I wonder if you’ve ever had an experience in your life that so alters your reality you can’t go back to thinking or being the way you were before the event.

The phrase “mountaintop experience” gets overused sometimes, but in the scriptures there are a number of mountaintop experiences that are this kind of paradigm shifting event.

But they don’t all look the same

Moses meets God in a dense cloud at the top of mount Sinai to receive God’s law which would set God’s people apart.

The prophet Elijah, fleeing for his life because he upset the power brokers of his time, goes to the same mountain (Sinai or Horeb)

He experiences a fierce wind, and earthquake and a fire, but can’t find God in any of them

Then he hears God in a quiet whisper, asking him “Elijah, why are you here?” and he talks with God.

In all of these the power of the moment is the human encounter with the divine, whether in some fireworks display of an experience or an intimate meeting.

Here, on this mountain, the human Jesus is revealed as the divine Christ … the human and divine converging in one person, just like heaven and earth will converge in the end.

And it’s these three disciples who have this encounter.

One of the great, very human, things about the disciples experience is that when they encounter the divine they are TERRIFIED

Peter’s nervous response is to make himself useful in some way. He’s like, “ummm, I’m just gonna whip up three tents real quick”

And I love the little parenthetical we’re given: He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.

But this event changed them

In the letter of 2 Peter, he talks about this event when discussing how he and the others are not making all this up

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 2 Peter 1:16-18

This event shook them in a way not even the earlier miracles had

This was an “Oh, OK” moment

An “I can’t unsee that” moment

A moment where life gets divided into before it happened and after it happened

Because it changed everything

And I think it’s helpful to look at the context of where it falls in Mark to see why it’s so important

It sits basically at the center or Mark’s gospel

Before this is lots of healing miracles and comforting parables about the kingdom growing

After this comes lots of HARD teachings and the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus.

This is a turning point

And RIGHT before this episode Jesus basically verbalizes that things are about to get serious, that following him will cost something

Mark 8:31–38 (NIV84) - 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

In the hard teachings and in his own crucifixion Jesus is going to model something profound, something divine

He’s going to model a way of love that leads to rejection by the world

Which leads to suffering

And in his case death

He’s laying it out and saying, “this is THE WAY that leads to life and you have to count the cost and decide if you’re in or out.”

And good old Peter again rebukes Jesus and says “no way”

Peter represents all of us

Thinking pragmatically that there has to be another way

surely suffering and death don’t have to be a part of this

We can be more strategic about this

We can build a platform and gain influence and...

Jesus responds saying “you’re thinking in human terms not divine. this is the way. I am the way.”

AND if anyone is going to follow me you have to come to terms with that

because in order to find your life you have to be willing to lose it

So think about Peter dealing with the knot in his stomach from that episode and being like “man, I don’t know...”

And then Jesus invites him up a mountain and he sees Jesus transformed in glory

once again this leaves me wanting more poetic description from the gospel authors

And then Peter and the others here the voice of God say, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

Peter’s still gonna stumble following Jesus because he still wrestles with human weakness

But this is how you get Peter writing in a letter years later

"Look, I’m not making this up! I was on the mountain! The voice of God from heaven said LISTEN TO HIM!”

I’m gonna believe him. And I’m gonna follow.

Even when he says the way to life is through death and may involve suffering.

I’m in.

I can’t go back to thinking about life the way I did before I saw this man transformed on the mountain.

Today marks the end of the season of Epiphany, the revealing of Jesus for who he is

That leads into Lent, which is about the following of Jesus into the desert

Lent leads into Good Friday and Easter,

the way of love that leads to life on the other side of death

We can take this moment as a reminder of the call to be all in following Jesus

We may not get a mountaintop experience like this to bolster our faith

But like I said, mountaintop experiences look different

Sometimes they come in a whisper

I remember a few weeks when we were walking through a tragedy with our friends who lost a child at birth

It was the holiest few weeks I’ve ever experienced

Intense, but in a quiet way

Profoundly shaping nonetheless, life altering really

And even if we don’t have a moment of revelation to point to Jesus says “blessed are those who have not seen and still believe”

We can be reminded by these recorded in scripture and encouraged by the experiences of others in the body

It’s not something we can really force

And we should not fall into the trap of believing that following Jesus is meant to be all mountaintop experiences

Christianity mixed with the marketplace wants to keep your attention by producing ecstatic experiences every week

But a kick drum and stage lights are no substitute for the Spirit

And sometimes what we need is to get away from the crowd

Sometimes the life altering moments of revelation and connection to God come at a cabin by the lake

or at your kitchen table

And mountaintop experiences are what they are because most of life is lived when we come down from the mountain

Much of life is lived in the valley.

Or on trial, rejected by the world.

But God’s revelation of himself as we draw close and as we follow Jesus gives us the sustaining hope we need.

We are given the courage to follow, like Peter.

April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech, popularly titled “I Have Been to the Mountaintop”.

He would be assassinated the following day.

Here’s how the speech concludes.

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it 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. And 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.