Matthew 17:1-9
“Hiking with Jesus”
This past week a friend of mine told me about a time, many years ago, when he and his family were tramping up Sharp Top Mountain in Bedford County, Virginia.
His daughter was a little girl, and about half way up the mountain she said she was too tired to go the rest of the way and wanted to either ride up somehow or go back down.
My friend’s son creatively told her that there was a Coke Machine up at the summit.
She believed him and on she trudged!
My friends, we have a mountain to climb.
We have a hike to take.
And there may not be a Coke Machine awaiting us at the summit…
…but there is no doubt that we will be confronted and transformed by the REAL THING!!!
A colleague of mine told me about his experience at Mount Tabor, a place that
some believe the Transfiguration took place.
He said it was a difficult climb.
Others speculate it was on Mount Hermon that the Transfiguration took place.
Either way both are very steep mountains, and it takes a lot of work to get to the top.
But this is where Peter, James and John followed Jesus.
It was an awful difficult climb.
What I’m wondering is: Where were the other 9 disciples?
Why did they not follow Jesus on this journey?
Were they not invited to come?
Or did they have other things to do that day?
Did some of them have relatives down in the valley that they wanted to visit?
Did one of them decide to go get a hair cut instead?
Did another decide that it was just such a beautiful day that he would rather go fishing?
Whatever the reasons, the disciples who did not follow Jesus to the mountaintop missed
out on an amazing experience.
Were they just not expecting anything to happen?
Was it just too steep of a climb?
Was it too much work?
Did they tell themselves: “We got plenty of time to follow Jesus up some mountain.
Today I’m going to do something else.
I’ll go next time.”?
Those who didn’t go must have been terribly sorry that they missed out on this incredible experience when the three who accompanied Jesus returned.
Often times this is our attitude toward coming to church.
We have too many other things to do on Sunday.
It’s our only day off during the week that we can sleep in...or get a hair cut, or rake the
leaves, or visit relatives....
…perhaps we have soccer practice or baseball or softball practice during this time….
....and we’re not expecting anything to happen anyway.
But the truth is, when we decide to put all other claims on our time and lives aside, and follow Jesus--amazing things do happen--even when we least expect it!
Anyhow, here was Jesus, climbing up this steep and high mountain...and following right along
were Peter, James and John.
It is often very difficult to follow Jesus.
It can take a lot of effort.
Decisions have to be made.
Priorities must be put in place.
But it is the most important thing that any of us can ever decide to do!
To follow Jesus means turning around or moving in another direction.
It begins with God’s Spirit calling our spirits to come unto God.
And when we decide to follow Christ we decide to turn away from sin, from selfishness, from everything that oppresses us and others-- from violence and evil.
And we are converted to a faith and a new life of compassion, justice, and peace.
We become citizens of Christ’s new order.
We change lords, and begin a new direction for our allegiance and loyalty.
In following Christ we name the powers from which we turn and the evil that we commit ourselves to oppose!
In our Epistle lesson for today Peter testifies about his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration!
He says that he was an “eyewitness” to the “majesty” of the “power” of “Our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
“For he (Jesus) received honor and glory from God the Father,” writes Peter “when that
voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my beloved, with
whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice from heaven, while we were with him
on the holy mountain.”
Wow, what an awesome testimony!
What a mountain top experience!
Thank God Peter didn’t decide to go get a hair cut that day instead!!!
Because of this experience Peter is able to say with confidence: “we have the
prophetic message more fully confirmed.”
And this is what happens to us when we decide to follow Jesus up the mountain....
When we decide to make it our number one priority to follow Christ!
What we’ve heard about God through other people, through reading the Bible, through
going to church becomes real for us as our faith is confirmed through seeing for ourselves that
Jesus Christ is truly the Beloved Son of God the Father in whom God is well pleased!
And through this experience, our lives can’t help but be changed for the better--forever!
It’s not a myth proclaims Peter....I’ve seen it for myself!
How many of us can say that with confidence this morning?
In verse two of our Gospel lesson it says that Jesus was “transfigured” before the three disciples.
The word which is translated as “transfigured” in Matthew is the same word which is found in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 which means to be “transformed.”
Therefore, on the mountain, Jesus was transformed and His true nature was disclosed.
And what is the true nature of Christ?
It is that He is God...One with the Father and the Holy Spirit....Who came to earth in human form.
And therefore, when we experience Christ we too are transformed “into His likeness
with ever-increasing glory.”
And every time we step into the church, every time we open our Bibles, every time we get on our knees to pray, every time we tell others about the incredible story of Christ, everytime we invite someone to come to church....we find our lives changing and changing as we come
closer and closer to God....as we become more and more transformed into the likeness of Christ.
I know a young girl, who, one summer was invited to go to a Christian camp.
When she returned to our church she was a completely different person.
Her face shown with the glory of Christ...you couldn’t help but see it!
She was so excited about Jesus that she started reading the Bible every chance she got.
She had tasted the goodness of the Lord, and she hungered for more and more.
Over time, she came to know the Bible better than many people who have been going to church for many years.
What she had been told about Jesus all her life had been confirmed at that summer camp, and she brought many new people with her to church....her enthusiasm for the Lord was contagious!
Her entire countinence had changed, and through what she had experienced, others too had their faith confirmed.
I have lost contact with her, but last I heard she had become a missionary...and I’m sure
God is using her in mighty ways.
In our Gospel lesson God told the three disciples: “Listen to Him!”--as He was referring to Jesus.
And the disciples fell facedown, but when they looked up, they saw Jesus only.
Moses and Elijah were no longer there and the cloud of glory had disappeared, and there
was Jesus only.
There is a basic need within each of us.
We need someone in whom we can revere and place our trust.
Our trust is personal, and can only be given to a Person.
It is intimate and it is love: it is the joy and danger of a complete commitment.
Nothing else can give us this contentment, but at the same time, no human love can ever satisfy this deepest longing.
Because the One in whom we believe must be above our lies, our hankerings, and our
humanness.
The only One in whom we can place our trust and our full commitment is God made
flesh--that is, Jesus only.
All of us must be willing to follow Jesus up the mountain in order to see Jesus’ true nature--and therefore be transformed.
There is no other way.
There is no other path that leads to life in the here and now and on into eternity!
But notice what Jesus and the three disciples did after the transfiguration.
Did they stay on top of the mountain?
No. They came down.
Just as an airplane can fly above the rain clouds, moving through a realm of clear light
and even rainbows--it must soon come down to earth.
So the three disciples and Jesus returned from the Mount of Transfiguration to the urgent
need of the valley.
We all must go to the mountain top--it is the confirmation of our faith.
We must be reminded again and again that Jesus is Lord, and that the seal of God is on
Him.
It is the renewal of our strength: when God “breaks through” once more, and we are
empowered.
We are empowered by the knowledge that there is a world beyond this one, and we will
not always have to live in this world with it’s fluctuations of darkness and light.
Because through Christ, the gates of the city toward which we are moving “shall not be
shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.”
But in the meantime, there is work to be done here on earth.
There is the sometimes humdrum work of providing for our families, the more urgent
work of loving our neighbors, and the central work of God’s kingdom without which
everything else lacks any meaning and worth.
And if we are wise, we should not covet any different life here on earth--once we are
in Christ Jesus.
The three disciples got to see something much greater than what was going on down in
the valley because they chose to follow Jesus.
Their priorities were in place.
They knew that nothing can compare to following Jesus....nothing is more important.
We all need to go to the mountain top.
We all need to be transformed by Christ.
And Jesus is calling all of us to follow Him.
Are we?
