"On the Mountain and in the Valley"
Mark 9:2-29
Have you ever been in a group of people where someone told a joke and everyone else laughed except you?
You're thinking: "I don't get it. I missed the point."
Or perhaps you are in a group of people where someone makes a point and everyone else nods their head in agreement--except you?
"I don't get it. I missed the point."
Today's Gospel lesson can be kind of like that.
It was like that for Peter, James and John...
...and, perhaps, it's like that for us.
There can be no doubt that it is a mysterious story.
And just to prove the point, scholars and theologians have many, many different guesses or interpretations as to why this situation occurred in the first place.
Why did Jesus take Peter, James, and John up to the top of this mountain where Jesus was somehow "transformed" in front of them?
Why did Elijah and Moses appear and start talking with Jesus?
What is it all about?
"I don't get it. I missed the point."
If you feel this way, you are not alone.
No one really knows the answers to these questions.
We can definitely speculate.
Perhaps Jesus, preparing for His crucifixion, was getting a "pep-talk" from these two giants of the faith.
Maybe it happened in order for Peter, James and John to see that Jesus is indeed both human and divine...
...and to hear God Himself proclaim to them: "This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!"
I think that this is definitely a key to the whole thing.
Because following Jesus is not easy.
There are gonna be some really tough times ahead for these guys.
They are going to watch Jesus die.
Their faith is going to be tested in ways they never imagined possible.
They are going to see evil, humanity and the devil at its worst.
They are going to be scared to death.
They are going to scatter.
They are going to hide.
They are going to deny ever knowing this Jesus they have come to love, and devote their lives to.
Things aren't going to be all rosy.
There is a real world out there.
They are called to follow Jesus, and they will follow.
But following Jesus has been a walk in the park so far--compared to what lies ahead.
Times are about to get horribly rough.
But through following Christ, even though it will eventually cost--even them their lives--they will change the course of history.
They have been called to play a huge role in laying the foundation for what God is doing in order to reconcile humankind to Himself.
This is dangerous stuff.
It's deadly.
It's serious.
It's bloody.
They are gonna have to be tough.
Even when the Holy Spirit comes upon them at Pentecost, they are gonna have to be tough.
"So come to the mountaintop," says God.
"I'm gonna show you something that is going to take your breath away."
"I am going to give you a glimpse of the divine."
"I am going to show you--first hand--Who this Jesus is you are called to follow."
"This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!"
Now in order to get just a small taste of what a big deal this transfiguration event was we have to try and put ourselves in Peter, James and John's shoes.
Moses and Elijah were two of the greatest "heroes" of the Jewish faith.
They had grown up hearing all about them all the time.
When they were on the Mountain with Jesus, Moses and Elijah--it was like having a ring-side seat to heaven.
Think of it this way.
How would you react, or what would go through your mind if your third grade elementary school teacher took you to the top of a mountain where he or she was then joined by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln?
Or what if we all took a hike up to the top of Lookout Mountain.
And all of a sudden, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul and Jesus started having a chat with your pastor?
What would that do to your faith?
Would you be transfixed?
Would you be scared to death?
Would it be such an amazing spiritual experience that you would want to set-up tents and never leave?
Would you really feel like coming back down the mountain to East Ridge, downtown Chattanooga or North Georgia after something like that?
Would you want to go back the heartache, brokenness, misery, violence laden, poverty stricken, drug infested, ugly reality of our world after something like that?
The disciples were on the mountaintop with Jesus.
Nothing could hurt them up there.
The pain of this world was suddenly far in the distance.
All worries were forgotten for a moment.
Peter says, "it's good we're here. Let's make three shrines--one for [Jesus], one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
"We have arrived."
"Nothing is going to ever bother us again."
Have you ever felt that way?
Have you ever had such a mountaintop experience with God that you thought nothing could ever bring you down again?
It's an amazing place to be.
It's a very important experience to have.
But it's not where we are gonna stay if we are going to follow Jesus--if we are going to listen to the voice of God saying: "This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!"
Because when we listen to the voice of Jesus, we hear Him calling us to become involved in the muck, messiness and misery of our world.
We hear Him calling us to "preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed."
We don't hear Him telling us to build shrines and sit on our duffs while people go hungry, children turn to drugs, teenagers pick up guns to shoot one another or themselves, and adults neglect their duties as parents.
I was having a conversation with a member of a Muslim Mosque earlier this week.
He said to me, "There are so many churches in Chattanooga and yet there are so many young people on the streets involved in gangs, drugs, and violence.
I don't understand it.
Why do we have all these problems with so many churches?"
Jesus' ministry was "hands-on."
Jesus got involved in the craziness of people's lives.
Jesus went to the synagogue every Sabbath, but He was with the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the criminals, the sick, the insane, the smelly, the dirty, the poor, the lepers, the outcastes, the ordinary everyday people the rest of the week.
And Jesus was usually the One Who sought them out, rather than the other way around.
He chose to "get involved."
He chose to "get His hands dirty."
Have you?
The mountaintop is where we see Jesus for Who He is.
It's the place where we have our conversion experience.
It's the place where we make the decision of all decisions, the most life changing, radical, wonderful decision we will ever make.
It's the place where we decide to believe the voice of God saying, "This is my Son whom I dearly love."
It's also the place where we make the decision to heed the call of God: "Listen to Him."
In verse 8 of our Gospel Lesson for this morning, after God called them and they heard we are told: "Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus."
And then the next verse begins with, "As they were coming down the mountain..."
That's where Jesus leads us, is it not?
Jesus leads us down the mountain.
Jesus brings us to the places where our faith matters.
Jesus takes us to the places where our lives will make a difference.
Jesus brings us to the people who need us.
When the disciples got to the bottom of the mountain that day, they were thrown right back into the reality of the world they had left.
The other disciples were there and "they saw a large crowd surrounding them and legal experts arguing with them."
When Jesus asked them, "What are you arguing about?"
"Someone from the crowd responded, 'Teacher, I brought my son to you, since he has a spirit that doesn't allow him to speak.
Wherever it overpowers him, it throws him into a fit.
He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, an stiffens up."
Ever since he had been a child these seizures nearly killed him...throwing him into fires or into water.
The father pleaded with Jesus, "If you can do anything, help us!
Show us compassion!"
And isn't this what the world is crying out to us this morning, every morning and every day?
"If you can do anything, help us! Show us compassion!"
Jesus said to the man, "All things are possible for the one who has faith."
"At that the boy's father cried out, "I have faith; help my lack of faith."
"I have faith; help my lack of faith."
Isn't that what this world is crying out to us as well?
The world is pleading for compassion, for help, for faith.
Christianity isn't a spectator sport.
It isn't something we are just called to do for an hour every Sunday.
It is a lifestyle.
It is a life.
And our decision to "live it out" is the only hope the people of this terribly lost and pain-filled world have.
Will you follow Jesus up the mountain and listen to the voice of God calling you to listen, to follow, to believe?
Will you follow Jesus back down the mountain and serve those who are lost, hurting, dirty, and pitiful?
Will you?
Will we?
