Sermon for Sunday February 27th

Sermon for Sunday February 27th, 2022: 'The view from above…and below!'

(Please read, Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3: 12-4:6; Luke 9: 28-36)

 

Why do you climb mountains? Mountaineer George Mallory famously answered that question, “Because it’s there!” The mountain is there to be conquered.'I climbed that peak because I could!' In scripture the mountains are more than this. They are places, not only of elevation…but of revelation; where teaching is received, refuge and strength is given; mountains are places of prayer and nearness to God, places where the glory of God can be seen: Sinai, Carmel, the Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, the Sermon on the Mount and here, the Mount of Transfiguration.

 

Jesus never did things simply because He could; He never performed miracles of healing or stilled storms at sea just for the fun of it or at the request of thrill-seekers. John called Jesus’ miracles “signs” because they were given to point beyond themselves to something else, to something or Someone, far greater. Not long before, Herod had asked angrily, “…but who is this about whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him.” (Luke 9: 9)

But Jesus was very careful about what He showed or shared of Himself and to whom. The One who had all the power of God at His disposal (indeed, the One who made the mountains in the first place) would always have a reason. Things which had been hidden or confusing would become apparent when the time was right. Ours is the God of revelation, the God whose way is to unfold Himself gradually to those who cared to follow Him uphill and down dale.

 

Jesus is the Christ of God and, not long before, Peter had identified Jesus as such. He commanded the disciples to tell no-one about this (Luke 9: 21). Here was the turning-point in the ministry of Jesus and the disciples. A moment of God-given revelation is followed by the starker realities. Jesus tells His disciples that He will suffer many things and be killed and on the third day be raised (Luke 9:22).

They will have to take up their own cross and follow Him. 27 'Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.' They pondered these things for a week.

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.

 

So, why take these three men on such a trek to the top of the mountain? You get a panoramic view from the top; there you get your perspective changed: you realise how very small you are; look ahead and you will see how many more peaks there are to climb. Look around and you may see just how far you have come…how very beautiful it is. How unforgettable! They go to pray. This expedition is happening now (and only now) that these disciples are ready; now that the inner circle are beginning to see who it is they’ve been walking with all this time. The mountaintop revelation is given for our encouragement…

29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Matthew says, there He was transfigured before them and His face shone like the sun. We have the impression from Matthew and Luke that the disciples awaken to this scene. They have been sleeping, doubtless tired and sore after their climb.

32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. The great figures of the faith, Moses and Elijah, appearing in glorious splendour talking to the Master about His exodus at Jerusalem. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, 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 he was saying.)

 

It is good for us to be here! “Let all mortal flesh keep silent” was never Simon Peter’s motto! Peter does what he often did and spoke before engaging his brain. He said, often, what the others might have been thinking but dared not say. Peter’s heart is in the right place…he’s so nearly there.

Peter wants to bottle up this fantastic experience, to bask in the glory. This was it. This was heaven. This must be heaven. He wants the holiday to last forever…the prayer meeting to end all others!  We know that feeling.

Yes, it is good to be here! But, just like us, Peter doesn’t get it, not quite. It’s easy to smile at Peter who didn’t know what he was saying. Would we have been any different? We will all have to come down off the mountain peak to live and work and serve in the valley below. We prefer to bask in the beauty at the top.

 

34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Our hearing is selective and our obedience is partial…all this talk of suffering and death. They don’t want to hear that…

 

They go to the top to see more of who He really is and to get a glimpse into the truth. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

He takes them up to pray but He takes them up to strengthen and encourage them for what is below and for what is to come. And to show them a glimpse behind the curtain.  And so also, it is for us…

 

Jesus often went alone to the wilderness or to the peaks for much-needed strength and encouragement. We sometimes forget this. Yes, He’s divine but He is human (fully); he would go to seek His Father. In this, He is the perfect example of a human being. He experienced all the things we do. He too needed divine help. He gets it from this meeting with Elijah and Moses. (They too spent time on mountains!) It seems only right that Moses and Elijah, the great representative figures of the Law and the Prophets, should appear on the mountain with Jesus. Jesus was to fulfil all Law and Prophecy in His Life and death and resurrection. He takes the men with Him for prayer and is infused with courage to face the road ahead…in His case, the road to a cross.

 

People tell us there are many ways to God. It is tempting to search for that inner spiritual experience, to think that having the mountain-top is the only way to “see God”. In our addiction to the “high-life” – our dreams and visions – we forget how meeting God is just as likely in the labours of kitchen and laundry, or even in our experience of sickness: just as likely in the valleys as on the lofty mountain peaks. Some people never go beyond their experience of conversion. They never grow; they never respond…

Time on the mountain top requires a response. Time up there prepares people for the valley. Down there, things were starting to get tough, the opponents of Jesus were sharpening their knives. The disciples were not always ready to the plain, unvarnished truth about the future. The LORD knew that they need time apart to be made stronger, to be sustained and encouraged. Prayer time and a relationship with God will always do that. Here is the gracious offer of time, of time to glimpse something of the glory of Christ for the battles that lie ahead…for the real glory of Jesus.

 

The disciples were ordinary men, men who got scared – probably more often than they cared to admit. 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. (Matthew 17)

Jesus touched them. Here is tenderness in their time of fear. He brings them back down to earth as it were. It is good to have our feet on solid ground, on terra firma. Jesus said as He often does, “Do not be afraid” – a word (accompanying the touch) that says, it’s time to get up, time to walk

The Christian experience is an earthly one too, rooted in flesh and blood. There is only so long that a person can be exposed to brilliant light.  Jesus and the disciples and all who came after them will have to journey in faith to another mount, the mount of Golgotha. Brilliant clothing and glory will be exchanged for nakedness and the shame of a criminal’s death. Where once he was framed in sweet fellowship by Moses and Elijah, Jesus will be flanked by two thugs.

Where once there was a glorious (Shekinah) cloud, there will have to be an overshadowing darkness. Peter will not say then, “It is good to be here!” He will be nowhere to be seen…

We can’t have the mountain without the valley. We will have to wait, just like our friends, to see the true glory. There is no glory without the cross. But, beyond the horizon to peaks yet unexplored, there is the resurrection. The transfiguration is the promise to us that there is more to come. Like a movie-trailer, it is a picture of our hope of glory ahead. A foretaste of glory. We are called and destined for glory. In his kindness, Christ gives his followers a glimpse behind the curtain into wonderful truths, into things beyond…perhaps through a glass darkly, but nevertheless His promise holds true…

Those who have chosen right will shine with the brightness of heaven…like stars.” (Daniel 12:3)

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

 

Peter didn’t need to stay there on the mountain and build tents. The mountain experience stayed with him.

12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. 16 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. 17 He received honour 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.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

 

MFR 24/02/22

 

 

 

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