Mark 9:2-9*
 

Revelation of Christ as God's beloved Son

Listen

          Two weeks ago this morning, I rolled out of my sleeping bag into the sub-freezing pre-dawn shadows of the closest thing to a mountain you can find in Central Texas, the geologic wonder known as Enchanted Rock.  Now if you’re new to Ascension over the past three years, this probably sounds like the beginning of a really nice story—Pastor Brian and his two sons on a Boy Scout camping trip.  Of course it was fun to be with Max and Luke and the rest of Troop 1409 in such a scenic place.  But those who were around thirty six months ago may well remember that Enchanted Rock in February wasn’t the best place for me to be.  At the end of a long afternoon of climbing, I fell off an eight foot rock outcropping and found myself staring in wonder at the bottom of my left foot.  The ankle I thought broken for sure turned out to be sprained in a major way, so much so that the doctor actually told me I’d have been better off if I had broken it!  And so began a three month odyssey of physical therapy.  Needless to say, the memory of what happened the last time around led me to be a whole lot more careful, even overly cautious this time around than I probably would have otherwise been.  And as you can see my “mountaintop experience” left me none worse for the wear, at least that I can tell.  This time around, I beheld the glorious view from the top of Enchanted Rock and made it home in one piece!  Praise God!!

          And whether you’re talking about Mount Everest or that well recognized granite hill that straddles Llano and Gillespie counties your well advised to be wary, to pay attention on top of a mountain.  For goodness sakes, your very life just might depend on it.  But then, for all their cluelessness along the way, I don’t think that Peter, James and John could be accused of being inattentive that day on top of the mountain, there “apart with Jesus.”  A case could be made for Peter’s building proposal, one booth for Moses and Elijah each and another for Jesus but then what did he know, “for they were terrified.”  No, for all intents and purposes, in them, God has a captive audience.  “This is my son, the beloved.  Listen to him!”  And in this strange scene God means to have a captive audience in us too.  “Here is God’s beloved Son!  Listen to what he has to say!”

          You have to wonder what got into Peter, James and John that day to persuade them to go hiking with Jesus?  I mean they’d been at it for days, weeks, maybe even months, on the road healing people, casting out demons, feeding the hungry.  No one would have begrudged them taking a little r. and r., a day to recharge the batteries, sleep in, do the laundry, read the paper and just plain hang out.  Jesus can take care of himself.  Goodness knows, he’s gone off by himself before.  He’ll be okay.  But not this time though.  So, with some reluctance perhaps and maybe even a little grumbling they let Jesus take them up.  “This better be good, fella!” 

          But then again, maybe something other than a sense of duty and obligation drew them up that mountain that day, something entirely human, something that we can all relate to.  Maybe they went up that mountain looking for the holy, for that sense of the divine that we all long to discover.  If they were going to find it, the mountain was definitely a good place to start.  Surely what was good for Moses was good for them.  Although the process may be different these days, many people these days, maybe even we ourselves are trying to discover a sense of what is holy in the world where we live and breathe.  When I was in Santa Fe last weekend, it was hard to miss the various avenues of spiritual discovery available in that neck of the woods—a blending together of Native American, eastern and new age.   From the looks of things, a lot of people are spending a lot of time and a lot of money searching for something.  And I suppose its easy for us to sit back and be critical, but I have to say that by and there is something honest and genuine in the searching, something to be respected and honored, even if I don’t fully understand. 

          Of course, the real question has to do with the kind of holiness that we’re looking for these days, the kind of search that would lead us to climb mountains real and figurative in search of an answer.  Our quest for the holiness might lead us to fashion or seek out the perfect church that promises to give us everything we’re looking for—uplifting worship services time we walk in the door, charismatic, inspiring preachers who make us feel good, dynamic programs that meet our every needs.  Some look for holiness in a particular experience, the right book, the right workshop, the right retreat.  Still others spend a tremendous amount of energy creating the kind of personal environment that will allow them to have a certain kind of feeling that will bring them closer to God. 

          It seems to me that we also have a tendency to conceive of holiness in a rather limited way, that there are basically two realms in this world, a relatively small body of that which is holy and a vast domain of what we consider unholy.  There’s life on top of the mountain with Jesus—holy and life down below where people are beset by every manner of problems, from spirits and powers that dash us to the ground to the trials and temptations of everyday life.  If somehow, someway we can manage to get ourselves on top of the mountain with Jesus, everything will be okay.     

          Trouble is our expectations and assumptions are rarely, if ever all realized.  It’s as if we’re looking in the wrong direction altogether.  We spend millions, even billions of dollars looking for or trying to create a sense of spiritual well being and holiness, but somehow we never really get there.  Sooner or later we experience disappointment with the church, with the pastor, with each other, with that sure fire program, plan or project that we’re convinced will bring us closer to God. 

At the same time, we aren’t always willing to think of God’s holiness beyond our particular and often narrow perspective a perspective that says the sacred can only be had in life’s extraordinary transfiguring moments.  What happened to Peter, James and John—now that was holy, but sitting in a meeting or in class at 10:30 AM on Monday morning, cooking supper on Thursday evening or talking to a friend on Saturday morning is anything but holy.              

          But the Good News is that God shows Jesus to us and says, “This is my Son, the beloved.  Listen to him!”  And because of what Jesus does for us, every moment, every heartbeat, every exchange in the whole cosmos is made holy—from the spinning of stars and planets in some distant corner of the universe to the quiet conversation shared with a loved one.  So, if God is the maker of all things holy, then it’s not a part of our calling to try and do so for ourselves.  If in Jesus God reveals glory and holiness then we can let go of our anxious strivings, our misguided assumptions, our narrow ideas about how things are supposed to be with God, with our world and with ourselves.  If the search for holiness begins and ends in Jesus then at last we’re free to listen to him, free to hear his Word for us, the Word that speaks to our deepest need and to our greatest hope, free to behold the fullness of God’s glory for us all. 

          Standing on top of a mountain gives us perspective.  It was a clear day when I stood on top of Enchanted Rock two Saturdays ago and despite the wind that buffeted me, I was able to see a long way into the distance, much farther than I normally can.  I could see where we’d been and where we were heading.  The same can be said about standing with Jesus and the disciples on top of the mountain.  With them we look back to the expectation and hope of Advent, the celebration and joy of Christmas, the wonder and surprise of Epiphany.  At the same time, we can see the road ahead of us, the road that leads to Jerusalem and another mountain where stands a cross that reveals God’s love for us all, “where loving the world to love’s fullest, Jesus laid down his life for his friends.”[1] 

          The call to us as God’s people today is a call to listen, “listen to the voice of Jesus”.  So, may we be attentive in our Lenten discipline this year to the task of listening, in prayer, in devotion and together in worship.  I look forward to listening with you—in our new Sunday evening worship experience, on Wednesday evenings as we spend time with other small Austin area ELCA churches thinking about our mission together as God’s people, as we walk the way of the labyrinth.  And it’s my sincere hope and prayer that we can find ways to share what are hearing with one another. 

          Listen my friends, for even now, God is calling, through the word inviting, offering forgiveness, comfort and joy.  Amen.   

Pastor Brian Peterson

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† See  'Agnus Day' -a lectionary comic strip