*Rev. Sandy Lacey*
*February 27, 2022*
* In my home, I have a favorite picture – it is an enlarged, framed photograph hanging on the wall. It is a picture of our two sons when they were about 9 and 11 years old. We had gone on a family vacation that year in which we hiked, camped, and white water rafted in the mountains of N. Carolina. This particular photo was taken at the top of a mountain that we had just hiked and they were in the victory mode stance – you know the one, arms outstretched and up in the air – victory! We had been the only ones on the trail that morning and we had a grand time together. *
* It was a time that captured the sublime – beautiful scenery and what had seemed ordinary turned into something extraordinary when we reached the top. It was a mountaintop experience captured in a single moment. I’m glad we have that photo to remember because that time slice was brief – for right before the photograph was mom yelling at the younger one to quit running over to the edge and scaring me . . . and not too long after the photo it was time to come back down the mountain. The trip down was not near as fun because we smelled all the signs of a bear (or bears) nearby. So, we made lots of noise, stayed together, and hurried back down the long trail. The time at the top was sublime . . . and brief.*
* In today’s Scripture passage, Peter, James, and John have their own mountaintop experience with Jesus. Peter is such an interesting character – he always manages to blurt out whatever comes to his mind. It seems he has difficulty keeping quiet while processing his thoughts. I can relate. Sometimes it helps him but most of the time, it doesn’t. Today, what is on his mind is, “Let’s build three buildings or booths, Jesus – one for you and the other two.” It was not unusual for the Hebrews to erect a structure or stones to commemorate something special, so it’s not that crazy that he’s thinking it. I’ve got to wonder, though, if he is figuratively raising his hands high in the air in the victory pose and saying, “I knew it! He is the Messiah! Isn’t this sublime and glorious?!” According to Luke, it was only just 8 days ago when Jesus asked Peter and the other disciples who they thought he was. And Peter had the fortune of blurting out the right answer – “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” Jesus had been pleased but then Jesus went on to say, “Oh and by the way, being the Messiah means that I will struggle, I will suffer, and in fact, I will be put to death.” Poor Peter (in Matthew’s Gospel account anyway) – he couldn’t just keep his confusion to himself – no, he had to blurt out that surely he was mistaken: “you know, Jesus, Messiahs do not suffer.” *
* It would have been better for Peter to have kept his mouth shut – instead, he was chastised by Jesus and called Satan, an Adversary – just a few short days ago. And now, today, Peter witnesses something extraordinary – and what does he say? “Let’s make some sort of dwelling for you Jesus. This is where you live and this is what you’re about. The extraordinary has come. The extraordinary is here. This is where I want to be. Let’s stay here.” *
* Periodically I teach a six-week Confirmation class for middle and high school kids to help them learn and understand some of the basics of the Reformed faith. It is usually followed by an opportunity for them to make a profession of faith, be baptized if they have not been already, and join the church. We usually begin our study with talking about God. I have them list some things that are big – and I get all kinds of responses – from certain large or tall people . . . to mountains to the earth to the vast oceans, even to certain sporting events. And then we talk about how God is even bigger, even greater than all those things and anything else we can imagine. We remember together in Genesis how God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. We remember that God created each one of us – with all of our gifts and abilities. God is truly big and God is great.*
* On the other side of the age spectrum, I also do a Chapel class for our preschoolers here. We often sing a song together complete with hand motions, “My God is so great, so strong and so mighty; there’s nothing my God cannot do. The mountains are His; the rivers are His; the stars are His handiwork too. My God is so great, so strong and so mighty; there’s nothing my God cannot do.” As adults I think we forget about the vastness of who God is, the truly extraordinary characteristics of God.*
* Our lives are often so filled with the mundane and the ordinary that we forget to notice when the extraordinary breaks through. When is the last time you noticed something truly extraordinary? What “mountaintop experiences” have you witnessed lately? When I have asked this question in the past, some have pointed to seeing the grandeur of nature in a new way – beautiful, spectacular visions of the oceans, mountains, really tall and big trees, the clear and shiny river during the early part of the pandemic when no one was driving about and the pollution was kept at bay, the beautiful fall or spring foliage, or even just an ordinary day with sunshine. You tell me it is so spectacular that you could not help but see God’s awesome, creative power in what is right before your eyes. Others have pointed to the experience of childbirth and hearing that newborn cry for the first time, seeing them take their first breath. And still others have pointed to moments of clarity when something they’ve always known suddenly fits into a larger picture, kind of like a really large aha moment. Others point to worship services that include sublime music that lift the spirit. Some remember mission projects and events that brought people together and brought a new harmony and vision to a community that was not there before. Over the years, I have heard “mountaintop experiences” described as “thin places”, places where the distance between God and us becomes thin and we catch a glimpse of who God is, of who Jesus is, and who we are in relation to one another and God. These are moments in which the extraordinary breaks through into the mundane. There are many transfiguring moments in life that point to God’s amazing works and God’s amazing grace. And we cannot help but be forever changed by those moments . . . *
* My pastor friend in KY, Chuck, reminded me a few years ago that not everyone got to go to the mountain. It was just Peter, James, and John who accompanied Jesus and had this wonderful and awe-inspiring experience. They even heard God’s voice from the cloud confirming Jesus’ identity! We read, however, that the rest of the disciples were down the mountain wrestling with demons and experiencing defeat. The other disciples were experiencing failure as they tried to heal a man’s son struggling with demons. Apparently, not all of us are fortunate to experience the sublime. Many of us are battling demons day in and day out. Some of us are dealing with devastating news of cancer and some of us are dealing with mental illness, addictions, and violence. Some of us are worried about our future as the debt keeps mounting, as the environment’s needs are ignored, as violence and hatred spews forth from our airwaves. Many of us are battling demons that threaten to shake our personal identity as well as our community identity. And in black history month, some of us are wondering if this will be the day that we will finally be known for the content of our character rather than the color of our skin. And some of us cast a worried eye toward the lands overseas in which a man abuses power – how will it affect that country and how will it affect us? Many of us cannot see the mountaintop for all the demons we are battling in both our personal lives and in the life of this great nation. *
* But we are not alone – Jesus dwells in this place too. Apparently, Jesus dwells in both places – the tough and gritty places as well as the sublime places.*
* Many of us, though, are tempted like Peter to want to “hang out” all the time where it is sublime, where life is extraordinary, where all we can see is the glory. We, like Peter, would like to strap on our tool belt and start construction immediately on the place that would allow us continual bliss, a clear vision of who Jesus is, no more problems, and constant victory living.*
* But lest we dwell there or lest we think God only dwells there . . . let us remember that Ash Wednesday is coming and the Season of Lent will be here very soon. As we come down from the awe-inspiring view of the mountain, we will be “setting our faces” toward Jerusalem, toward a terrible cost, toward great suffering, and even toward death, because Peter, this Messiah will suffer. And as followers of such a Messiah, we are called to be in the gritty places too. *
* There are demons to wrestle with . . . because even in the extraordinary event of childbirth – some children die without ever taking their first breath . . . and even when we bond together in the sublime experience of mission and service, we occasionally argue and hurt one another . . . and even when we hear beautiful music, we sometimes hear dissonant words and chords. And as we learn by looking at Jesus’ entire life, the journey of discipleship is not rosy and conflict free; it is the way of the cross. It is wrestling with the demons of our personal lives and it is wrestling with the demons of what we find together in our community life. *
* But today, this day, is Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday. It is an extraordinary day today. It is a cause for celebration and wonder. It is a day for amazement. We get to see and hear who Jesus and who God really are. Life is good today.*
* We will need today for the journey ahead of us. For the Gospel message is this. We can say with Peter – “I knew it! He is the Messiah! My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do.” We can stretch out our arms above our head in the victory pose, all the while knowing this feeling of amazement and wonder is . . . not far from this – arms fully extended straight out from his side, open arms, vulnerable, and crucified for each one of us and for all of God’s creation. “My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do – for you.” *