Mountaintop Moments

Luke tells us that it has been a week. A week since Jesus had returned from praying alone asking the disciples who the crowds said he was. John the Baptist, Elijah, an ancient prophet. So “Who do YOU say that I am?” And Peter answered “The Messiah, the anointed one of God.”

Jesus had ordered them silent. Then he said some things they really didn’t understand about taking up their cross and following him, losing their lives to save it, and he said that “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” These words had echoed in their thoughts all week. Surely this must be some kind of parable, there must be a way to decode his meaning because he had ended saying “Truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” So, he must be God’s chosen one, to overthrow the evil and corrupt powers.

Silence. For a week. No more deep discussions. Life went on as usual. Then Jesus took them up on a high mountain apart by themselves.

They climbed until they were weary. The terrain was rocky, dusty. The slope gentle, but steady. They came to rest as they approached the summit, and as their eyelids grew heavy, Peter, James, and John were witnesses as Jesus prayed and was filled with the presence of God and then they watched as he discussed God’s plan for his life with Moses and Elijah.

Moses, who went up on the mountain for forty days and forty nights – twice. Moses, who received from God the tablets of the covenant. Moses, whose face shown because he had been talking with God. Moses – who led God’s people out of bondage in Egypt to the promised land.

And Elijah, who fled to the mountain in fear. Elijah, who was visited by an angel of the Lord who provided bread and a jar of water – twice on his journey of forty days and forty nights. Elijah, who stood on the mountainside, out of his safe cave, as a wind strong enough to cause avalanches of rock blew, and the earth quaked and a great fire raged, and then silence fell. Elijah, who God sent to anoint a new king over Israel and to pass his mantle on to the next prophet, Elisha. Elijah, who ascended to heaven in a whirlwind.

Moses and Elijah, who were prophesied to be present at the end time, stood there with Jesus discussing his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. The Greek word is exodos.

Jesus’ face is changed. He is transfigured as Moses and Elijah talk to him.

Moses led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land. Jesus will lead God’s people out of slavery to sin and death to the promised life.

Elijah passed on his mantle of God’s work in the world and ascended to heaven. So did Jesus.

I wonder if a week earlier, when Jesus asked the disciples who the crowds said he was, and who they thought he was, if his understanding of the path that lay before him was incomplete. As he talks with Moses and Elijah he is changed.

And Peter sees the three of them together and misinterprets what is happening. “It is good we are here,” he says. “Let us make you Sukkot.” Sukkot were tents that farmers used in the fields during harvest time, and they also were what the Israelites used for shelter after the exodus from Egypt, during the 40 years of wandering in the desert. Biblical scholar, Robert Tannehill, says of Peter’s reaction, “Peter apparently thinks that Jesus has already arrived in glory, which would eliminate the need for an exodus involving suffering and death.”

But, that’s not the way of mountaintop moments. Just like Moses went down and found the golden calf, just like Elijah proved the power of God and then ran to hide in a cave, Jesus is on the mountaintop of his life and ministry. He is anointed as God’s choice, and the disciples know it.

People who climb mountains know that reaching the summit is not the end of the journey. Ed Viesturs is a mountaineer and author. He is the only American who has climbed the six highest peaks in the world, all without supplemental oxygen. He is one of two people in the world who has climbed Mt. Everest five times. He wants to climb all of the 14 highest peaks in the world. In his book, No Boundaries: Spirit of Adventure he reminds the reader that “The summit is just a halfway point…..It’s a round trip. Getting to the summit is optional, getting down is mandatory.”

Moses didn’t climb to the mountain top to experience God. He experienced God on the mountaintop because God was equipping him to lead God’s people when he went down the mountain. Elijah didn’t run to the mountain top to experience God. He experienced God on the mountain top be cause God was equipping him to lead God’s people when he went down the mountain. Jesus didn’t climb to the mountaintop to experience God. He experienced God on the mountaintop because God was equipping him for his journey to Jerusalem, a new exodus, to lead God’s people out of slavery to sin and death and into a new life; to establish a new kingdom, where God’s Will reigns.

They went to the mountaintop seeking God. But the purpose wasn’t to have a mountaintop moment. The purpose was to be equipped to carry out God’s purposes for their lives back down the mountain.

Like Moses and Elijah and Jesus went to the mountaintop, we come to this Table seeking God. But the purpose isn’t to have a mountaintop moment, to experience God here in this moment. The purpose is to meet God here and to be equipped to carry out God’s purposes for our lives back down the mountain.

Mountain top moments are exhilarating. We see things we never saw from the valley. But, when we reach the mountaintop, when we experience God present with us, the goal is not to stay in that moment. In that moment, we are equipped with courage and strength and perseverance to go back down the mountain, to the common, into the valleys of life.

And there will be times, reality is more times than not, when we are more like Peter, James, and John than like Moses, Elijah and Jesus. When we are confused and terrified, when we are grasping to understand what is going on, and how the things happening in lives around us could possibly be used by God for good. And the Gospel news for us? The Good News that goes with us down the mountain is God’s word to them and to us, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” Live his teachings. Love as he loved. Remember him.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.