Glory Days
Text: Mark 9:2-9
I remember once going out to a comedy club just a month or two before moving from Calgary to the West Coast. I was about to start my training for ministry at the Vancouver School of Theology. We were a group of friends who had been together since high school, and had maintained friendships despite our diverse paths through University. It was a chance to kick back and to do some reflecting, especially with everything new that was changing around all of us. We did some storytelling, some laughing, and some genuine sharing… but at one point in the conversation, my friend Russ looked up from his beer with a funny look on his face.
“John, this is scary…” he said, “We’re too young to have good old days!!” He was right, all of us were about 22 years old…
There is a natural human tendency to want to relive those past experiences, those high points in our lives that we recall with both great fondness, and a bit of regret that those days are gone. We call it nostalgia, longing for the glory days that we once experienced in life and would like to relive again. It’s certainly nothing new, as “mountaintop” experiences have been with us for thousands of years. A very current example is all the events and hype that we have seen around the Winter Olympics… which oddly enough has a lot to do with mountains. The term comes from various stories in the Bible, where profound life-changing experiences of God happen on mountain peaks. Think of Moses on Sinai, think of Elijah on the mountainside… and with this morning, Jesus on the mountain with three of his disciples.
The season of Epiphany has always been about the revealing of God in our midst. The question “where have you seen God?” is no longer a subtle one, but becomes a blinding light that knocks us to the ground. The story of the Transfiguration is one of the mountaintop experience, an encounter so profound that it fundamentally transforms the way in which we see and understand Jesus. It is for good reason why this Sunday is often called “the Last Epiphany” –they don’t get much more profound than this!
Note: the following is an approximation, on Sunday morning I was outside the pulpit preachign this part without notes.
The story is familiar enough. One early morning, Jesus takes three of his closest disciples to the top of a mountain. James, Peter and John have no idea clue of what is coming next. The story is simply told, that once on top of the mountain, Jesus is “transfigured” before them. Suddenly, this person in whom they had seen as a friend, as a teacher is changed before their eyes. They see him in a new light, far more profound than they ever experienced.
Not only is Jesus changed, but at the top of this mountain the disciples see him speaking with Moses and Elijah: people who embody the Law and the Prophets respectively. It is a powerful experience, one that knocks the wind out of the three companions. Dumbfounded, Peter manages to stammer to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
In many ways, Peter is our voice in the story, and is so overwhelmed by what has happened that all he can do is stammer out this suggestion. Yet at the same time, he wants to preserve this moment, to erect shrines to commemorate it and to relive this moment of glory. I think most of us would be like Peter, and would want to mark this event in some way. We find ourselves puzzled with how Jesus seems to act in this story.
No sooner has Peter uttered these words in the midst of the spectacle that it all disappears. Jesus is already making his way back down the mountain. He tells them not to tell anyone about this until after the Resurrection. The three disciples are left bewildered… it has to be the most profound thing they have experienced. They are riding an emotional high from having experienced Jesus in this way, of hearing God say “this is my beloved son,” of seeing Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets… Think of it this way, Peter and the others have just been shown a massive light show that sets up a huge flashing neon sign pointing at Jesus that says “Listen to him!” What is the first thing that Jesus says, “ummm… you didn’t see that… These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Jesus starts going back down the mountain as if nothing happened.
The transfiguration story is about the disciples and us suddenly seeing Jesus in a new way. It is a profound glimpse into who Jesus truly is, prior to the events of Easter. As the so-called “Last” Epiphany, it is a moment of realization, but it is also a moment for action.
When it comes to this, our temptation is like Peter’s. Perhaps Peter had it his way, he would still be up on the mountain recalling the glory days. A rather uncomfortable fact that a colleague pointed out to me a few years ago is that many old church buildings have become the very shrines that Peter wanted to build… places to remember and talk about the glory days. It is less about the work of what Jesus calls us to, and more about preserving a heritage.
Yet Jesus continues to make his way down the mountain, even after Peter’s suggestion of building the three shrines. Jesus comes down the mountain prepared for a new stage in his ministry, he has no interest in staying on the mountain, because that’s not where he belongs. It is no coincidence that we always tell this story on the last Sunday before the season of Lent begins… where we remember Jesus making his way towards Jerusalem and the Cross.
The frustrating part about all this is that if Jesus didn’t want to make such a big deal of this event, why take Peter, James and John along with him? Surely he must have known how his disciples might have reacted? Would it not have been better to have had the consultation with Moses and Elijah on his own? Perhaps, but it was important for Peter, the others, and us there as a cautionary tale. It was important for us to see Jesus like this, to have this profound mountaintop experience, and to see how Jesus simply takes it all in stride. Perhaps it’s a point of teaching, of how we can become too focused upon the experiences, and not on the end result… on what God is doing.
The real work is not what happens on the mountain, but what happens when we come down from it. The glimpses of God are what help us to move forward… to trust that God continues to be with us beyond those moments of glory, those moments where we do see and experience God in a profound way. We are and will be tempted to simply bask in the glow, and not do much else. When the experience is over, we are tempted to simply build shrines of our own, to try to relive the glory days. The reality is, no matter how long they last, mountaintop moments are fleeting glimpses in time. By contrast, just as we’re gearing up to preserve the glory days, Jesus is already moving down the mountain to be on with God’s work where it matters: with the people of the world, looking to the future with hope.
Amen.
I remember once going out to a comedy club just a month or two before moving from Calgary to the West Coast. I was about to start my training for ministry at the Vancouver School of Theology. We were a group of friends who had been together since high school, and had maintained friendships despite our diverse paths through University. It was a chance to kick back and to do some reflecting, especially with everything new that was changing around all of us. We did some storytelling, some laughing, and some genuine sharing… but at one point in the conversation, my friend Russ looked up from his beer with a funny look on his face.
“John, this is scary…” he said, “We’re too young to have good old days!!” He was right, all of us were about 22 years old…
There is a natural human tendency to want to relive those past experiences, those high points in our lives that we recall with both great fondness, and a bit of regret that those days are gone. We call it nostalgia, longing for the glory days that we once experienced in life and would like to relive again. It’s certainly nothing new, as “mountaintop” experiences have been with us for thousands of years. A very current example is all the events and hype that we have seen around the Winter Olympics… which oddly enough has a lot to do with mountains. The term comes from various stories in the Bible, where profound life-changing experiences of God happen on mountain peaks. Think of Moses on Sinai, think of Elijah on the mountainside… and with this morning, Jesus on the mountain with three of his disciples.
The season of Epiphany has always been about the revealing of God in our midst. The question “where have you seen God?” is no longer a subtle one, but becomes a blinding light that knocks us to the ground. The story of the Transfiguration is one of the mountaintop experience, an encounter so profound that it fundamentally transforms the way in which we see and understand Jesus. It is for good reason why this Sunday is often called “the Last Epiphany” –they don’t get much more profound than this!
Note: the following is an approximation, on Sunday morning I was outside the pulpit preachign this part without notes.
The story is familiar enough. One early morning, Jesus takes three of his closest disciples to the top of a mountain. James, Peter and John have no idea clue of what is coming next. The story is simply told, that once on top of the mountain, Jesus is “transfigured” before them. Suddenly, this person in whom they had seen as a friend, as a teacher is changed before their eyes. They see him in a new light, far more profound than they ever experienced.
Not only is Jesus changed, but at the top of this mountain the disciples see him speaking with Moses and Elijah: people who embody the Law and the Prophets respectively. It is a powerful experience, one that knocks the wind out of the three companions. Dumbfounded, Peter manages to stammer to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
In many ways, Peter is our voice in the story, and is so overwhelmed by what has happened that all he can do is stammer out this suggestion. Yet at the same time, he wants to preserve this moment, to erect shrines to commemorate it and to relive this moment of glory. I think most of us would be like Peter, and would want to mark this event in some way. We find ourselves puzzled with how Jesus seems to act in this story.
No sooner has Peter uttered these words in the midst of the spectacle that it all disappears. Jesus is already making his way back down the mountain. He tells them not to tell anyone about this until after the Resurrection. The three disciples are left bewildered… it has to be the most profound thing they have experienced. They are riding an emotional high from having experienced Jesus in this way, of hearing God say “this is my beloved son,” of seeing Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets… Think of it this way, Peter and the others have just been shown a massive light show that sets up a huge flashing neon sign pointing at Jesus that says “Listen to him!” What is the first thing that Jesus says, “ummm… you didn’t see that… These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Jesus starts going back down the mountain as if nothing happened.
The transfiguration story is about the disciples and us suddenly seeing Jesus in a new way. It is a profound glimpse into who Jesus truly is, prior to the events of Easter. As the so-called “Last” Epiphany, it is a moment of realization, but it is also a moment for action.
When it comes to this, our temptation is like Peter’s. Perhaps Peter had it his way, he would still be up on the mountain recalling the glory days. A rather uncomfortable fact that a colleague pointed out to me a few years ago is that many old church buildings have become the very shrines that Peter wanted to build… places to remember and talk about the glory days. It is less about the work of what Jesus calls us to, and more about preserving a heritage.
Yet Jesus continues to make his way down the mountain, even after Peter’s suggestion of building the three shrines. Jesus comes down the mountain prepared for a new stage in his ministry, he has no interest in staying on the mountain, because that’s not where he belongs. It is no coincidence that we always tell this story on the last Sunday before the season of Lent begins… where we remember Jesus making his way towards Jerusalem and the Cross.
The frustrating part about all this is that if Jesus didn’t want to make such a big deal of this event, why take Peter, James and John along with him? Surely he must have known how his disciples might have reacted? Would it not have been better to have had the consultation with Moses and Elijah on his own? Perhaps, but it was important for Peter, the others, and us there as a cautionary tale. It was important for us to see Jesus like this, to have this profound mountaintop experience, and to see how Jesus simply takes it all in stride. Perhaps it’s a point of teaching, of how we can become too focused upon the experiences, and not on the end result… on what God is doing.
The real work is not what happens on the mountain, but what happens when we come down from it. The glimpses of God are what help us to move forward… to trust that God continues to be with us beyond those moments of glory, those moments where we do see and experience God in a profound way. We are and will be tempted to simply bask in the glow, and not do much else. When the experience is over, we are tempted to simply build shrines of our own, to try to relive the glory days. The reality is, no matter how long they last, mountaintop moments are fleeting glimpses in time. By contrast, just as we’re gearing up to preserve the glory days, Jesus is already moving down the mountain to be on with God’s work where it matters: with the people of the world, looking to the future with hope.
Amen.
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