Mark 9:2-9
“A Mountain of Emotions”
This past Wednesday afternoon, approximately 20 Christians from about 4 different churches began making preparations for our first week of East Ridge Cares—where we pick up children from the Superior Creek Lodge down the street and bring them to the church for tutoring, mentoring, games, music, and then to feed them dinner.
I was a little bit nervous, and I think Marcy and some of the others were as well.
We had seen God’s Vision for this.
We had heard God’s call.
We had done a lot of preparation, a lot of work.
We had a lot of volunteers who had seen the vision as well.
What if no children showed up?
What if it was all a bust?
Throughout the day we kept telling one another, “If we don’t have any children the first Wednesday—don’t worry about it—we will keep doing this until we do!”
When the time came someone from Christ United Methodist Church and I drove the church van to the hotel where there were no children waiting in the lobby—even though 5 had signed up for the program.
I asked the receptionist if I could use the hotel phone to call the rooms where the children lived.
One family no longer lives at the lodge.
Another phone just rang and rang and rang.
Finally, a mother with two children showed up.
Then, other children, who had not previously signed up began to come, and we hurriedly had parents filling out consent forms.
The children were so eager to go, and the parents were friendly, thankful and excited that some folks cared enough to transport their children who (they know) live in dangerous conditions to a “church” program, if even for a few hours.
We filled the van with 8 little tikes and headed to the church.
It was an awesome day!!!
The kids had an amazing time, and I think you folks who volunteered had an even better time.
Now it looks like we will probably have 20, 30, maybe 40 kids coming within the next few weeks!!!
And our Faithful God only knows where we will go from there!!!
Lives are being changed for Christ, and by Christ—through YOU—Christ’s people!!!
All the worrying we had done was for nothing.
For when God gives a vision and a calling—God is faithful to carry it out!!!
You know, God is faithful no matter what!!!
I think an amazing theme from today’s passage of Scripture is the clear evidence of God’s faithfulness!!!
God has not and will not leave God’s people without guidance, without help, without hope—ever!!!
From Moses to Elijah to Daniel to Jesus God’s faithfulness shines through!!!
It’s interesting, six days before Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain…
…Jesus had asked His disciples a very key question.
In Mark 8:27 Jesus asked them, “Who do people say that I am?”
After they named a number of great prophets and people of the faith, He asked them again, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
It was Peter who answered for the group, “You are the Christ.”
After this, Matthew records Jesus saying, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”
In other words, God had given Peter special insight into Who Jesus was!!!
God had given Peter a vision.
God had revealed the true identity of God’s Son to Peter.
And that is the way it always is.
It is God Who reveals God’s self to us.
It is God Who pursues us.
It is God Who calls us.
It is God Who gives us faith to believe…the very faith that saves us!!!
That’s how much we are loved!!!
That is how faithful our God is!!!
Anyhow, back to Mark.
After Peter made the profession that Jesus is God’s Messiah, we are told that Jesus “began to teach his disciples” that He must be “killed, and then, after three days, rise from the dead.”
Of course, the disciples were horrified!!!
They didn’t know what to make of this.
How could this be?
God had revealed to them that Jesus was the Christ…
…now the Christ is telling them that He is going to be killed?!!!
Then, we enter today’s Lesson.
“Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain…”
Jesus “was transformed in front of them, and his clothes were amazingly bright, brighter than if they had been bleached white…”
And, “Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus.”
Could it be that this was for the benefit of Jesus’ beloved disciples, whom God had revealed God’s self too?
Could it be that, in giving the disciples a vision and a call—God was reassuring the disciples that even though Jesus was going to suffer many things, Jesus was indeed the One Whom God had revealed Jesus to be?
And therefore, even though they didn’t understand all the talk about the arrest, the crucifixion, the Resurrection…
…God is faithful, and God will never leave them alone?
God will never play a cruel trick on them.
This isn’t some divine joke where they are the punch lines!
God is faithful!
There is hope no matter what happens!!!
There is a future!!!
And beyond the difficulties we all face on this earth and in these bodies…
…beyond the difficulties Jesus and the disciples will face in the coming weeks…
…there is a promise from God of a kind of life beyond what our earthly eyes can see!!!
Is that great news or what?
Both Moses and Elijah are two men whose endings were somewhat mysterious.
For example, Elijah went to heaven in bodily form and Moses’ grave was never found!!!
According to Deuteronomy 34:4-7, Moses was buried by God Himself.
And if this isn’t dramatic enough, for those steeped in Jewish tradition, it was believed that Moses and Elijah would be sent by God to tell humankind that God’s reign was at hand!!!
No wonder we are told that Peter, James and John were “terrified.”
Also, it’s no wonder that Peter reacted the way he did by saying, “Let’s make three shrines [or booths]—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
According to the prophet Zechariah, God would usher in the new age, the “Day of the Lord,” during the Feast of Booths.
This God-commanded festival kept by Jews for centuries, was considered to be a possible time that God would be taking control of God’s Creation once again and beginning the age of Peace.
So, Peter thinks the End Times have arrived, and the Feast of Booths is upon them.
But, again, Peter didn’t understand Jesus’ prediction of the suffering and death which must come first.
It wasn’t until Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit that Peter and the disciples finally “got the point.”
But the transfiguration was a “foretaste” of what was and is to come!
It was also a great teaching moment, not only for the disciples but for us as well!!!
Verses 7 and 8 read, “Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice spoke from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, whom I dearly love.
Listen to him!’
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.”
And isn’t Jesus all they need?
Isn’t Jesus all we need?
Moses represented the Law and Elijah stood for the Prophets.
Now Moses and Elijah’s jobs are completed.
Jesus alone fulfills the Law and the Prophets.
Nothing else is needed!!!
Elijah and Moses were vital in helping prepare the way; Jesus is finishing the job!!!
And the “cloud” which represents the presence of God…
…and the voice that spoke from the cloud said “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!”
Listen to Jesus.
That is our job.
How are we doing at this?
And not only are we to listen to Jesus, we are to do what He says!!!
Jesus, Peter, James and John didn’t stay up on the mountaintop for long.
Verse 9 tells us that they started following Jesus back down the mountain.
And in verse 14 we are told about what they found when they got to the bottom.
The other disciples were surrounded by a large crowd, along with those “fun-loving” “legal experts” and there was an argument taking place.
Ordinary life came crashing back in!!!
But Peter, James and John had been to the mountaintop!!!
They saw the vision and they heard the voice of God!
Isn’t that how the Christian life works?
We are all called to the mountaintop.
This is where we see Jesus for Who He really is.
This is where we look at Christ with awe and hope and love and thankfulness!!!
This is where we hear the voice of God telling us to “listen to him.”
Then we are called off the mountain and back into life.
But we have been and are being transformed.
We are no longer the same people we were before we started the journey up the slopes.
We have seen and experienced something heavenly, and because of that we will never be the same!!!
And because of that we are able to trust in the faithfulness of God as we listen to Jesus and experience Jesus in our communities where we live out our faith, where we shine the light of Christ into a lost and broken world.
And that is where God has sent us.
That is why we are here; it’s the reason for our existence.
And we are never alone in all this.
Look around, and if you see no one with you except Jesus—that is always more than enough!!!
Praise God.
Amen.
