I have never been to the Holy Land. And, knowing my congregation, I could hazard a guess that most of them have never been to the Holy Land either.
A number of my friends from seminary have gone. They've posted photos and commented on the amazing experiences that they've had.
And I admit: I'm jealous.
So as I went through the readings for the Last Sunday After the Epiphany, the Sunday where we always have the story of Jesus' transfiguation on the mountain, I had to spend some time trying to imagine what that must have been like to witness this? What must it have been like to be "in a cloud."
That's how I arrived at a ride in an airplane. See if this works for you.
Texts: Ex.24:12-18; Ps. 2; 2Peter 1:16-21; Matt 17:1-9
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I want to start this morning by giving us an image.
Close your eyes if you want to for this.
I’m pretty sure we’ve all flown in an airplane.
We know that experience of the plane taxiing and taking off and
climbing up into the sky… bumping along as it makes it way through the clouds
and finally reaching that “cruising altitude.”
On a clear day… we can look down and see the geometric patterns of
cities and country sides… homes and buildings dotting the landscape.
On cloudy days…we see only…the clouds.
The pilot has taken us up above these inducers of turbulence…and
now we are in this realm of brightness…as the previously hidden sun shines its
light above the clouds.
We travel along…maybe reading…or sleeping… or playing a game or
music through earbuds.
And eventually we come down again…through the clouds…bumping and
jostling the plane… until we touch down on ground again.
In a different place… ready for whatever is our next adventure.
I want us to hang on to that idea and experience of what it is to
go up into the clouds… and then come back down.
I’m guessing that this is a modern-day equivalent to what it must
have been like for those who were climbing the mountains in ancient Palestine.
In our reading from Exodus… we hear about Moses and Joshua going up
the mountain and Moses entering into the cloud.
There in the clouds is a devouring fire.
Devouring fire might make us think of the destructive wildfires
happening out west in places such as California.
Or perhaps this fire is the sun….shining brightly above the clouds.
What we know is that Moses is invited into this space… and the
experience of this transcendence brings him out as a changed man.
In our Gospel… it’s Jesus, Peter, James, and John going up the high
mountain…encountering Moses and Elijah and Jesus starts shining like the sun.
Again… a cloud enshrouds them and we hear the voice:
“This is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
Climbing mountains.
Fire and bright light.
Clouds.
All of these are the imagery and metaphor for being swept up into
the presence and power of an encounter with the Holy One.
These revelations… like when a plane is moving through the bumpiness
of the clouds and into that smooth glide above them… these “mountain top
moments”…represent times of revelation and change…taking us from where we were
to where we are going.
Moses and Jesus both are transfigured in their appearance.
It wasn’t in our reading this morning…but part of the story of
Moses is that every time he has one of these mountain-top encounters… his face
shines so brightly that he has to cover it with a veil so as not to scare
people.
Jesus also undergoes a change…standing there with Moses and Elijah…the
symbols of the Law and the Prophets.
What is revealed is that Jesus is one with the Law and the Prophets.
This is the future that had been promised to God’s people.
The interesting part of both of these stories is that these moments
are not done in isolation… away from others.
There are witnesses.
Joshua… was there with Moses.
Peter, James, and John saw what happened with Jesus.
These transcendent moments are not just for the individual; they
are communal…and shared.
What must have it been like to witness such a sight?
We get an idea of it from our Epistle lesson out the Second Letter of
Peter.
Now… I hate to burst anyone’s bubble… but biblical scholarship
throughout the centuries has been able to determine that this Second Letter
wasn’t written by the apostle Peter himself… but rather a teacher from the “School
of Peter.”
The second century was a time where varying schools of philosophy
were belittling the early Christian communities… and encouraging an ethic of “Live
like there’s no tomorrow!”… a direct contrast to the Christian hope…and living for
a better tomorrow.
Nonetheless… its purpose then and now… is to give guidance and
assurance to Christians in the face of those who say, “Where is your God?”
So…that’s where this Second Letter of Peter is coming from.
The writer defends the idea that the words we have in Scripture are
words passed down to us from our ancestors who had these mountain top moments.
Having borne witness to this
event has both tested and sustained them in ways that something of human origin
simply could not.
For Peter, James, and John… it was hearing of that prophetic pronouncement
from the cloud:
“This is my Son, my Beloved, with him I am well pleased. Listen to
him!’
Such a powerful and prophetic pronouncement… spoken in this high
place in the cloud… obviously left an impression on Peter.
And yet… coming from the mountain… we also know that he still lost
his way.
He would still deny knowing Jesus when the chips were down.
He would still cry and regret that he let his fears overcome him
and make him deny his teacher and friend.
And Jesus would still forgive him… and predict that he would have
to grow up into a man who could stand in the face of oppressive systems and
speak truth to power.
Because that’s what it means to be the Rock of the Church.
So while this letter may not have been written by the apostle
himself… it still contains a line that stands out as an important message for
the Christians of then and now:
“You will do well to be attentive to this lamp shining in a dark
place until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.”
This lamp… these words of declaring the beloved of God… these words
which serve to fortify us in our faith…is what we can carry with us into those
dark places that we encounter in our lives.
It is through our attentiveness in those moments where we come in
contact with the Holy… that we receive what we need to let God shine through us
to others.
At the same time… Peter is a great role model to remind us that we
are not sinless.
We will mess up.
And when we do… there is grace.
There is forgiveness.
There is always the opportunity to make things better.
We have an aid… the Scriptures… which tell our story.
We can turn to those words… those stories… as a reminder that we
are never doing this life alone.
We can see how others have encountered hardships and faced systems
designed to frustrate and instill fear… and yet we are reminded to listen to
Jesus and hear what he said to his disciples on that mountain:
“Do not be afraid.”
God was with them then… and will be there for us, too.
All of this seems like such a fitting climax to this time we’ve
been in after the Epiphany…a period of
teaching and learning what it means to be his disciple.
Like a plane coming in for a landing… we are moving from this season
and this dazzling moment with Jesus on the mountain top… back down through the
clouds to the ground into season of Lent…where there is still much work to be
done on ourselves and in the community around us.
May we take what we’ve gleaned in Epiphany into the next phase of
the journey.…knowing that we have the stories of our ancestors to help give us
the strength to meet the challenges of our times.
Do not be afraid.
In the name of God…F/S/HS.
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