February 18, 2007 Luke 9:28-36

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters -- one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)

34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen. (NIV)

Go Mountain Climbing with Christ

I. In order to pray

When someone asks you to climb a mountain - you might need a good reason to. Mountain climbing is not an easy sport. It takes hard work and endurance. I don=t even like going up the 12 stairs of my house unless I have a good reason to. Yet Luke gives no hint of a reservation from Peter, James, and John when Jesus called them to go up the mountain with Him. Listen to what Jesus had just said to them eight days prior to this.

Luke 9:22‑27 AThe Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.@

Wow. Those are some powerful words. Now - after this recent warning - Jesus said to Peter, James and John, Acome up the mountain with me.@ You can=t help but wonder if they felt, Asomething is up here. Maybe the kingdom is coming now.@ So up the mountain they climbed - probably with eager expectations - waiting for something great to happen.

I don=t know how long it took, maybe an hour, maybe all night - but sooner or later the disciples= excitement seemed to wane. The fresh air - perhaps thinner - along with the long walkk - and a quiet afternoon of prayer - led to the disciples getting sleepy - justt like in the Garden of Gethsemane. Perhaps they were kind of bored because of the lack of action - that there were no great wars to fight or demon possessed people to heal.

I suppose we could self-righteously condemn these three for getting sleepy. Here they were on a mountaintop with Jesus Christ - praying with God=s Son - and they fall asleep! We could call them lazy and ignorant. Yet the next time you go to bed or wake up, why don=t you pray for as long as you can, and see how long you last before your eyes get heavy. If you think about it, there is nothing real flashy about prayer. It is a one way conversation to God - whom you can=t see or hear. He doesn=t respond with an occasional, Aok. Uh huh. That=s interesting.@ You hear nothing. It involves neither our eyes, our ears, our taste, or our touch. It doesn=t even have to involve our tongues. It simply involves - at the most - talking to God with folded or outstretched hands. So in human terms - it=s easy to fall asleep at the switch.

Yet how often do we forget that there are angels - living with us - who are just waiting for marching orders from God? How often do we forget about the struggles that our fellow Christians are having around the world? For those of us with no fights - who have no health problems and plenty of food and clothes, prayer is a chore - is it not? If you aren=t personally involved, it sure is easy to let those who are suffering to suffer. Think about how much time a day you have been praying for Mildred, for instance - who has been in the hospital for the last month. Just because you have been laying there flat on your back - have you forgotten what she is going through? Have you offered even ONE prayer for her in the past week? Maybe that=s why she=s still having struggles - because of our own laziness. I venture to bet you=ve fallen asleep at the switch. Because like the disciples - you=re lazy sinners - just like me. Even though we are baptized - we STILL tend to be dull with our responsibilities because we are so dependant on sight. Since we can=t see the angels personally attending to our prayers - we think it somehow boring - not worth our time. And so, after a day or two and doing our best to get in a good prayer routine - we go back to the same old routine - searching for something to pray for - expecting nothing spectacular - falling asleep when we are supposed to be on duty.

II. To see glorious things

I wonder how long Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah before these three disciples finally figured out what was going on. Imagine just humming through the motions - Aho hum, let=s pray . . . oh - there=s Moses and Elijah . . . ho hum . . . WHOA!@ The sight woke them up - made them realize that something special was going on here. They even knew who Jesus was talking to. This vision alone would have brought the whole promise of eternal life alive to them.

Yet what we don=t want to overlook - what I believe is even more amazing - is what they were talking about. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. The word in the Greek for Adeparture@ is actually Aexodus.@ Isn=t it intriguing then, that the one who led the original Aexodus@ of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt would then talk to the One who would lead a universal Aexodus@ out of slavery to sin and Satan? I imagine it was rather refreshing for Jesus to talk to these two men in glory - who actually KNEW what Jesus was talking about when He talked about dying on the cross and raising from the dead. Think also about what Moses and Elijah had to put up with in their leadership roles. Moses had to go face to face with Pharaoh - king of the Egyptians. Elijah was nearly chased down by Jezebel and had to run for his life. They knew what it was like to face crosses and trials - to have people who wanted them dead. They knew - in glory - how God worked it all out for their good - as Elijah went to heaven in a whirlwind and Moses was raised from the dead. So they also knew - in glory - that God would raise Jesus from the dead. There was no trying to talk Jesus out of it - no questions or misunderstanding. Imagine being privy to such a conversation - being able to listen to Jesus talk with Moses and Elijah about what exactly was going to happen. Yet they also knew that no whirlwinds were going to rescue Jesus - no chariots of fire were going to separate him from the chief priests and the Roman guard. Jesus would have to face the fire of God=s wrath. He would have to go through hell. There was no way around it. He had to go through it. What an awesome conversation this would have been.

It was at this point, that Peter should have been listening - that he started talking. It sounded like he was talking in his sleep. He had no clue what he was saying - he was so scared. Yet in his humanity Peter tried to make the moment last a little longer - by asking to build a shelter for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Perhaps, like David, he was trying to honor the Lord by building his own little tabernacle for them. Yet the very concept is really quite backwards. Here Jesus was, in His temporary glory - shining like the sun - along with Moses and Elijah in their glory - and sinful and weak PETER wants to build a shelter for them? Did he think this would impress them in some way? Protect them from the elements? He wasn=t thinking.

Isn=t it ironic that when Peter should have spoke, he slept - and when he should have listened, he spoke? It is a symptom of the sinful human - when he should just be listening and watching that he speaking up and wants to do something - something that would do absolutely no good. Just like the Jews who build tombs for the prophets whom their forefathers killed - or those who say prayers and burn candles for the dead - or try to get baptized for them - they invent actions that they think will impress or somehow help shelter those who have gone before them. There are no Biblical mandates for such actions. This is not in keeping with God=s will. If they have already died - it isn=t going to do them any good. Their souls are already in heaven or hell. No baptisms, shrines, Hail Mary or candles will do them one bit of good.

Yet human nature cannot sit still. It constantly thinks that it must do something to impress God - to help God - to shelter God - as if He somehow needed our help - as if He needed shelter from us. Even we as Christians think that somehow God needs our help in keeping this church open. Yet this is the kind of God man wants - a god that can be formed with human hands, carried in a cart, put up on a shelf, shined like a trophy and protected by a man. It makes man the one in control - man have the power. Deep inside - we all in reality wouldn=t mind a god like this - because then we would have nothing to fear - if this kind of god were in need of protection from us. So we speak and act as if we could somehow impress and protect God with our foolish actions and suggestions. In the end, there was no shelter that Peter could build for Jesus - no words he could say and nothing that he could do that would protect Jesus from the storm that brewing down the mountain. His very words betrayed the fact that Jesus was bound to face the storm of God=s wrath. The wages of sin was death - and the price was going to be paid.

III. Remember to Listen

Peter the potential shelter maker all of the sudden wished he could hide under a shelter - as he found himself surrounded by the overshadowing of the LORD. If Peter remembered his Old Testament history - he would have remembered how the LORD did the same thing when Moses did have a tent built in Exodus 40:35‑36. AMoses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out;@ Moses never dared to enter the tent when the cloud settled on it - but here Peter found the cloud descending on him - and he and the disciples were scared to death. No more speaking. The disciples found themselves cowering to the ground in fear. It was a harsh trip back to reality. Peter, James and John had no business in the presence of this holy God or His resurrected saints. Neither do we.

In the midst of their fear - feeling like they were going to be put to death, God the Father spoke with a very simple and yet profound message. It would be some time before the disciples would understand the full impact of what He was saying. "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." God the Father was once again testifying - as He had at Jesus= baptism - that Jesus was the Son of God in the flesh. He was the chosen one - whom God had decided to put the sins of the world on. He was the one who would die for the world - be the scapegoat of the world. All they needed to do was to listen to Him. Jesus had already told them what He was going to do - to die and rise from the dead - to pay for the sins of the world. Even on the cross Jesus expressed that same forgiveness to the people who were crucifying Him. They remembered those words - after Jesus rose. Those words convinced them that Jesus really was the Christ. Jesus then told them that He would send the Holy Spirit - that He would be with them always - to the very end of the age. Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep. AListen to Him@, the Father said. With Jesus= very next words, He touched them and said, Adon=t be afraid.@

It is amazing how humbling life can be - where one moment you think you can do anything - build houses, fortunes, play sports - and only a short time later - with sickness, wrinkles, and disease - a harsh sense of reality comes in. The prospect of facing God=s holiness at the time of death is daunting and terrifying. How could we sinful people stand in the presence of holiness - in the ranks of Jesus, Moses and Elijah - and survive? God the Father has the cure for such fears. Do nothing but just listen to His Son. Remember what He was talking to Moses and Elijah about - His exodus from this world. Remember how he left this world. Through a cross, a death, a resurrection and an ascension. Jesus did not leave this world as a loser - but a victorious winner - having paid for the sins of the world. He assured this when Jesus said, Ait is finished.@ It is Jesus who says to us sinful humans, Adon=t be afraid.@ It is Jesus who promises us, Awhoever believes and is baptized will be saved.@ It is at those words that we are called by Jesus to stop looking at who we are or comparing ourselves to Moses and Elijah and simply cling to His words of promise.

Mountain climbing is hard work. It is tiring work. But once you get to the top of the mountain - it is always a beautiful sight to look around and enjoy the beauty of creation. It makes it worth the journey. Throughout the past six weeks we have been spiritually climbing a mountain of light - as we=ve looked at Jesus be revealed through the wise men, His baptism, turning water into wine, gracious words, and a miraculous catch of fish. On this Transfiguration Sunday we have reached the top of the mountain and seen one of His most glorious moments of all. It was such a glorious vision, that Peter didn=t want to leave. Neither do we. Yet the holiness of God tells us that we don=t belong in heaven without a sacrifice. We must go down - and watch Jesus go through horrible things on a cross. We ourselves must also head down the valley of the shadow of death. In the midst of this dark and death filled journey, the Father tells us one important thing in order to endure through the darkness. AThis is my Son whom I have chosen. Listen to Him.@ In a hidden way, it is only in the Word and promise of salvation in Christ - that the light will continue to shine in our hearts - and give us hope to once again reunite with Moses and Elijah in the presence of the LORD. Amen.