Mark 9.1-10
Do you like mountain tops?
I don’t like climbing them, but I do like being there on a fine day
when you can look out and round and down
and see things from a fresh perspective.
It’s good for us to climb mountains
good for our bodies and minds
good for our bodies to be stretched
good for our minds to concentrate on keeping our steps
or to enjoy the views
and stop worrying about what’s happening at home or at work
and good for our spirits too if we meet with Jesus
as did Peter James and John
and others before them in the Bible
The Bible has many mountain top experiences
where God comes close
and we can with a little effort find a ‘mountain top’
a quiet place, out of the traffic, to meet with God.
It was not the first time for Moses and Elijah figure on mountain tops
Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19)
as the mountain shook and the lightning flashed
smoke and cloud swirled around
and the people were afraid to come near
Elijah confronted the prophets of the pagan god Baal (1 Kings 18)
on the top of Mount Carmel where the Lord sent fire from heaven
and after that in a time of depression (1 Kings 19)
he met with God in a new way at Mount Sinai
not in earthquake wind and fire
as when the Law was given to Moses
but with a ‘still small voice’.
Moses and Elijah are also key people in the Old Testament.
Moses led the people out of slavery as far as the promised land.
Elijah is promised in the book of Malachi the last book of the O.T.
as one who will return in advance of the coming of the Lord. (4.5-6)
Now Peter James and John see these key people talking with Jesus
and it is a transfigured Jesus, dressed in dazzling white
it is still their friend Jesus but they are seeing him as never before.
In fact they are seeing him as he truly is
and as all who believe in him will one day see him
the Son of God in shining glory
they were gazing 'on the beauty of the Lord’ (Psalm 27.4)
What do we learn then from this mountain top
with these Old Testament figures?
One thing is surely not to despise the Old Testament nor ignore it.
Too many people think it is unimportant or too difficult
and all we need is the New Testament
But what this mountain top conversation shows us
is that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament.
These great figures of the Old Testament are not ignored
Jesus is seen speaking with them
but it is clear that Jesus is greater than them.
It was Jesus clothing that was changed.
Moses was God’s friend
he could speak with God as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33.11)
but Jesus is God’s own dear son
Elijah was a great prophet, he suffered much for the word of the Lord
but Jesus is God’s dear son
as the voice from the cloud clearly says
echoing the words of God at Jesus baptism.
‘This is my Son whom I love. Listen to him’
What more important message could we ever have
than the call to listen to Jesus, God’s Son whom he loves?
Peter got it completely wrong, in his fear
and we would have been no different;
it was not a time for making booths or doing anything,
it was a time for listening to Jesus and only to Jesus.
That is the important thing to check for in any deep spiritual experience
any time you think you have been to the mountain top:
did the experience, ecstasy, exhilaration
bring you closer to Jesus Christ?
Were you moved to listen to him?
Were you confronted with the cross?
For as we saw last week
Jesus was focused on Jerusalem, he set his face to go there to die.
If we have a spiritual experience
that doesn’t confront us with the crucified and risen Lord, be very careful of it
It’s good to be on the mountain top.
Even that long walk with Jesus up the mountain
would already have been doing the disciples good
sending the blood through their bodies
refreshing tired minds
And then this strange meeting, their friend dressed in dazzling whiite
this glimpse of what would be
even after the dark times that lay ahead first.
I don’t think Presbyterians have enough mountain tops,
we need a bit more exhilaration and excitement in our worship.
Do we have enough sense of wonder or even holy fear
in meeting with God?
I want us to have more times on the mountain
(maybe quite literally we should go out for hill walks together)
but let them be mountain tops where it is Christ we meet with
for no one else can save us.
Not Moses, not Elijah, not the Virgin Mary, not the Prophet Mohammed,
not any visionary experience or ecstasy.
The key thing, the true, the saving experience
is to meet Jesus as God’s own dear Son
and to be listening to him
I cannot create a mountain top for you
I cannot guarantee that if you climb Carrantuohil
you will have a profound spiritual experience
but let me suggest some opportunities which we can create
in which God may graciously meet us.
One is what is known as a ‘quiet time’
a time of personal prayer and bible study,
a time also just to be quiet before God.
Perhaps in the early morning as was Jesus own custom
or whenever is your best, most alert time of day
when you have both time and space.
If we get into a pattern of being so tired and busy
that we make no time especially for God
should we wonder if we have no mountain tops?
Another is as simple as what we are doing now:
gathering together in worship on the Lord’s Day.
It is not enough to develop our personal prayer times:
we all need each other, in regular fellowship.
Is it not significant that Jesus took three friends with him,
not just one, surely so that they could share with each other afterwards
and check out what this amazing event really meant?
There are many of course who feel they can worship God
as much on the golf course as in church.
The fresh air, the scenery put them in a good and reflective mood
they have space, they don’t have all sorts of awkward people
that you might bump into in church,
coughing and shifting around on hard benches
and spoiling one’s spiritual mood.
That’s a tempting scenario but it is plain wrong.
Let me put the question even brutally:
in the day of trouble,
in bereavement, in redundancy, in a torn relationship
where would you rather go for help?
You are much more likely to find help
hearing others sing God’s praise, or sharing in prayer or a bible reading
or even a sermon
than in getting a hole in one or admiring the primroses in the rough.
Lets even go on the attack on this.
You remember the atheists’ advertising campaign in England:
They suggested
‘There probably is no God so stop worrying and enjoy yourself.’
But how do you enjoy yourself when things are going wrong
and you have excluded God?
You’ve lost your job, you’re struggling with serious illness
you feel alone, isolated, excluded
and somebody says
‘There probably is no God so stop worrying and enjoy yourself.’
How stupid is that?
We gather here today to affirm as we sang earlier
that there is a God and in all our worries we may enjoy his love
You are my anchor,
my light and my salvation.
You are my refuge, my heart will not fear.
Though my foes surround me on every hand,
they will stumble and fall
while in grace I stand.
In my day of trouble,
you hide me and set me above
to sing this song of love.
One thing I will ask of you,
this will I pray:
to dwell in your house, O Lord, every day;
to gaze upon your lovely face,
and rest in the Father’s embrace.
(Stuart Townend)
A song for the mountain top and the valley
May God in all his fullness, Father Son and Holy Spirit
come to you and be at home in your life
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