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Transfiguration Sunday in the life of the church is about commemorating a specific event that took place on a mountaintop.   Mark tells us about that event in Chapter 9 of his gospel, and Luke tells of the same event, also in chapter 9 of Luke.

Mountaintop

            Transfiguration Sunday in the life of the church is about commemorating a specific event that took place on a mountaintop.   Mark tells us about that event in Chapter 9 of his gospel, and Luke tells of the same event, also in chapter 9 of Luke.

            It is hard to describe exactly what happened there on that mountain.  Perhaps we don't even have the right words for that kind of experience.   Jesus was somehow transformed from his ordinary human countenance.....into a kind of glorious light,   dazzling white,   a glowing sight.

Luke uses the words:     Glorious ---splendor---.flash of lightening.

            Biblical scholars tend draw a parallel between this scene and the similar scene with Moses on Mount Sinai.  When Moses goes to the mountaintop to meet the Lord,   his face is so radiant and shining that the people are afraid to come anywhere near him.   In fact,  they were so afraid,  that Moses had to wear a veil, in order to contain some of the glory his face reflected from being in the presence of God.

So here Jesus is on this mountain.      He has taken along three of his disciples...Peter and James and John.    Then, suddenly their Lord is  enveloped in a brilliant display of light,  ----when who should appear but Moses himself,  along with the prophet Elijah.

 Moses and Elijah are both legendary figures, biblical heroes, who completed long and faithful careers as prophets.   They are already part of the company of heaven who live in the presence of God.     Already, they had experienced torment, temptation, persecution and had served faithfully. 

And now the three of these men are there on the mountaintop,  ---Jesus,-- Moses-Elijah--- having this high and holy gathering.

Of course,  Jesus would not have taken his disciples along with him if he had not wanted them to witness what happened there.  What I believe they experienced, and that he wanted them to see--- is an amazing revelation of glory.-----so that these disciples could have no doubt of his divine authenticity.

Peter, James and John were frightened;   in fact, they were terrified.  They had just witnessed an extraordinary religious event,  had a most unique spirituals experience.  In fact God's own voice was heard to say: "This is my son, the beloved, listen to him."

In the overall biblical narrative, we know that Transfiguration Sunday happens the Sunday before the first Sunday of Lent.   What happened there on the mountaintop; was the beginning of the events that will eventually climax in the death of Christ.     This event marks the beginning of the passion story.    Perhaps in some ways it gives Jesus the strength he needs to carry out his mission.   Maybe Moses the great law-giver, and Elijah the great prophet, have come to offer encouragement to Jesus, the Messiah and the Savior.

When I was meditating on this scripture and this event.....I'll confess that the image of Inauguration Day did come to my mind.   When it is Inauguration Day.....whatever else may happen tomorrow...or next week, or next month...for at least that one day,  that one moment......there is a GLOW.....especially on the very historical  inauguration day held on Jan. 20, 2009.   There was a glorious glow of unity and hope present among the gathered masses of people.----and even those watching around the world. 

And present on the same stage with the one being inaugurated, are the past presidents....the previous leaders and other dignitaries and VIPs.  (maybe a little like Jesus' having Elijah and Moses present at his mountaintop inauguration )

Some of us would like to have seen that glow of Inauguration Day last for just a little longer. Sort of like Peter-----who clearly wanted to prolong the moment. 

 And you know, I don't blame him, because this was both literally and figuratively a "mountain-top-experience"  

Peter suggested building three booths to commemorate the event.--erecting shrines, or monuments.    Isn't that just like us humans.   We love to build monuments.    And we certainly love to commemorate events with everything from t-shirts, to buttons, to coins, to plates, to hats, to dolls, to every other conceivable merchandise imaginable.

    There is a true story of a 33 year old truck driver by the name of Larry Walters who was sitting on his lawn chair in his backyard one day wishing he could fly.   For as long as he could remember,    he had wanted to fly but he had never had the time nor money nor opportunity to be a pilot.  Hang gliding was out because there was no good place for gliding near his home.   So he spent a lot of summer afternoons sitting in his backyard in his ordinary old aluminum chair, the kind with the webbing and the rivets, the kind most of us have.  One day Larry hooked 45 helium filled surplus weather balloons to his chair,  put a CB radio in his lap,  tied a paper bag full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to his leg,  and slung a BB gun over his shoulder to pop the balloons when he wanted to come down.

He lifted off in his lawn chair expecting to climb a couple of hundred feet over his neighborhood.  But instead he shot up 11,000 feet right through the approach to the Los Angeles International Airport.   When he was asked by the press why he did it,  Larry answered,     "Well,  you can't just sit there"    When asked if he was scared,  he answered,"   "   Yes, wonderfully so."

 Larry Walters will never be the same after his ‘trip to the mountain' in his lawn chair.  Then, he has seen things and felt things that will shape the way he lives the rest of his life.

It was the same with Peter and James and John.  Up on that mountain,  they had been given nothing less than a glimpse into the future.   They saw past the suffering and death of Jesus,  which Jesus had predicted just a few days before;  past their doubts;  past their fears.  For one brief shining moment,  God had cracked the door open to the end of time and they had seen how history would be worked out,  their own and the whole world's.

And they would never be the same again, having taken that ride.

            I would certainly wish for EVERYONE a mountain top experience.----in other words.....a transforming experience of God's presence.    Let me say that there are many different ways to experience God, and we most certainly do not all have the same kind of experience.

For some people, that will clearly come to us through our minds....through education, and thinking, and analyzing, and learning....and there's nothing wrong with that.   

God will reveal God's self to some through our emotions---deep feelings, highs, and lows, when the heart is deeply touched. 

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Once in a while,  I believe, God still speaks to us in our dreams. Some of us have surely had those moments.

Sometimes, there is a physical manifestation of God's presence, through tears, or shaking, or speaking in tongues, or through miraculous healing.

Our ‘God experiences' can come to us in vastly different ways.   Some may be in our solitary times of silent reflection;   some may be in the context of community.

However, it is important for us always to remember that We cannot LIVE in the mountaintop moment.   We have to come down and go to work in the valley.  

I once heard a young woman use this text to talk about her experience as a counselor at summer camp---something she did every summer between her college years.  She loved working with children.   And It was thrilling to be part of the summer staff and worship together regularly, a real high to work together on the same team, to make a difference, to completely live your faith every day.

But when summer comes to an end, she had to go back to college. Coming off of summer camp counseling felt to her like coming down from the mountaintop.   We may get a momentary glimpse of glory occasionally, but real life was lived in the valley.

On the mountain, the glory of God is revealed, and hopefully it is inspirational, wonderful, exceptional, but in the end, there is work to be done. 

In fact, our call is to be with God's people in the valley, where all the needs are, where all the hurts are.    Our discipleship is not about seeking religious thrills.  That is not what the Christian life is about at all, though some people do like to live it that way.

Some of you may have read about, or even remember the amazing story a half century ago when a New Zealand beekeeper named Edmund Hillary,  and a Sherpa guide, were the first ever to reach Everest's summit.

Here was a mountain....unreachable, tantalizing, fearsome, deadly.....that had defeated 15 previous expeditions.

Some of the planet's strongest climbers had perished on its slopes.  For many people, Everest represented the last of the earth's great challenges.  The North Pole had been reached in 1909, the South Pole in 1911. But Everest, often called the Third Pole had defied all human effort.

And then success.   Heightening the impact of that success even further was the wonderful coincidence of their arrival just before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the dramatic announcement of their triumph on the morning of the coronation....A mountaintop experience," literally.

Oddly enough, that incredible mountaintop experience at Everest 50 years ago is very similar to the story of the transfiguration.  After Edmund Hillary had climbed Mount Everest, he became an overnight celebrity.  He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.  His name became a household word. Think Michael Jordan or Tiger Words or Michael Phelps, a month or two ago.  Edmund Hillary became a spokesperson for Sears-Roebuck.  His name appeared on sleeping bags, tents, and boot laces.   And he could have lived for the rest of his life in his little shrine of success. But he didn't!

Instead, he went back to Nepal,  back to the Sherpas,  whom he had grown to know,  to respect and to love.

In a speech some years later, Edmund Hillary recounted how an elderly Sherpa from Khumjung village,  the hometown of most of the crew from his Everest ascent,  had come to him a few years after that expedition and said,   "Our children lack education.  They are not prepared for the future.  What we need more than anything is a school in Khumjung.

So Hillary established the Himalayan Trust, and in1961 a three room school house was built with funds raised by the tireless mountaineer.   In all, the trust has built 27 schools, two hospitals and 12 medical clinics,  plus numerous bridges and airfields.  In recent years the trust has expanded its scope and has been devoting considerable funds to re-building monasteries and to re-foresting valleys in that region.

Sir Edmund Hillary had his mountain top experience.  And it moved him to a life of mission.  And that exactly is as it ought to be.

Let me just offer a few suggestions about how we might prepare ourselves for our own mountaintop experience.

First,  make yourself available.   Peter and James and John were invited up the slope because they were already in the company of Jesus, and they had a pretty good idea who he was.  Make yourself available to God and to Christ's service.  Know your gifts and share them.

Second, learn all you can about your faith traditions.....Sunday School,  Bible studies, personal devotions.    After all,   part of the reason why Peter and James and John had such an incredible experience is because they recognized who Moses and Elijah were and how incredibly important they were as heroes of their faith.  Had they never heard of them,  the moment would not have been so special.

Third,  listen to Jesus.  God minces no words, "This is my Beloved Son.  Listen to him."   We hear him as we worship.   We hear him as we study scripture.   We hear him in the voice of other Christians.   It is so easy and so tempting to listen to other voices.   But Listen to Jesus,  his life,  his teaching,  his example.

Fourth....remember that our work is in the valley.   We don't get to stay on the mountaintop and build shrines to our own accomplishments.....we have to go and deal with the problems of hunger and sickness,  of financial anxieties,  and physical suffering.

Fifth and finally,   Live in joyous anticipation.    Have the right attitude....come ready to meet Jesus, desiring to be like him.

A mountaintop experience is good, like dessert.  But if that is the extent of our spiritual diet, we will be poorly fed.   Our faith will be unhealthy.   We need a more balanced diet which includes service and works.

Let me share this story.

A man had been injured in a fire while attempting to save his parents from a burning house.  He could get to them.  They perished.  His face was burned and disfigured.  He mistakenly interpreted his pain as God's punishment.  The man wouldn't let anyone see him.....not even his wife.

She went to Dr. Maltz for help.  He told the woman not to worry. "I can restore his face."

The wife was unimpressed.  Her husband had repeatedly refused any help.  She knew he would again.

They why her visit?

She said, "I want you to disfigure my face so I can be like him.  If I can share in his pain, then maybe he will let me back into his life."

Dr. Maltz was shocked.  He denied her request, but was so moved by this woman's love that he went to speak to her husband.  Knocking on the man's bedroom door, he called loudly, "I'm a plastic surgeon, and I want you to know that I can restore your face."

No response.

"Please come out."   Again there was no answer

Dr. Maltz continued speaking through the door, and he told the man of his wife's proposal.

"She wants me to disfigure her face, to make her face like yours in the hope that you will let her back into your life.  That's how much she loves you."

There was a brief moment of silence, and then, ever so slowly, the doorknob began to turn.  How could that husband not respond to such love?

    In much the same way, Jesus Christ chose to experience our humanity, feel our pain.
Suffer on our behalf.   How can you and I not respond to Christ's love?

Today on Transfiguration Sunday, we celebrate that glorious reality of Christ's presence with us.

The journey of Lent begins on Wednesday.    In a way, you could call that journey our descent from the Christmas mountaintop,  to walk with Christ and the disciples on the

Road to Jerusalem.

The focus shifts from the shining face of the baby in the manger to the agonized face of a Savior on the cross.

"A voice came from the cloud and said: "This is my Beloved Son;   Listen to him."

And so it is by faith that we know that the love of God has been confirmed for us in the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.