Stop Chasing the Mountaintop

Transcript

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[0:00] Here's our sermon text for today. Six days later, Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus' appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, Lord, it is wonderful for us to be here. If you want, I'll make three shelters as memorials, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy. Listen to him.

[0:56] The disciples were terrified. They were terrified and fell face down on the ground. Then Jesus came over and touched them. Get up, he said. Do not be afraid. And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus. As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, Don't tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. Let's pray.

[1:27] God, thank you for your grace. We ask your word. We ask your blessings over it this morning. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. How many of you here this morning have heard the phrase mountaintop experience?

[1:43] Okay, good. How many of you here have had at some time in your life what you'd consider to be a mountaintop experience? All right. All right. So what are those moments? These are moments when we take on a lot of different forms. They can take on a lot of different forms.

[2:01] Moments where we consider ourselves to be on top of the world. For some of you, that day may have been when you graduated from high school or college or got married or became a parent for the first time or earned that special promotion or finally got your dream job. These are moments in our lives where there's cause for great joy and celebration and the feeling that nothing can get better than this. Of course there are strictly spiritual mountaintops too. Coming back from a restorative week at a powerful conference or having an exceptional time of prayer and Bible reading. Those times when we meet Christ and we feel that emotional high of having met with the Holy Spirit. From a spiritual standpoint there are a lot of people out there who are seeking a mountaintop experience in their spiritual lives. A time in a place where they feel the experience of God like they've never felt it before and that God is more present there and then than anywhere or anytime ago.

[3:19] There's a lot of people doing that and a lot of spiritual leaders are telling you to go out and find your mountaintop experience but is that the right way to approach our faith? In our Gospel reading for this morning we read of a mountaintop experience that Peter and James and John had with Jesus. As we look at this mountaintop experience we learned that the focus isn't so much on that moment but about what was spoken to them on that mountaintop and where Jesus was headed after he left the mountain. Because what follows the mountaintop experience is often just as critical as the mountaintop itself. As our passage opened Jesus takes Peter James and John up a mountain. It starts out as a seemingly uneventful trip. Right after he leaves the mountain he hears the sound of the ett Item Elijah had been taken up to heaven in a chariot about 850 years before, yet here they are. Now that they've, now that they had, sorry, they really had to have been an impressive sight for the three disciples. And I want you to imagine right now just some of the thoughts that must have been going through the disciples heads at that moment. Like put yourself in their shoes and just for a second, what are some of the thoughts that went through their head

[5:21] slash your head? Responses are welcome. Yeah. Does that sum it up or are there any others? Okay, maybe that sums it up. It had to have been a moment like they'd never experienced in their lives up to that point. But if that weren't enough, something spectacular happened to Jesus as well. And that may have been the star moment of the show. If seeing long dead or long resurrected people wasn't enough, something incredible is happening to Jesus. Jesus's face turns a bright white and he's radiating with the light from within.

[6:16] This isn't the sun or some other outsized source of light reflecting on Jesus. This is Jesus himself shining light from within himself. It's visible proof that he is indeed the light of the world. Up to this point, Jesus had appeared just like any other man. Isaiah had told us that the Messiah's appearance would have no form or majesty. That we should look at him with any beauty or that we should desire him. Yet here he is, this plain, simple person, glowing this bright white from within.

[7:04] And in that moment, it's pretty clear who Jesus is. Before we move on, there's a great significance in this picture that we have on this mountain. The Old Testament Scriptures are often described as the Law and the Prophets by Jesus himself in the New Testament. Here on the mountain top we see them represented. Moses, as we know, was the one who led the people of Egypt. And after they left Egypt, Moses made his own trip up a mountain. In this case it was Mount Sinai. And it was there that Moses was given the 10th Righteous commandments from God himself. That is the law. Many believe the first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses and those are considered to be the law, the Torah as Hebrews calls it, traditionally understood to have been written by Moses. So Moses' appearance there represented the law. Elijah had the reputation among the Jews as the greatest of the prophets. So we have the law and we have the prophets represented and that's everything to the Jewish people. The law and the prophets are basically the combined representation of who God is. So we have everything in that moment.

[8:45] And then there's Peter. Peter who says, I'll make tents for you and it seems like such a good intention. But is it really? Because when you are hosting someone in ancient culture, when you are hosting someone and you've built a tent for someone and you are inviting them to stay in your abode, you kind of call the shots on when they can leave. He's not saying that you can't leave. He's saying that you can't leave. You can't leave. He's not saying, oh, and then they can come and go as they please. He's saying, I'm going to make tents for you and then you can stay here as long as I want you to.

[9:26] So anyhow, were they talking about, what were they talking about when Moses and Elijah and Jesus are talking together? We don't know at first. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. accomplish at Jerusalem. That's from Luke 9, 30 to 31. His departure at Jerusalem. They're not talking about Jesus's glorious appearance. They're not talking about how they're equals. They're talking about Jesus's upcoming journey to Jerusalem, the way that Jesus would become the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. And this is pretty important because this journey to Jerusalem was the very topic of the discussion among Jesus and his disciples just a few days earlier. If you back up just one chapter in Matthew, Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was. And it was Peter who was bold to proclaim, you are the Messiah, the son of the living Jesus. And he said, I am the Messiah, the son of the living Jesus. And he said, I am the Messiah, the son of the living God. But just a few verses later, Jesus then tells him why he's come. He told them he'd have to go to Jerusalem. He'd have to suffer many things and be killed and rise again. And what was Peter's response to this? No, Lord, absolutely not. This will never happen to you. Peter essentially told Jesus, not if I

[11:38] have anything to do about it. I'm not going to let that happen to you. You're not going to Jerusalem. You're not going to suffer. And you're certainly not going to die. It just won't happen. I won't let it happen. And that didn't sound glorious to Peter. But of course, we remember what Jesus said to him. Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me. You are not setting your mind on me. You are not a hindrance to me. Right?

[12:21] Right Right Right It's not about the things of this world, Peter. You missed the point and you're not listening to me. Kind of like now, Peter is saying, here's this glorious thing happening. I wonder how long I can keep this happening. How long can I keep this going? Peter was so preoccupied with glory, the way the world sees it, that he lost focus on the things of God, which were revealed to him through the word.

[13:06] As Peter sees this great sight on the Mount of Transfiguration, he can't help but be excited. And who wouldn't be? It's his mountaintop experience. And honestly, he probably very much needs that. I don't. I don't think mountaintop experiences are bad things. I think we all need them at some point in our lives.

[13:30] Maybe this was the crowning achievement of following Jesus. It's got to be all, it's got all the bells and whistles the world looks for in an experience that seems to be from God. So naturally, Peter wants to keep a hold of it as long as he can. And that's why he says, I can make you three tents. Because again, Peter wants it to last. He's going by what his eyes see, not what his ears are hearing. He's ignoring the conversation that's taking place between them. He's hearing that they're talking about suffering. But in his mind, it doesn't matter. This is such an exciting thing that's happening. He's back to his old ways of thinking. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus are all in this together. And they're all talking about suffering and death. These wilderness themes that we need to grapple with sometimes, especially during this season of Lent.

[14:34] Those wilderness themes that grow and stretch and teach us, which we talked about just last week. But Peter is content on the mountaintop. He's received spiritual filling and he wants this glory to last forever.

[14:53] Yet while he's asking to set up these tents, a cloud approaches the mountain and overshadows them. A voice comes from this cloud. This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. And this was not the first cloud that came along and a voice from heaven spoke over Jesus.

[15:17] A few weeks ago, we talked about the baptism of Jesus. And a cloud came then. And the Father said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The same words. Now just as Peter is all wrapped up in the glorious appearance of the transfiguration, before he can decide that this must be what Jesus was destined to do, he hears God the Father himself say, listen to him.

[15:48] We may not want to outwardly admit this. But how many times in life do we get so wrapped up in outward appearances? Have you ever decided that a particular church wasn't right spiritually? I mean, not just right to you, but right in general, spiritually? Maybe just because they used the wrong translation of the Bible or something equally small.

[16:21] And unimportant like that. I participate in a few online sermon discussion lists. And every year when the transfiguration comes up in the readings for that day, there's always a group that says the point of the transfiguration is that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up that mountain to have an experience.

[16:44] And you should be out there too. Seeking some sort of emotional experience so that you can feel close to God. We are a culture that thrives on the moment to moment and instant feelings of fulfillment. There are a lot of religions based on emotional experiences.

[17:06] There are even many within the Christian church who claim that you need to have a mountaintop experience in order to find God. Yet what happened when the Father said, This is my Son. Climb this mountain and do these things. You'll see the vision too? No. God said, listen to Him. He didn't say, keep this mountaintop experience forever. He just said, listen to Jesus. And that includes listening to Him a chapter before when He said, I need to suffer in Jesus. I need to suffer and die. And even get behind me Satan.

[17:52] It's no coincidence that once the Father told the disciples on the mountain to listen to Jesus, that everything was gone. Moses and Elijah were no longer there. Jesus' appearance was the same as it had ever been before the transfiguration. No bells, no whistles, no angels, no bright lights, nothing. Just the way it was before. But just because the overwhelming stuff wasn't there anymore, did that mean Jesus was no longer with the disciples?

[18:29] No, He was right there. He didn't disappear. His words didn't disappear. The disciples left that mountain and the command remained. Listen to Him. That's what you come here to do every time we get there. You're not there for worship.

[18:48] It's easy in a sinful fallen world that looks for glory and external things to be sought after. Professional sports teams that win usually draw more fans to their games than teams that have a losing season. Our world has made it the same way with religion. If it doesn't feel like you're close to God, then you must not be following the right way. That's destructive, by the way. A person can go a long time without feeling God. And that doesn't mean that they are any closer or farther away from Him than any of the rest of us. Or that they are not growing spiritually.

[19:31] There are a lot of people who would tell you that you're out of your mind for coming here Sunday after Sunday, or week after week, or to Genesis, or any of that, to listen to old scripture readings and a sermon based on those readings, and sing some old songs, and eat a little piece of bread, and have a little sip of juice. They'd try to tell you that God is not in this place, that Christ isn't among us here, and that you need to be out somewhere else, maybe out in nature. And maybe in nature you can have a great spiritual experience. And that's true, you can.

[20:13] Or the opposite, a big arena that blasts powerful music and has sensory overload, somewhere that manipulates your emotions so that you feel something, whatever it happens to be. But as Christians, we don't live by sight. And we don't live by emotional experiences. We live by faith. Just as Peter was rebuked by Jesus for looking for glory in the world's eye, we are to repent of the times we ignore Christ's presence with us through his word, and instead seek it out in other experiences.

[20:54] Experiences where he hasn't promised to be. You come here week after week to do what the Father told Peter, James, and John to do. Simply listen to him. Through the scriptures we hear what our Lord has to say about himself, and what he did for us. It may not be glamorous in the eyes of the world, but through the preaching of the word, God is bringing you to faith in Christ, or strengthening your faith in Christ. Do you want a God who is only present with you when everything's going right? Or do you want a God who promises, I am with you to the end of the age? Do you want a God whom you may only experience once in your life? Or do you want a God who comes to you every time you gather to worship in his house, every time you come to him in prayer, every time a tear falls down your cheek, every time a joy enters your life? Do you want a God who is there and is unchanging, in a world that is constantly changing and constantly chaotic?

[22:14] Well, Peter didn't get the point of the Transfiguration that day. Later on, in 1 Peter, he wrote about that day on the mountain. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, we ourselves heard this very voice from the heaven. For we were there with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more, sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

[23:28] Peter realized that his experience on the mountaintop didn't bring him any closer to God than anyone else. But that command, listen to him, was fulfilled in paying attention to the word. We may not have been on that mountaintop with Peter, or James, or John, but Peter, an eyewitness of that account, tells us we have something even better, God's word.

[24:00] The season of Lent is filled with wilderness experiences, yes, there are moments of overwhelming glory like the Transfiguration, and we will eventually get to Resurrection Sunday, but during Lent we take the journey with Jesus to Jerusalem. During the season of Lent and always, I want to highly encourage each and every one of you to simply listen to Jesus.

[24:29] Listen to Jesus here at church, listen to Jesus when you take that Lenten time, each week that you set aside during the service last week, listen to Jesus speak from the cross, listen to Jesus suffer, die, and rise again for you. Listen to Jesus when you experience the great joys of the mountaintop, but also listen to Jesus when the going gets tough and the road seems too hard to travel. Listen to Jesus not just today, not just on Sunday morning, not just during Lent, but always. Let's pray.

[25:13] God, we come before you this morning praying that no matter what season in life we are facing, we would listen to you and do your will in all ways and all things. This we pray in Jesus' name.