34:29-35

Psalm 99

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13

LUKE 9:28:36

Sermon – February 18, 2007

Mountaintops were scary places to ancient peoples. It’s not just that the weather on the tops of mountains tends to be worse, and more dangerous, than at lower levels, and it’s not just that climbing mountains is inherently dangerous, and it’s not just that almost nobody lived up there or ever went up there, so what was the point of going. Mountaintops were scary places to ancient peoples because they were commonly held to be the dwelling places of the gods, and at least some of the pagan gods were believed to have “Do not disturb or else” signs on their mountaintops, which mortals ignored at their own risk.

And even Jews like Peter, James and John – who knew that there is only one God, and that God is primarily loving – also knew that God is definitely not tame and might not like to be approached too closely by nosy mortals. The apostles also would have known well the biblical account of Moses’ journey up Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and how God had explicitly told Moses (in Exodus 19:12) “’You shall set limits for the people all around [the mountain], saying, ‘Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Any who touch the mountain shall be put to death’ ‘”

So when we hear in today’s Gospel that “Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray,” I can easily imagine one of the apostles – Peter, probably – standing at the foot of the mountain and saying, “Uh, Lord, how about we just stay here and wait for you?”

After all, when Jesus told them he was going to pray on the top of the mountain, the apostles could well have expected Jesus to hear an answer. Whether they also could listen and live through the experience was another question. So perhaps Peter was speaking out of relief when they saw a vision of Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus, and Peter proposed that he chair a new Building Committee for the “Hall of Famers.”

Instead, “a cloud came and overshadowed them” a supernatural cloud indicating the presence of God – “and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.” And they heard the Voice of God – and lived.

And God said to the apostles of Jesus, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him”

Jesus had plucked Peter, James and John from the drudgery, pain and petty preoccupations of their lives and called them to follow him as some of his disciples – to learn, to do, and also to have a taste of the glory of God – and still live.

Today some people envision God as powerful, remote and indifferent, while some others may conceive of God as intimate, tender, and somehow “domesticated.” Neither is an accurate picture. God can be tender and intimate while at the same time being utterly, terrifyingly awesome and powerful.

Let’s ponder another image from Exodus 19 – verse 4 this time. Imagine that you are in a terrible situation, full of danger and despair. And suddenly, a colossal eagle appears in the sky, swoops down and picks you up in his enormous, razor-sharp claws – very carefully and gently and very powerfully as well – and then takes off.

In mid-air, you may yell, “Stop!” And the eagle may respond, “Do you want me to drop you?” “No.” “Do you want me to take you back to where you were?” You pause a moment, and then say, “No.” “Well, you did pray for help,” the eagle reminds you. “But where are you taking me,” you ask, images of being the eagle’s next meal beginning to invade your mind. “I am taking you to where you will be safe and where I will feed you with my body and blood, until you decide where you want to go next.”

Whatever experiencing the Presence of God is like, it is like no other experience. The biggest adrenaline junkie might find the experience intimidating, and the most fragile baby might find the experience the gentlest possible. Whatever the experience of God is like, this is what we were made for. After witnessing the Transfiguration, Peter, James and John did not merely survive but began to live at a more profound level which nevertheless only really began to develop after Christ’s resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

But the experience of God in some form is not meant just for the great figures of the Bible or on mystical mountaintops, but for all people everywhere. C.S. Lewis wrote in his book Mere Christianity: “God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine…Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.” [Emphasis added.]

So there it is: only in relationship with God – yes, on God’s gracious terms – can God give us true happiness and peace. All that, and courage, community, compassion – all of which Jesus’ followers began to experience in ways quite beyond their own ability to produce them.

And the happiness and peace, courage, community and compassion, stayed with them not just in mystical, mountaintop experiences but throughout their lives, including times of great stress.

And in times of great stress they discovered something else: that the love God gave them when they need it most and deserved it least actually grew when they gave it away. When they let that special, God-inspired love flow through them, they became patient, kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. With agape, they did not insist on their own way, weren’t irritable or resentful, didn’t rejoice in wrong-doing but rejoiced in the right. They found that agape is the greatest of all spiritual gifts, as St. Paul taught the church in Corinth, and is the only one that will last forever.

So this is what we hope for young Joseph Alfano [who will be baptized at the 10:30 service]: to experience God in his life, to regularly be renewed and guided by God and strengthened to do what is right, to both receive and share God’s agape with others. It’s an invitation that’s open to everyone, in fact; and we don’t have to climb a mountain, at least literally. But we will be changed if we are open to being carried, fed and guided by God, so let us be prepared to find the experience scary, awesome, and wonderful.

(The Rev.) Francis A. Hubbard

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

Monmouth Junction, NJ