A Good Place To Be

This morning a story of what was surely pure beauty and pure grace.

A number of years ago Joanne and I were vacationing in the Bar Harbor area, doing the "tourist thing," if you will. On a whim, really, we decided to ride up to the top of Cadillac Mountain. What a momentous decision that was! We had what I can only describe as a "mountaintop experience" there at the top of the mountain. We found ourselves sitting on a rock taking in a view that went the full 360 degrees around us. We could look down at the town and harbor, then out over Frenchmen's Bay and out to sea, then inland toward the hills and mountains. I recall how vivid a day it was, a bright, clear, sunlit day. We almost had the feeling that we could see forever. It was a day for just the two of us, without kids or pets or any real agenda. Yes, we had both made the journey up that mountain many times before, but there was something uniquely special about this one day. I can tell you without hesitation that the words "high and lifted up" took on their own meaning for us that day.

The gospel reading we shared this morning is, itself, an experience of being "high and lifted up." at least it was for Peter, James and John. At his invitation, they accompanied Jesus up a high mountain. There they would be shocked and surprised to witness Jesus’ amazing transformation right before their eyes, and to find themselves in the presence of Moses and Elijah! It was awe-inspiring, to say the least! For Jesus himself, it was an entirely different kind of uplifting experience. It was an affirmation, really, a divine affirmation, of the role he was playing in God's unfolding plan to bring the hurting, restless and often sinful human family back home, closer to its Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. "This is my son, whom I love," a voice says. "listen to him!"

For a few minutes this morning, we're going to ponder this most extraordinary mountaintop experience.

First, we want to consider Peter's desire to build what the scripture describes as "shelters" for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, as if these three holy men might actually want to take up permanent residence together.

Peter seems so innocent in his statement that you have to wonder if he had any idea what was happening there on that mountain top. That feeling is implied if not stated outright by Mark's phrase, "he did not know what to say, they were so frightened." (9:6)

Despite the majesty and wonder of it all, that Peter may not have understood what he was experiencing really should not seem all that odd. I mean, just think about this - if we were in the same position, could we ever dare to say with certainty that we have the ability to comprehend God's Glory when it is revealed to us?

Recently I came across another preacher's thoughts about the transfiguration. In this sermon he is talking about how many preachers will overlook the wonder of it all, the overwhelming brightness of Jesus' garments, or how Peter, James and John saw Moses and Elijah talking with Christ, and how they heard a voice from heaven, by using this passage as lesson about how believers are called down off the mountain, to serve Christ down below in the valley. In this preacher's mind and heart, it is a message which, sadly, overlooks an important aspect of faith and revelation.

"I find that to be a great shame. I find that to be a great shame that so many of us could ignore, neglect, devalue or scorn the prophet's ecstasy, the dreamer's vision, and the worshiper's conviction that he or she heard God speak. Most of us are convinced that our faith is about doing things, about showing love and care for one another, and it is so - this is what faith is all about. But our faith is also about the yearning to see God and experience his power; it is about being touched by his spirit and being moved by the voice of God whispering in our ears. Our faith is about entertaining angels, every bit as much as it is about seeking to comfort the afflicted and to heal the sick. It is about seeing visions of a new heaven and a new earth, every bit as much as it is about seeking justice and resisting evil. It is about being refreshed by God as much as it is about refreshing others in God's name.”

I would like to believe that the mountaintop experience Joanne and I shared, beholding the breathtaking vista of God's creation, was truly an epiphany, an experience defined as a "sudden manifestation of the divine." I would like to believe that, even in the midst of tour busses and crowds of on-lookers, we had a holy experience. I realize that, if we had been so inclined, we could easily have said that meteorologically speaking, conditions were right to be able to see as much and as far as we could. But not all of our experiences need to be so finely and precisely described, do they? How much courage would it take to say, "God touched us that day"? Where is the heart of faith that can say with conviction, this was a sacred experience and not simply some sentimental event?

I believe that it is not beyond the realm of possibility for any one of you to be touched and surprised by experiences such as this. Who are we to say that the divine cannot break into the earthly and that, like the apostles of old, we can have our own mountaintop experience, and that we can also say, "it is good for us to be here." That is my prayer for us all.

Thanks be to God.

Amen