Transfiguration Sunday
Mark 9:2-9
Mountains have always had a special and unique fascination for people. From the earliest civilizations higher ground has had an otherworldly appeal and even today when we could easily get to the top of most mountaintops by helicopter or ski lift something is keeping Erewhon and Patagonia in business. People still want to climb. So what is it? What is the special attraction of this geography, of making the journey of getting to the top? What is it that has caused the Psalmist to exclaim "Oh who can enter this holy hill? And Milton to ruminate "Great things are done when men and mountains meet"
What is it that makes mountains such places of awe and mystery, attraction and foreboding? Surely when Jesus took Peter James and John with him they were acquainted with the ancient stories that rehearsed what special places mountains were. They knew by heart how when Moses ascended Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments and covenant from God the mountain was swathed in clouds and smoke for the Lord had descended upon it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. The people were warned to remain below for if they should touch the holy mountain they would surely die.
Surely Peter James and John had heard how God had told Elijah "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by. What might be in store for them since they knew how a great and powerful wind had torn the mountains apart and shattered the rocks but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake was a fire but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it he pulled his cloak over his face.
Peter James and John were not out for an ordinary afternoon when Jesus pulled them aside for the trip up the mountain. But perhaps what they saw was just the result of a combination of their out of balance way of life and their active imaginations.
Last summer Doug and I were in British Columbia. We had gone intending to do some hiking in the beautiful Canadian national parks which we eventually did. But as it turned out the village in which we stayed boasted the Stawamus Chief a 700 meter granite cliff. While the host at our bed and breakfast attempted to discourage us we decided to climb The Chief;. Not obviously the steep face of the mountain that all the young climbers were ascending but the gentler back side hiking trail. The first fifty feet or so were horrible, inclined at xxx, covered with outcroppings of rocks, tree branches. Steep edges. , clearly intended to discourage those who should not be attempting this. As you got higher there were some few spots of comfortable trail and a beautiful waterfall at just about the point when you were wondering why you were doing this. But then around the next curve the trees narrowed in and we needed to grab tree branches just to stay on the steep incline. So what was the attraction? What was the accomplishment? What was on the holy hill well quite honestly by the time we got to the top there had better be something pretty spectacular to make all that effort worthwhile.
Physiologically a lot of things happen when you climb mountains. Respiration increases, oxygen decreases, muscles fatigue, the heart rate increases, often people get light headed.
Perhaps by the time you get to the top you're ready for any experience. In a depleted physical condition, having given your all to reach this point maybe you're thinking it better be worth it. The ascent itself has prepared you for something spectacular so perhaps that spectacular is not really that spectacular at all.
So on the way down Jesus ordered them "to tell no one about what they had seen until after the Son of man had risen from the dead." They had a stake in what they were promoting. Maybe they made this up or at least exaggerated it enough to impress others and promote themselves. Edith Hamilton in her book The Greek Way says the priests of ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt had a stake in fostering as much fear of mystery as possible. She says the priests of every age feed on humanity's awe of the mysterious. So maybe Peter James and John later told this story to solidify their position in the early fragile, church, to promote themselves.
Explanations, reasons, proofs.
Is it not possible that mystery is a part of life? Mystery is not something dreamed up by priests to keep people under their power. Mystery is not the product of physiological deprivation. Mystery is not the endpoint of an active imagination but is rather part of life. Maybe mystery bubbles up in your life and mine quite naturally.
Oh but you say, my life is so ordinary, simple really. Then why have you come here today? Why have you come to this church, this sanctuary. Why make the effort to get out of the house , to hear these ancient words, to take part in this strange ceremony if it is not to engage in the mystery of God.
Homer Rogers in his book Uncommon Sense: An Introduction to Christian Belief talks about the mystery in this way
"Let me put it like this, he says, I've mentioned my wife, the best anyone ever had. She and I have fought a good deal over the past few years. There have been times when I wanted to strangle her and many more times, I'm sure she wanted to put poison in my coffee, but on the whole and by and large, we've had a wonderful marriage, and I am much in love with her. Much more than on our honeymoon. I want to tell you about her, so that you would know her as I know her. I could have biologists write books about her body chemistry, her size shape and identify the mole on her left shoulder. I could have a psychologist write an in depth analysis of her personality and how her mind works. A biographer could write a history of her. An artist could paint a picture and perhaps come a little closer. But there's no way to really know my wife except as I know her. But the closest way of getting at my wife as I know her would be to have a poet write about her, because the essential quality in my wife is not anything material or intellectual or even psychological. It is mystical and anybody who has ever been in love knows that." Forgive me today if I can't interpret or explain this episode. We are talking about a great mystery here, a mystery that defies our powers of description.
Perhaps we are fortunate that Poor Mark could offer us only this hopelessly inadequate phrase; "And he was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them." The presence of God defies description, just as it defies explanation.
So we will keep coming to the mountain, when Jesus invites we will follow. We will sing the songs and say the ancient words and savor the holy food nand let the mystery of God surround us.
Amen