Mountaintops

You Light Up My Life

Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36

The Bible loves to talk about mountains. In fact, there are 154 uses of the word "mountain" in the Bible. And, there are almost as many uses of the word "hill" and "high place" in the Bible. And we know that the Bible uses these words so often because mountains, hills, and high places were places of worship. The ancient peoples, from the Incas to the Mayans to the Egyptians to the Greeks to the Hebrews, believed that mountains were the closest place you could get to heaven. They believed that mountains, hills, and high places were like stepping stones from which the gods or God could step down from heaven and back again. They were places where the people could gather to speak to the gods or to God. And if they offered a sacrifice at such a place, they believed that it would certainly be seen by their diety. And, if they burned their sacrifice, as the Hebrews often did, the smoke would surely be seen and smelled in heaven.

Thus, we can see it over and over again in the scriptures: Abraham was sent up to the top of Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Moses had to climb a mountain to speak to God before he embarked on his prophetic mission to get God's people out of Egypt. And, it was to a mountain, once again that Moses went to talk to God following the Exodus in order to obtain the 10 commandments and the Laws of Moses. And, it was to the mountains that prophets such as Ezekiel and Elijah and Elisha often went commune with God, to gain strength, to get new insites, in order to have what it takes to lead God's people.

Indeed, when we have such an experience of communing with God, of being strengthened in the faith, of gathering insites, we call that experience a "mountaintop experience." Quite often, our mountaintop experience takes place because we have to stepped aside from the everyday routine. Sometimes we do it on purpose, and sometimes it happens by accident. When we do it on purpose we call it a "vacation," or we may call it a "retreat," or maybe we would call it "continuing education." Or, oddly enough, when our mountaintop experience comes upon us without our having planned for it, it may be because our daily routine has been broken by sickness, or by a death in the family, or even by our automobile breaking down in the middle of nowhere.

Linda and I had an experience like that while we were driving our car down the road in Northwestern Iowa. I hadn't been paying attention to my gas gauge. And, as we were going down the road, pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, I looked down and was startled to find that the pointer was on "empty." Both of us started to pray while, at the same time we were quickly looking around to see if there were any gas stations in sight. But, there weren't. There were just big fields of corn and soybeans and about one farmhouse for every square mile.

And, just as we were noticing this, the engine started to sputter. The last drops of gasoline were being sucked out of the gas tank. And as the engine finally died, and we were coasting down the road, along came this farmhouse with a long driveway. So, I turned into the driveway and let the car coast as far as I could go. And, amazingly, somehow, the car stopped on its own about ten feet from the side door of the house.

We weren't there for more than a few seconds when the door opened and a man came out. He walked up to our car, almost like a gas station attendant. I told him what had happened. He kind of chuckled, said, "Just a minute," left for about 30 seconds and came back with a gallon container full of gasoline. He poured it into our tank, I started the engine, offered to pay the man for his trouble (which he refused), thanked the man, and then drove away. We had only five or six miles to go to get home and to a gas station. So, our problem was solved. But, as we were pulling away, we suddenly felt God's presence, a sense that God was caring for us, speaking to us about how much he loved us. And we praised God all the way home. In a real sense, that level plain of Iowa had turned into a mountaintop experience.

Our gospel lesson for today talks about how when Jesus, James, and John were on the mountain, Jesus appearance suddenly became a dazzling, radient white. It was like Moses on the mountaintop. After receiving the Ten Commandments he came down from the mountain and the people waiting below were amazed and even afraid of him because his face was radient. Moses had come so close to God that he had been changed, his very being had become radiently intense. So, after that, when ever he met with the people he had to put a viel over his face so that they wouldn't be bothered or afraid of his radience. But, whenever Moses went before God, he would take the veil off so that there would be nothing separating him from the presence of God.

Many of us may have come down from a mountaintop experience only to have someone tell us that we were somehow different, even radient in our appearance. I remember, as a kid, coming back from church camp to have my sister say something like that to me. And, it kind of took me by surprise. Even though I felt good about what I had experienced, I didn't know that it had made me look any different. But, I think it is true. Whenever we go through an experience where we are brought closer to God, it is like a veil comes off and a change takes place in us that can be detected by others.

For those who have experienced something like this in their own life, something like this happening to someone else may be a joyful reminder of what God's presence can do. Several years ago, Linda and I went through a Marriage Encounter weekend. And, indeed, there were some moments when we felt that God came close to us. And, when we got home there were persons in our church who had gone on Marriage Encounter weekends, themselves, who smiled at us, very knowingly and understandingly, at the difference that weekend had made in us.

And, yet, sometimes the radience of having been close to God can be a frightening one for persons. It may be troubling for a non-believer to suddenly have to deal with a son or a daughter or a spouse or a best friend who seems radient because of a newfound relationship with Christ. I mean, what do you do with such a person, if you're a marginal Christian? Here, this person is suddenly, excitedly, talking about Jesus and miracles and eternal life and the Holy Spirit. It can be a frightening experience for some.

And, indeed, this was what the disciples were going through when they witnessed the radience of Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration. Certainly, they had grown up going to the synagogue regularly. They they learned their scriptures, they had learned the Law of Moses. But, it was as though a veil had been over their eyes all the time, separating them from the actual splendor of God. Or, as Paul says, their religious training had been like looking at God dimly as through a mirror." They hadn't, as yet, seen him face to face. Until that day, upon the mountain when the veil was lowered and they actually saw Jesus for what he was, The King of kings, and Lord of lords. And for Peter, James, and John, it would be quite some time before they would be able to make sense of this experience. As it was, they were simply confused.

Certainly, there are times when we come close to God. And, indeed, transfiguration is a call by God to come closer. It isn't necessarily a conversion experience. Persons who have known God for years, persons who have had Christ in their lives for a long, long time, can still experience a transfiguration, a change, because they have come closer to God. Some times, like Peter, James, and John it takes us some time to sort this out. But the important thing for us to remember is that even those of us who have been Christians for many years can come even closer to God.

I think of God's transfiguring power for us I am reminded of the song, "You Light Up My Life." As we come down from the mountaintop experiences, whether it be a retreat, a worship service, a vacation, a chance encounter, or whatever, somehow that experience makes us a witness, it makes us a light that others can see. As Moses came down off the mountain he not only came down with a radience about him, but he also came down with a message about God's love for God's people. As Jesus came down off the mountain, he came down with a message of God's love which could only be fulfilled upon the cross. As the disciples came down off the mountain, they came down with the promise that one day they would be telling the world about Jesus.

The transfiguration event tells us that with God close to us, with Christ in our hearts, God lights up our life, not only so that we may see, but so that others may see, as well. Or, as Paul says: "We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Amen.