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We are located at the corner of First Street and Soule, just one block east of Central in northeast Dodge City
We are located at the corner of First Street and Soule, just one block east of Central in northeast Dodge City |
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"It's Good to be Here" For six days, the disciples have been living with what he had said to them. That he would suffer in Jerusalem at the hands of the chief priests and scribes, would be killed and would rise again. There was that messy scene between Jesus and Peter, Peter rebuking Jesus, saying God forbid anything like that happen! It had made Jesus so angry he had called Peter a name--a shameful name--an awful name, had said to him....”Get behind me Satan!” For six days the disciples have been wrestling with what had happened and what had been said. Then, at verse 17, Matthew tells us “six days later, Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. A magical thing happened there. Christ is transfigured before their very eyes. Transfigured means to “change form.” To become something else. Jesus is transfigured on the mountain top, that is, he took on another form. He became something else. His face shone like the sun. His clothing became a dazzling white. And there, in the glow, appeared two other figures....which the disciples recognized right away. One was Moses. Father Moses. The receiver of the law. Moses knows about mountain tops. Sure. Remember? Moses, up talking with the almighty, as friends talk with one another. Carrying the law of God back down to the people, his own face burnt and shining in a peculiar way? Moses belongs up on the mountain top. The other was Elijah. The great prophet. The first prophet. Elijah knows about mountaintops. Remember? Elijah, out on the face of the mountain, witness to the great wind, the earthquake and the fire, and then the still small voice of God. Elijah belongs on the mountain top. And so too.....Jesus. Standing there with the great heroes of the faith. The Law.....The Prophets. In their company, he began to shine. Brilliant. Aglow. Afire. The point is dramatic and not to be missed. By association, Jesus is in the same company as Moses and Elijah. He too, belongs on the mountain top. He shines, by association. Peter sees Jesus standing there with Moses and Elijah, and recognizing them, he tries to comprehend the meaning of it all. Apparently Jesus is on the same footing, the same level, the same......mountain top as Elijah and Moses. It would be best to build three booths, three dwelling places here, one for each of them. Imagine, if one could climb this mountain and speak with Moses, the friend of God and the receiver of the law. Or come to Elijah’s booth and speak with the great prophet, face to face. Or with Jesus.....yes....yes booths are in order. The standard sermon on this passage usually goes something like this: “Well, folks, we all know that God gives us mountain-top experiences. But don’t be like Peter, building little shelters to try to stay on the mountain-top. Hurry on down, ‘cause there’s a whole lot of work waiting for you down in the valley.” However, if you look closely at why Jesus’ Transfiguration happened when it did, you realize that the experience by itself was very valuable...both to Jesus and to the disciples. From Jesus’ perspective, the presence of Moses and Elijah and the voice from heaven, a voice that echoes the one he heard at his baptism are all signs that he’s on the right track--an affirmation that he’s doing exactly what God wants him to do. At the same time, the disciples, who still aren’t sure who Jesus really is, now see Jesus bathed in glory and hear those same words of identity and assurance: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” What a tremendous gift these three disciples have been given. Think about it. Later, when they descend the mountain, they will begin to follow him toward Jerusalem and ultimately the cross. During this home stretch, this final journey toward Jerusalem, their faith is going to be tested, they will run into all sorts of opposition...and they will need to know that this Rabbi they follow is more than just another Rabbi, a good man, a great teacher and leader--that THIS rabbi is indeed, the very Son of God. In the days and weeks ahead, the glory of Christ will not always be apparent. They will need this vision from the mountain top to remind them who they follow--who Jesus is and why he has called them to follow him. This SHINING MOMENT on the mountain top will sustain them in the valley, even the valley of the shadow of death that awaits in Jerusalem. Perhaps is nothing wrong with their wanting to linger there on the mountain, to prolong the vision, to make the moment last longer....to let that vision sink in and take root deep down inside them. That this vision of Christ’s glory might become a part of them that will remain and carry them through difficult days to come. As a matter of fact, the “booths” that Peter wanted to build were not permanent chapels, but booths as the Jewish people would build during their holy festivals, tent-like cabins for a short period of time. I think Peter may have well known that one cannot live on the mountain top forever; I think he simply wanted to linger there a while longer, to soak it all in. Preachers, including me, have been harsh in the way we’ve treated Peter, sneering at him because he wanted to build shrines and remain there a while. Yet, those of us who’ve gone to camp, or retreats or participated in VIM, or have attended uplifting conferences, know the feelings of spiritual vibrancy, the “fire” one acquires from such mountain top experiences. We know exactly why Peter wants to stay for awhile, don’t we? To make this moment a part of him, so that he will not lose sight of it as they travel on in the dust of their rabbi. Perhaps God knew there would be times when the going would be rough, and the disciples, these three anyway, would need something to help them carry on, to persevere through all things. Wayne Hilliker tells this true story about the Jewish women in concentration camps during the Second World War having to work to build roads: on cardboard shoes they went out on frozen ground and worked all day with only diluted soup to give them nourishment, only to return again at night, on frozen ground, to their dormitory. When one of the women who survived it was asked later? 'How did you manage day after day after day? What kept you going?' she replied: 'I don't know what all it was. But I do know one thing--when we would go out in the morning to work on those cold muddy roads, we passed a house that had a flowerbox in the window, and in it there was one single tulip blooming. And I would say to myself all day when we worked if I make it through the day, going back home, I might get to see the tulip again.'
“A tulip?” She was asked? That was
enough? “Yes,” she replied. A glimpse of hope. A reminder of what is to be. A sight, a word, a touch, a taste to carry us on. A single tulip. A compassionate face. A single touch at a moment of loneliness. A phrase from the Psalms. A familiar hymn that won’t leave your mind. A word from the scripture or an encouragement from a sermon that has taken root in your memory. A pinch of bread, a sip from a cup. These are God’s gifts, -- to carry us forward, to keep us going, long after the mountains have faded in the horizon and we find ourselves descending into the shadowy valley further still. That’s why it was good to be there. Peter was right, and I promise to be more careful not to chastise him in a sermon ever again for saying so. It was good for them to be there. To see. To experience. To taste the glory to come…for the road to Jerusalem is long, treacherous and the end of the journey appears tragic. All too soon they will be going down that road with him. For now, for this moment, let them linger… We have before us a gift that God has provided, in the Eucharist, the body and the blood of Jesus given to us in the form of a bit of bread, and a small sip of wine, that we might have a taste of the banquet that is yet to be. May it be enough as we journey on. We prepare singing the hymn, “Take our bread” as the ushers bring our elements forward now.
Thanks for dropping by: Guest # |
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