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“MOUNTAINTOP DELIGHTS
AND DARK VALLEYS”
GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT:  MARK 9:2-9

DR. DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1st UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 18, 2007

SCRIPTURE TEXT:  2After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.  5Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." 6(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)  7Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" 8Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

MESSAGE:  Today, on the United Methodist liturgical calendar which hangs in the outer church office and to which I pay occasional attention, is called “Transfiguration of the Lord” Sunday.  The passage of scripture which we just read is the Biblical account of that happening as Mark writes it.  We know from church history that the gospel author Mark was Peter’s personal secretary, so he probably recorded the event from Peter’s first-hand account.

I don’t know about you, but even though I’m a serious student of the Bible, I’ve never fully understood the Transfiguration of Jesus.  The descriptive word itself – “transfiguration” – is intimidating enough.  But the event it describes is perhaps the most surreal recorded in the otherwise genuinely human life of Jesus while on earth.  It’s obviously God’s way of reminding us that Jesus wasn’t merely human – that He was much, much more.  But the mountaintop setting, the dazzling white appearance, and the two other presences – Moses and Elijah – raise more questions than they answer.  I’ve read perhaps 20 different scholars’ accounts of what they think the Transfiguration really means, and their interpretations are widely divergent.  Probably the most honest interpretation of these awesome events is Mark’s parenthetical comment about Peter’s condition:  “He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.”

I do know this from personal experience:  I feel closer to God on mountaintops.  Whether they be the summits of the 14,000-plus peaks in Colorado which your former pastor, Ed Williamson, used to love to climb, or the more easily accessible top of Pajarito Mountain overlooking Los Alamos, there’s something about mountaintops that resonates within my soul.  One of my favorite places in all the world is our United Methodist campground in southern New Mexico called Sacramento – which means “sacrament” or “sacred.” It’s located among some relatively high peaks in the Lincoln National Forest.  Whenever I arrive at that camp, I begin to sense the presence and to hear the voice of God more clearly than almost anywhere else.

Virtually everyone has had a share of mountaintop experiences.  For some – like me -- these may literally happen on mountaintops.  For others, whenever and wherever they may occur, they’re those special moments – those awesome times – epiphanies if you will -- when God is real, the world’s a wonderful place, and all’s right with one’s soul.

If you read on in the ninth chapter of Mark’s gospel, just beyond the account of the Transfiguration, you’ll find that Peter, James, and John came down the mountain with Jesus.  And immediately they were confronted by an angry crowd who were already heatedly arguing with the rest of the disciples.  It’s almost a “mob scene” as one particular man brings his demon-possessed son to the disciples of Jesus, begging them to cast it out – but they cannot.  There’s shouting, and anger, and heavy doubt from both the crowd and the disciples – and it gets even worse as Jesus begins to cast out the demon.  After he does so, every one of His followers is weak, weary, drained.  They’re shaken to the core by this sharp encounter with “soul darkness,” both human and spiritual.  Jesus admonishes them that, to this point, the shallowness of their prayer life has prevented them from being able to rise to the need of the occasion.  As a result of this humbling experience the disciples, each and all, attempt to rectify this lack.  It’s not long after in the gospel accounts that they beg Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

Mountaintop delights – and dark valleys.  There’s significant truth here concerning the reality of Christian discipleship.  It would be dreamily wonderful if Christians could remain – could live -- up there on those spiritual peaks, blissfully luxuriating in close fellowship with God.  But mountaintops, spiritual or physical, are not where most of humanity dwells.  And they’re therefore not where we, as followers of the Christ, need to spend the bulk of our time on this earth.  Rather we, just like Jesus, need to come down from the mountain – and plunge back into the dark valleys of earthly reality.  That’s where most of humanity dwells, and that’s where we, as Christians, can and should serve our Lord.  The people who walk in darkness need to see the Light – and it’s our job, as His disciples, to bring it to them.

Sure, I’d like to stay on the mountaintop.  Those heights are blissful, peaceful, awesome. Jesus was miraculously transfigured up there.  But He quickly came down the mountain, because He was needed by hurting people in the valley.  And we, His disciples, need to come down with Him – for the very same reason.  Precious people need us to minister, in His Name, to their many needs.  Amen.

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