“This is a mountaintop experience
but not the kind about which persons
write glowingly of sunrises,
soft breezes,
warm friends,
music,
and quiet time.
On this mountain the subject is death,
and the frightening presence of God
reduces those present to silence.”
That’s how Fred Craddock
wraps up his commentary
on this gospel passage from Luke.
The gospel text today
takes place about a week
after Peter says that Jesus is the Christ,
is the Messiah,
is God’s Annointed One.
He’s been directed to keep that a secret,
and Jesus has predicted his own death
for the first time.
As he’s praying
Moses and Elijah –
symbolizing all of the Law and the Prophets –
as Luke continues to remind us
that Jesus was a devout Jew
appear and start talking with him.
Our passage from 1 Corinthians
has been in history used
as a way to discriminate against
and cause violence toward
our Jewish siblings.
Face value readings like that
miss that both Jesus and Paul
were devout Jews
and that God’s covenants with the Hebrews
are eternal.
Luke tells us
that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah
are speaking of Jesus’ departure,
which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Jesus is about to head to Jerusalem
where he knows he’ll face death.
If you couldn’t tell at the beginning of the service
I really like how the collect puts it,
knowing that this is the gospel for the day:
“O God,
who before the passion of your only begotten Son
revealed his glory upon the holy mountain.”
Luke also tells us that
when the cloud surrounds them
when they’re engulfed in the presence of God
the disciples are struck quiet.
Even Peter –
who has to talk
even when he doesn’t know what he’s saying.
I don’t really celebrate
pre-Lent.
I like the way the church
tees us up
and reminds us
that our sacrifices are coming.
I like the way we can’t forget
that following Jesus
means bearing our crosses
and being changed into his likeness
as we behold by faith
the light of his countenance.
Please don’t hear me saying
that Lenten fasts
are our crosses to bear.
That phrase is fraught
and we can talk about it one on one sometime.
So many of us, though,
are carrying heavy burdens aren’t we?
We’re in the midst of a discernment process
about the future of the congregation.
As I was writing
news of mass firings at NOAA
was just starting to break.
Paying attention to the news
and being concerned for everyone
globally affected by our government’s decisions
and the choices of our electorate
weighs me down,
like the disciples weighed down with sleep.
Those who come into our building
having admitted that they are powerless over alcohol,
that their lives have become unmanageable
and those who have admitted that they are powerless over
the addicts and alcoholics in their lives
are weighed down in ways
most of us wouldn’t even be able to imagine.
The friends of this congregation
who ask for the repose of the souls
of those who’ve died from overdose
are weighed down
in their grief, sorrow, despair,
and maybe shame.
The disciples on the mountain
know this heaviness.
“On this mountain the subject is death,
and the frightening presence of God
reduces those present to silence.”
This passage from Luke
isn’t about how we can apply
this story of Jesus
to our lives.
This passage from Luke
is about Jesus taking part
in God’s plan
for the redemption
of the whole creation.
Like at Jesus’ baptism
God speaks and affirms Jesus’ call as the Messiah.
As Peter and his friends
are seeing the full glory of Jesus
they’re struck silent
and told to listen to Jesus.
Experiencing a miracle of God’s true presence,
they are terrified into quietness
and don’t tell anyone about it
until after the resurrection.
This experience
is just one more burden for them.
Who would believe them?
They rabbi is going to Jerusalem
where he will surely be killed
and they’re told to listen to him.
Now they experience something
more profound than Moses’ presence with God
And Moses and Elijah are there!
Before Jesus accomplishes his departure,
before he gives himself up for the life of the world
his glory shines on the mountain.
While these disciples are feeling weighed down,
after the resurrection when God’s glory shines
having defeated death,
they’ll remember this miracle and encounter with God
as Good News.
As we are weighed down
by the changes and chances of life,
the glory of God
is waiting to be revealed to us.
As we think about Lent
and returning to God
however we’ve stepped away
we can remember
that God is always there
waiting for us when we’re ready.
When the mere mortals
Peter, James, and John
encounter God’s presence
they’re struck with silence.
As we discern our future together
and start asking questions of one another
and ourselves
maybe we can embrace silence
without having to be struck quiet.
We carry crosses ourselves,
and we are concerned for the whole world.
God demands that we listen to Jesus
and follow him where his path goes.
Maybe like Peter, James, John, and Jesus,
we can go off by ourselves some
and sit in solitude
and observe sabbath.
None of us knows what tomorrow holds
or what our Lenten journeys
or our congregational discernment
will yield.
We never truly know
the heavy burdens that someone else is carrying
even as we offer to help them.
In our offers,
we remember the one
who carries our burdens,
Jesus, the one who revealed his glory
before his passion.
As we go into Lent,
Jesus calls to us with the comfortable words:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me;
for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Amen.