The minute might hold come at some exciting event in your life: graduation, baptism, your first buss, your first twenty-four hours on your first occupation, your nuptials, the birth of a kid, even catching your really first fish. It might hold been something truly religious, like a hebdomad at church cantonment or a church retreat. Or it might hold been something of a smaller, quieter nature, like a really intimate conversation with your male parent or female parent when you felt that they candidly understood what you were stating and why you felt the manner you did.
We call these “ mountaintop experiences, ” and oh how we hate to come down off that mountain! We want to hang on to that minute for every bit long as we can. “ Let ‘s merely remain right here and allow the remainder of the universe go by for a piece, ” we say. But to stop dead that one minute in clip shuts off the possibility of the following minute.
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In the Gospel reading for today we hear the author of Matthew give his version of the event which we call “ The August 6 of Jesus. ” Mark and Luke besides contain an history of this unusual happening, with some minor fluctuations in the relation. It ‘s one of those rare minutes we were merely speaking about, one of those mountaintop experiences of life, which somehow defy equal description and dispute us to stretch our construct of world to the point that we normally wind up inquiring the inquiry, “ Did this truly go on? ” Events such as the Transfiguration somehow connect us with the enigma of creative activity and infinity.
For Jesus it was a clip of verification and avowal of his ministry. For Peter, James, and John it was a brief glance of the transcendent, a peep at the world that lies merely beyond mundane life.
But notice that Jesus rapidly led the adherents back down off that mountaintop – in malice of Peter ‘s desire to flip a collapsible shelter and cantonment at that place for a long piece. Jesus led them back into the day-to-day modus operandi of instruction and sermon and lovingness for the broken and aching people of the universe they lived in, back to the world of life in the vale.
Experience the mountaintop but do n’t bury the vale below. First of all we all need mountain top experiences.
But the same Jesus who leads us to those religious high topographic points besides leads us to care for the pain, broken-hearted kids ; to curate to the homeless ; to adhere up the lesions of a broken universe, or merely to be given to the demands of a brother or sister. When you experience the mountaintop, do n’t bury the vale below.
Jesus is at that place in the vale in that fetid nursing place ; Jesus is at that place in the vale of frights and the cryings of mundane life ; Jesus is at that place in the vale of the joy of the birth of a kid ; Jesus is at that place in the vale of the hurting solitariness of the invalid. Jesus is at that place at the perennial failures of his followings.
The point is this, we ought non remain on the mountaintop so long that we forget what it is like to be in the crowd, we should n’t bury what it is like to draw on a obstinate lawn mower. I know from personal experience, that cut downing a lawn is a certain manner to maintain your pess steadfastly in the vale.
But Peter needed the mountaintop. We all do. It ‘s at that place that he learned he needed to listen to Jesus. God himself helped Peter understand this. We all have had those minutes or we would n’t be here, minutes when we learned we needed to listen to Jesus. But allow me state you a fantastic small secret. Peter did non travel up the mountain to happen God. God brought Peter up that mountain. God revealed himself to Peter. We do n’t happen God up on mountains. God finds us.
On the mountain of Transfiguration God reveals himself to us. He finds us. Reveals to us his program. It ‘s found in Jesus. We are to listen to him. Have you come to a topographic point in your life where you have listened? Listened to his fables, learned from his instructions, watched his miracles, felt his sacrificial love? If you have n’t you necessitate to travel up. Experience the mountaintop.
If you have already listened to his fables, learned from his instructions, watched his miracles, felt his sacrificial love. For many of you it may hold been a long clip ago that these things happened. But if you have experienced the mountaintop do n’t bury the vale below. Amons.
