Mark 9:2-9 =
&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp; =
Mystery
on the Mountain
There are a number of=
clergy
groups that I attend as part of my work as a minister.
Some keep me in conne=
ction
with other Disciples, some give me new ideas.
One of the groups is a
lectionary Bible study group
where we study the up=
coming
scriptures for worship.
As I studied today=
217;s
scripture this week, I couldn’t help but think
of one of the ministe=
rs in
this group who absolutely, positively disdains -
no sneers - whenever =
anyone
in our group uses the word “relevant”
and the word
“church” in the same sentence. And I understand why.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>
Too often, the word r=
elevant
is really a substitute for popular or successful.
We evaluate, we measu=
re the
value of the church and its ministry
not by the standards =
of
Christ, but by the standards of the culture.
Not by divine standar=
ds but
by human standards.
And that’s a li=
ttle of
what was going on with Peter in today’s scripture reading
as he got a glimpse o=
f Jesus
in all his glory.
Here we see Peter onc=
e again
showing every inch of his humanness.
Along with James and =
John, he
has been taken to the mountain top by Jesus.
And then all of a sud=
den,
Jesus is transfigured before them. <=
/span>
Transformed inwardly =
in a way
that is outwardly visible.
It’s a metamorp=
hosis.
His clothes become da=
zzling
white -
which in the Bible is=
always
a signal that something divine has taken place.
You can just imagine =
what was
going through Peter’s head.
“Finally! Now we’re getting to the real
messiah.
Jesus on the mountain=
top in
all his glory. Now that’=
;s
relevant!”
But Jesus knows Peter=
- all
too well.
Once again, Peter is =
caught
up with human things, not divine things.&n=
bsp;
But let’s hit t=
he pause
button for a moment.
In order to fully und=
erstand
this story, we have to do a little Bible study.
How many of you broug=
ht your
Bibles with you?
Fear not! I have made copies of the relevant
sections today.
Because in order to r=
eally
understand this story,
we need to read all a=
round it
in Mark’s gospel.
If we only read these=
8
verses, it’s not going to make much sense.
Why would Jesus take =
these
guys up there
if all he does at the=
end is
tell them to be quiet about it?
There is more to this story than Jesus in all his
glory.
We are also being told to “Listen to
him.”
If we look at the scr=
ipture
handout that is in the bulletin insert we can see a portion
titled “The
Transfiguration,” which is what we heard today. (9:2-9)
Here’s where Bi=
ble
study comes in handy.
Right before this mou=
ntain
top experience, in 8:31-33
something significant=
has
happened.
Jesus has foretold hi=
s death
and resurrection -
the first of three ti=
mes that
he does this in Mark’s gospel.
The second time comes=
shortly
after the mountaintop -
It’s there on y=
our
handout at the end of the 2nd page, in
Together, these two
predictions form a sort of unit around the transfiguration.
And what is the respo=
nse to
Jesus’ predicting his death? <=
/span>
Both times, the disci=
ples
just don’t get it.
After the first foret=
elling,
Peter, despite having just declared that Jesus is the Messiah, even Peter,
takes Jesus aside privately and rebukes him.
“This isn’=
;t going
to play with the people.
This suffering bit is=
not the
way to make a name for yourself. &nbs=
p;
How do you expect us =
to
market that to a mass audience?
You gotta be relevan=
t.
Jesus, we’re lo=
oking
for a messiah around here,
someone who is going =
to get
us out of this mess caused by the Romans.”
Jesus’ response=
to
Peter was even sharper than Peter’s rebuke of him.
“Get behind me
Satan.
You’re setting =
your
mind not on divine things but human things.”
And then Jesus pays no
attention at all to Peter’s concerns
and goes on to teach =
his
disciples and the crowd that
“If any want to=
become
my followers,
let them deny themsel=
ves and
take up their cross and follow me. <=
/span>
For those who want to=
save
their life will lose it,
and those who lose th=
eir life
for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
Difficult teaching fo=
r these
disciples and for us. Full of
paradox and promise.
But despite the teach=
ing, the
disciples still don’t get it.
Six days later, when =
Jesus
takes these 3 elect up on the mountain top with him,
there is no thought o=
f the
cross. No thought of sufferin=
g and
rejection and death.
All Peter and James a=
nd John
can imagine is glorification, not crucifixion.
As Peter gazes at the
glorious sight of a dazzling Jesus,
and two long-gone pro=
phets,
he has a plan.
Even though he’s
terrified, he blurts out an idea to build dwellings - tabernacles -
for Jesus, Moses and
Elijah.
If he could only get =
this
amazing sight in a box, maybe some of his fear would go away.
Because sometimes we&=
#8217;d
rather stick with the safety of our own plan
than to wait on God&#=
8217;s
plan.
But Jesus knew that his full glory would not be revealed
till after he was rai=
sed from
the dead.
And although he didn&=
#8217;t
state it here,
he also knew that his full glory would only be revealed through this
crucifixion.
But even though he=
217;s
been trying all along to teach his disciples about the cross,
and keeps on trying e=
ven
after he gets off the mountaintop,
Jesus doesn’t s=
peak to
Peter on the mountaintop.
Instead, His Father i=
n heaven
has something to say,
in words that sound v=
ery much
like the words that echoed
from the heavens at t=
he
Baptism of Jesus.
“This is my Son=
, the
Beloved. Listen to him.”=
;
Listen to him when he teaches you.
Listen to him when he speaks of the cross.
Listen to him when he talks of suffering and
crucifixion.
Li=
sten to
him when he tells us that his followers must also carry a cross.
Now that doesn’=
t sound
popular, or successful, or, dare I say it - relevant.
But it’s the go=
spel of
Jesus Christ.
It’s not the go=
spel we
hear most of the time on television
or from the prolifera=
tion of
churches which preach
what has come to be k=
nown as
the prosperity gospel.
This is also known as=
the
“health and wealth gospel”
or the “name it=
and
claim it gospel.”
The basic idea of this
popular theology is that our own words and actions
somehow empower God t=
o do
what we demand.
Popular books on spir=
ituality
such as The Secret offer variat=
ions
of this same idea.
In this self-empowerm=
ent
theology, if we think positively enough,
we can make it happen=
. Wealth. Health. A new car. A better job.
There are many, many
preachers who are adherents of this movement,
many with tens of tho=
usands
of church members
and multibillion doll=
ar
industries backing their churches. &n=
bsp;
The preaching and tea=
ching
sounds something like
“God wills fina=
ncial
prosperity for all Christians;
such prosperity is a =
right to
be claimed by Christians.”
That sounds relevant =
enough
to Americans who have made success their god.
But it ain’t
the gospel.
What’s missing =
in much
of today’s pop theology is the cross.
The cross has always =
been
countercultural.
In the letter to the
Galatians in chapter 5, Paul calls it an offense.
In 1 Cor
a stumbling block to =
Jews and
foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are =
the
called, it is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
The cross has always =
been an
offense
because it’s . =
. . an interruption on the way to
resurrection.
We are inclined to lo=
ok for
instant answers and simple solutions,
quick fixes and the c=
heapest
of remedies.
The grace of the cros=
s, and
the discipleship of Jesus doesn’t fit into
our want-it-all and
want-it-now mentality.
When the cross is mis=
sing,
what we are left with is the false idea
that if we only try h=
arder,
say the right words, or do the right things,
we are going to be ha=
ppy,
successful, and prosperous.
That’s not grac=
e and
that’s not good news, because it’s all up to us.
The good news is the =
story of
God’s grace - our God who promises to be with us
not only on the mount=
ain but
in the shadow of those mountains, too.
.
And so it is up to Ch=
ristians
to discern whether preaching and teaching is relevant -
not by the world’s standards =
- but
relevant by divine standards.
If we only read the s=
tory of
Jesus’ transfiguration,
that glorious moment =
on the
mountain,
it would be easy to m=
iss the
cross.
But Jesus knows there=
is a
cross.
He foretell his death=
before
this mountaintop experience,
he predicts it a seco=
nd time,
shortly after coming down.
And finally a third t=
ime, in
chapter 10.
Each time the discipl=
es do
not understand that there is no glorification without crucifixion.
But without the cross=
, all
we’re left with is cheap grace -
something that Deitrich Bonhoeffer warned
against in 1937.
His discipleship led =
to his
execution in a Nazi prison during WWII.
"Cheap grace is =
the
preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism=
without church discipline. Communion without confess=
ion.
Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross,
grace without Jesus Christ." [1]
Without
the cross, Jesus stays on the
mountain top.
But
we all know that life is more than mountain top experiences.
(Mention
Our
God is a God who is big enough to be with us on the mountain top,
but
also big enough to stay with us in our suffering.
When
we understand that, we begin to understand grace.
During the last sever=
al
weeks, in the
One was called Miracl=
e on the
an accident in which =
a pilot
successfully landed a plane on the
when its engines fail=
ed after
running into a flock of geese.
155 people were on bo=
ard and
every one survived.
Across the
The other could be ca=
lled the
Tragedy in NY, an accident in which something –
possibly ice - caused=
a plane
carrying 49 people to nosedive to the ground,
killing every person =
on board,
plus a man who was in=
the
house hit by the exploding plane.
All across
The first incident on=
the
But then a few weeks =
later,
when this tragic accident occurred in NY,
any thinking person h=
ad to
wonder why? Why not another
miracle?
We have questions.
Why do tragedies like=
this
occur?
Why are some lives sa=
ved,
while others are lost?
Why do bad things hap=
pen to
good people? Where is God?
We are not the first =
people
to ask these questions.
And far from being he=
resy,
these questions have been voiced
by people of faith for
millennia.
In Psalm 22, we hear =
the
psalmist cry out,
“My God, my God=
, why
have you forsaken me?”
a cry Jesus echoed fr=
om the
cross at his crucifixion.
But Psalm 22 continue=
s on as
the psalmist answers his own question.
“In you our anc=
estors
trusted; they trusted and you delivered them.”
In trying to sort thr=
ough the
tragedies and the triumphs of life
the mistake we someti=
mes make
is thinking that we have to understand
WHY everything happen=
s before
we can trust God.
But faith - not a bli=
nd set
of beliefs - but a decision to trust in God -
faith comes before understanding.
Faith is about a rela=
tionship
- trusting God even when we may not fully understand.
Just as we can never =
fully
understand either the tragedies or the triumphs of life,
in the same way, we c=
an never
fully understand the mystery of God.
There
is the mystery of the majesty of God - God on the mountaintop.
And
there is the mystery of the cross of Christ.
As
Christians we don’t pick one or the other.
We
hold them both in a sort of paradoxical tension - not always understanding =
why,
but
trusting in God’s presence nonetheless.
The
only relevant Christian faith is a faith that includes the cross.
For
a god that only stayed on the mountain top
would
be too distant to care for us in our suffering.
The
cross reminds us that God is not just with us on the mountaintop,
but
stays with us even in our suffering.
That’s
the good news of Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God. Amen.