The Last Sunday after The Epiphany
The Rev. George Pejakovich, Assistant to the Dean
Grace Cathedral
02/22/09

Mark 9:2-9

A FEW MONTHS AGO, AFTER HAVING PREACHED THE SERMON FOR THE 1030 WORSHIP SERVICE, I WAS STANDING AT THE USUAL PLACE LISTENING TO THE CHOIR AS THEY SANG A MAGNIFICENT POSTLUDE. A MEMBER OF THE CONGREGATION WAS STANDING NEXT TO ME, AND WE WERE BOTH CAUGHT UP IN THE SPIRITUAL BEAUTY OF THE MOMENT. I WAS STILL “HUMMING” FROM THE ADRENALINE RUSH THAT COMES FROM PREACHING, TRYING TO GREET EVERYONE WHO PASSED OUT OF THE SANCTUARY, WHEN HE AND I TALKED ABOUT THE WONDER AND THE BEAUTY OF THE MOMENT. I MADE SOME COMMENT ABOUT HOW THESE SPECIAL MOMENTS GIVE US A FORETASTE OF THE GLORY WHICH IS TO COME, BUT, SADLY SUCH MOMENTS DON’T LAST AS WE GO FROM THEM BACK TO THE MUNDANE TASKS OF LIVING. TO THIS COMMENT, HE REPLIED, “BUT, IF SUCH MOMENTS HAVE SUCH AN EFFECT ON US, THEY ARE LASTING BECAUSE THEY CHANGE US, AND STAY WITH US.” SINCE I WAS FOCUSED ON TRYING TO SHAKE THE HAND OF ALL WHO PASSED BY, I SAID SOMETHING OR OTHER, BUT DID NOT PURSUE THE ISSUE. I HAVE, HOWEVER, BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT EVER SINCE, AND HAVE COME TO THE REALIZATION THAT HE WAS RIGHT. EVEN WE HIGHLY TRAINED THEOLOGICAL PROFESSIONALS HAVE SOMETHING TO LEARN FROM THE PEOPLE OF GOD, AND WE REALLY NEED TO LISTEN WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH ANOTHER.

IN RETROSPECT, I HAVE CONSIDERED ALL THE TIMES IN MY LIFE WHEN THE AWESOME GLORY OF THE ULTIMATE REALITY HAS BROKEN THROUGH THE MUNDANE ASPECTS OF MY LIFE, AND I HAVE EXPERIENCED THE WONDER AND THE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY. THESE MOMENTS, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE FLEETING, HAVE INDEED STAYED WITH ME, AND HAVE CHANGED ME IN A PROFOUND WAY TO MAKE ME INTO THE PERSON I AM TODAY. FROM MY CONVERSION EXPERIENCE, WHICH SHOOK ME TO THE CENTER OF MY BEING, TO TIMES OF OVERWHELMING EMOTION LIKE PRAYING AT THE WESTERN WALL IN JERUSALEM, TO MOMENTS OF SUDDEN QUIET OPENING TO THE GLORY WHICH UNDERLIES ALL OF CREATION, TO SIMPLY BEING “MOVED” BY THE VOICES OF A CHOIR, I HAVE HAD MANY “MOUNTAIN – TOP” EXPERIENCES. ALL OF THESE HAVE OPENED MY EYES AND HEART TO THE REALITY THAT I AM NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, AND HAVE POINTED ME TOWARD THE ONE WHO IS.

JESUS LED PETER AND JAMES AND JOHN UP A HIGH MOUNTAIN TO BE ALONE WITH HIM. WHEN THEY HAD MADE THE EXHAUSTING CLIMB, JESUS WAS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM. THE WORD IN THE GREEK IS METAMORPHIZED. JESUS WAS THE SAME, BUT CHANGED IN PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. MARK AND THE OTHER GOSPEL WRITERS WERE SEARCHING FOR WORDS TO EXPLAIN THAT WHICH WAS OUTSIDE OF NORMAL HUMAN EXPERIENCE. MARK SAYS THE CLOTHES OF JESUS BECAME DAZZLING WHITE, IMPOSSIBLY WHITE, AND THEY WERE BLINDED BY THE LIGHT. SUDDENLY THERE APPEARED MOSES AND ELIJAH WHO WERE TALKING TO JESUS. MOSES, THE PERSONIFICATION OF THE LAW OF GOD, AND ELIJAH THE PERSONIFICATION OF THE PROPHETS WERE TALKING TO THE WORD OF GOD MADE FLESH. PETER, LEFT OUT OF THE CONVERSATION AND NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO, TRIED TO BE HELPFUL BY SUGGESTING THAT HE AND THE OTHERS BUILD SOME SHELTERS FOR JESUS AND MOSES AND ELIJAH. IN RESPONSE TO PETER’S SUGGESTION, A CLOUD OVERSHADOWED THEM AND A VOICE FROM HEAVEN THUNDERED “THIS IS MY SON, THE BELOVED; LISTEN TO HIM!” SUDDENLY THEY WERE ALONE AND EVERYTHING WAS BACK TO NORMAL, AND AS THEY LEFT THE MOUNTAIN JESUS ORDERED THEM TO TELL NO ONE WHAT THEY HAD SEEN UNTIL AFTER THE SON OF MAN HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD.

WE HAVE ALL HAD THESE “MOUNTAIN – TOP” EXPERIENCES, OR WE WILL HAVE AT SOME TIME. LIKE PETER, OUR NATURAL HUMAN INCLINATION IS TO HANG ON TO THE MOMENT TO MAKE IT LAST LONGER, OR EVEN TO IMPOSE OUR OWN ORDER OR UNDERSTANDING ON THE OVERWHELMING EXPERIENCE OF THE MOMENT. WE HAVE A TENDANCY TO MAKE THE MOMENT ABOUT US, ABOUT HOW WE FEEL OR HOW WE THINK, OR EVEN TO REVEL IN THE EMOTION OF THE MOMENT, RATHER THAN LET THE MOMENT OPEN US UP TO THE REALITY TO WHICH IT POINTS. PETER, AND THE OTHERS, LEARNED AN INVALUABLE LESSON ON THAT MOUNTAIN TOP. WHAT EVER IT WAS THAT THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE DOING IN FOLLOWING JESUS, WHAT EVER THEY THOUGHT OR FELT ABOUT THEIR ROLE IN WHAT JESUS WAS DOING, IT WAS NOT ABOUT THEM. THEY SAW, IF ONLY FOR A MOMENT, THE ULTIMATE REALITY OF JUST WHO THIS MAN, JESUS, REALLY IS. IN THIS MOMENT ON THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN, THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE PERSON OF JESUS OVERWHELMED THEIR SENSES; ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHECY OF GOD, ALL THE WORD OF CREATION WAS HERE IN THEIR EYES. “LISTEN TO HIM,” WAS THE ULTIMATE COMMAND, FOR HE IS THE WORD WHICH IS THE BEGINNING AND END OF ALL REALITY.

THEY LEFT THE MOUNTAIN TOP AND WENT BACK DOWN TO WHERE PEOPLE LIVE AND WORK AND DIE. JESUS LED THEM TO WHERE HE HAD TO GO TO DO THE WORK FOR WHICH HE CAME INTO THE WORLD. THE TIME OF FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY AND DEATH WAS COMING, BUT THE DISCIPLES DID NOT YET KNOW THIS. EVEN AS THEY WALKED UNKNOWINGLY ON THE PATH THEY HAD TO WALK, GOD HAD PREPARED THEM FOR WHAT WAS TO COME. THIS TIME ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP, THIS MOMENT WHEN THE GLORY WHICH UNDERLIES ALL OF CREATION BROKE THROUGH INTO THE MUNDANE, WAS FOR ALL OF THEM. THE MOMENT OF GLORY SHOWED TO THE MAN, JESUS, THAT HE WAS ON THE RIGHT PATH, AND THAT HIS COMING DEATH WOULD LEAD HIM BACK TO THE ONENESS OF BEING WITH THE FATHER HE HAD KNOWN FROM ALL ETERNITY. THE MOMENT OF GLORY SHOWED TO THE DISCIPLES THAT THIS MAN THEY FOLLOWED WAS BOTH MAN AND GOD, AND THAT THE ONLY TRUE PATH THROUGH THIS LIFE WAS TO LISTEN TO HIM AND FOLLOW WHERE HE WALKED. IT PREPARED THEM FOR WHAT WAS TO COME, BECAUSE IT OPENED THEM TO THE REALITY THAT THE ONE THEY FOLLOWED WAS SOMEHOW GREATER THAN ANYTHING THEY HAD EVER KNOWN IN LIFE OR EVEN DEATH.

IT IS A GOOD AND PROPER THING THAT THE CHURCH RETELLS THIS STORY EACH YEAR JUST BEFORE WE BEGIN OUR SOMBER LENTEN JOURNEY AS WE FOLLOW JESUS’ WALK TO THE CROSS. AS WE MOVE INTO THE VALLEY OF THE LENTED JOURNEY, WE HAVE THIS MOUNTAIN TOP MOMENT TO HOLD ONTO IN OUR HEARTS. EVEN AS WE WALK THROUGH THE SHADOWS WHICH ARE TO COME, WE HOLD ONTO THE GLORY WHICH WAS REVEALED TO US IF ONLY FOR A MOMENT. WE CAN HOLD ONTO THIS MOMENT IN OUR HEARTS, KNOWING THAT NO MATTER WHAT IS TO COME THE GLORY OF EASTER MORNING WILL BREAK UPON US.

SO TOO DO THE “MOUNTAIN TOP” EXPERIENCES OF OUR LIVES POINT US TO THE REALITY OF THE GLORY WHICH IS TO COME, AND PREPARE US, AND STRENGHTEN US, FOR OUR CALLING TO FOLLOW THE CHRIST OF GOD WHERE EVER HE LEADS US. THEY SHOW US THAT THERE IS MORE TO REALITY THAN THE SUM TOTAL OF OUR LIVES, AND THAT OUR LIVES ARE NOW A PART OF HIM WHO IS GREATER AND MORE GLORIOUS THAN ALL THAT WE CAN IMAGINE. THEY LEAD US AND POINT US TO HIM WHO IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, AND HIS GLORIOUS LIGHT SHINES ON OUR WAY ACROSS ALL THE PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF OUR LIFE. IN THESE “MOUNTAIN TOP” MOMENTS, GOD SHINES HIS GLORY INTO OUR HEARTS TO GIVE US, IF ONLY FOR A MOMENT, “THE LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.” IN THAT KNOWLEDGE, IN THAT LIGHT, WE ARE CHANGED FOREVER, BECAUSE IN THAT LIGHT WE CAN WALK WITH CONFIDENCE THAT OUR GOD IS WITH US EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. WE HOLD THESE MOMENTS IN OUR HEARTS AND WALK WITH TRUST IN OUR GOD, EVEN THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, BECAUSE WE KNOW, DESPITE ALL THAT COMES, THE GLORY OF OUR EASTER MORNING WILL BREAK UPON US. 
AMEN.