Mountains
It’s been quite a while now since I mentioned my trip to the Holy Land in a sermon, so I thought it was about time I did again! Tonight’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (12:18-29) invites us on a journey – a journey to view 2 mountains.
The first is Mount Sinai, a great unapproachable mountain, the mountain upon which tradition suggested the law was given to the Israelites. It was revered as the mountain of the dwelling place of God – the God who is unapproachable, the God who can’t be touched, the God of a blazing fire – the God too awesome to even contemplate.
And the second is Mount Zion the place of the heavenly Jerusalem, the place where angels celebrate with all those in heaven in the presence of God. This is an inviting mountain, a place where God seeks a relationship, a relationship built on love and trust.
But then back to my Holy Land trip. Well, we wanted to see Mount Zion, and on the very first evening we stood on the Mount of Olives and asked our guide where it was, and confusion began as he asked, ‘Do you want to know where it was, or where it is ?’
We may have been in the Holy Land, a place where people have talked of faith moving mountains, but, it was still a bit of a surprise to hear the mountain had actually moved !
Obviously questions followed and it transpired that actually the mountain hadn’t literally moved. It’s just they’d decided to name a different Mountain, Mount Zion. In Biblical times, Mount Zion seems to have been the spot upon which the Temple Mount was built – the holiest of all Jewish sites, but now the mountain called Mount Zion is on the outskirts of the city…
Very confusing it was, and as you can imagine, more questions followed as to why it was changed – but there are no answers – nobody really knows, and actually it really doesn’t matter very much.
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews contrasted the mountains of Sinai and Zion, but the contrast between the Mount Zion of reality, and the Mount Zion being written about here is even greater. Today Mount Zion stands on the edge of a city which includes examples of most of the problems we can find in the world – racial tension, religious disharmony, crime, drug abuse, poverty, corruption… the list can go on and on. If you think of a problem, then Jerusalem probably has an example of it somewhere, but the Mount Zion described in this letter is the perfect heavenly city – a complete contrast of the world in which we live.
It is a place of no pain, no suffering, no mourning, no tears… a place of celebration, a place of worship and reverence, a place where we are perfected into God’s glory…
I think visiting Mount Zion in Jerusalem is incredible – it is something that people should do if they get any chance at all, but it is nothing compared to the glory of approaching the Mount Zion described here, the city, we’re told, of the living God.
The readings this morning invited us to come closer to God, and that is what we hear tonight as well. It is a call to throw aside our fears, our concerns, our nervousness, our doubts… and move closer to God – the God who we can see and feel, the God whose love we can witness in Jesus, the God who we can feel with his life changing power…
In many ways this is a lovely fluffy sort of reading – no need to approach the nasty mountain anymore, just come to the nice one and find peace ! And that’s true, but there is a bit of a sting in the tail here, as we are warned, ‘See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven.’
Here the writer is moving into the spiritual aspects of this message – it is a call to live our lives closely walking with God, but it is also a reminder that one day all of the earth as we know it will be wiped away and all that will be left will be God’s kingdom. All of the material things we treasure on earth will be gone, many of the things we think are important today will have no importance at all, and so we are to look to the things that really matter, the things that will last for all eternity, and we are invited to enter a kingdom that can never be shaken, a kingdom that will never end… a kingdom of the future, but a kingdom that is here now as well…
The mountain imagery of the Biblical land is incredible – there are steep mountains, and low mountains, rugged and beautiful mountains, mountains that attract and mountains that look unconquerable, and we will all face such mountains in our lives – the places where we feel happy and peaceful, the places where we can go and enjoy beauty, and the places we don’t want to go – the times of suffering, the times of hurt and pain, the times when life really seems tough, and we don’t know how to go on…
And we are reminded to go to one mountain for the security and peace that can never be shaken – Mount Zion, the city of the living and loving God who is calling his people home…
When I was preparing this sermon, I found this little poem :-
Lord, I've never moved a mountain and I guess I never will. All the faith that I could muster wouldn't move a small ant hill. Yet I'll tell you, Lord, I'm grateful for the joy of knowing you, and for all the mountain moving through my life You've done for me.
When I needed some help you lifted me from the depths of great despair. And when burdens, pain and sorrow have been more than I can bear, you have always been my courage to restore life's troubled sea, and to move these little mountains that have looked so big to me.
Many times when I've had problems and when bills I've had to pay, and the worries and the heartaches just kept mounting every day, Lord, I don't know how you did it. Can't explain the where's or why's. All I know, I've seen these mountains turn to blessings in disguise.
No, I've never moved a mountain, for my faith is far too small. Yet, I thank you, Lord of Heaven, you have always heard my call. And as long as there are mountains in my life, I'll have no fear, for the mountain-moving Jesus is my strength and always near. AMEN
The first is Mount Sinai, a great unapproachable mountain, the mountain upon which tradition suggested the law was given to the Israelites. It was revered as the mountain of the dwelling place of God – the God who is unapproachable, the God who can’t be touched, the God of a blazing fire – the God too awesome to even contemplate.
And the second is Mount Zion the place of the heavenly Jerusalem, the place where angels celebrate with all those in heaven in the presence of God. This is an inviting mountain, a place where God seeks a relationship, a relationship built on love and trust.
But then back to my Holy Land trip. Well, we wanted to see Mount Zion, and on the very first evening we stood on the Mount of Olives and asked our guide where it was, and confusion began as he asked, ‘Do you want to know where it was, or where it is ?’
We may have been in the Holy Land, a place where people have talked of faith moving mountains, but, it was still a bit of a surprise to hear the mountain had actually moved !
Obviously questions followed and it transpired that actually the mountain hadn’t literally moved. It’s just they’d decided to name a different Mountain, Mount Zion. In Biblical times, Mount Zion seems to have been the spot upon which the Temple Mount was built – the holiest of all Jewish sites, but now the mountain called Mount Zion is on the outskirts of the city…
Very confusing it was, and as you can imagine, more questions followed as to why it was changed – but there are no answers – nobody really knows, and actually it really doesn’t matter very much.
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews contrasted the mountains of Sinai and Zion, but the contrast between the Mount Zion of reality, and the Mount Zion being written about here is even greater. Today Mount Zion stands on the edge of a city which includes examples of most of the problems we can find in the world – racial tension, religious disharmony, crime, drug abuse, poverty, corruption… the list can go on and on. If you think of a problem, then Jerusalem probably has an example of it somewhere, but the Mount Zion described in this letter is the perfect heavenly city – a complete contrast of the world in which we live.
It is a place of no pain, no suffering, no mourning, no tears… a place of celebration, a place of worship and reverence, a place where we are perfected into God’s glory…
I think visiting Mount Zion in Jerusalem is incredible – it is something that people should do if they get any chance at all, but it is nothing compared to the glory of approaching the Mount Zion described here, the city, we’re told, of the living God.
The readings this morning invited us to come closer to God, and that is what we hear tonight as well. It is a call to throw aside our fears, our concerns, our nervousness, our doubts… and move closer to God – the God who we can see and feel, the God whose love we can witness in Jesus, the God who we can feel with his life changing power…
In many ways this is a lovely fluffy sort of reading – no need to approach the nasty mountain anymore, just come to the nice one and find peace ! And that’s true, but there is a bit of a sting in the tail here, as we are warned, ‘See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven.’
Here the writer is moving into the spiritual aspects of this message – it is a call to live our lives closely walking with God, but it is also a reminder that one day all of the earth as we know it will be wiped away and all that will be left will be God’s kingdom. All of the material things we treasure on earth will be gone, many of the things we think are important today will have no importance at all, and so we are to look to the things that really matter, the things that will last for all eternity, and we are invited to enter a kingdom that can never be shaken, a kingdom that will never end… a kingdom of the future, but a kingdom that is here now as well…
The mountain imagery of the Biblical land is incredible – there are steep mountains, and low mountains, rugged and beautiful mountains, mountains that attract and mountains that look unconquerable, and we will all face such mountains in our lives – the places where we feel happy and peaceful, the places where we can go and enjoy beauty, and the places we don’t want to go – the times of suffering, the times of hurt and pain, the times when life really seems tough, and we don’t know how to go on…
And we are reminded to go to one mountain for the security and peace that can never be shaken – Mount Zion, the city of the living and loving God who is calling his people home…
When I was preparing this sermon, I found this little poem :-
Lord, I've never moved a mountain and I guess I never will. All the faith that I could muster wouldn't move a small ant hill. Yet I'll tell you, Lord, I'm grateful for the joy of knowing you, and for all the mountain moving through my life You've done for me.
When I needed some help you lifted me from the depths of great despair. And when burdens, pain and sorrow have been more than I can bear, you have always been my courage to restore life's troubled sea, and to move these little mountains that have looked so big to me.
Many times when I've had problems and when bills I've had to pay, and the worries and the heartaches just kept mounting every day, Lord, I don't know how you did it. Can't explain the where's or why's. All I know, I've seen these mountains turn to blessings in disguise.
No, I've never moved a mountain, for my faith is far too small. Yet, I thank you, Lord of Heaven, you have always heard my call. And as long as there are mountains in my life, I'll have no fear, for the mountain-moving Jesus is my strength and always near. AMEN
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