Climb every mountain

from Helen

I was thinking the other day about the games that I used to play as a child. This was because after reading the gospel reading for today (Matthew 17:1-11) I was reminded of the Sound of Music. Now there is a good reason for this. Me and my friend were obsessed with the Sound of Music. We had performed the musical in our Church Hall. It was really fun, I was one of the littlest and so I played Gretel the baby of the Von Trapp family. I got to sit on the stage next to my best friends Mum who was playing Maria she was also a Sunday school teacher and cwtch up. 

My friend and I knew the film so well, we knew the songs and we would play the different roles. For some reason I was usually the Mother Superior and had to sing Climb every Mountain. It was a fun game, but then along came Bros (a band) and suddenly we just wanted to dance to their music instead.

Anyway, I have never had a great affinity with mountains and walking up them. It is one of those things that I can sing about but walking, well... that’s another thing altogether.

The three disciples whom Jesus chose to walk up a mountain with Him, may have just assumed that this walk was a normal walk. Then of course everything changed. 

They got to the top of the mountain and saw Jesus transfigured before them. That sounds like a very posh word, and it is because we are talking about Jesus there will always be quite a special word to describe what is happening. The disciples looked and Jesus was changed. There was a cloud over Him, there was an amazing light and not only this but Moses and Elijah appeared.

This is so amazing, for the three disciples they would have seen Moses as important because he brought them the law. Elijah was one of the great prophets who acted as a mouthpiece for God. So it was that for the disciples on seeing these two great figures of their faith who held together the law and prophecy  they were seeing something incredible. For Peter, James and John though they saw Jesus transfigured and they could see that He was even greater than Moses and Elijah. A voice from heaven, God Himself, confirmed this and told Peter, James and John to listen to Jesus.

The experience for these disciples on the top of the mountain must have been one of absolute awe, wonder and terror. 

People often talk of great experiences in the faith as being mountain top experiences the time when they felt the presence of God in an amazing way. I have had mountain top experiences and they have been amazing. Not literally on top of a mountain but that feeling of wow, God is here. I have also had the days when it all seems to be the total opposite, the times when God seems far away, the times when life is tough. I have also known the hum drum of normality, you know the feeling of here we go again. 

Well, in all of this it is the amazing experiences of Gods’ love that helps us through. In remembering the good that has been, so we can look forward with joy and expectation to what will come.

This week we are starting lent. Lent is the time when we seek to draw closer to God.  We don’t have flowers, we don’t sing the Gloria, and it is all because we are getting ready for the great celebration of Easter. Life is going to be much less hum drum ! Some people give things up for lent, some take things up for lent. The most important bit is that this is a time when we spend more time in prayer. 

The idea of the mountain top experiences and also of lent approaching fast made me think of three things that we can look to and think of, all to do with this amazing experience of the mountain top. 

The first is prayer. Whenever we have an experience of God it comes through prayer. This may sound simple to say but prayer is a conversation. In our prayers we draw closer to God and we also bring to God our concerns and worries. The mountain top experience for the three disciples came as they were with Jesus. When we pray we are seeking to know God more. The disciples came to know more of God. As we pray the same happens to us. 

Our response to the mountain top experiences, our response to every moment of our lives must be to prayer. God loves us, He hears us and He gives us strength.

The second thing from that mountain top experience was that the three disciples saw the glory of God. A glory that overwhelmed them. Our response to this is to be one of praise and wonder. God is with us and He is in this world. I am sure that they would never have forgotten this moment. It must have transformed their lives. It didn’t make them perfect but they now had a vision of the glory of God that would never leave them. I am sure it would have seemed a bit blurred at times but that vision must also have helped them. 

What is our vision of Jesus ? Do we see Him in His glory when we think of Him ? Do we remember that He came for us, He died and rose again and all so that we could know Him and His love for us.

The second thing of the mountain top experience is that Jesus is with us, and His glory is all around us.

The final thing we can think about is that Peter wanted to hold on to moment, he wanted to keep this incredible moment to himself by building booths for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. I can understand this and sometimes for all of us it would be so much easier if we could keep all the good things to ourselves. It would be easy to keep our Church to ourselves. It would be easy to not show that God can change people here by not telling others about Him. Next Saturday we are opening up and it doesn’t matter how many people come, it would be great if lots did but we need to pray that whether they come that day or another day that as they come in, or as they meet us they will be impacted by the sense of love. The love of God which is for everyone and isn’t ours to keep to ourselves. 

So, a mountain top experience which helps us get through day by day can also remind us of the need to pray, the moments when we can trust God and His glory to change us and our lives and a reminder to share that love and glory by the way we live and treat others.

May we be prepared to be changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we see His face, till we cast our crowns before Him, lost in wonder, love and praise. AMEN