SERMON 18 - SUNDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2013

Sermon at St. Mary’s Parish Church, West Dean   -  Morning Worship  – Sunday 10 February 2013

Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4.2; Luke 9:28b-43;

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Mountain tops feature heavily in our readings this morning and as I sat down to write this sermon the song “Climb Every Mountain” from the musical “Sound of Music” came into my head and I just couldn’t get rid of it!  A song whose lyrics are so familiar that if I were to recite just a few of them to you now, I am sure that the tune would enter your head too and you would find it difficult to get it out again:-

“Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every highway,
Every path you know.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
'Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life
For as long as you live…”

Anyone who has climbed to the top of a hill such as Pepperbox Hill, let alone a mountain, will know that exhilarating feeling of being on top of the world – where you might feel closer to God.  One of my favourite spots in Wiltshire is Cley Hill near Warminster where, having reached the top, there is a marvellous vista looking across the Wiltshire and Somerset countryside with views, on a clear day, to Glastonbury Tor and beyond.  It has also been reported to be a haunt of strange lights and UFOs and there is something quite compulsive about the desire to climb it when you drive past – as I have done many many times.  On those clear days, it is often very hard to want to climb down again and return to the mundane life at the bottom.  You want that magical moment of feeling on top of the world to go on for ever.   As the song says, there is something of a dreamlike quality about being up there – a searching for a different perspective on life.  To feel above it all – to follow a dream.

The story of the Transfiguration of Christ, as we heard in our gospel reading, was one such moment for the disciples who accompanied Jesus up to the top of what biblical scholars now think was Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights – sitting astride modern day Lebanon and Syria.  Jesus took just three of his disciples up there with him to pray – Peter, John and James – who from Luke’s account were very tired, presumably having already travelled a good distance and then climbed to the top of this mountain which is some 9,200 feet above sea level. 

The story, to some extent, is suggestive of the events later in Gethsemane except on this occasion, despite being tired, the disciples stayed awake and were to witness a fantastic event.  In a foretaste of the resurrection and ascension, Jesus appears to glow, to be transfigured from the normal human being they had known into something clearly divine and accompanied by the figures of old, Moses and Elijah.  “They were speaking of Jesus’s departure” we are told – which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.  Clearly this is a reference to Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection a few weeks later.

Whenever I hear this story, I immediately think of myself in the shoes of Peter; good old Peter who always seems to have the knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time but who also often speaks for us.  He frequently reminds me of those situations where, in a business meeting or other gathering, I have held my tongue because I haven’t wanted to look foolish; but always hoping that there will be a Peter who will ask the same question on my behalf.  Frequently there is, and many of us, not just me, are so glad he did.

Here Peter is clearly enjoying his mountain top moment, just as I have on Cley Hill.  I have often thought what it would be like to build and live in a house up there.  Peter obviously thought the same – how great it would be if that mountain top moment could last for ever.  He doesn’t just want to stay up there but he also wants to capture the actual event and seal if for all time by building shelters for Moses and Elijah.  Fanciful, yes, but Peter had witnessed so many miracles - and if Jesus could walk on water, calm storms, heal lepers, raise the dead then building a few shelters to keep Moses and Elijah up on the mountain with them wouldn’t be beyond his abilities! 

But, as so often on mountains, the weather and mood can suddenly change – as it did here.  Mountain tops can indeed be beautiful and inspirational places but they can also become dangerous and uncomfortable when the weather sets in.  On this occasion we read that a dark cloud descended and from the cloud they heard the voice of God say “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to Him”.  Wow, it must have been like witnessing one of the fabled UFOs on Cley Hill! 

Luke doesn’t comment on their reactions, neither does Mark in his account but Matthew’s account tells us that they were afraid, fell to the ground and Jesus had to reassure them that all was well;  the other two figures disappeared.

Then all four returned down to life in the valley and, as we read, back to business as usual – on this occasion another healing – a boy possessed by demons.  Of interest here is the fact that the boy’s father, who implores Jesus to act, says something so similar to what the disciples had heard from the clouded voice – “I beg you look at my son, he is my only child”. But here it the words are spoken down in the valley.  It is following this miracle that Jesus then tells the disciples that he is shortly to be betrayed.

It is great to go up to the top of the mountain, it is great to look over all the land and marvel at the wonders of God, but just as Moses in our first reading had to come back down from Mount Sinai, to put into practice the laws which he had been given by God, so Jesus, his disciples and indeed all us have to come back down into the valleys of our lives at some time.  From the top of the mountain, the only way we can move on is to come down back to the real world with all its darkness and sorrows. 

Theologian Steve Chalke, in his excellent little book “Change Agents” entitles his first chapter “Others only ever see your mountain top experiences” –  talking about how people perceive successful individuals - yet for every successful person, there are as many, if not more, valley experiences.  Winston Churchill once said – “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm” and more recently Richard Branson wrote “The reason I am so successful is because I have failed more times than most people”.  

The Transfiguration was the ultimate mountain top experience – but Jesus knew that he couldn’t end his ministry there.  Neither Peter nor the other disciples then understood that there was more that Jesus had to do – and that it would shortly entail entering a deep dark valley which would initially cause fear and despair to the disciples.  Moses also originally came down from his meeting with God on Mount Sinai to find the people worshipping an idol.  Mountains are only ever distinctive and special when there are valleys surrounding them.

This is the last Sunday before we enter Lent on Ash Wednesday.  Lent is traditionally a time for reflection.  We often give things up – things which we consider our naughty pleasures – alcohol, chocolate, cakes.  That is all well and good but if we do that we should equally think about why we are doing it and reflect on that.  For some it might be like descending that wonderful shining mountain top and entering into a dark dismal valley.  But even as Jesus began his dark period in the wilderness, he continued in his ministry of healing and so should we continue with the ministry which God has called us to do – whatever that might be.

Let us use Lent for that reflection and think of it as a valley between two mountains – in the real world; and be ready to climb another mountain at Easter – strengthening our Faith with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God and that he continues to live in us and with us.  That he had his mountain top and valley monents like all the rest of us.  That way, whenever we feel ourselves in a dark valley we know that we can, indeed, climb every mountain, and find our dream – a dream which God already has created for us to fulfil.

Amen