Friends:
A few years ago we were on holiday in Austria, it was July so it was shortsleeved shirt weather. One day we decided to take a trip up the Kitzsteinhorn mountain and we enjoyed cracking views of the sun-drenched countryside as we went up in the cable cars. As we got nearer the top, however, it began to get misty and patches of white appeared on the grassy banks below us. Soon we were fully enveloped in cloud and the ground was now covered in snow. It was like we had suddenly been transported to another world, where people were skiing dressed-up in thick coats, hats and gloves. We didn’t stay long at the top, mingling with the skiers who regarded us in our summer clothes with amusement. It’s fair to say I’ve seldom felt so out-of-place, or indeed so cold in all my life!
The mountain-top experience is a familiar motif in the Bible and some of the most important Biblical characters went up a mountain and found a different world above the cloud. A world where the boundaries between Earth and Heaven were blurred: Moses receiving the ten commandments, Elijah finding God in a gentle whisper. In last week’s gospel however, it is Jesus’ turn for a mountain-top experience which we know as the Transfiguration. This account comes shortly after Jesus speaks to His disciples for the first time about how He must suffer and be put to death. They all need time to process this news so Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. But once they are on the mountain, He appears to take on the heavenly glory of His divine nature, we are told that:
‘His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.’
He is joined by Moses and Elijah who were maybe able to offer Him some support and re-assurance from their unique perspective. Peter wants to prolong the moment by offering to build tents for them, but he is interrupted by a voice from the cloud saying:
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
As quickly as it had occurred the transfiguration experience was over, and Jesus and His disciples returned from the mountain top, but I expect their experience stayed with them for the rest of their lives.
Maybe we crave our own mountain-top experience of God, an experience that would strengthen our faith and cement our own credentials as disciples of Jesus, but I think these are few and far between. We mustn’t be disheartened, however, for we are called to inhabit the lowlands of Gods kingdom and to share our faith and hope with those around us. For we believe that the glorious kingdom of God, glimpsed by those three disciples of old, will be shared by us all one day. This was made possible by Jesus who, having been re-assured by Moses, Elijah and God Himself on the mount of Transfiguration, took the path of obedience all the way to the cross. So that one day we too can ascend through the clouds - so to speak – to another world, a world without pain or conflict, a world full of the glory of God, where we shall be with Him in eternity, on the mountain top.
Richard”