Saint Luke's Lutheran Church

Mark begins his Gospel by telling us that this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He tells the story of Jesus so that his readers will come to know that this Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. So Mark tells us that at his baptism a voice from heaven said, "You are my Son." He tells us how Jesus drove out evil spirits; healed those who had leprosy, who were blind, who were paralyzed; and even raised Jairus' daughter from the dead. He tells us how Jesus taught with uncommon power and authority, and yet had no honor in his hometown. He tells us how the religious leaders tested and challenged Jesus and said that he was possessed by the devil and how his own family thought he was out of his mind.

Then one day Jesus and his disciples walked from Bethsaida on the Shores of Lake Galilee to Caesarea Philippi at the foot of Mount Hermon. When they started out, the disciples talked and laughed as they walked along - enjoying the warmth of the sun in the crisp morning air. As the sun got hotter and the road got steeper, the talking died down. After a long period of silence, Jesus broke the silence with a question: "Who do people say that I am?"

"Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others say one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" Jesus asked. "Who do you say I am?"

There was a pause as each one waited for another to answer. Finally, Peter spoke up: "You are the Christ."

That is when Jesus began to tell them that he would die and after three days rise again. No one said a word. The disciples just looked at each other with questioning eyes. Then Peter took Jesus aside and told him he shouldn't be talking like that. Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

Peter just didn't get it. None of the disciples did.

So six days later Jesus took Peter, James and John to the top of a high mountain. There they saw Jesus transfigured and talking with Elijah and with Moses.

"Oh, it is good for us to be here!" said Peter. "Let's not go to Jerusalem. Let's just stay here. We can make three shelters - one for you, one for Elijah, and one for Moses."

This week when I mentioned to someone that this was Transfiguration Sunday, she said, "Oh, I love that story!" I asked her why, and she talked about how wonderful it must have been to be there on that mountaintop, to see Jesus transfigured, to hear the voice from the cloud. It got me thinking about all those thousands, maybe even millions, of Christians who over the years have imagined what that would be like. How many of them didn't think to themselves, "Oh, if only I could have been there! If only I could have seen it with our own eyes! If only I could have heard the voice of God with my own ears.

How many of you have ever wanted to have some kind of mountain top experience? How many of you have ever wanted to catch such a glimpse of glory? How many of you have ever wanted to hear the voice of God? How many of you actually have?

There is something I think you should know: Going to the mountaintop is overrated. That may strike some of you as a strange thing for a pastor to say, but let me say it again: Going to the mountaintop is overrated.

Look at what happened to Peter, James, and John in this story. First of all, when they were up there on that mountaintop, they were not thrilled to be there. They were afraid - not just frightened, they were terrified! Yes, Peter suggested that they stay, but Mark tells us that Peter said this only because he was so shook up that he didn't know what to say. Secondly, as they came down the mountaintop, they were confused. They didn't know what to make of what they had just experienced. They came down from the mountaintop, but they were still in the cloud. They did not have a clear vision - it was all just too foggy. That is why when they got down to the bottom of that mountain, they kept it all to themselves. They didn't know what it all meant. Yes, going to the mountaintop is overrated.

And consider what happens to people who go there, who have that kind of experience. Jesus went to the mountaintop, and they crucified him. Peter went to the mountaintop and he was crucified upside down in Rome. James when to the mountaintop, and King Herod Agrippa had him killed by the sword. John went to the mountaintop, and he was exiled to the Island of Patmos. In our own generation, Martin Luther King, Jr. went to the mountaintop, and he was assassinated.

Do you get the picture? People who go to the mountaintop end up as martyrs. Mountaintop experiences are afforded to those who are called to give their lives completely for the cause of God's kingdom. Few of us really aspire to martyrdom. So do we really want to go to the mountaintop?

Many of my early Transfiguration sermons began with the premise that anybody could have this kind of experience if they were only willing to climb the mountain. In these sermons I encouraged people to strive for just such a glimpse of God's glory. But now I believe that mountaintop experiences are not for everyone. Not every Christian should expect to have a mountaintop experience. Remember, only three of the twelve disciples were taken up to the Mountain of Transfiguration.

So what does this story have to say to ordinary Christians like you and me? It means that the Jesus we see in our everyday life is not transfigured. The Jesus we see today is the Jesus who comes to us in the "little people" - the poor and the sick and the imprisoned of whom Jesus said, "What you do for the least of these my brothers and sisters, you do for me." It is the Jesus who comes to us in those people of faith who reach out to us in love - who put their arms around us, who speak an encouraging word, who share their faith with us, who teach us how to love not only our friends but even our enemies. It is the Jesus who comes to us not in blazing white robes but in unleavened bread and sweet-tasting wine. It is the Jesus who speaks to us not from a mountaintop or a cloud but who speaks to us in the simple yet powerful stories of the Bible.

One of these stories, of course, is the Transfiguration. But this story is not about us - it is about Jesus. There is no place for me in this story - for I am not like Elijah or Moses. I am not even like Peter or James or John. The Transfiguration does not tell us about ourselves, it tells us about our Lord. It tells us who Jesus is - the Son of God. It tells us what he came to do - to suffer and to die and to rise again.

It is enough for us to know the story - we don't have to be in it. It is enough for us to hear what happened on that mountaintop - we don't have to go there. It is enough for us to know Jesus as the Son of God - we don't have to see him in all of his power and glory. It is enough for us to read the Word of God - we don't have to hear a voice from heaven. It is enough for us to know that Jesus died for us and rose again - we don't have to see the risen Lord with our own eyes to believe. Just knowing this story, just knowing this Jesus, gives us new life and helps us to live this new life in our real, everyday world.

Last week Fred Rogers died. For 32 years, Mr. Rogers invited children into his Neighborhood and taught them basic lessons of life. My children watched his show all the time while they were growing up, but I never really understood Mr. Rogers' appeal. I never understood why children would watch this gentle man in a sweater take off his shoes and put on his slippers day after day. It was so different from the other shows on television, like the fast-paced style of Sesame Street and action cartoons.

Now I think that it had something to do with the fact that Mr. Rogers was a real person. He wasn't like Bert and Big Bird. He wasn't like Popeye or Superman. He was a real person - just like people my children knew in real life. And he lived in a real neighborhood - just like the neighborhood in which we lived. So he was able to teach them something about how to be a real person and how to live in real life.

Jesus is not just some kind of divine superhero who appears in a flash of glory on some mountaintop. Jesus is also a real person - who lived in the real world and who teaches us something about how to be a real person and how to live in the real world. So if you came here today expecting to see the glory of a transfigured Jesus, you will probably be disappointed. If you came here to day to hear the voice of God booming from the rafters in this sanctuary, you will probably be disappointed. But if you came here today to encounter a real Jesus, who comes to us in real bread and wine, and who is present in real people of faith, then you have come to the right place. Listen to him. Amen.