A Glimpse of the Future
Posted on Feb 26, 2017 by David Whetter
For the past several weeks we have been reading through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which according to Matthew, came at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. But today, we fast-forward into the heart of Jesus ministry. Much has happened since Jesus gave that long sermon to his disciples. He has traveled throughout the country sharing the good news of God’s kingdom. He has healed many. He has fed the 5000. He has called more disciples. He has been teaching in parables and he has been challenging the religious leadership. He has made quite a name for himself and people are talking about him. Just the week before our story begins today, Jesus had asked his disciples what the people were saying about him and he asked them who they thought Jesus was. To this, Simon Peter proclaimed, “Your are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Wow! Finally someone said it out loud. Finally, we know who Jesus is. Jesus praises Peter for listening to God and for being able to see who Jesus really is, but then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah (Matthew 16:16-20).
Now, as soon as Jesus admitted to being the Messiah, he then shared with his disciples for the first time that he would be crucified and raised from the dead. But, that made no sense to them, after all, he just admitted to being the Messiah. The Messiah was not to be killed and, so, Peter, the one who had literally just proclaimed him to be Messiah, tells Jesus, no way. It cannot happen, to which Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things" (16:23).
Now, six days later, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up to the top of the mountain where they encounter Jesus transfigured in all his glory and God’s voice. Peter moves from being a stumbling block to being a witness in less than a week and now Peter, and the others with him, not only proclaimed with their voices that Jesus was the Messiah, now they had seen it. On this day they moved one step closer to fully understanding just who Jesus was, and is. They witnessed a glimpse of the future.
Now I think there are two interesting reactions to point out here. First, note that once the disciples had seen Jesus in all his glory, they, specifically Peter, wanted to stay right there. This was fun. This was exciting. This was everything they had dreamed the Messiah to be, and so Peter says, “Lord, let’s stay right here.” And before we knock Peter for what he said, let’s take a moment to point out that we do that too, don’t we? When things are going well, don’t we want to just stay in the moment and not move on? Last year, we did some awesome work her at Salem and we got to a great place where everyone was excited about moving forward, finding ways to improve and expand our facility and our ministries. But, now, we are in the time that the work has to start. The pledges have to be made, work needs to be done, and the unknown of what it will all bring sets in and, so, we say, “Let’s wait. We need more information. Let’s stay where we are because it is more fun and the work ahead seems really hard.” In essence, we are saying Lord, let’s build some dwelling places right here and stay on our mountaintop.
But, God has something to say about that notion and that brings me to my second observation of what happened on that mountaintop. As soon as Peter had suggested they stay there and while he was still speaking, God interrupted him and said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (17:5). God gave the disciples a small glimpse of their future when they witness Jesus in all his glory and then God spoke and sent them into action by saying, “Listen to him!” It is so east to get caught up in the glory of what our future might be that we often freeze right where we are. We often are overcome with fear because God’s work is hard and it’s messy and it often requires that we enter into relationships with people we may not know and, worse, yet, people we may not even like.
But, in the midst of that fear Jesus speaks, “Get up and do not be afraid” (17:7), and the disciples did listen and Jesus began to lead them down the hill. Jesus was leading them back to the really hard work. You see, as hard as it is to climb up the mountain and as thrilling as it is to have that mountaintop experience, the real work, the really hard part was going down that mountain to face what was below.
Last summer our daughter and son-in-law took a trip to Japan and while they were there they climbed to the top of Mount Fuji. To get to the summit took a day and a half. After the first day of hiking they were thrilled to stop and rest for the night, but after only about four hours of sleep, they were up and climbing again, so they could get to the top for sunrise where they saw the world transform from darkness into light at sunrise. After spending only a short time taking in the sights and sounds at the top of the summit, it was time to do the really hard part of the hike, go down the mountain. When they were done, their legs ached and muscles they didn’t even know they had hurt. My son-in-law, Karson, said when it was over, I would climb up a hundred more times, as long as I could have someone carry me down. Coming down the mountain is work, especially when we know when we get to the bottom, the work that lies ahead is the hardest we will ever do.
When Jesus and the disciples arrived at the bottom of the mountain, they had to begin curing people. They had to begin hearing about and preparing for Jesus’ persecution, crucifixion and resurrection. They had to face the religious and secular leadership and challenge their ways. They had do the work of caring for the poor and seeking to bring about justice. That mountaintop experience was only meant to prepare them for the work that lied ahead. It was only meant to give them a glimpse of their future.
And today, that is where we are. We took time in the Season of Advent to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus. When we got to that mountaintop, we celebrated the birth of Christ, Immanuel, and then we enjoyed this Season of Epiphany as we were awed by learning who Jesus really was, God’s only Son. But now, it is time to begin preparing ourselves to head down the mountain
Our work here at Salem has just begun. We have to come down the mountain so we can continue to feed the hungry, seek justice in an unjust world, support and care for the poor, the homeless, the refugee, and all in need. And, we must find ways to grow God’s church.
The bottom line is this; the work God calls us to scares us and if left to our own devises we would prefer to avoid it by staying on the mountaintops of our lives. So, God says, listen to my Son and follow him. Brothers and sisters, God’s work is scary. It is scary to speak out for justice and to stand up to the establishment. It’s scary to invite people you know to come and experience Christ in this place, but there is no greater reward than to see people’s lives transformed, once they experience Christ in a community like Salem. We are an incredible faith community, and with Christ in our midst, we have the given the responsibility to share this great story. So, get up and do not be afraid, and listen to Jesus calling us to be his church and to grow his church. Amen.