Come Down from the Mountain
A sermon for August 6, 2006
Luke 9:28-36(37-43)
Did you see that crowd yesterday? I was in my house making dinner for Peter, my
husband, and for Jesus and the other disciples.
Mother was helping me and I heard a noise out in the street and ran out
to see what was going on. Jesus had
taken Peter and James and John up on the mountain to pray and they had been
gone for two days. Everybody was waiting
for them to come back. And there was
this man who's little boy had a demon.
He came looking for Jesus but couldn't find him. The disciples who were here tried to heal the
little boy, but they couldn't. They
didn't really know how. I bet if Peter
had been there, he could have healed him.
But they weren’t back from the mountain yet. It was getting a little late and I was
beginning to worry about them - I mean, you never know what you might run into
up on the mountain. A storm could blow
up, or there might be lions or wolves up there and no telling what else.
Anyway, that little boy was really in a bad way. He would just fall down and roll around on the
ground - as if it weren't dusty enough without him kicking up all that
dirt. And making the worse noises you've
ever heard in your life. And he was
foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog.
It was really scary! Everyone was
trying to move out of the way at the same time and running into each other - it
was a mess.
But then I heard a voice - Jesus' voice asking what
was going on. The man began to explain
about his son and how the disciples had tried to cure him and nothing had
worked... I could tell Jesus was
upset... Well, I guess I might be upset,
too, coming down from the mountain where I'd had been praying and having to go
back to work so soon... But that didn't
seem to be the problem, Jesus seemed to be disappointed in his disciples - sort
of like they had failed a test of some kind.
I didn't really understand it.
But... last night Peter told me the most amazing
story. Of course, he told me not to tell
anyone - but I know you won't tell anyone.
He said they went up on the mountain - just like they've done before and
settled down to pray. Jesus was a little
higher up the mountain than they were - and the day was warm and they were
getting sleepy. Peter said he could
hardly hold his eyes open, and his head kept nodding... you know how it does...
Anyway, he said that he suddenly noticed two people
standing up by Jesus - he didn't know who they were or how they got there. They hadn't gone past him and James and
John. And, Jesus was looking very
strange - his face was glowing so bright, you could hardly look at it and his
clothes were impossibly white - almost like shimmering lights.
Peter remembered the story about Moses going up on the
mountain and coming down and his face was so bright that people couldn't stand
to look at it and he had to cover it with a veil. and he figured out that one
of the two men standing by Jesus must be Moses.
That meant the other man almost had to be Elijah. Peter said that they were really scared --
there was something going on that they didn't understand. But at the same time, it was awesome, really
kind of exciting. But the men said
something about his leaving - from
Peter said he didn't have the words to explain what he
felt - he felt overpowered by God and more than anything else, he wanted to
hang on to the moment - what he had seen, what he felt - he was afraid to let
it go. He said that he just blurted out
the first thing that came to his mind, "Master, let's stay here and make
three booths - one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He told me that he didn't want to loose
that feeling, he wanted to stay there and bask in God's glory.
He said that a cloud came over them just as he said
that and there was a voice that came out of the cloud. It said, "This is my Son, listen to
him." Peter said that he just fell
back down because the voice of God rolled like thunder - but there was no
mistaking what it said. Jesus is the Son
of God. Well, I knew it all along - but
you know how it is with men - they have to be told everything.
Peter said that he didn't ever want to come down from
that mountain. Once the cloud lifted it
was more peaceful than anything they had experienced. But that night, Jesus told them they had to
go back down the mountain. He said there
was still work to do in the valley below.
He said there were people who were broken and ill, whose lives were torn
and who lived without hope. He said that
people needed to know that the
Jesus told them that they had been given this
experience so that they could see for themselves God’s glory and be certain of
his power and presence. But that they
were to take that knowledge and use it to reach out to those who are in need.
After the story Peter told me, and watching Jesus heal that little boy, I saw the reason for them to come back down the mountain. It's down here that God is needed. I saw God at work yesterday in Jesus right here in our small town.
Please feel free to
comment. Send an email to me at nan@doerrworks.com