Sermon-Year A-1st Lent-2-10-08
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

Ah, Lent. How about a good sermon about temptation? Three male Episcopal priests are out in a boat on a lake, fishing. The fish were not biting, and the guys were doing a lot of talking. They knew that confession is always good for the soul, so they decided to share with each other that one sin that gave them the most trouble in their spiritual lives.
The first priest said his weakness was materialism. He really, really liked the better things in life, and whenever he moved between churches, his first consideration was always the size of the salary offered. The second priest said his weakness was a little addiction to betting. He would bet on football, golf, and horses at the track, and he worried that it was going to get out of hand. The third priest, who was sitting in the back of the boat, just turned the boat for shore and was rowing for the dock at top speed. The other two priests said, “Hey, what's the hurry? You haven't made your confession yet!” The third priest said, “Well, my worst sin is gossip, and I just can't wait to get home!”
Where were we last Sunday, geographically? Can you remember? The transfiguration? Where? Right, on a mountaintop. This week we return to a mountaintop-only things are much different. Jesus, in the gospel of Matthew was just baptized, and he comes up out of the water and the Holy Spirit rests upon him. And “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” He has this glorious moment in the river Jordan, and then BAM-he’s driven into the wilderness to be tempted. As a rule, I have found this to be true about great spiritual experiences-glory then challenge. The Cursillistas first explained this to me a long time ago-when we at our highest-that’s when we’re most vulnerable to that voice whispering in our head. The fourth day, they call it. So Jesus goes, AGAIN to the mountaintop-only this time it’s not wonderful. It’s terrible. He fasts 40 days. And then the voice starts whispering in his ear. Think of the hungry people, think of all the good you can do, think of the suffering that you can end-just turn stones into bread.
Years ago Bob Greene, the columnist for the Chicago Sun Times wrote a story about a doctor in the poor part of town who asked people only to pay what they could for a visit.
Greene wrote the article without mentioning the doctor’s name or where his office was. It was such a popular article he decided to write a follow up piece, only this time he would mention the doctor’s name-so many people wanted to contribute to his work. So Greene interviewed him again, but this time the doctor said, no mention of my name or where I am. And Greene said, “oh, you’re worried about getting flooded with patients.” “No,” the doctor said, “I know how to set limits.” “You concerned that this might happen or that”, Greene asked. “No,” the doctor said, “I’m worried that I might start doing this for the wrong reasons.”
Did you hear the first reading for today, the story of Adam and Eve? Hear is humanity in a lush green fertile rich garden. Everything we would ever want. All we have to do is, not to try to grab the power to be God. And we can’t avoid it. We eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We want so desperately to be in charge of our world. Jesus is in a windswept barren desolate wilderness-no food. And he’s asked to become powerful like God-and change this wilderness mountaintop into a paradise-a land of bread and plenty. And he says no. There’s a reason we have these two lessons on the same Sunday. We’re supposed to be hearing something about ourselves-and about temptation. Do you know what tempts you-and I don’t mean, chocolate, or desserts. I mean the real stuff, do you know in what ways you are tempted, lured, enticed? Do we ever really know what the voice is that whispers in our head, the voice that always says, “you can have more.”
Today we turn in our Adopt-a-Child Size commitments. Last year we helped clothe over 500 children-give them complete winter outfits. It’s not easy coming up with that much money, that much effort. Years ago Teresa was approached by a large company that said to her, “we will underwrite the whole program-buy all the clothes for all the kids, but we need to take the blessing of the commitments and bags out of the equation-and we need a big picture with us and the kids and the company name .” And Teresa came to me and said, “this is a dream come true, but I’m not sure what to do.” I would trust Teresa in any decision, so I asked her, “what do you think we should do?” And she said, “blessing the pieces of paper and the clothes are too important, being anonymous and letting the parents get the credit for these clothes is too important-I think we have to turn it down.” And so we did. And it was a very hard year. Every temptation for Jesus is a request to do good-too quickly. Every offer by the adversary is the voice in each of our heads that speaks to us about what we want and who we are, you can have it all, the voice says, you can be it all. Just skip over this one step.
Satan, the adversary was offering Jesus everything that Jesus said that he came for-to give people the bread of life, to inspire folks to trust in God, to live as good citizens of a new kingdom. Why does Jesus keep saying “no”.
Years ago I was visiting a young man in jail. And I asked him, “what do you think got you here?” And he thought about it for awhile and said, “I think I tried to take too many shortcuts. I wanted it all”
Testing, temptation isn’t the problem. Wanting to get the good stuff without walking the whole journey-that’s the problem. Wanting the miracles without the sacrifice, wanting the resurrection without the cross. Adam and Eve had it all, and still wanted to be God. Jesus is on the mountaintop with nothing-and refuses to grab it all. One preacher said, “Jesus let stones be stones.” How hard that had to be. Let stones be stones.
We will never have a chance to be all powerful. We won’t be given the opportunity to change rocks into croissants. But every day I hear a voice inside my head that offers me the endzone without running down the field. Every day we all have chances to take shortcuts to what we want, to who we want to be. And each shortcut robs us of our faith and our self.
It’s Lent, the time for growing in self-knowledge and becoming aware of the ways we take shortcuts, choose the easy way, listen to the whisper in our ear that says “you can get there easier, quicker-without going through the all the trouble.”
This is part of the mountaintop, too. Stay strong, take the long road. This is part of the journey up the mountain, too.
Matthew 4:1-11
4:1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 4:2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 4:3 The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 4:6 saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" 4:7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 4:9 and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 4:10 Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

Get up, don’t be afraid.

We don't stay long on the mountaintop Feb.3 sermon

Sermon-Year A-Last Sunday after Epiphany-2-3-08
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
The last Sunday, every year, of Epiphany, ends with this story. Jesus takes his closest disciples, they go to the top of a mountain. And while they are up there, the two greatest figures from Jewish history, Moses, the greatest figure of the Law, and Elijah, the greatest prophet, stand next to Jesus. And Peter is so excited he wants to build 3 tents there to memorialize the moment. A bright cloud appears and God’s voice out of a cloud says, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" And Jesus picks up the terrified disciples off the ground and tells them "Get up and do not be afraid." And Moses and Elijah disappear-and Jesus tells them, “Don’t tell anyone about this til I am gone.”A great story. It’s called, the Transfiguration. Jesus is “changed” transfigured, right in front of them, and the disciples are in awe that God is coming to them through Jesus.
I have been to a few mountain tops, and this is what I have learned-It takes a long time to get to the top of the mountain. You never stay there very long. We don’t live our lives on top of the mountain. But we have to go there, for the rest of life to make sense.
One man who had a mountain top experience was Sir Edmond Hillary who died about 3 weeks ago. On May 19, 1953, Sir Edmond Hillary, and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, reached the top of Mount Everest. The first two people ever to literally be, on top of the world. After Hillary had climbed Mount Everest, be became an overnight celebrity. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. His name became a household word around the world. He had the famous quote-“why did you climb Mount Everest? ("Because it’s there.”) He became a spokesperson for Sears-Robuck and company. His name appeared on sleeping bags, tents, and boot laces. And He could have lived in his little dwelling of success for the rest of his life. But he didn’t! He went back to Nepal. Back to those people, the Sherpas, whom he had grown to know and appreciate and respect and love.And he was used his fame to bring them help. In a speech some years ago, Hillary recounted how an elderly Sherpa from Khumjung village, the hometown of most of the Sherpas on his Everest ascent, had come to him a few years after that expedition and said, "(big Sahib), our children have eyes but they are blind and can not see. Therefore, we want you to open their eyes by building a school in our village of Khumjung.” This touched the heart of Sir Edmund Hillary and he immediately organized to raise funds and built the first school in Khumjung village in 1961 " So Hillary established the Himalayan Trust, and in 1961 a three-room schoolhouse was built in Khumjung with funds raised by Hillary. In its first decade the fund focused on education and health. Since then the trust has built 27 schools, two hospitals, 12 medical clinics, numerous bridges, airfields, reforested valleys and slopes in the many areas of Nepal. He would spent more than half the year traveling the world, raising money for the trust and supervising the various projects undertaken with the funds he’s raised. And he has continued doing this for more than forty years. Whenever Sir Edmund was asked his occupation, he always just said that he was a beekeeper.’
It took Hillary a long time to get to the top of the mountain. He stayed on top 15 minutes. He took a picture of Norgay, the sherpa (Norgay did not understand how to take a picture), but Tenzing left chocolates as an offering on the mountaintop, Hillary left a cross, and they headed down. Hillary did not live his life on top of the mountain. But he had to go there, for the rest of life to make sense. And after that his life, and the life of the Nepalese people was never the same.
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. We walk for forty days through repentance and self-examination, we struggle to become better Christians, we work at keeping our self-imposed disciplines, and it is not easy. Just before Lent every year we walk with Jesus to the top of this mountain for the Transfiguration. It’s as if we have to have go to the Mountaintop, before we can spend our life in the valley. We have to see Jesus shine, before we can walk to the cross.
Back in the early 1980s, I took a youth group, and we climbed to the top of Mount Mitchell in North Carolina-the highest mountain east of the Mississippi. You know what these trips entail-lots of fundraisers, hundreds of hours of planning and preparation, days of driving. And we spent about 45 minutes on top of the mountain. But years later when I talk to the kids from that group (all middle aged now) they still talk about all that it took to get to the top-and what it was like. It takes a long time to get to the top of the mountain. You never stay there very long. We don’t live our lives on top of the mountain. But we have to go there, for the rest of life to make sense.
In the sequence of things in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus and his friends head down the mountain and shortly after that walk towards Jerusalem and his death. It’s as if the disciples needed to have this mountaintop vision before they faced the long hard days ahead. We do, also. We need to have this compelling vision, this driving image that leads us on in our faith. We have to stand on top of a mountain, if only for a few minutes, to make sense of the rest of our lives. We have to see the glory, have to experience the shining, if our faith is be strong enough to sustain us all the way through to the end of our journey.
I have told many of you of this, but 8 miles off the coast of Ireland there is a rock that juts up out of the sea. In the 600s some Irish monks landed there, built a rock stairway to the top, and created a monastery 750 feet up this island. They lived on seaweed, birds eggs, and fish. They built beehive huts made out of rocks. And for 600 years they worshipped there. When Deborah and I went to Ireland the first time, we couldn’t go there, because the seas were too rough, and the boats only go there when conditions are perfect-there is no dock. When we went the second time, the boats didn’t go the first day, and the second day we were told to go down and see if the boats would go out. And they did, and we went to the top of Skellig Michael. They only let you stay on the island 2 hours, and that includes going up, and coming down. But it was truly a mountaintop experience.
It takes a long time to get to the top of a mountain. You never stay there very long. We don’t live our lives on top of the mountain. But we have to go there, for the rest of life to make sense. You don’t have to climb a mountain, to have a mountaintop experience. But you have to have an experience of Jesus, you have to experience the power and the glory and the love, for the valley to make sense.
Today we hear about the mountaintop. Wednesday we start the journey through the valley. The only way Lent makes sense, is because we have to see the transfiguration, for the Cross to make sense. We have to seen what the end will be like. It takes a long time to get to the top of a mountain. You never stay there very long. But for our journey through the valley to make sense, we have to have an experience of heaven to drive us on. That is what today’s vision is, that is the message, we climb to the top of the mountain in our lives, so we know why we are walking through the valley.
my Lenten verse: 17:7 Jesus touched them and said, "Get up, do not be afraid."
Matthew 17:1-9
17:1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.17:2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.17:3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.17:4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."17:5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"17:6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.17:7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid."17:8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.17:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."



Matthew 17:1-9
17:1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.17:2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.17:3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.17:4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."17:5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"17:6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.17:7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid."17:8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.17:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."