Going Up Is Hard, Coming Down Is Dangerous

Sermon- Year B-Last Epiphany-Feb. 22, 2009
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.
I couldn’t wait for this Sunday. You see, I went on a sabbatical a while back, and a huge part of the trip was climbing mountains-or as they kept calling them in Scotland, hills. And every time I climbed one, I thought to myself, “when I get back to Trinity, I’m going to tell them about this!” I climbed some mountains in Ireland, and Scotland, and Spain. And I learned a lot of things. One-it’s hard. Two, it always takes a while, Three, every time we climbed one of these things, we talked about it for days before we climbed, and for days after we came down. One of the things I learned was, weather permitting, the view was always spectacular. And It was always cold and windy at the top-so nobody ever wanted to stay very long. You dreaded the mountains, you cursed the mountains, you talked nonstop about the mountains, and you couldn’t wait for the next one. They were places that demanded your greatest efforts, and gave you a feeling of great accomplishment. They were always the most beautiful places on the walks. But you could never stay very long at any of them. You had to come down. And it was always the walk down from the mountain that most accidents happened. It was coming down when people slipped, or legs gave out, or ankles were turned. Climbing the mountain was hard, coming down the mountain, was dangerous, that’s what we always reminded each other.

Today’s reading from Mark is the story that always ends the season of Epiphany. This is the season of light. It begins with Wise men from the east following a star, and it ends today with Jesus transformed in light on top of a mountain; Every Sunday since January 6th, Epiphany, is supposed to be a story about Jesus as the light. This last story of Epiphany is supposed to be the best one. Jesus goes up on a mountaintop with his three closest disciples, and while he’s there, suddenly the greatest heroes of Judaism appear-Moses and Elijah. And Peter with one foot always in his mouth says, let’s build a shrine here so that people will always know how special this place is-and how wonderful you are. And Jesus says “no”. And God speaks again, as he did when John baptized Jesus in the Jordan,
"This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" And of course, the disciples don’t.
Climbing the mountain is hard, coming down the mountain, is dangerous,
Mark puts this story exactly in the middle of his gospel. It’s half way from beginning to end. It’s as if Mark wants us to see why we’re climbing the mountain in our own faith. He wants us to see what Jesus is really like-what’s at the top, why we need to go on to the summit. Jesus being transfigured, transformed, is what we will be like some day. It’s not just the light around Jesus-this is to show us what resurrection is like-like nothing else on earth. We’re changed into this new being, glimmering, shining. This view of Jesus is a picture of what heaven is like. Not only is Jesus the light, but when we walk with him, we will stand in the light, too. That’s the message.
All the stories in the gospel of Mark leading up to this point have been about Jesus the healer, Jesus the miracle worker, Jesus the wonderworker, the guy who makes storms to cease, and can feed 5000 people with a few loaves of bread. Everything about Jesus leading up to this mountaintop has been about how wonderful he is.
But this is where it ends. The stories change now. Here at Chapter 9, Jesus begins focusing on his teachings. He begins talking a lot about how a Christian, a follower has to give up his life to find it, has to be willing to sacrifice everything for the good news. From here on out, Jesus tells the disciples that it will be very hard. And scary. He begins talking a lot about death. And they don’t understand. This is the guy who can do anything, they say. This is the guy who is flanked by Moses and Elijah, they see. This is the guy who God speaks to, they hear. He can’t die! He cannot be killed! Remember what God says "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" But they won’t. They won’t listen, and they won’t understand. They have fallen in love with the image of Jesus that they want him to be. Sometimes, so do we. We get a picture of who we want Jesus to be, and no matter what we hear in the gospels, or the hard questions that come up in life, we won’t change that image. We work just as hard as Peter, James, and John in wanting Jesus to be only one way. But Jesus begins talking and teaching from this point on in the gospel of Mark, that following him means constantly learning, constantly growing, constantly changing. From this point on, being a follower of his, demands incredible courage, and hope and faith. This is when the gospel starts to get hard. This is when the crowds, the huge numbers of people start drifting away from Jesus. They think he’s changing-but he isn’t. He’s just letting them see all that he is-not just the wonderworker.
This is where Epiphany ends-today. With this great story of light. Wednesday is where the new story, the rest of the story begins. The first half of the gospel of Mark is always more popular than the 2nd half. The miracle worker is always better liked than the teacher. This is the last story about Jesus as the light, now we begin to hear the story of Jesus as the challenge. The first half of Mark is about how wonderful the light is. The second half, is about the cross. On Wednesday, we start the journey to Golgotha. Climbing the mountain is hard, coming down the mountain, is dangerous.
Mark 9:2-9
9:2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
9:3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.
9:4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
9:5 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
9:6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.
9:7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!"
9:8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9:9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.