The Transfiguration of Our Lord—March 06, 2011

Matthew 6:24-34

“Which Mountain”* Rev. John C. Wohlrabe, Jr., Th.D.

Worship Report

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the , Amen.

Friends of and Friends of mine: During the summer of 1985, I spent three exciting weeks as a Naval Reserve Chaplain with the 3/24 Marines, attending Mountain Warfare Training in Bridgeport, CA, located in the High Sierra Mountains just east of Yosemite National Park. In addition to basic survival training, mountain climbing, repelling, learning to traverse canyons on one, two, and three rope bridges, learning to cross raging mountain streams by linking arms and forming a chain, as well as other skills, there was a fair amount of time spent on land navigation. This is before GPS, and so everything was done simply using topographical maps and compasses. I spent one day with a unit of Marine snipers, who were tasked with climbing to the top of a mountain ridgeline to track an infantry company that was hiking through the valley. By the way, Marine snipers are very interesting individuals to hang out with; they have an especially bizarre sense of humor! After climbing up several thousand feet, we got to the top of what we thought was the right mountain ridge, only to discover that we were in the wrong place. It took another hour or so of humping over rocks and up steep mountain sides before we got to the right place, and could then follow the progress of the other Marines hiking through the valley.

Ending up on the wrong mountain is more common than we may think. Like Peter in today’s lesson, we may find ourselves on a mountain where Jesus does not want us to stay. Our text is the Gospel lesson for today, specifically these verses (Matt. 17:1-3): “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them and , talking with him.” Thus far ’s Word.

Jesus takes three select disciples, Peter, James, and John, to the top of a mountain were his appearance is transformed to brilliant light, revealing his heavenly glory, and where he meets with Moses and Elijah. Not only where Moses and Elijah involved in preparing the way for the , not only was there a heavenly connection, but there is a connection with mountains that they share with Jesus as well. Let’s take a closer look at those mountains and see what we can learn.

God used various mountains to make known his plan of salvation in Jesus. God revealed his Law through Moses on . God’s holiness and righteousness were displayed there as Moses entered the cloud, which was covering the full glory of the Lord. Moses ascended the mountain to retrieve the tablets of stone that contained Commandments, the summary of God’s Law. And so, Moses is with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration because he is the prophet through whom God gave the Law. The chief purpose of the Law is to show us that we are unrighteous sinners in desperate need of a Savior.

God displayed his power through the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel. There Elijah engaged in a contest with the false prophets of the pagan of the Canaanites: 450 prophets of and 400 prophets of Asherah. The false prophets were to build an altar and pile up wood upon which a sacrificed bull was laid. Elijah would do the same. The false prophets were to pray to their gods to send lightning to burn up the bull. But, there was no answer. Nothing happened. Then Elijah built an altar to the true God, put wood and the bull on it, then had it doused with water. God sent fire from heaven that consumed the wood, the bull, even the altar. Then Elijah slew all the false prophets. Elijah is with Jesus at the transfiguration because he is a powerful prophet. Through Elijah, God demonstrated his power to judge and to save.

In our Gospel lesson for today, God revealed the heavenly glory of his Son on the Mount of Transfiguration. On what Bible scholars think was either or Mount Herman, Jesus appeared in his glory to three of his disciples. Peter, James, and John were shown that God has come to live with us. Instead of Jesus appearing in his state of humiliation as he had to this point, he showed himself in his state of exaltation. He is truly God made flesh.

Yet, none of these mountains, Mount Sinai showing us Law, Mount Carmel showing us power, or Mount Tabor showing us glory, completes the revelation of Jesus: why he came to the world and what he came to do. The Law is not the mountain of salvation – not Mount Sinai. Peter wanted to go no further than that mountain. He wanted to stay up there with the old covenant given through Moses. But the Law is the wrong mountain to climb for salvation. God’s Law shows us that we are sinners through and through. We are born in sin, and we sin daily, in thought, word, and deed. We cannot save ourselves by trying to follow the words of Moses in the Law. If you stay on Mount Sinai, you are left only in despair or delusional self- righteousness.

Power is not the right mountain either – not Mount Carmel. Our Gospel lesson today shows us that Peter really got caught up in it all. This was heady stuff – hobnobbing with the big shots: Jesus, Moses, and Elijah; a power lunch that he wanted to go on and on. But power is the wrong mountain also. We have all used power to influence friends, to try to dominate members of our own families, to pursue positions or prestige at work, even within our congregation or possibly in other organizations. And over the course of history, the organized church has even gotten caught up in power as well. But, worldly power is fleeting, and delusional. Power over our real foes, sin, death, and the , does not belong to us. It is not within our feeble power.

Glory is the wrong mountain also. It is a cliff that leads to certain death. Peter wanted to stay and bask in the glory of our Lord’s transfiguration. It’s very easy to get caught up in titles and degrees and kudos. But, even worse, we can get caught up in thinking that this is God’s way. That is what is proclaimed by so many T.V. preachers and many so-called “evangelical” churches. That is what one finds in so many “how to” books that are popular in Christian book stores. If you want something bad enough, if you pray hard enough, if you have enough faith, then God will give it to you. Name it and claim it! This is the glory theology that is so prevalent in our society. But, our dependence on earthly glory is only one step away from death. In fact, all three mountains, Sinai, Carmel, and Tabor, if that is where we want to stay, are not only the wrong mountains, but they leave us dangerously close to death, spiritual and eternal death.

Even the world’s best mountain climbers leave a mess behind them. We might expect that Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, would be a place of pristine beauty as a result of its remote location. Nothing could be further from the truth. Fifty years of assaults on the peak by sizable climbing parties have left an incredible mound of garbage. Discarded camp equipment, half-eaten food, and empty oxygen canisters litter the climbing routes. In recent years volunteers have carted tons of garbage off the mountain. Yet, the ugliness and the danger that this garbage causes for those who follow remain.

The same may be said of our lives. As we are driven by our sin to climb wrong mountain after wrong mountain, we may make vain attempts to clean up after ourselves. The truth is that the paths of our lives are littered with the gruesome results of our sin. Discarded truths, disregarded morals, and forgotten integrity line the trails we’ve climbed. Even Peter, having climbed a very good mountain, the Mount of Transfiguration, would have left a nasty mess behind – not just the tents that he wanted to build, but his sin and our sin would still be strewn about, if Peter had his way, if Jesus had not led them down off that mountain. It doesn’t matter what kind of mountain we are climbing, our sin is ugly and dangerous.

Thank God that Jesus came down off the Mount of Transfiguration to climb one more mountain for us and for all people: Mount Calvary. On that mountain, the deadly garbage of our sin was destroyed forever. On Mount Calvary, God revealed how far he would go to forgive our sin. Like Peter, we may be tempted to put up a tent on the wrong mountain: a mountain of Law, or of power, or of glory. But salvation was earned only on the other mountain, Mount Calvary. There, on that mountain, Jesus is shown as the one and only one who can deal with sin. Only he fulfills the Law, has all power over sin, death, and the devil, and lives the full glory of God. Only Jesus can save us from the sin of trying to climb and live on the wrong mountains. Jesus’ holy life, his death on Calvary’s cross, and his glorious resurrection is God’s plan for our salvation. We are connected to Jesus’ death and resurrection through faith, faith that God gives us in Holy Baptism and through His Word. Through faith in Christ, we are forgiven and have new life.

Mount Calvary reveals that Jesus himself is the right mountain. He is everything that God has to say. The Father’s voice at the Mount of Transfiguration tells us to listen to Jesus. We believe and know that all of Scripture points to Jesus. Every word of Scripture, even other mountain top events, point to Jesus. There is not one thing that we can do, no mountain we can climb, that would add anything to who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

Like a GPS system, Jesus also takes away the fear of being on the wrong mountain. There are so many uncertainties in life, and left to ourselves, with nothing but a map and compass, and maybe not even that, we can easily get lost; we can worry; we can lose the joy that God intended for us. Like the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, even the glory of God would terrify us if we are still in our sin. But Jesus did not come to us and remain with us in his overwhelming glory. In his state of humiliation he humbled himself all the way to death on the cross on Mount Calvary. His overwhelming sacrificial love for us takes away all fear. In Jesus, we know we are on the right mountain.

So, as we leave God’s house today, we are coming down off the Mount of Transfiguration. We have travelled with Peter, James, and John climbing the mountains of the Law, and power, and glory. We have also been assured of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ. And so, on this coming Wednesday, we will follow Jesus as we begin our Lenten journey. Today we have a glimpse of our Lord’s glory and we sing our final “alleluias” for awhile. But, Lent is not to be seen as something we do, our striving and climbing. Rather, we are brought along by Jesus to Mount Calvary, there to see his glory in the salvation that he won for you, for me, and for all people. With Jesus Christ, our Lord Savior, we are always on the right mountain. Amen.

*From a sermon outline by Terry Forke, “Wrong Mountain!” Concordia Pulpit Resources 21 (November 28, 2010-March 6, 2011), pp. 45-46.