Exodus 24:12-18, Psalm 99, Matthew 17:1-9
The Mountain Top Experience. When I first looked at this morning’s scriptures and came up with the title for the sermon, the first thing that came to mind was the movie, The Sound of Music. In the opening scene, the main character, Maria, is standing out in the middle of a high alpine meadow dancing and singing, “The hills are a live with the sound of music…”
It is a breathtaking view of hills and mountains. It is gorgeous and simply awe-inspiring. It is the sort of thing that makes you want to hop on a plane and go tour through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. But what’s funny is at the end of movie, the main characters, the Von Trapp family are escaping. They are running from the Nazi regime that has taken over Austria, and they have set out on foot climbing over and through these same hills and valleys to reach freedom in Switzerland.
In the final scene, you see the entire family cresting the top of a mountain looking down into the safety of Switzerland as the song plays in the background, “Climb every mountain, ford every stream…” I won’t do the dishonor of trying to sing any more of that song, but the whole movie has built up to this point of crescendo…this joyful, goose bump-filled, mountain-top experience where good triumphs over evil.
Again, this movie is meant to be inspirational. You confront the evil of your times, overcome your enemy, and rise up victorious in jubilant song. There’s a small problem with this ecstatic scene. You can only go down from there. The Von Trapp family, although no longer chased by Nazis, would still have to climb safely down from their lofty perch. They had to find safe passage off the mountain, find shelter and make their way to whatever town was close by. Then they would need to start their lives over in a new country. No problem, huh?
The Sound of Music is based on a true story. The real-life, Trapp family did leave their home, possessions, and wealth in Austria, and all they had was what they brought with them. Although many events were exaggerated for the sake of drama, it really does show that the mountain top is not the end of the journey, but really only the beginning.
Our Old Testament and New Testament passages each illustrate a different mountain-top experience. In Exodus, we have Moses, and in Matthew we have Peter, James, and John.
Exodus 24:12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction."
God had just given the Israelites the ten Commandments and the laws to go with them. God had commanded the Israelites to sacrifice bulls, and blood from these bulls would be sprinkled on the people. The Lord was making a covenant…a sacred, binding, and eternal agreement with the people. In the spilling and sprinkling of blood, the sins of the people were “covered”. The people were consecrated made holy and able to stand in the LORD’s presence.
Now God wants Moses to come up the mountain. He has something to give Moses. Moses sets out with his faithful helper, Joshua, and they climb the mountain of God.
Exodus 24:15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
The Lord has come near his people. He has delivered his people out of Egypt, and he desires to stay with his people. Never again will he be far from them. He wants the people to build the Tabernacle…a place where his presence can remain near his people. Remember…God is holy. Any place where the presence of God can remain must be holy, set apart, special. So the LORD has very specific instructions that the Israelites must follow.
Moses remained on top of the mountain in smoke, in flames…in the presence of the Lord. God and his chosen leader were together, in communion…for forty days. This was the mountain top experience for Moses and the people of God. Unfortunately, it could only go downhill from there.
Because Moses was atop the mountain for so long, what happened? The Golden Calf (Exodus 32). The people lost their focus. The fire was still burning on the mountain. The presence of the Lord was still before them, but they lost track of who they were, and what they were supposed to be doing. Their impatience led them to an almost unforgiveable sin. And only through Moses intercession were the people of Israel allowed to live.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, he has focused his teachings on 12 men, his closest friends and followers, who would later be known as the Apostles. But within that close-knit group of 12, Jesus chose 3 who would receive even closer attention…Peter, James, and John.
Matthew 17:1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. This would be another one of those mountain-top experiences. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Moses, who had entered the presence of God, and Elijah who had been called to heaven on a chariot of fire were suddenly in the presence of a transfigured Jesus and three very puzzled disciples. Peter, the go-getter, suggests some shelter for Jesus and his guests. . 4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters-- one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
James, John, and especially Peter were in danger of missing the point. Jesus was demonstrating to his three closest followers who he was. In Matthew 16:16, Peter had only recently declared, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Yet just a few verses later (16:22), Peter rebuked Jesus for saying that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Although Peter knows that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, he really doesn’t understand who Jesus is or what he came to accomplish in earth. For all of his time with and knowledge about Jesus, Peter is still just as lost as he ever was. Jesus brings Peter and the others to the mountain top to show the, once and for all who he is…and Peter’s mind is elsewhere as he wants to build shelters.
17:5 While (Peter) was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
God the Father spoke from heaven, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" Listen to him! LISTEN TO HIM! Peter, James, and John hit the ground at the sound of God’s voice. But as Jesus touched them, their fears were gone and they saw they were alone with Jesus. It really was downhill from there. 17:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
It really is all downhill from there. It is supposed to be. Moses, Peter, James, and John were all given the same mission. Through them, God would be made know to man. Through Moses, the love of God was made know to the Israelites. Through Peter, James, and John, the grace of God would be made to all humanity.
I think that this is why we all have our own little mountain-top experiences with God. They are not to show us how much God loves us when things are great. The mountain-top experiences with God show us how much God still loves us when it is all downhill from there.
Are any of you like Peter? Not paying attention to God’s blessings, faith, power, and love in your life? Then when times get tough, we forget those things and wander off…away from the God who loves us. It is easy to be distracted.
Speaking for myself, probably my greatest mountain-top experience was the time I spent in seminary. Great people, great professors, great worship, great environment…and a great God bringing it all together. I remember on many a day or night, worrying of whining about all the work I had to do…papers, projects, readings, and work. And I think that I missed out on some of those great and miraculous experiences that were going on around me. Things I needed when I left the mountain.
I am not saying that my time here is a valley…far from it. But because at times, I, like Peter, lost my focus of what God was doing or trying to do through me. He was shaping, strengthening, and growing me to be a blessing to others to minister to your needs and to grow you into a powerful people of faith, hope, and love.
I guess that is part of the problem with mountain-top experiences. Like, Peter, we don’t what we had…until it’s gone. What are your mountain-top experiences? Where are the times, places, and circumstances in which you have felt the closest to God? Looking back, how have those moments shaped your faith and prepared you to minister to the needs of others?
I think that some people are addicted to the mountain-top experience. Their faith is defined by their spiritual high points, and not by how God carries in our low ones. This is a shallow faith..a weak faith. Like extreme sports enthusiasts, they simply want to live off that spiritual high and reproduce it as often as they can . They want to go from mountain-top to mountain-top, and that just can’t happen.
But there are others, who never even have those mountain-top moments. They are afraid. They are afraid of what God might do with them. They are afraid of the smoke and fire on the mountain-top and how it might burn them up, hurt them, damage them…change them. The refining fire of faith might burn too hot for their liking, and they might not recognize themselves when they come back down. So they stay in the relative safety of the valley.
Seek the mountain-top. When God calls, go up and look for him there. When he sends you back down, continue to seek him. Remember that his loving presence is with us wherever his path may lead us. Psalm 23:3b He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Mountain-top, valley, or plain…God is always with those who seek his face.
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