When I was in high school the song, “God is watching us” by Bette Midler was popular. It was on the radio and when the touring band from PLU came through, they sang it for our youth lock in. The lyrics say, “God is watching us from a distance.” But although there might be some truths in that song, I thought that song had it all wrong. The parts it got right are that God doesn’t see friends and enemies but people and the things we argue and fight about are ridiculous. The part I couldn’t believe is that God is at all distant.
Jesus goes up the mountain top, to be like Moses. People thought the mountains were closer to God, so they located God there and found that climbing mountains brought God and humans together. On Mt. Sinai, Moses went up and had a conversation with God, was transfigured with a glowing face, and received the 10 Commandments. Jesus goes up on the Mountain top at the transfiguration, hears God’s voice like a bookend to God’s voice at his baptism, turning him from teaching and healing to head toward the cross.
In Jesus God has done the opposite of see us from a distance. People thought God was distant, on the Mountain, in the temple, coming only through the priest, available if you had the right sacrifices. God in Jesus bridges that distance. He bridges the distance between heaven and earth, God and humankind, God’s experience and self-understanding and human experience and self-understanding, between glory and ordinary life, between the hills and valleys and all the separations between people. Make straight the way of the Lord, every valley shall lifted up and every mountain shall be brought low, because if MThere is a perceived separation, that is damaging and artificial. It is not part of how God sees the creation and not part of God’s plan for all creation, that all creation would be drawn to God.
The disciples like this separation. They see Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus and they want more. This is what it looked like in old times, we like the familiarity, feeling special and separate. It’s not that mountains don’t have their place. Jesus often goes up on a mountain to pray and get a break. Mountains are places to stop and refresh, to celebrate.
In the book Canoeing the Mountains, there is a reference when you’re in the midst of ministry and God is calling you to something unknown or something bigger than you, it can be important to stop and look from a couple of perspectives. It’s important to see the view from the balcony and from the dance floor. When you go up in a balcony, you can see all kinds of things you couldn’t see before. You can see the flow of the people on the dance floor, where the pinch points are, who is active and who is sitting on the sidelines. The balcony is a good place to make an evaluation. But you can’t stay in the balcony. You get down on the dance floor and you see the perspective from the messy middle, where the rubber hits the road, what is working and what could be better from there.
Think of our stained glass window we just repaired. Because people were going up to the tower to make repairs, they saw something else that could be improved and that was bowing glass. We all started to notice a window we had taken for granted and started to notice the play of the light and other things about this church. But the property committee couldn’t stay up there. That would be ridiculous. They came down. We raised money down here. We cast a vision of what could be. We responded to each other and unified around a project. We entered some difficult days when the glass studio burned, but we were patient. Our timeline stretched. Finally the day come when we entrusted a window worth quite a lot to those who could revive it and Steve and Grant went to work repairing the surrounding wood. The light was different while it was away from us and now it glitters and shines.
In the balcony, on the mountain, from a distance, we find inspiration. We give thanks for those who have gone before. We keep our eye out for what is bowing and about to buckle in the people we meet. We are looking for signs of stress. We’re looking to build each other up. We don’t stay up in the balcony, or on the mountain, because the mountains are brought low to make a way in the wilderness and prepare the way of the LORD. Jesus came be a person, to feel what we feel, even the stress, even to the point of breaking. So we too don’t shy away from going out into the world to notice those who are struggling and connect with them. We don’t fix them but we find ourselves becoming allies in solidarity. Jesus heart is with the people who are hurting and that's where we are called to go.
In the transfiguration, Jesus shows how powerful he is. He has the connections to the purpose and power of Moses and Elijah. Peter wants to use that power to protect Jesus from the crowds waiting at the foot of the mountain. Jesus just ignores Peter and heads back down into the thick of it.
Church can be like the mountaintop for a lot of us where we hear God pronounce Jesus the beloved Son, where we feel connected with the great people of faith that have gone before, where our cup is filled and we behold the glory of God. But we can’t stay here. We get to go out to the dance floor and work alongside Jesus in all the marginalized. We get to bear Jesus' heart to a hurting world.
We might say like Peter says, “It is good Lord to be here.” Here is another tool in our toolbox, along with looking from the balcony and dance floor. To evaluate, to see what's working and what could be better. That’s evaluation. We go up to the mountain so we see things other people don’t see, and what we see illumined is of value going forward. It can help us find the way instead of going in circles all the time. In your meetings I invite you to use the tool of evaluation, what is going well, what could be improved. Keep it positive. We can always get better. What better ways can we serve God and serve our neighbor? What is Jesus heart longing for? How can we bring the Kingdom of God with us for the hungry and hurting ones.
Today we join Jesus on the mountaintop. Ash Wednesday we will turn with him toward the cross. Yet we know we are not alone. It’s a difficult journey and even Jesus asks that this cup may be taken from him, yet we go because Jesus goes to all our places of suffering and pain. There is no distance between us.
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