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THE BLINDNESS OF NARROWNESS
MARK 9:2-8 SERMON 03-25-12
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, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 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. He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him! Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
One of the greatest things that can be said about our Christian faith is that it combines devotional life with social action. Through worship and service, on the mountain and in the valley, we reach up to God and out to others. We see this dramatically in the scripture this morning because in the Transformation story, we see beautifully outlined three different approaches to religion.
First, there are the Pietists, symbolized here by Simon Peter. They say, Let’s just stay up here on this mountaintop. Let’s just stay here and worship and not get dirtied by the problems of the world.
Second, there are the social activists, symbolized here by the other disciples. If you read further in Mark’s Gospel you find that they are down in the valley trying to heal, but they can’t do it because they have no power; they have no power because they have not been up on the mountain.
And third, there is the approach of Jesus. He combines the first two. He puts worship and service together. He puts devotion and social action together. He goes up on the mountain to worship and then comes down into the valley to heal.
The message is Don’t be blinded by narrowness! Don’t try to separate the devotional life from social action. They go together. They remind us of the great safety rules of the soul. Let me explain what I mean.
Early on in life we are all taught important safety rules. At home, in church and in school we learn these valuable safety rules that serve us well, that protect us, and hopefully that stay with us for a lifetime. Things like Don’t hit! Don’t push! Don’t throw things! Don’t jaywalk! Don’t ever put anything in your ear, but your elbow! And then there is the significant safety rule from Miss Piggy of the Muppets: Don’t ever eat anything that’s bigger than you!
One of the mostly widely known safety rules for railroad crossings is Stop, Look, and Listen before you cross. That’s good advice for railroad crossings but it is also good guidance for spiritual living. It’s a good helpful safety rule for the soul.
This is what Jesus does here in Mark 9 as he goes up on the Mount of Transfiguration. He has come to a crucial intersection in his life. He is ready to set his face toward Jerusalem and head toward that showdown in the Holy City. He goes up on the mountain to stop, look and listen before he heads to the cross. Remember the story with me.
Jesus has had a very popular and successful ministry in Galilee. He has been healing people, helping people, inspiring people, and comforting people. Great crowds are coming out to see him, hear him and touch him. Everything’s going great in Galilee, but not so in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem the religious authorities are out to get him. Yet, Jesus is determined to go to Jerusalem and lay his life on the line for the people. But before he does that, before he makes that journey, before he crosses that crucial intersection, he goes up on the mountain to stop, look, and listen!
Jesus takes Peter, James and John along with him, and they have an incredible mountaintop experience. In fact, this may be where that phrase mountaintop experience comes from. Something quite wonderful, mysterious, miraculous happened there, something too big for words.
Peter, James and John were touched, inspired, and visibly shaken by what they saw: Moses and Elijah were there with Jesus on the mountaintop! What on earth could this mean? The story is packed full of powerful symbols.
In the Scriptures, the mountain often represents nearness to God. The cloud represents the presence of God. The light represents the truth of God. Moses represents the Law of the Old Testament—he was the supreme lawgiver. Elijah represents the Old Testament prophets—he was one of the greatest of the prophets.
So what this Transfiguration experience says to us is this: All the biblical faith that has gone before is now summed up in Jesus. It has all come to fruition in him. The law and the prophets come together in Jesus. The law and the prophets are fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus goes up on the mountain to think through his trip to Jerusalem, to think through his journey to the cross and there in the presence of God the Father, Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah the prophet, the message resounds across the mountaintop—Go for it! Do it! Go to Jerusalem and do what you are called to do! Go to the Holy City and lay your life on the line for the people!
Jesus had already made the decision to go, but there on the Mount of Transfiguration, his decision was confirmed dramatically. He went up on the mountaintop to stop, look, and listen—and then he came down and set his face toward Jerusalem. That’s what a spiritual experience does for us. We go up to the mountaintop; we stop, we look, we listen; we experience the presence of God and the witness of those who have gone before us—and empowered by that, we go down into the valley to serve.
Do you know what Jesus does when he comes down from the mountain? The first thing he does is heal a little boy who was tormented by demons. This story has within it some great safety rules for the soul that we would do well to observe constantly. They are so simple, but so profound—the importance of taking the time to stop, look, and listen before we go. Let’s take a look at these one at a time.
First, we stop. It is so important t stop every now and then—to slow up, center down, and focus in. Have you ever noticed in a football game—as active and as hectic as that is—even in a football game, they stop after every play! They huddle, they rest, they refresh. They think about where they are on the field and in the game. They think about where they want to go. They think about what they need to do to get there. All before they go back to the line of scrimmage.
Now for the football purists, let me say that I know about the hurry up offense and the no-huddle offense. But these are planned and practiced ahead of time during the preseason and during the week between games. Even in these quick offenses they still stop, and the quarterback gives some new instructions as they wait to start the next play.
The point is clear: Every now and then in the game of life we need to stop and refocus; we need to stop and smell the roses; we need to stop and celebrate the presence of God. The Bible makes it clear that there is a rhythm to life—a rhythm of work and worship, labor and rest.
That is really what this season of Lent is all about. In the history of the church the high point of the church year was not Christmas. It wasn’t even Easter. It was what they called The Great 50 Days, that 50 day period that began with Easter and culminated in Pentecost. And Lent was a time to stop, look and listen in preparation for that great season of the year.
In Thorton Wilder’s play Our Town, Emily, a young woman who has died, is permitted to return to her home in Grover’s Corners to relive one day with her family. She chooses the day of her 12th birthday, but she is very disappointed by the whole experience. Everyone is just too busy. Everyone is too preoccupied. She pleads with her brothers and sisters and her father and mother to stop, to stop and touch one another, to stop and experience one another, to stop and celebrate one another and hug one another—but nobody stops. They are too caught up in the busyness of life. Emily realizes how harried, how harassed, how anxious, and how empty they all are. And finally, Emily cries out in despair Take me away! Take me away! And as the stage manager leads her back toward heaven, Emily says this, Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?
You know what Emily was saying? She was saying, Why don’t people stop anymore? Why don’t people stop and celebrate life and experience one another? Why don’t people stop and feel the warm presence of God?
Let me ask you. How are you doing with this? Are you stopping every now and then to let your soul catch up to your body? This is the first safety rule for the soul. Every now and then, we need to stop and spend some quiet time with God. First we stop.
Second, we Look. Safety rule number two: We look. We open our eyes and really see what’s happening around us. Peter, James, and John opened their eyes on the Mount of transfiguration, and they saw incredible things all around them; they saw the miracles of God.
One morning an artist was walking along a beautiful seashore with a group of friends. The artist was pointing out to the group the different things she was seeing—on the horizon, in the breaking of the waves on the shoreline, in the cloud formations in the sky—things she was seeing in the water and on the sand and in the different textures and shadings of light.
A little girl playing in the sand nearby heard the artist’s fascinating descriptions of what she was seeing; and the little girl stopped what she was doing, ran over to the artist, and said, Wait a minute! Please wait. Don’t say another word. Let me go get my mother so she can see this too. I won’t be long, we just live right there.
The artist said, Oh, I’m sure your mother has seen all of this many times before.
But she’s never seen it like this, said the little girl. I want her to see it all through your eyes.
Wouldn’t it be something if you and I could learn how to see life through the eyes of Jesus? How perceptive he was! He could walk through a field and see wheat and flowers, seeds and sunsets, birds and lambs and children, and all of them would speak to him of God. Think of all the parables that he came up with as he looked at life around him. Or he could walk into the crowded streets of Jericho and see Zacchaeus up in a sycamore tree, or see an outcast who no one else seemed to notice, or a crippled man who had come for 38 years to sit by a pool, or a Samaritan woman by a well. When we see things through the eyes of Jesus, we can see people to help, problems to solve, blessing to count. It’s a valuable safety rule for our souls. First, we stop. Second, we look. Third, we listen.
A mother and her small daughter were looking at dolls in a department store one day. What does it do?, the child would ask about each doll. The mother would answer, It walks, or it talks, or it sleeps, or this one sings and this one cries.
These high-tech dolls were rather expensive so the mother tried to direct her little girl’s interest toward an ordinary doll that was more reasonably priced. But does it DO anything?, the child asked.
Oh, yes, the mother replied it does one of the best things of all—it listens! The little girl eagerly reached for that doll.
We like someone who listens. And so does God! Why is that so hard? Why is it so difficult for us to settle down, to tune in, and to listen?
Just a few weeks after the McCaughey septuplets were born, there was a fascinating interview. A local radio station was interviewing the grandmother of the septuplets. The grandmother was asked if she could recognize all 7 of the babies and recall which name went with which baby. Oh, yes, she said, they already have their own little personalities. And then she said something amazing. She said, The mother of the septuplets can be in another room and hear the babies crying and she can tell you which one or which two or which three are crying. She is so tuned in that she can recognize the cries and coos of each individual baby.
Now think of that. Wouldn’t it be something if we could tune in to listen and to hear the voice of God with the same intensity and sensitivity that a good mother has for hearing her baby? These are essential safety rules for the soul—to stop, to look, and to listen.
Now there really is one more part of this. When you come to a railroad crossing, you stop, you look, you listen, and when you’ve done THESE three things, if it is safe, THEN what do you do?
You go! You move forward. You go into the world to serve and help and heal. That is just what Jesus did in Mark 9. He went up on the mountain, and then, empowered by that spiritual experience, he immediately went down into the valley and healed a boy who was very sick.
A man came late to church one Sunday morning. He rushes into the lobby and sees the head usher there and he says to him, Is the service over? And the usher answers wisely, Well, the worship is over, but the service has just begun!
Precisely so! We stop, we look, we listen—and then, empowered by that mountaintop experience, we go down into the valley to be God’s servants, to be instruments of God’s healing power. And here, at our service this morning, we have one of those opportunities to stop, look and listen before we go. We stop and look again at what Jesus has done for us, we listen to his words spoken into our lives, and we go forth in his power in a hurting world which desperately needs him.
So go and do likewise.
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