In our Gospel lesson we hear that Jesus took with Him Peter, James, John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. As I studied this text I was reminded of one of my favorite pursuits back when we lived in Rifle. It was to go for walks and hikes. As I was pondering this text I was reminded of the time that my son Brett and I climbed Lookout Mountain, which overlooks Glenwood Canyon and the Roaring Fork Valley. There are some great views from up there. Now mind you it isn’t Mt. Sopris or a “fourteener” but it is a high mountain. To get to the top you are huffing and puffing. And on a summer day it is hot and you’ll work up a good sweat. I’ve got some friends and family that would look at the trail and would say, “thanks for the invite I’ll wait in town; take a picture for me and tell me all about it when you get back.”

And Jesus led them up a high mountain. It doesn’t say if they were huffing and puffing, if they were working up a sweat or if their hearts were pounding in their ears, but I believe they were because Matthew included the words: High mountain. I wonder if there was a point when one or more of them wanted to turn back or said, “I’ll wait here; pick me up on the way back.” We don’t know if they developed blisters or ran short of water. Neither does Matthew tell us if there was a great view, but he does tell the view was obscured by a bright cloud which enveloped them.

In our Old Testament lesson we also hear of a high mountain and a cloud. The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain.” That’s quite a request for a man in his eighties. I believe it must have been a challenging climb. I wonder if Moses was ever tempted to turn back. After all, prophet or not, he was human. I believe he would have gotten thirsty and tired. His heart would have pounded like the rest of us the higher he went up the mountain. When Moses went up on the mountain, the Cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled in on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain.

What if the Lord called you to scale some high mountain? What if He said come and follow Me. Would you follow despite the difficulty of the trail? We all would like to think we would. We’d like to think we wouldn’t get discouraged or distracted. Even if the trail grew faint or we lost sight of the Lord up ahead of us, we’d like to think that we’d keep on going because we know He’s right ahead. We’d like to think that no matter the obstacle- we’d persevere, but is that always true? Jesus has beckoned us to follow Him but how many times have we turned back because we thought the trail was too steep, the task too hard, the day too hot. How many times have we stopped at the crest of a hill in our lives and when the trail didn’t lead where we expected or we have to descend into another valley to reach the next ridge, we complained against Him and thought of giving up, turning back, or finding some other guide besides the Lord.

Many of us have faltered and stumbled and complained this is too hard, too hot, too much is asked of me. This trail of sickness, or heartache, or financial problems, or unfairness is too hard. I’ve got blisters on my heart and am thirsty for the waters of relief. Many of us have faltered or stopped; many of us have turned around and looked back, even gotten lost trying to find a shortcut or two- seeking to do it our way. And it is even worse because the Evil One, Satan, Old Scratch, seems to lurk behind the trees and rocks encouraging us to give up and go back, to follow him for his way is much easier.

Jesus… led them up a high mountain…There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. We hear of the transfiguration as if Jesus were changed into something new. No, what Peter, James and John were privileged to see was Christ before He allowed himself to be transfigured into our flesh. For just a moment they beheld the Christ in His Glory, that which had joined Himself to our humanity to save us. That same glory would allow Himself to be disfigured by His death on the cross for our sins of doubt and whining, our sins of listening to the Evil One, our sins of complaining that a task is too hard – or what we are asked to endure is too much.

If we think our path too step, too challenging, or too hard, we need only look to the hill called Golgotha. There Jesus struggled to the top of that hill carrying the cross and the mountainous load of our sins. He who was and is God allowed Himself to be disfigured by a crown of thorns and nails. He did that and in doing so died. He was taken down from the mountaintop and laid in a tomb. Three days later He came up from the grave- He arose a prefiguration of our resurrection.

Of the disfigurement of our own lives- the struggling and sufferings, the aches and pains, the diseases, infirmities and hardships- of it all, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though He dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. (John 11.25-26) Of the prefigurement of our resurrection our victory over life and death St Paul wrote, We eagerly await a Savior from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. (Philippians 3.21)

The Lord called Moses up the mountain. Jesus took three of His disciples up the mountain. God has beckoned you, to this place called Mt Hope, called by the working of the Holy Spirit. There are some things He wants you to behold - a voice He wants you to listen to. Hear God speak to you by and through His Holy Word. It isn’t just another book it is the glorious voice of God recorded for us that we might know Him. It is that Voice, which transforms lives and destinies. It is the voice we hear as his Word is read and pondered, which forgives us, renews us, and restores us.

Just as my son and I looked down upon the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers so to the Lord beckons us to look to the waters of the font. There God transformed us from sinners destined for Hell to saints destined for the vistas of Heaven.

Peter, James, and John went up to the top of the mountain. There for just a moment all that was God was there before them. In just a moment we will partake of communion. The steps up the altar will be our mountain, and by His Holy Word, the bread and wine will be transfigured, for Jesus will join Himself to that bread and wine in a sacramental fashion. For just a moment you will behold all that is God. All that is God will take hold of you in a real and substantial way. It is just a prefigurement of a feast to come.

Peter, James, and John wanted to stay on the mountaintop. Peter offered to build shelters. Moses, we heard, stayed up there forty days. So too, many of us would like to retreat from the world and just sit at the feet of Jesus. I hear that all the time, “I’ve had enough of this life, I’m ready to go to heaven, now.” But Moses had to come down. Peter, James, and John had to come down and so do we. There is work to be done in the valleys. People all around us don’t know of Jesus. They’ve never heard the life-changing message of His transfiguration, His disfigurement, and His prefigurement of our eternal life. They need to know! Yes, the views are fine out there, but the view from in here is heavenly, just heavenly. Amen.