May the words of
my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O
God, for you are our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
In
the summer of 2023, I went to Luther Village Camp for the first time. This wasn’t
a place I’d ever heard of and although I’ve travelled to Ontario before, Dog Tooth
Lake had never been one of the destinations. If there was ever a place touched by
God’s creative beauty, this was it. Still blue waters. Tall green trees. The
freshest air I’ve breathed in a very long time. And a wonderfully still silence
broken only by birds and the occasional laughter from campers.
There
were many hiking trails to explore, all of them on hillsides because Luther
Village is essentially built on a mountain. I mean, it’s no Canadian Rockies
but, as a prairie boy, they are mountains to me. One of the trails, called the
Summit Walk, is the longest and hardest hike, making its way up so high that once
you reach the top, you can see for miles across the water.
One
morning that summer, when the adults from my session had decided they wanted
the day off, I decided to attempt the walk up Rocky Ridge to the Summit. I
figured if all these kids could do it, then so could I! So, I put my sturdy
shoes on and all the bug spray I could handle and headed off. It was probably
one of the hardest hikes I had ever done but I made it to the top! Luckily for
me there were plenty of spots to sit and rest for a while.
What
a view! To be able to have climbed to that mountaintop and sit in the glory of
God’s creation. It was incredible! I could definitely feel the presence of God,
could see God in the scenery around me, and I was transformed. I came down from
that mountaintop recharged and ready to continue doing the resource work I was
at Luther Village to do.
I
know a couple of other guys who made trips to the mountaintop and came back
transformed: Moses and Jesus.
Moses
was instructed by God to “Cut two tablets of stone” and “to come up in the
morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the
mountain.” (Ex 34:1-2) He was told to come alone. So, Moses gathered up his two
pieces of stone, put on his sturdy shoes, and made his way up Mount Sinai. God
came to meet him there where they hashed out a new covenant and sealing the
deal with the etching of the ten commandments into the stones.
Moses
was transformed by his encounter with God on the mountaintop. How could he not
be? He went back down into the valley, with his face all shiny and glowing. He
felt great about the whole thing, but when we got back down to the people, they
were afraid of what they saw. Moses’ solution was to wear a veil to hide his
face except for when he was speaking with God.
Jesus
loved going up into the mountains to pray. Based on my experience at Luther
Village, I can understand why! It’s a great way to find some peace and quiet,
away from all the noise of daily life. Jesus had just spent a week leading,
teaching, and preaching to large crowds of people. On top of that, he revealed
to his closest friends that he was heading into Jerusalem to suffer and die. After
all of that, who wouldn’t want to get away for even just a little while?
So,
he grabbed his two closest friends, put on his sturdy shoes, and climbed up the
mountain to pray. “While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed,
and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” (Mt 9:29) While he
was praying, Jesus was transformed by his encounter with God.
I
don’t know if Jesus was praying for a long time or if it had just been a long
week, but while Jesus was praying, his buddies fell asleep. I’m guessing the
bright light woke them up and what they saw when they opened their eyes was
this shiny new Jesus and two other men. Matthew tells us Jesus was talking with
Moses and Elijah about his pending exodus from this world, two guys who would know
about strange and sudden exits.
What
we didn’t hear today was Jesus’ return down the mountain after his transformation.
The lectionary deemed these verses optional, but I think they are important for
us to hear. Therefore, here are verses 37-43 for your listening pleasure:
“On the next day,
when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a
man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my
only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It
convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave
him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Jesus
answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be
with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” While he was being brought
forward, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked
the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all
were astounded at the greatness of God.” (Mt 9:37-43a)
After
his transformation, Jesus goes back into the crowds, ready to keep going with
his leading, teaching, and preaching. Although maybe he should have joined his
friends in a nap because he sounds a little cranky here.
Moses
and Jesus were both transformed through their encounter with God on those
mountaintops. We are transformed through our relationship with God through Jesus
Christ, and we don’t even need a mountain! All we need is trust and faith that
by being transformed by our relationship with Jesus, we can be sent by him to
aide in his mission of peace and reconciliation with the world. We can come
down from the mountaintop and into the service of God just as Moses did and
just as Jesus did.
And
as with Moses and Jesus, our relationship with God can be a shining light to
others. There are many times where people can’t see God except through us, so
we need to be that light in the world that is so sorely need right now.
This
is not the light of self-promotion or self-self-glorification. This is not the
light that points to one person or the wealthy few. This is definitely not the
light shining from Donald Trump's golden statue in the Gaza Strip in that
ridiculous AI video released this week, with the glory manifested as money raining
down on Elon Musk. No, this is the light that shines in all of us, the light of
the love of God, the light that shows forth in acts of mercy, compassion, and
human solidarity. The light that binds us all together in the IRSM and the
light that one day will bind together everything in heaven and everything on
earth.
So
let yourself be transformed and let your light shine. You are shining right
now, each one of you: shining with faith, shining with hope, shining with love.
You are shining with justice, and you are shining with peace. So let the glory
of God go forth and let the glory of God show forth. And let it shine, let it
shine, let it shine.
Amen
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