Mountaintop Experiences - November 20, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52; 1 Macc. 3:1-24; Rev. 20:7-15; Matt. 17:1-13

I love the stories of the transfiguration.  Today’s gospel passage is one of those where Peter, James, and John go up a mountain with Jesus. A large voice from the heavens speaks to them and they are overcome by fear. They see Jesus in a new light, where “his face shone like the sun.” Can you imagine? I can’t even begin to fathom what this experience was like. It’s a literal mountaintop experience.

And while the story is quite a mystic story that might have happened, I am more interested in what follows. The disciples came down the mountain and were ordered to tell no one what they saw, which I doubt was honored, as we know the story today. What is most interesting to me would be the way people would see the disciples from that moment on. They have had a transformative mountain top experience, and then come off it. They are bound to see the world differently. But do people see them differently? Do they know that the disciples have had a transformative experience, or do people have the bandwidth, trust, and openness to observe subtle differences and changes in behavior from the disciples?  Can others see the transformation?  In many cases, probably not, which might be more telling about others and the state of humanity than it is about people who have had mountaintop experiences. 

People are led up mountains every day, and people certainly encounter God on a day-to-day basis.  As people of faith grounded in the stories of transformation, we ought to believe that God loves us just as we are, but we might not be the same people tomorrow.  The same goes for the person who has let you down, disappointed you, or failed to meet your expectations.  How do we know our neighbor isn’t being led up a mountain to see the world differently?  They might be, and we should always be open to that possibility.

Faithfully,

John+

Question for Self-Reflection: Where have you seen new change in others? How does that make you feel? What caused the change?