The Rev. Charleston David Wilson
In the Name of the Living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
According to AAA, late summer is the peak travel season in this country, when traveling long distances to be with friends and family is more common than any other time of year. And travel can be exhausting!
One of the most memorable trips we ever took, when I was growing up, was the first time we went to New York City – as “one big, happy family.” It was about this time of year – just before school started up again.
As a curious ten-year-old boy from sleepy Linden, Alabama, I was fascinated by the high-paced life of the Big Apple. I don’t think I slept for the first three nights, because I was so excited about what I might see the next day. There is something about being in Manhattan that creates energy amidst exhaustion.
On one of our last evenings, when we were all very tired, my mom secured tickets to Phantom of the Opera. Sadly, I don’t remember the show very much at all, because she kept elbowing me the whole time, which was my signal that I was supposed to poke my dad so he would quit snoring and drawing all the attention to our seats! After the show, I asked, “Dad, what did you think about the show?” He said, “Son, best darn nap I’ve ever had.” Like I said – one big, happy family!
It turns out that my dad isn’t all that unique. St. Luke tells us, “Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory.”
Don’t miss it: there they were – Saints Peter, James and John – during the mountaintop experience of their lives, in the midst of the radiant beauty and glory of the transfigured Jesus, and they were sound asleep!
I suppose you and I probably have a soft spot in our hearts for Peter, James and John. After all, they’d been on an exhausting journey, since they first began following Jesus, and, they did have to climb a mountain. Truth in advertising requires me to tell you that I have no clue what it’s like to climb a mountain (it looks tiring on TV).
Early Christian tradition tell us that they climbed Mt. Tabor, which is almost 2,000 feet of basically straight up! Today, there is a stunning Franciscan monastery at the top, and you no longer have to climb on foot to reach the top.
Believe it or not, dozens of Italian nuns operate a fleet of mini-vans, taking pilgrims up to the monastery every half-hour or so. And you’ll never forget your ride to the top, because the nuns drive those mini-vans more like Ferraris than Fords.
I actually don’t remember much about scenic Mt. Tabor, because I was so violently car-sick from the ride up!
I don’t want to give you “too much information” – “TMI,” as my kids call it – but, if you decide to go up Mt. Tabor one day, you need to remember that it requires correct change – exactly three shekels – to enter the bathroom.
So, there I was – deserted by my friends – and forced to hide in the bushes behind the church, doing what carsick people do, while the others were inside “lost in wonder, love and praise!”
When everyone re-grouped around the “Ferraris” to go back down the mountain, one of my fellow pilgrims had the nerve to say, “Charleston, you look terrible. What happened?” I said, “Thank you for noticing; clearly, I’ve been transfigured by this whole experience!”
My point is simply this: just about anything you can imagine can get in the way of the Jesus experience – that deepening relationship with the Living Jesus we all want and need!
For Peter, James, and John, it was something as simple as sleepiness. For some of us it’s our past. For some of us its our present. And, for some of us it’s the fear of our future.
If it’s the past, have you considered the words of Holy Scripture:
• “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
• “Brethren, I do not consider that I have [attained to perfection]; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind [I’m] straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13; paraphrase).
If the present is the problem, have we forgotten Christ’s own tender words:
• “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (St. John 16:33).
• “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (St. John 14:27).
If it’s ultimately the future we’re worried about, let us never – no, never – forget the promise of God:
• “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation to St. John).
It is indeed “good that we are here” today, being nourished by word and Sacrament.
But, remember, the very same Christ who calls us up to His altar, week after week, always kindly leads us back down from here to serve Him out there.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Charleston D. Wilson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
11th Sunday after Pentecost
5 August 2018