Matthew 17:1-9

Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I* will make three dwellings* here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ 5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved;* with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ 6When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ 8And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.[i]

Mount Tabor is about 100 miles north of Jerusalem,just west of the Sea of Galilee.  It is forested with pine trees and offers stunning, panoramic views.  On a clear day, to the north and west, you can see Lebanon; to the east, beyond of the Sea of Galilee, you can see Syria, Jordan, and Mount Hermon.  Jesus and his disciples would have known the words of Psalm 89 about these majestic mountaintops.  The psalmist says, “The north and the south* – you created them;Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.”[ii]These mountain tops are sovery beautiful and breezy. Mount Tabor is only about 2,000 feet above sea level, but that is a lofty height above the sea level of Galilee, which is nearly 700 feet below sea level.  Mount Tabor is a place where you are glad to linger.It’s heavenly.

Jesus and his disciples Peter, James, and John were atop beautiful Mount Tabor.  Whatever all was happening to Jesus and to them at that moment, they did not want it to end.  They wanted to save it, cling to it.  We call it Jesus’ Transfiguration.   In actuality, it was also the transfig­uration of the three apostles.  Suddenly they, too, were filled with this light: lighting their lives, lighting the darkness of their pasts, lighting their hopes, and dreams, and confusions, and fears about the future.  It was such an incredible experience, and Peter – I’m just guessing it was Peter who spoke for the three – seized onto this experience and said to Jesus: Don’t move!  This is it!  Let’s hold this moment in “stop action.”  Don’t change anything. “Master,” Peter says, “Let’s just stay here.  Let’s stay put.  Let’s keep everything as it is.”They had arrived.  On the one hand, their souls were soaring into the heavens, and simultaneously they felt very secure, very groundedin their mountaintop experience.[iii]

Now there’s two different ways to be grounded in life.  One, a good way and one, a bad.  It is no good to be “grounded” like ina boat.  These fishermen – Peter and James and John – would have known the dangers of being grounded like a boat on the rocks of the Sea of Galilee, which is to be stuck and in peril of destruction.  It is quite another experience to be “grounded” like a tree: grounded in the soil in which the roots, very much alive, keep the tree upright and steady, actively drawingwater and nourishment from the soil,meanwhile being anchored in the ground so as to be able to withstand even a raging storm without toppling over.  For these three disciples to have stayed put on Mount Tabor would have been like the grounding of a boat.  They would have been stuck in time.  Jesus was insistent on claiming their experience, and then moving on.  Jesus was talking about being grounded, not in a place, but grounded in a relationship, to be “rooted and grounded in love,” again quoting from the Letter to the Ephesians.[iv]

You have probably had a similar experience, and more than once.  I certainly have.  Given all the changes and chances in life, there will come these experiences of joy, or delight, or clarity, or security, or great beauty and harmony, when you have a mountaintop experi[...]