In youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman’s poem at the inauguration a few weeks ago, she shared these words:

Scripture tells us to envision

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

and no one shall make them afraid.

If we’re to live up to our own time

then victory won’t lie in the blade

but in all the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promise to glade,

the hill we climb

if only we dare it,

because being American is more than a pride we inherit —

it’s the past we step into

and how we repair it.

Sometimes we climb hills in order to gain an advantage over someone. Other times we climb them simply to get to the other side. But often we climb hills and mountains and bluffs in order to get a different view on things…to gain a new perspective…to see things in a different way. I believe that is what Amanda Gorman is referring to when she talks about the hill we climb. It is a hill that allows us to look at our past and our potential future and hold them in a new perspective.

In our passage for this morning from Mark, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him up on the mountain. Many early Christians suspected this mountain to be Mount Tabor in Galilee. Mount Tabor is relatively small for a mountain at a bit under 1,900 feet. But with a lot of flat land all around it, it would have granted Jesus and the others a good view of the area. But once they reach the summit, Peter, James, and John were probably not paying a lot of attention to the scenery around the mountain. They found enough to look at right in front of them. The text tells us that when they reached the top of the mountain that Jesus “was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.” Jesus was changed…right before their eyes. Jesus’ true glory was revealed on that mountain. It changed the way those disciples viewed Jesus, but it also changed the trajectory of Jesus’ ministry. It was the peak of Jesus’ wonder and the beginning of Jesus’ descent toward the cross.

For the past 6 weeks, we have been talking about wonder and attempting to invigorate our own sense of wonder about who Jesus is and what Jesus means for us. And today we have reached the summit of the mountain with Jesus. And, like Peter, James, and John, we see Jesus in his glory, shining like the sun. And we are amazed and astounded. The glory of God almighty is made visible in the person of Jesus. And now that wonder is transformed into love. As we come down from the mountaintop, we head toward the cross. We journey with Jesus toward that ultimate act of sacrificial love.

That journey officially begins on Wednesday as we remember our humanity by taking upon ourselves a cross of ashes. Ash Wednesday is not just the beginning of Lent. It is the beginning of the ultimate story of love. It is the “once upon a time” that sets the stage for the rest of the story. I am always amazed that every year we have about forty to fifty people come for the beginning of the story and over 100 for the end. It’s like picking up a book and flipping to the last chapter and reading only that. You may get the good feelings and happiness of reaching the conclusion, but you miss all of the meaning and depth that comes when you’ve been following the story from the beginning.

Today, Transfiguration Sunday, stands as the pivot point between Epiphany and Lent. The SALT commentary talks about the Transfiguration story from Mark in this way: “The episode takes place at almost the exact midpoint of Mark’s Gospel… In broad strokes, the first eight chapters of Mark describe Jesus’ ministry of healing and liberation, and the last eight chapters describe the descent into his passion and death, arriving finally at the stunning news of his empty tomb. The Transfiguration stands as the fulcrum, the pivot point between these two great movements in Mark’s symphony.” The transfiguration of our Lord is not only an opportunity for us to recognize Christ’s glory and his place as the Son of God, but it is also an opportunity for us to survey where we we are, where we’re going, and where we’ve been. That seems like a good thing for us to do as we prepare to enter into Lent. Let’s assess where we are at and how we got here so we can forge a new way forward.

So, where have we been? Well, the church year begins with Advent. Our journey, then, began with a look at the God who is with us, our Emmanuel. We experienced the birth of Jesus and everything that led up to that. Then we entered into Epiphany and we cultivated a sense of wonder as we looked at the early days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. And now we’ve reached the peak. We’ve come up the mountain with Jesus as his fame has risen and as he performed miraculous signs and wonders. And now Jesus has laid out the way that lies before us. Just before our passage from Mark 9, Jesus tells the disciples about how the Son of Man will suffer and will be killed but will rise again. And Peter tries to reject this teaching. Peter does not believe that this is the way forward. He, like many of the Jews of that day, believed that the way forward was through military victory over their enemies…namely the Roman Empire in Jesus’ day. But Jesus had a different way. And it involved suffering and death.

The disciples did not like that way and actually tried to convince Jesus that it was the wrong way forward. But Jesus did not swerve from his calling. And this new path is confirmed at the transfiguration. There are two times in Mark that God speaks from the heavens. The first is in chapter 1 at the baptism of Jesus when God says, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the other is here in the story of the transfiguration, when God says, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Such similar statements and yet with small differences. At the baptism, God claims Jesus as his Son, thus enhancing the wonder of who Jesus is. At the transfiguration, it seems that God wants the disciples to listen to Jesus. And I can’t help but wonder if that has to do with their reluctance to accept Jesus’ words about the Son of Man having to suffer and die. God wants the disciples to follow this new way that Jesus is going. God wants them to listen to Jesus and abide in his words.

As we enter into this new season and seek to follow in Jesus’ way of love, let us be open to what Jesus is teaching us. Let us listen to him. And let us not try so hard to hang onto the past that we can’t move into the future. When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, and his clothes became dazzling white, the text also tells us that others appeared with Jesus, namely Elijah and Moses. They represented the past and they represented the prophecies that pointed to Jesus and the role Jesus would play. And Peter, James, and John want to hang onto that past. They want to hold tight to what they know. So Peter suggests that they make tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah so they can all stay right there. They want to cling to that moment and not move forward any farther. But God tells them to listen to Jesus and what he has been telling them.

We could easily stay in that wonder of who God is for a long time. We could stay in the wonder of the past. We could hold on to the good ole days. Or we could listen to Jesus’ words and move forward in a new way of love. Jesus’ disciples eventually chose to follow Jesus’ way, but it took them a while. We can choose that path as well. And over the next 7 weeks, we will look at how we go about doing that. How do we love not only the people we like but the people we hate? How do we love when we feel unloved and unlovable? How do we love through giving and sacrifice? We will follow the way of love as we move into Lent. And I encourage you to contemplate what the way of love looks like for Jesus and how you can reflect that same attitude in your own life. And I will do the same for myself. And I believe that God will transform us. We will be transfigured to display the glory of God in our love. What an amazing sight that would be! Praise the Lord! Amen!