I think it could be argued that last Sunday – when we celebrated thirty-five years as a congregation here at Esperanza – would be a mountaintop experience, right? We celebrated wonderful memories, ministries that made a difference in the lives of others, and caught up with some old friends. It was a good day. But the joy of that moment can’t remain in that moment. We can hold onto the joy, yes, but the moment itself is gone. Reality continues to march us forward. And this connects us to Peter and James and John on the mountaintop in our gospel text today. There’s this sense that Peter especially wants to hold onto this moment, where Jesus’ divine nature is revealed to them, and two pillars of the faith – Moses and Elijah – speak to Jesus. Peter wants to hold on to this – not just hold on to it, he wants to return to it. He tells Jesus, “It is good for us to be here. Let us set up three tents – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” What goes unsaid is the fact that Peter wants to have a cot in one of those three dwelling places for himself. He doesn’t want to leave this moment.
But before he can finish his thought, the moment leaves him. We are told that a cloud envelopes them, and a voice from heaven speaks to them – that Jesus is chosen by God – and that Peter and the other disciples should listen to him. And when the cloud clears, there Jesus is by himself alone. There’s no Moses. There’s no Elijah. And now it’s apparent that staying up on that mountain isn’t the point. Because Jesus has no intent on staying on that mountain either. The rest of his disciples are at the base of the mountain waiting. Jesus’ mission field – both in Galilee and ahead of him in Jerusalem – was waiting. There was work to be done. And Jesus doesn’t shy away from doing the work, even when there are moments of clarity and nearness to the divine such as in this moment. Because as Jesus is revealed on the top of the mountain, that revelation continues as he travels on from here. But I wonder – were the three disciples who were present on the mountaintop with Jesus just a little disappointed? How did they deal with their disappointment in that moment? I wonder if James – the disciple who often is overlooked in this triad – lingered for just a moment, leaned over, and picked up a stone to put in his pocket as they began to travel back down the mountain?
In the same way, we here at Esperanza have found ourselves returning from a mountaintop moment. God’s purpose and work were revealed as we looked back over the past thirty-five years, but we can’t set up dwelling places and live in those past thirty-five years. The work that God has put before us means we are called to continue moving forward – which means celebrating the moment of the anniversary and holding it – and the memories of the past thirty-five years – in our hearts, but also knowing that the transforming work of God continues to challenge and change us as we enter into a new tomorrow. We can’t stay on the mountaintop. But maybe we can take a piece of the mountaintop with us.
We take a piece of the mountaintop with us when we bring with us the memories and joy and use those things as a bulwark against the moments of discouragement that doubtless will come. We take a piece of the mountaintop with us when we point to the amazing things we’ve done in the past and use them to inspire us for future generations of service. We take a piece of the mountaintop with us when we walk out of worship this morning, maybe humming “this little light of mine,” and we commit to living into the words of that song, letting that light of Christ that is revealed again in our scriptures today and in the actions that we do in response to God’s love shine even brighter than before, so that all who encounter that light know that it comes from our being transformed by God’s grace present here in this place.
“But Pastor Chris,” you say, “Sure, the anniversary was great and gave a lot of us the warm glowy feelings, but there’s only so many pebbles we can carry from that particular mountaintop. How do you expect us to keep that feeling with us beyond the next couple weeks?” Good question. But I think the answer to that question comes from what we received in our Faith in Motion today. Because if you identified a moment in time that was an “alleluia” moment, you know the feeling of the mountaintop. And I think we can draw from those feelings to keep the mountaintop with us.
Because along with the excitement and wonder that happens in those moments, don’t we also feel gratitude? And if there is a feeling inside us that we can draw from in order to do the work that comes with having been on the mountaintop but not remaining solely up there, I think it’s gratitude. It’s with gratitude that we come here this morning and offer up our gifts – gifts of time, talent, and possessions to God. It’s with gratitude that we come to the table again this morning. And it’s with gratitude that we do the work that has been set before us, knowing that God has provided deeply, richly, for us.
So today, as we look back on the legacy of Esperanza and the joy of all of God’s blessings throughout our lives, I invite you to live into the promise of these things. Live into the gratitude. And living in gratitude, may we head forth into the community we are called to serve knowing that the work that God has put before us is a blessing to bring that same gratitude and hope to all the world.