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VALLEY TO MOUNTAIN AND BACK BETHANY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

FROM
LUKE §:2$-43 LAFAYETTE, INDIANA
MALACHI 71-6 MARCH 10, 1974 JOHN M. BUCHANAN

\
The ‘funny thing about heights is that everything looks good from them.

One thinks of those spectacular shots of the earth taken from the surface of

yo ¢the moon. Or the view of the landscape from the window of an atrplane at

"25,000 feet: placid, serene, peaceful, Orderly. From the observation area

in the John Hancock building the worst Chicago ghettoes appear no differently
from the rest of the city: neatly laid out, calm, remote.

| Just west of Altoona, Pennsylvania, the city where I was born and
raised, in the middle of the mountain range that borders the city, is one
particular peak that extends out over the valley a bit. There is a high
plateau on top: a radio tower, a good road, a large parking lot - and an
incredible view. It's a very popular spot - for reasons that hardly need
mentioning. Whenever we're in Altoona I like to go up there. You can see
for miles: it's absolutely quiet except for the wind. The city stretches

out below ringed with mountain resevoirs. You can see the railroad snaking
through the center of the city like a great artery: the dome of the Cathedral
of St. John is visible rising above ail the rest. At night, it is truly a
beautiful sight.

Whenever I think of my home-town, that is the image that comes to my
mind: that is how I Tike to remember it. That placid, peaceful city nestled
in the mountains. My view excludes the dirt from the Railroad, the noise
unemployment, poverty. There are no slums in my image, no unpleasant people,
no unhappiness. That is to say, my mountain top image bears no resemblance
to the reality of Altoona, which in fact has all of those characteristics in
the same proportion as any other city that size. That is not to say that it
is a wrong image to keep, only that it is incomplete, and to the degree that
it is all that I remember of Altoona, inaccurate. But, it's still good to
go there and look.

So, in life it's good to go to the mountain; to get away from it all,

to collect one's thoughts, to see life as a unified whole rather than a series

FROM VALLEY TOAWCUNTAIN AND BACK “2- MARCH 10, 1974

Butfiust as At is temptiyg for mp” to remember

in, so ygsu and I ar mot to come down:

f And so, alfo, inMfaith.g It's good to go to the mountain where beliefs

yy are crystal clear, where God is immediate and real and love is all around,

— 8 8——_—a—

PA sonet ine we talk as if that were the norm in raitn| But that gets us ahead

of ourselves. | Let's go back now and took at an incident in the New Testament

2
that has to do with the rhythm of valley ta mountain and back.

It occurs in ail three Synoptic Gospels: [it's called the Transfiguration,
and that's a little unfortunate because the transfiguration of Christ is
ho itself a most difficult concept, but more to the point it is only part of
nel a_i

sys what happened in the incident. \ Three followers of Jesus saw him. in a new way

a , through the experience:| they were changed: [and in the process they were “tr

ve Pn eel

taught-a very important lesson about discipleship.

eg to kpow a Tittfe Wi ut the 01¢°T — ordar.to under-
s passAge. It jf titer y loaded fit words and ideas” tht have
n the fatf#h of Iswae ‘ | DO

— Jesus took three disciples: Peter, John and James and went up on a

a

nountain.| In the idiom of Israel mountains are the residing place of God -

the place where God comes to meet man s| iit. Zion - the mountain of God where

the Kingdom will first be established:\Moses_on the Mountain receiving the
— ea

i

Law:} "2 will Life up my eyes. to the hills “the Psalmist wrote.
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So on the mountain Jesus appeared to the three disciples in an alto-
_—eeee

gether new light.\ their vision included ttvro men out of the past, Hoses and
Etijah.

The final words of the Old Testament invoke their sangs:-['nenenber the
ananedmeminamnd

— en

law of my servant Moses....Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before

the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. "|(talachi 4-4-5)
: - the } i \e ij - the t. 1 ‘\ here. were no
Noses tne law give Tigah the prophet exemplary:\t ew

higher authorities: |in the cult of Israel they occupied the same position
Bn ben anal

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FRO VALLEY TO HOUNTAIT] AND BACK -3- MARCH 10, 1974

as Washington and Lincoln in our own pantheon of neroes. | The point is that

when - On a@ mountain ~ Moses and Elijah appear - the day of the Lord - the

— rae

Messianic age - has rrived.

Peter was averwhelmed, as any Jew would be. nester, let us make three

booths; one for you,one for Moses and one for Elijah." That, by the way, is

exactly wnet God had told Noses to do after the encounter on Nt. Sinai.

|

Build a sanctuary - a tabernacle - in which God would reside among his people,

; -
1 edo the totngemapon empresa

Paedeees. So, Peter, was not exactly talking out of turn:\ thene was sound

historical precedent for his suggstion - with one exception. \ Moses built his

booth - not up on the mountain, but down in the valley among the ) people.

caches ghad durtey waderny —
Peter, that is to say, had his geography confused, and Luke apologizes for

Pee

him by adding the parenthetical observation: \"He spoke without knowing what

he was saying." )

The

Tien a cloyf descen another ric

cloud - t e SMekinah -~ led 2 : wilderness It was

to usher in

And the ice: histis my son, my?chosen. Listen

to Kim!"

Now, some reflections:| this accgunt, as part of the Gospel record, was

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written from thirty to sixty years after the tact.| After, that is to say,

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the Christian Community knew that Jesus was in fact, the christ. \ It, along
Oa mid Sesame, Sa ee

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wh iY
with the rest, was written this side of the resurrection. [But at the time, it

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it is not clear at all, what the disciples believed about Jesus. \re appears

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that they vere simply following one they considered to be the best rabbi around,

Very slowly, gradually did they entertain any deeper notions about him. | But
looking b ack on it, they could remember times when the truth was being made
=e — Leena miaiaitaia eT
clear to them. \ The experience on the mountain ws one of .those tines.\ A

Semi CCCi eden 8

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“stmple illustration should suffice.| then we were children there were times

FROii VALLEY TO MOUNTAIN AND BACK -4- MARCH 10, 1974

when our parents said things to us - or did things for us - the importance

of which has only recentiy become evident.|A gift given, for instance, which
el ———

we received without much thought at the time, but which now - in retrospect -
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speaks eloquently of love and sacrifice and caring.

The experience on the mountain was like that. | Obviously, a high and

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holy moment for Jesus in terms of his own self-understanding. | But also a

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turning point -as they looked back on it - in the lives of three disciples.

—_

It is Peter's response - his suggestion that three booths be erected -

that intrigues me.\ I have mentioned the historic precedent and the fact
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that Peter misunderstood the whole idea of the tabernacte. | It may have been

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simply a very natural desire on his part to prolong a most rewarding and
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Significant experience:\an understandably human effort to preserve one clear
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—— ES SED
moment’ in time by building something to memoralize it:\a very human want -
Say —— eS

to stay up there on the mountain and to avoid the necessity of coming back
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down.

Jesus did not even acknowledge Peter's suggestion. | Instead, he ame

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down from the mountain - down to a great crowd that was waiting for him;

—— RE

down to the desperate father of a very sick little boy s\ down to the ineffec-
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tive faith of his disciples; down, that is to stay into the reality of life

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in the valley.

The contrast is striking: We has been dramatically portrayed in the very

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famous painting by Raphael .\tore immediately, it has been suggested that in
that contrast - the contrast between the transfigured Christ on the Mountain
— a

and the compassionate_healer in thevvalley of suffering lies the whole story

of God and his people.
The Church throughout history has done its best to preserve that which

is high and holy - often at the expense of following its Lord into the valley
Ss —S ee

ae
of human need. \ How else, for instance, to see the great cathedrals of
—- —
Christendom ? Monuments to craftsmanship, places of soaring grandeur, symbols
—y —— SSS eee

of beauty and ype without which our civilization would be immeasurably pgorer.

ed —. =—,

FROM VALLEY TO NQUNTAIN AND BACK ~5- ARCH 10, 1974

But, integrity forces us to admit, that they were built in the midst of

grinding poverty and injustice and oppression and cruetty.\ 1 love them, but

I cannot rid myself of the thought that they are today filled - not with the

———

courageous people of God but with gawking American tourists - as a result

of the honest judgement of an honest and just God.

11 of

‘4 i i i a rock. In

The word here for the contemporary church is almost too clear. \ our

task, as church, is not to dawdle on the mountain top but to follow our Lord

down into the valtey. | Not to attempt vainly to imprison our God in our
————__ Dao SSS

buildings, our traditions, our ecclesiastical structures ~ but to see him
— Ea eS eae — wy

always out in front of us, leading, moving forward and down and into the world.
——Z —————s

Se

rd
, i iog in th e Geat Hour ring: one
attempt anding A”nto a honest So our
giftsfare us oothsfon th¢ mobntadan top but to he and

Because Jesus came down from the mountain, so the significance of this

A” Ue anal i old
} congregation is aaah in how effectively we move from tbs well appointed

sanctuarfeand into owr valley - th
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ion.

The word here is personal atso.\ There is a lot of Peter about us. | In
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fact, one of the predominent ideas in our culture is that the mountain top

is the norm - expeientially - not the vattey.\ we are encouraged to live from
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vacation to vacation: jor at least from weekend to weekend, simply putting in

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the time between. |The Playboy philosophy proposes that the good life - real

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FROM VALLEY TO MOUSTATS: Aria BACK ~G- MARCH 10, 1974

life be lived on the mountaintop of good music, food, clothes, cars, booze
ae Pama) —

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and of course beautiful women. | And the magazine that has done the best job

in American nistory of marketing an idea - a concept ~ zealously avoids

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anything that might even hint that there is a valley out there. | There are

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no children in Playboy, no families, no alcoholics, no junkies, no ghettoes,
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no broken lives, no guilt, no unemployment:\ nothing to diminish the tdea that

real life is always on the mountaintop of pleasure | The toll is heavy tn

terms of frustration:| because Tife is lived mainly in the vailey - at the

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foot of the mountain.

Lie

In terms, finally of our Christian experience, the rhythm of valley to
ree Lea ee |

mountain and back is essential.\ 1 woure guess that there is no one here who
eo ein i i ant

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does not wish,deep in his heart of hearts, for some clear, concise experience

—_— —. 7

of Jesus Christ. | I would guess that nearly everyone of us experiences a

eerie
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Tittle envy - a little feeling of inadequacy when someone tells us that to be
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saved is to know, absolutely, without doubt, Jesus Christ as savior and

——— —- _— —

friend . \1 would guess that mearly all of us wonder what it must be like to

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be on the mountain top of faith, and that we inevitably wonder if we have

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it at all because our experience doesn't often take us up on that mountain -

if ever. |
Any if my guesses about you are accurate I would have you understand

_—

very cearly what the New Testament is really saying in this incident. \The

—_—

expertence of Peter, James and John did not begin on the mountain-top.
a mee eeetaicimee ee eeaimnainnd

Rather it started, for them, undramatically, when they decided to follow a

Lord whom they did not fully understand or know It was not - as I read the
— eS ier:

accounts ~ a soui-shattering, emotional upheaval. \ it was, apparently, a
_—— re

tentative step in the direction of following - that led to another step and
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rs,

Peter, dames and dohn were taken

up to the mountain,there to have their faith confirmed intimately, person-

ally, dynamically - after - they had followed Jesus Christ in the valley.
—

FROW THE VALLEY TO THE SOUNTAZE! AAD BACK -7- MARCH 10, 1974
They had worked and served and healed and nelped and this glorious moment
wane LETTER wee mT. TE

came to them almost as an interlude, a break from reality which was always

be
in the vattey \ and when they got so carried away with the intensity of the
ead errtCCE Leeann
experience ~ when they suggested that it might become the norm, desus didn't
a t nminnemimmenamel
even respond. |Or rather his response was in taking them down from the
ei [— Dame a ential

mountain and wading right into a crowd of people.
—_— — Oe]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for me at least, said it best: {' ace aa there is no

road to faith or discipleship, no other road - only obedience to the call of

christ. "| (The Cost af Niscipleship P.49}

And Frederick Buechner, equally honest with the iew Testament: [ho is

this who asks us to Fotiow? \ Ne want to know who he is before we Follow him

—,

and that is understandable enough except that the truth of the matter is that

it is only by first following him that wa can begin to find out who he is."

lagni fi 9 Ais is @ bh pricl ~ moolah p=
Poalt you by oor "ate feat. pei dipeople. Zg i- Lo & People of ats Cmq .

7 . er
Gripe in the valley where life 7s usually lived. It need not be, and wi]

not for most of us, a very spectacular vattey | Rather it will Took a lot
like the school, the famjly with which eat dinner every night, the office

ol gv
or factory where wh work. the marriage, the committee on which a serve,

That is where Jesus Christ bids us to follow and to serve and help and heal.
That is where the creative, hopeful spirit of God is.
And then one day ne wilt know .\ One day we will be invited to the moun-
* tain ~ perhaps only for a Fleeting moment \ but a rich and clear moment of

~truth.| When it happens, leds pray God that we will have tne faith to follow

- M bad bless “You ™m frow Coma nua} Ma, cL be y?

aaa Hd liga. ae Why WAsarts am Yay i+ fake tate val ~whe Ic,

FATHER: we are grateful for those moments jin life when we are given to see
clearly: those rare mments of truth and light and clarity. But grant us,. our
Father, the faith to follow our Lord in the meantime. AME! Anions, My me

pieceeds + bids vs lla Au HA BSY