LUKE 9:28-43

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.

30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,

31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.

38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.

39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him.

40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

41 Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”

42 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

43 And all were astonished at the majesty of God.

If you’re like most people you want to be successful in life.  You want to be successful in all your endeavors. Of course that isn’t true for everyone.  Take for example the teenager who brought home a report card that was full of D’s and F’s.  The boy’s father wasn’t too happy.  “What do you have to say for yourself?” the father grumbled.  “Well,” the teenager said, “Look on the bright side.  At least you know I’m not cheating.”

In order to succeed you have to try.  Of course even with all of your hard work there will still be times when you won’t succeed. That happened to me shortly after I was ordained.   As many of you know I started out as an associate pastor at a large church in South Portland, Maine.  One morning during the “Concerns & Celebrations” I messed up an announcement big time.  “Don’t forget,” I said, “Pastor Nordgren’s Lenten Bible Study will continue this Wednesday morning from 10 to 11  in the Laity Room. Child care will be provided for those who want to come and have children.”  Everyone did exactly what you just did.  They laughed and what made it even worse is that I didn’t have a clue as to why they were laughing.  

If you’re like most people you want to be successful in life.  You want to be successful at work and at home.  You want to be a successful parent or student. You want to be successful when it comes to meeting all of life’s challenges and that’s where the story of the Transfiguration can help.   It can help because in the story of the Transfiguration there’s a formula for success.  The formula for success is really simple and it goes like this: Prayer + Work = Success.

It’s a simple formula but it’s the reason why Peter and the other disciples failed that day.  Peter failed while he was up there on the mountain and the disciples failed while they were down in the valley.  So, let’s go back and take a closer look at what happened that day. Let’s start with Peter.   Peter failed because he wanted to pray but he didn’t want to work.  You can see that by looking at what Peter says after he sees Jesus standing there in all of his glory.  “Master,” he says, “it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah…”

Peter wanted to make those tents because he wanted to stay on the mountain and pray with Jesus.  He wanted to stay on the mountain and make that wonderful grace filled moment last forever. He didn’t want to go back to the valley and deal with the chaos and the crowds.  He didn’t want to go down into the valley and deal with all of the people and all their problems.

If you want to understand what was going through Peter’s mind as he stood there on the mountain all you have to do is think back to the services on Christmas Eve.  At the end of the service we sing “Silent Night” and then you’re supposed to blow your candle out. But be honest.  Isn’t there a part of you that doesn’t want to blow your candle out?  Isn’t there a part of you that wants that wonderful grace filled moment to last forever?  That’s because as soon as you blow your candle out you know that you have to go back out into that cold and crazy world.

That’s the way Peter felt while he was standing there on that mountain. He wanted to stay on the mountain and pray with Jesus.  He wanted that wonderful grace filled moment to last forever. Peter failed that day because he wanted to pray but he didn’t want to do the work that Jesus wanted him to do.  The disciples down in the valley also failed but they failed for the opposite reason.  They were ready to do the work that Jesus wanted them to do but they forgot to pray. 

It all started when that father asked them to heal his son. Do you remember that part of the story?  As soon as Jesus comes down from the mountain a father runs up to him and says “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth… And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

As soon as Jesus hears that he gets angry and he scolds the disciples.  Later on, Matthew tells us in his gospel that the disciples ask Jesus why they failed and he tells them that it’s because they didn’t pray.  “This kind,” Jesus says, “cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

So there you have it.  The disciples on the mountain wanted to pray but they didn’t want to work.  The disciples in the valley were ready to go to work but they didn’t pray and because of that they failed – all of them – they failed.

Success comes when you put prayer and work together.  You pray at the top of the mountain so you know what the Lord wants you to do when you go back down into the valley.  You pray because the Lord knows what you have to do to be successful in life.  The Lord knows what you need to do to be successful at work and at home.  The Lord knows what you need to do to be successful as a parent or a student.  The Lord knows what you need to do to meet all of life’s challenges that come your way.  Prayer + Work = Success

Just look a Jesus.  That’s what he did.  Luke tells us that he went up that mountain to pray and while he was praying everything began to make sense.  Moses and Elijah showed up and they talked to him about his departure that was to take place in Jerusalem.  In other words they gave him a pep talk and reassured him that he was doing the right thing.  Then God did the same thing with those words that thundered that day from the heavens.  “This is my Son, my Chosen One……listen to him.” 

In light of all of everything that happened up there what Jesus did when he came down from the mountain should come as no surprise.  Luke tells us that shortly after he came down from the mountain Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” 

Jesus went up the mountain to pray and he came down the mountain to die.   What do you think the Lord wants you to do when you come down from the mountain?  What do you think the Lord wants you to do when you leave this sanctuary today?

As you think about that let me share with you a story of another man who had a mountain top experience.  Sir Edmond Hillary had his mountain top experience on May 19, 1953. That’s when he and his Sherpa guide, Tensing Norgay, reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were the first two people to literally stand at the top of the world.  After Hillary climbed Mount Everest, be became an overnight celebrity.  He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and he even became a spokesman for the Sears-Roebuck company.  Sir Edmund Hillary could have lived the rest of his life in his little dwelling of success.  But he didn’t!  So, what did he do?  He went back to Nepal. He went back to the Sherpas, who he had grown to appreciate, respect and love.  One day an elderly Sherpa from Khumjung, Tensing Norgay’s village, came to him and said, "Our children lack education. They are not prepared for the future. What we need more than anything is a school in Khumjung."  So Hillary established the Himalayan Trust, and in 1961 a three-room schoolhouse was built in Khumjung with funds raised that he raised.

Sir Edmund Hillary didn’t stop there though.  Over the next 30 years the trust went on to build 27 schools, 2 hospitals and 12 medical clinics, plus numerous bridges and airfields.  The trust also planted forests in valleys and along mountain slopes throughout Nepal.

Sometimes we make success more complicated than it needs to be.  When you look at Peter and the rest of the disciples you realize it’s simple.  You go to the mountain to pray and then you come down to do what the Lord wants you to do. That my friends will be the secret to your success.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

February 10, 2013