Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Lent

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I could write a book entitled “Stupid Things I Did as a Kid.”

This would be one of the chapters. When I was 18 or so, just out of high school I had a job working at a McDonald’s in Weymouth, and I usually got the closing shift. Now it was June or July and as anyone who has either worked that shift or was ever eighteen years old knows, you don’t want to go right home. You want to unwind – do something. By the time the store closed and everything was cleaned up it must have been about 12:30 or 1:00 in the morning when some friends came to pick me up. The conversation went something like this…

“So, what do you wanna do?”

“I don’t know, let’s drive to New Hampshire.”

“Yeah, that’s great. What do we do when we get there?”

“Let’s climb a mountain.”

“Awesome!”

And so it was that we found ourselves at the foot of Mount Chocorua at 2:30 in the morning, totally unprepared to climb anything much less a 3500 foot mountain.

With our one flashlight (God only knew how old the batteries were) we started the climb. It was pretty dark out there and thinking about it now, I’m sure there were all kinds of cretures watching us from the woods – probably thinking we were the breakfast buffet; things like, lions, and tigers and bears --- (“Oh MY”) It was kind of scary, though no one admitted it. And it wasn’t an easy climb either, especially in sneakers and at certain points it got quite steep. It was really a lot more work than we expected going in.

But – the most memorable part of the whole experience was this - we got to the summit just as dawn broke. We were above the tree line on top of the world watching the sunrise from a vantage point that few people get to experience and it was the most spectacular thing I’d ever witnessed. It was, for me at least, as though we had come face to face with the very glory of God. And in fact it was a real sign of just that. The long, hard, scary journey was rewarded with a very special gift from God.

As we read the Gospel today it’s helpful to remember that Peter, James and John didn’t just find themselves on top of that mountain with Christ. Before they experienced the vision of the transfiguration they first had to climb the mountain. I can assure you that climbing any mountain is not easy and these guys didn’t have a groomed trail to follow or flashlights or sneakers - they climbed it in sandals, or bare feet. When they got to the top we can be certain of this; that they were very sore and tired, with blisters on their feet and they might very well might have asked “was is worth it?”

This episode in the life of Jesus and his friends took place as Christ was on his final journey to Jerusalem. His friends were going to have to suffer the loss and pain that His death would bring and he didn’t want them to be so overwhelmed that they’d lose hope, and so he allowed them a glimpse of His glory, a taste of His resurrection to hold on to when the going got tough.

Every day of our lives we enter into that same journey. We’re climbing that mountain too, and often we’re sore and tired and scared. We’re on the way to Jerusalem with Peter, James and John and like them we’ve experienced the death of our own friends and loved ones. We’ve looked evil in the eye and sometimes we are overwhelmed.

But the Lord does not want us to lose hope anymore than he wanted Peter, James and John to lose hope. We too have had glimpses of the Glory of the Risen Lord. I had one on the top of Mount Chocorua.

Throughout our lives in all too real ways, we suffer all of what Good Friday has to offer, but my friends if it’s Friday, then Sunday’s coming.

If there’s death then resurrection will follow.

If there’s a tomb then there is also an empty tomb, and like Christ on the top of that high mountain, we too will also be transfigured and share in the glory of the Risen Lord – all of us together - never to be separated again.

As Peter said, “It is good for us to be here.” Even if the path isn’t easy, it is good for us to be here; even if it’s laden with stumbling blocks, it is good for us to be here; even if the devil himself is lurking around every dark corner ready to devour us like a lion we will not lose hope! Because we’ve been there before with Christ and He won the victory. It is good for us to be here.

And we will not lose hope because we have experienced death and resurrection over and over - and we have seen the glory of God. Because we’ve climbed the mountain and it was worth the effort.

When we come back from the depths of depression and illnesses we’ve experienced a bit of resurrection.

When we’re able to break away from toxic relationships, that’s a taste of resurrection.

When the stone is rolled away from the tomb of alcoholism and addiction and we’re on the road to recovery we’ve experienced something of both death and resurrection.

When a loved one dies and we feel we’ll never smile again – we have shared in Christ’s death, and when, unexpectedly, a smile or laugh returns, then we’ve been touched by His resurrection.

All of us are on a journey to Jerusalem. And all of us have mountains to climb just like Peter, James and John, and all of us, like the apostles, have had some glimpses of Christ’s resurrection to hold on to, given to us by the Lord so that we will not be overwhelmed and so that we will not lose hope. But sadly, we are often too busy or blinded by our own tears to recognize the vision right in front of us.

Today’s gospel invites us to remember our own mountain top experiences; to call on Christ in quiet prayer and ask him to open our memories so that we can recognize Christ with us during the hard times; on our journeys to Jerusalem, and to our Good Fridays; so that we won’t be overwhelmed but recognize the coming resurrection and remember that what Easter means to us. Sit there with the Lord. Sit with Peter, James and John. Bathe in the hope and the promise and see Christ in His glory and proclaim with Peter, with our whole heart, that “It is good for us to be here.”