Grace and peace to you from God, our creator and sustainer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that abides in each of us.  Amen.

Have you ever ridden on a rollercoaster?  If you have, you know that the experience begins before you even get on the ride.  Even for the veteran rollercoaster rider there are nerves and feelings to deal with while waiting in line.  You hear the screams and cheers of the riders before you.  Then it is your turn.  You get in the car, you buckle up, and then you journey up the first hill.  It seems to take forever, but slowly the clickety-clack of the carts climbing the tracks raises your blood pressure and excitement, and then you reach the top, which is where I personally want the ride to end.  For a brief instant, I want to stop right there.  From the top of that highest point, I want to take in the beauty of the earth below and continue that feeling of excitement.  I do not want it to end.  And I also do not want to face what lies below.  But in an instant, the cars go racing down and swooping through the tracks below at horrendous speeds.  The cars twist and turn and swoop through the world below before you come to a screeching halt. 

I was reminded of my past rollercoaster rides when I read our lesson for today.  You see, for some time now, Jesus had been waiting to take Peter, James and John up the mountain, but before he did he shared much with them and the others.  They have seen him heal a man of leprosy (5:12-16).  They have seen him heal a paralyzed man (5:17-20).  They have listened to him teach, and they have heard his “Sermon on the Plain.”  They have seen him raise a young boy from the dead (7:11-15).  They have seen him calm the seas and winds (8:22-25) and raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead (8:54).  They were with him when He fed the 5,000 (9:10-17) and they have listen to Jesus foretell of his own death and resurrection (9:21-22).  These three men had been with Jesus now for some time, and the excitement in them must have been building.  They knew something wonderful was happening.  They had seen many things, but did not yet understand what they meant.  Then Jesus led them up a high mountain to pray.  Following Jesus, they climbed the mountain.  I can only imagine the wonder and excitement that must have been going through their minds.  What were they going to do now?  When they reached the top, Jesus prayed, and then suddenly Jesus’ appearance changed.  Luke tells us that his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white, a sign of glorification.  And then the two greatest prophets in Jewish history appeared with Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  WOW! 

If we had been reading this Gospel straight through, we would know that just a few verses before this Jesus asked the disciples a question, “Who do the people say that I am?”  The disciples responded by stating the rumors about Jesus.  Some thought he was John the Baptist, others thought Elijah, the prophet that did not die but that God took up to heaven in a chariot of fire.  And that is when we are told of Peter’s declaration, “You are the Messiah, sent from God” (9:20). For Peter, James and John, the correct answer was confirmed in that experience on the mountaintop. No wonder they were terrified.  They were not only standing in the presence of Elijah and Moses, but also Jesus, the Messiah, who had changed before their very eyes.  No wonder Peter wants to “build shelters for each of them.” The word shelter, literally, “to dwell with” or “to tent with,” is also the same word that is used for Tabernacle, the place where God lived in the presence of the Israelites in the desert.  Peter wanted “to tent with” these great men on God’s mountain.  He wanted to stay there.  Wouldn’t you?  But then the voice of God is heard, “This is my Son, My chosen One. Listen to him!”  Luke tells us in Chapter 3 that God used similar words when God spoke to Jesus at his baptism, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” According to Luke, only Jesus heard those words at the baptism, but now Peter, James and John heard them, as well.  Not only was Jesus changed that day, but so were Peter, James and John. 

By the Word of God, these three men descended that mountain changed forever.  By the Word of God we, too, are changed.  God has told them who Jesus is and what to do, “LISTEN TO HIM!” We, too, are called to “Listen to Him!”  As we know from any experience in which change has occurred in us, nothing will ever be the same again.  They men may not understand what has just occurred, but their lives have been changed forever. 

To have stayed on that mountain would mean that Jesus’ ministry, God’s work through Christ, would have ceased.  To continue God’s mission, Peter, John and James had to descend that mountain where they would encounter hatred, disease, fear, and even rejection.  And the same is true for us today.  For many of us, this place, Salem, is our mountaintop.  Here we feel safe and secure, and here we hear God’s Word.  But we cannot stay here; we must leave here and do as God commended, “Listen to him.”  What did Jesus tell them to do?  They were to be witnesses (24:49) to the world once they had received the Holy Spirit.  If we want to continue God’s mission, we cannot stay on the mountain.  We cannot come here to this place of safety and comfort and leave without descending.  Peter, James and John were witnesses to God’s Kingdom coming in power.  God’s Kingdom did not go away.  But they could not yet really understand, not until the resurrection, what it all meant.  But we have already witnessed the resurrection.  Just as Peter, James and John descended that mountain with Jesus to go back to the sick and the dying, to a world that was full of failures and problems, to a place where they would all eventually be rejected, we are called to do the same.  We are called to follow him down the mountain and to listen to him.  

So how do we listen?  We listen by studying the Holy Scriptures.  We listen by discerning what God is doing in the world and in us.  We listen by listening to each other and to those in need.  God gave us one mouth and two ears; therefore, shouldn’t we be listening at least twice as much as we talk?  We listen to him, by feeding the hungry and bringing light into a darkened world.

For Peter James and John, what they witnessed that day could only be understood as they persevered in their discipleship.  It is the same for us today; it is in our perseverance in discipleship that we come to know the whole story.  As we now prepare to enter the season of Lent, may we begin the journey knowing that Jesus came down that mountain that day with Peter, James and John.  Jesus made the journey through the valleys of their lives with them, and through the waters of our Baptism that promise continues today.  Brothers and sisters, God said that day, “Listen to Him!”  I pray that we all follow that command.  I pray that we do as Jesus said that day.  The resurrection has happened, the son of man has been raised from the dead, and may we go forth and tell everyone this great truth!  AMEN.