Between Up and Down (climbing with Christ)

photo by: Andy Lewicky, author and creator of SierraDescents.com

One doesn’t have to walk far in this space between heaven and earth to know there will always be loose rocks that cause you to slip. And pebbles that will trip you up. There will be rifts and chasms to navigate around. And steep cliffs and dark caves avoid. 

​But when we climb with Christ, God climbs with us; casting aside the roadblocks that seek to throw us off our pilgrimage path.

Earlier this week I was driving alongside the San Gabriel Mountains, one of three massive and majestic mountain ranges that separate Los Angeles with the rest of the country.

On a good day, you can see the San Bernardino Mountain range behind them. But thanks to the recent storms, the skies were so clear that I was able to get a rare peek of the massive, snow-packed Sierra Nevada’s as well.
 
They stood in the background towering over the others like the gigantic ice mountain in Game of Thrones. If you’ve seen the show, you know they call it The Wall, because it separates the living from the dead.

Apparently, nothing can breach this giant hunk of ice, giving those living behind it a false sense of security. You don’t have to see the series finale to know mountains can be deceiving. 

​Their sheer size can play tricks on your psyche. And their well-worn paths don’t seem that treacherous, until you’re too far in!

In the bible, mountains set the stage for crucial events. Noah lands his ark on Mount Ararat. Abraham almost kills Isaac on Mount Moriah. Moses brings down the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. Of course, it was on the mountain that Jesus gave his inaugural sermon. And where the disciples watched in awe as he ascended back to heaven.
 
Mountains are hard to ignore. They call out to us - inviting us to come and be a part of their splendid glory. Which brings us to today’s reading, where Jesus takes three lucky disciples to share this unforgettable mountain-top experience. Read Mathew 17:1-9 here

...While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

Today, churches around the world are celebrating Transfiguration Sunday, which marks the end of Epiphany; a season that speaks to the many different ways God reveals Jesus’ true identity to the world. Epiphany often begins at the Jordan River, with John the Baptist. But it always ends on this mountain with Elijah and Moses.
 
At both events, God’s voice thunders from the sky declaring, “This is my Son the beloved.” But on this last Sunday of Epiphany, God kicks off Lent giving us this direct command, “Listen to him.”
 
Last week I said Jesus is the living embodiment of Torah, bringing God’s love for humanity to life in the flesh. By focusing on things like justice, mercy, and faith, Jesus bridged the gap between our world and God’s. If we listen carefully to God’s Word, watching and learning from him, we will not only have a way across this divide, but we can also be the way for others to follow.

God says, “Listen to him.” An imperative that’s an invitation to join Jesus’ mission and ministry. As well as a blueprint on how to do it.

The great mystics throughout time have taught us there are many paths up the mountain to meet God. Like life, those paths may be rough or smooth, steep, or gentle, boring or colorful, tiring or exhilarating. Yet, they’re all on the same spiritual mountain, and ultimately, they all converge at the very top where the Divine meets us in our humanity.
 
Maybe God is telling us to listen to what Jesus has to say, because Jesus knows the way, or a secret shortcut. After all, Jesus himself said, “I am the truth, the light, and the way” (John 14:6).

But that single sentence has been fraught with controversy around what he meant, what he was declaring. Is he the only way? Or an exclusive way for some to know and not others? Or one of many ways?
 
I know what I believe, and that is in each gospel account of this story Jesus is called God’s beloved Son. I take that to mean there is an intimacy shared between them.

​God knows Jesus and Jesus knows God. And in knowing God so well, Jesus knows what God wants from all of us. That alone should be reason enough to listen to what he has to say and allow him to guide us up and down the mountainside of life.
​ 
As it is with any journey, life can be tricky to navigate. It’s often filled with all kinds of challenges and difficult obstacles. But here’s the thing, when we climb up the mountain with Christ, God climbs with us.

​Through Christ, God comes to be with us in our messiness. And shows us the way through it. So, “Listen to him.”
 
This is important to remember because we all face our mountains. Mountains of fear, doubt, insecurity, worry, and so on.

If I have learned anything on my spiritual pilgrimages, and getting lost in the wilderness of Lent, it’s that God is bigger than any mountain, stronger than any struggle, more powerful than any demon I will face. There is nothing in life that can overpower God. The only real obstacle that ever gets in my way…is me.
 
When our focus is on Jesus, and what he says and does, then we’re not wasting time worrying about the things that try to knock us off path.

​His faith, his strength, his direction keeps us focus on what he does…loving God, loving others, and serving both. This is way of living Torah, the way of living into our own incarnation of God’s love no matter what mountains we face.
 

Now, I have a cousin who was born and raised on an island in Canada. After reading “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” Diane made a brave decision to face her fears and conquer that grand mountain Ernest Hemingway so famously wrote about.
 
Now here’s the thing. Up until this point, she had never left Prince Edward Island …muchless flown on an airplane. She had never climbed anything beyond a tree or a treadmill. And the only thing she knew about Africa was what she had read in books. But that didn’t stop her. Something was tugging on her heart. It was too big to ignore.
 
Diane knew the only way she’d discover what was calling out to her, would be to listen to it. That meant she’d have to face her anxieties, take the 24-hour flight, and conquer that mountain.

Standing at the base of Kilimanjaro, Diane felt her heart pound anxiously. But instead of being afraid, she held on faithfully to the words of comfort that Jesus spoke when he said, “Anyone who believe in me will never die.”
 
She listened; believing his words to be true. She held on to that verse all the way to the top.
 
In the snow, on the summit of Kilimanjaro, Diane knew her life would never be the same. God had awoken something new in her. Her fears lost all their power. Her anxieties were non-existent.

Like Peter, James and John who climbed the mountain with Christ, Diane was trans-figured; reshaped and renewed by the Spirit of God in Christ. All because she “listened to him.”
 
Whether they’re born out of violent tectonic shifts or have spewed up from toxic relationships, mountains are a the bridge between heaven and earth. A place where Jesus invites us to walk with him - up and down - to find our true self, who we are meant to be.
 
Jesus calls out and says, “Follow me.” God says, “Listen to him.”  All while the Holy Spirit silently reshapes and renews us with each step we take.
 
This does not mean we won’t face trials and tribulations, or that there won’t be some kind of force knocking us around, trying to derail us from our path.
 
We all will, at some point on this journey, hit that moment when we’re just too tired, or feel too weak to climb any more. Still, God says, “Listen to him” and not the voice inside you that says, “I can’t” or “I give up.”

Keep your ear tuned to the One who says, “Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
 
When we are faced with what seems like the impossible or impassable, we must listen to Jesus who tells - through his words and deeds - that “all things are possible with God.” The Apostle Paul said like this, “I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13)
 
We end the season of Epiphany going up the mountain with Christ. We begin Lent coming down with the one who gives us strength. It’s down here where our fears will face our faith. It might feel as if you’re being tested or challenged unfairly.

One doesn’t have to walk far in this space between heaven and earth to know there will always be loose rocks that cause you to slip. And pebbles that will trip you up. There will be rifts and chasms to navigate around. And steep cliffs and dark caves avoid.

But through it all, I hope you remember this: When we climb with Christ, God climbs with us; casting aside the roadblocks that seek to throw us off our pilgrimage path.
 
With Christ is in us and around us, the challenges we face can’t break us. Instead, they strengthen us. They let us know who we are, and what we are called to do.

The bruises and scars we accumulate on this journey become a human witness to God’s divine glory, here and now. They remind us of the endless possibilities, the mountains of joy, peace, love, and grace that are always there for us.
 
Instead of seeing it as struggle or task, perhaps we need to reframe Lent as an invitation to climb to new heights with Christ who shows us the way to transform our humanity into divinity.  God tells us to “Listen to him.”
 
Because when we do, we will discover who we are destined to be - God’s beloved sons and daughters, transfigured in God’s glory to shine the light of Christ, now and into forever.