Just be!

Some people when they go on holidays or to something special like a wedding or a party, spend all their time taking photos, so that they can remember what happened. I am sure most of us know people who are so intent on getting souvenirs and taking photos, that they don't actually participate and experience what is going on around them. There are times when you really need to just be present.

In the chapter before the one we heard this morning from Matthew, Peter has declared that Jesus is Lord, and Jesus tells his disciples that he will die and that if they want to be his disciples they have to be prepared to leave everything and follow him. Then we get to this reading about the three disciples and Jesus going up to the top of the mountain, and something amazing happens.

Only three disciples went up the mountain with Jesus. Matthew tells us that Moses and Elijah who there with Jesus.  Moses was a great leader, it was Moses who led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and out of slavery. In the same way that Moses freed the people from slavery, so Jesus saves us from slavery of sin and guilt and shame. Elijah is one of the major prophets of the old testament and it is recorded that he was carried off to heaven in a chariot. Moses and Elijah, two of the great characters of the Old testament, are here seen talking with Jesus. There is lots of symbolism we could go into, but that can wait for another time.

I wonder what it's like for us when we experience something that leaves us speechless and not knowing what to do, what to say, how to describe what we've experienced or what we've seen?

And I wonder what it's like for those of us who haven't had those experiences?

I wonder what it was like for the disciples who were left at the bottom of the mountain?

I wonder what it was like for the three who were on the mountain,, seeing Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus, being told to listen to Jesus and then being told to keep quiet.?

There is a time to plan and think about where we go on holidays. But there are also times when we need to just be, to stop and breathe and taking the wonder of a sunset, the magnificence of a waterfall, the hug of a child. In the same way there is a time for planning and thinking and understanding and working through our faith, and there are times for us to think about our faith, there are times to count the cost of following Jesus, there are times to think about what that means and who Jesus is for us, but when we are here as we take the bread and the juice this morning is a time to be open to God a time to be present in the moment to what is happening.

A story [from 'It was on fire when I lay down on it' by Robert Fulghum, p 27ff]:

when Molly started school she helped pack the morning lunches for herself, her brothers and her father. Each bag got a share of sandwiches, fruit, milk money and sometimes a note or treat. One morning Molly gave her father two lunch bags to take to work. He asked Molly what the extra bag was? She said the other one is something else. Her father asked what was in it? Molly said: it's just some stuff, take it with you. And off it went to work he went. At midday the father quickly ate his lunch then tore open the other bag and shook out the contents: to hair ribbons, three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, the stump of the pencil, a tiny seashell, two animal crackers, one marble, a used lipstick, a small doll, two chocolate kisses and 13 pennies.

The father smiled and thought how charming, then getting ready a busy afternoon, he swept the desk clean, into the wastepaper basket, lunch scraps, Molly's bag and all. There wasn't anything in there he needed.

That evening Molly asked here father: where's my bag? Her father asked : what bag? She said: the one I gave you morning. Her father said he'd left it at the office, why? Molly said : I forgot to put this note in it, anyway I want it back those are my things in there, the things I really like, I thought you might like to play with them, but I want them back. You didn’t lose the bag, did you daddy?

OH!!!

Her father said: no, I just forgot to bring it bring it home. Molly hugged her father. Then he looked at the note: I love you daddy. OH!!!

 He rushed back to the office, picked up the wastepaper bin and pour the contents on his desk before the cleaner came. The next day he bought the back home. He asked Molly to tell him what was special about those things.

Sometimes we have missed the affection we were being given, like, “standing knee deep in the river and dying of thirst”.

Sometimes we think we don't need what we are being given, and sometimes all we can think to do is build a monument or take a photo.

Baptism reminds all of us that we are loved.

Baptism reminds all of us that we are part of the people of God.

Baptism reminds us that Jesus lived and died and rose, and in baptism we get to be part of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.

There are times in life when we need to be present, we need to let the love of God, and the love of those around us, to wash over and through us. There are times when we need to just be. As we share in communion shortly, we rehear the story of God's interaction with people throughout history, we rehear the story of the night when Jesus was betrayed and how he died for us. There is more to this ritual than just rehearing the story. In being part, in participating, we become part of the story. We can see it as something that we don't need, just a little bit of bread and a mouthful of juice. Or it can be a time when we allow God to be part of us, it can be a time to be, and see what happens.

Some people will have been on the mountain top and experienced God in really powerful and amazing ways, but whether we have been to the mountaintop or not we have all experienced the love of God. God loves each one of us and is offering each one of us life and nurture, is offering each one of us love, forgiveness, grace; is offering each one of us hope and peace.

Experiencing God is life changing, transforming.

we take some time to think about the ways God has and is transforming our lives.