Marking Time on a Mountainside

We have been on a journey with Mark and his Gospel.  We have marked the trail (as we cleared our lives of the things that distract us from our faith). We have uncovered the Marks of a disciple – hearing, receiving, and doing the Word. And we have uncovered that the X that marks us a followers is our heart – our actions.  And today we will mark time alongside a Mountain in Galilee.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms defines ‘Marking Time’: to wait; to do nothing but wait as in: I'll just mark time till things get better. 

A recent Harris poll concluded that 90% of adults in America believed in God, 89% believed in miracles, and 80% believed in the Resurrection.  That is a lot of people believing in something and living completely differently.  Apparently we have reached a point where believing in God is tantamount to ‘marking time.’

The etymology of the phrase ‘marking time’ is based on the military phrase mark time: to march in the same place, moving your legs up and down without going forward. 

What a perfect description of countless people of faith.  How else can we explain the feelings of despair and hopelessness felt by countless millions of Adult Americans? How else do we explain the rise in crime, the decline in morals and the general spiritual malaise that has invaded our world, our community, and our families?  We are simply marking time: to do something which is not very interesting while you are waiting to start doing something more important. As in:  She's just marking time in her father's shop until it's time to go to University (Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed)  In the language of the 90% who believe in God: We are just marking time until we get to heaven.  How sad?

In our episode today from Mark’s Gospel, we will learn that God understood our world - a world that even found the disciples ‘marking time’.  God understood our need for the mountaintop and our need for the valleys. The lessons God taught the disciples about victory and despair are relevant for us today now more than ever. 

² After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. ³ His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴ And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 

Moses represented the Law that God had given as the original covenant.  Elijah represented the prophets that foretold of the new covenant and Jesus was the new covenant and the Law fulfilled. Jesus was God incarnate. 

⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 

First, I love how Mark inserts the rationale for Peter’s statement. Many believe that Mark’s gospel is really Peter’s Gospel recorded by Mark – this would certainly be one of those indicators – Yes, I said it, but I was scared – I didn’t know what else to say – How about nothing? Peter’s idea was right, his timing was wrong. Peter wanted to act. He had the desire to capture the moment. He had the need to do something.  This was a moment however, that was not about Peter.  It was a time for worship for and adoration. We will see this point more clearly later, but the question for us to ask ourselves at this point isn’t – What do you get out of church? BUT rather are other people being affected by your attendance at church? 

⁷ Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” ⁸ Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. 

These words from God come as an interruption (while he was still speaking Matthew 17:5).  And isn’t that what we all need sometime? Stop. Listen. Peter sought to capture the moment, but he needed to learn, to grow, and then to move on from the experience.  When you grasp the central truth of who Jesus is, you are left with no other response than to worship.  This interruption was to serve as a reminder of the work that Christ was yet to do. The cross was not yet understood, but it still cast a shadow over the events of the day. The disciples still had much to learn before they would understand and be able to teach about the death and resurrection of Christ.  

¹⁴ When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵ As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. ¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” As the group returned from the mountaintop, the remaining disciples were waiting below at the crossroads.  They were with the people.  They were in the shadow of the mountaintop.  The power was within their grasp and their sight, but they were powerless to effect change.  Apparently, they were simply marking time.  

¹⁹ “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 

²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 

²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 

Why did the disciples fail? Why do we fail?

We so often work on the presumption that if it worked in the past it will work again.  I am confident that the disciples went through the motions of the past, but found no results. How did the disciples become powerless to affect change?

Authority and power are not the same thing.  The disciples had the authority (Matthew 10:1) We have the authority from God to do anything!  We lack the power or the faith. We attempt to move mountains while all the time looking at the mountain and worrying!  We must focus on Christ! We look to trust in the wrong things. We continue to repeat our past. We have the authority to affect change in God’s name, but we put have a tendency to put Jesus on the mountaintop and leave Him there. We put a cross on a chain and wear it around our neck for everyone to see. We put a bumper sticker on our car and proudly display it. And then we wait …

We forget that Jesus came down from the mountain top and entered the crossroads of our lives in order to affect them. The cross must come off the chain and enter our heart. The bumper sticker slogan must come off the car and becomes part of the driver’s life. Perhaps Susannah Wesley had this story in mind when she taught a young John Wesley “that church does not end in church!” 

We must exit the mountaintop place of worship and return to the crossroads. Our Christian duty does not end with church.  It only begins. We love the highs of life and we constantly strive to recapture those moments – often forgetting that we live life in the space between the moments.  Even at the pinnacle, we need to be reminded to stop and listen.  There is a time for worship, a time for listening, and a time for acting. Life happens at the crossroads.  Life is not here in worship or at the mountain top. Life happens at the crossroads. Life is where you live and play and work.

The disciples had lost sight of the power that God had given them.  When we lose sight or we place our power on a mountain top, or place, or others, we will become powerless to act in the world. We have a desire to put and keep things safe, but safe is not what we are called to do or be. 

Will you leave Jesus here at church or will you take him to the crossroads of life? 

We want to celebrate. We don't want to listen. We want to stay on the mountaintop with Jesus and set up a festival where everyone can come and play and have a good time. We want our faith to be one of entertainment.  We want to come on Sunday morning to worship, so we can spend the rest of the week ‘marking time.’ But God has called to us: "Listen to Him!" 

God has asked us to be ready for the journey. We cannot stay where we are, comfortable and snuggled down in the familiar. There is much to be done. In 1787 John Wesley wrote, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they set out”

Wesley’s fear was not that we would die and go away, but that we would become powerless and dead in our faith. As we continue our journey towards Easter, may this be a time of recommitment to the activity of faith.  May we not spend our lives of faith simply marking time – having all the authority, but no power. In the words of Christ, “Let he who has hears, hear.”