Mountaintop

Don’t you love getting to the mountain top? There’s always a breathtaking 360 degree view, fresh wind gusting through your hair and a sense of peace as if you were physically closer to God. It’s a feeling like you’re alone on a deserted island surrounded by water where nothing evil can get to you. The glory of God shines brightest at the top; it’s as if all the cares in the world are forbidden entrance. The only problem is when your experience is over you are forced to go back down into the valley.

Thirty-five hundred years ago Moses was living as a shepherd in Midian where one day he climbed to the top of Mount Horeb. Suddenly, while at the top, he discovered the glory of God emanating from a burning bush. God spoke from the burning bush telling Moses to remove his shoes for the ground on which he was standing was holy. The eighty year old shepherd was completely exhilarated until God mentioned the fact that he wanted him to go back down to Egypt and tell pharaoh to release his people.

Six hundred years after Moses, a prophet by the name of Elijah climbed Mount Carmel. Elijah had one of the most glorious mountaintop experiences any human being has ever witnessed. In a challenge to Jezebel’s prophets of Baal, he called upon God to demonstrate His omnipotence. God answered Elijah’s call in a majestic display of awestruck wonder as fire descended from heaven totally consuming his sacrifice. The prophet then slaughtered four-hundred fifty of Jezebel’s priests. Now, that same day, when his life is threatened by the queen, Elijah turns and runs for his life down the mountain and into the valley of the shadow of death.

Nine hundred years after Elijah, Jesus Christ would have a mountaintop experience at His transfiguration; that is when He was miraculously changed into His glorified heavenly body. “As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked to Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” Luke 9:28-37.  What a mountaintop experience that was for the apostles Peter, John and James. After this incredible glimpse into eternity these men didn’t want to leave the mountaintop.

The story continues “Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.” As Jesus, Peter, John and James come down from the solitude of the mountaintop they were immediately thrust into a throng of needy people, one of which was demon possessed. For the next couple of days Jesus is forced to listen to the disciples argue about which one of them was the greatest and then is rejected by an entire Samaritan village.

The plain truth is that while we will occasionally have mountaintop experiences where we see the glory of God, we eventually have to come back down the mountain and walk through the valley. Yes, it would be great to build booths at the top and continue to bask in God’s glory but there is work to be done by the man or woman of God back down here on earth. Jesus said “In this world you will have trials and tribulation, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world.”

It’s during our darkest times, while we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that we need to remember the promises of God. For on that final day, after climbing our last mountaintop, we too will receive our glorified bodies. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4.

I will leave you with one final thought to meditate on while you’re walking back down the mountain and heading for the valley below.

In the words of King David from the 23^rd psalm “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

In passing

The hospital corridor was cold, stark and oddly empty for eleven in the morning. As I walked towards room 504 I began thinking about what I would say to Grandma Vie. She wasn’t really my grandmother and I was actually on a pastoral visit, but to everyone in our small church she was known as Grandma Vie. 

When I found the right room I pushed on the door and let myself in. The lights were off but there was a bluish glow about the room. I noticed it was exceptionally warm in contrast to the chilly hallway I had just walked down. I was carrying my guitar and thinking about several old hymns that I might play to cheer her up.

As I came into the room all eyes became fixed upon me. They all seemed to be squinting and glaring as if I had opened the door into a movie theater. Vie was lying flat on her back surrounded by many younger women from our church. Her eyes seemed to have doubled in size as I looked at her through the coke bottle lenses that filled the frames of her glasses. She was perspiring profusely, and as a woman wiped her forehead the heart monitor began sounding like it was playing the mambo. 

 

As Vie tilted her head, straining to see who it was that had come in to see her, she angrily said “Oh it’s just him” and lay back down struggling to cling on to whatever life was left in her body. 

On another totally different day I was driving home from church, happy to get home and out of the undersized suit that was halfway suffocating me. We live out in Japatul Valley where it takes a good twenty minutes to get into town. The road is narrow and was never designed to accommodate cars, trucks and bicycles. Motorcyclists too love to speed up and down the winding road that leads to and from town.

As I approached the hair-pin turn several people motioned for me to stop. “There’s been an accident and a man is lying in the road unconscious” said one of the cyclists.  “The paramedics have been called but they are twenty minutes out” said another man who had been riding with the injured cyclist. When I said that my wife was a nurse and I was a minister they asked if we would go and pray for this man. “Don’t move him!” they all shouted in unison. 

We left our car in the middle of the road and walked up the hill to the where the man was sprawled out on the rough pavement. His bike was lying in a twisted heap of scrap metal and I’ll never forget his labored breathing and how he struggled for life and each new breath. His eyes were open but he was not responsive.

As I knelt down, I felt a bit awkward praying for someone who might not be able to hear or understand what I was saying. My wife looked at me and just shook her head he was probably bleeding internally and there was absolutely nothing we could do for him. I began to pray for him as if he could hear me, trying to give him some comfort and direction into eternity for he was in definitely in God’s hands.

Life is short. That cyclist never knew that this particular hair-pin turn was going to be the last image he would see in this life. Are you ready for eternity? Jesus warned us that a man must be born again spiritually if he wants to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus also told the penitent thief on the cross next to him that this day, after he suffered, he would be with him in paradise. 

Before the death of Jesus on the mount where He was transfigured an eye witness account suggests that Jesus became instantly glorified. That is, that he went through a metamorphosis changing into his eternal body. His robe turned the brightest white and glistening. It was like the appearance of lighting and two men were also seen talking with Him about his imminent death. 

 

The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of God’s throne “I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” The shepherds too saw the heavens opened and the glory of the Lord shown all around them at the first advent.

So when you pass, you will have a choice, you can go in anger or with the peace that passes all understanding.

Pegs

Have you ever tried to fit a square peg into a round hole? For the record, it actually is possible to fit a round peg into a square hole but today we are only looking at square pegs. Square pegs don’t fit into round holes. They must first be trimmed and shaped into round pegs before they can be used.

The average newly born or even carnal Christian is like a square peg who desperately tries to fit into a peg board of round holes. The Master Carpenter must shape each square peg through a rigorous whittling and sanding process which takes time but is absolutely necessary. God slowly and meticulously takes off our rough edges as He plugs us in somewhere to be useful. 

The church of Jesus Christ is so much bigger than the white steeple topped building at the corner. His church is much bigger than any one denomination. The kingdom of God has nothing to do with the color of the sanctuary carpeting, the size of the parking lot or the latest Christian shirt. The wisdom of the wise was not taken into consideration when God laid the foundation for His building.  God’s building materials were not man-made but are being fashioned by Him; a building constructed out of living, rough, square shaped pegs. Each peg being carefully placed exactly where the Master wants to put them for His service.

Woe, to the Christian man or woman who discourages any of these newly shaped pegs. We all have something to do for the Lord! Some pegs might not look as sparkly as some of the others but each and every peg is precious to God and useful in His service. Our ordination or anointing also comes from God, not man. There is no membership form to sign, quota to fill or knives to sell in order to be a kid of the King! All of His kids have an important role to fill and will do so in their own time.

Sometimes, when God uses someone they are propelled into the limelight. Some leaders have had large followings and wield a strong and heavy influence in the communities in which they serve. Chuck Smith, David Jeremiah, Billy Graham have had a mighty influence on the eternal destiny of many people God has led into their audiences. 

Unfortunately, sometimes our flesh is drawn to these men because of their charisma, speaking ability or apparent connection with the Holy Spirit but let us never forget that it is God who raised them up and is causing the growth. It’s not hard to see the potential danger these men are in if they begin to believe in their own strength and lean less on God’s. Division can also set into our churches as we take our eyes off Christ and begin to look and trust in men.

Paul wrote about this problem in his first letter to the Corinthian church 1:10-17 “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.  For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ."  Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 

 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.  Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.”

Paul continues his thought in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.”

So if you sometimes feel like a square peg in a round hole do not give up, for it is God who is doing the shaping and will make you grow!