Matthew 17:1-9
February 10, 2002
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco at the 9:00 Worship.
On Friday night, 211 in all, the largest US delegation marched into the Rice-Eccles Stadium to begin the 19th Winter Olympic Games. At the Snowbasin Ski Area, men and women will compete in Alpine Skiing for a total of 10 gold medals. We’ll hear words like the “giant slalom” and the “Super-G,” dominate our conversations for the next two weeks. We’ll watch how fast these skiers will come down the mountain peaks avoiding the gates and hoping for victory and not the agony of defeat.
The ancient Olympic games served as part of a religious festival glorifying Zeus and named for the home of the greatest Greek gods and goddesses—Mt. Olympus. Today’s games bring glory to the world-class athletes who make extraordinary personal sacrifices in order to be Olympic champions and exemplify the Olympic motto: Swifter, Higher, Stronger.
And when the competition is over, we will see three winners standing high on pedestals—winning the bronze, the silver, and the gold. And for the gold medalist’s, his or her national anthem would be played.
Climbing on top of a mountain before coming down on skis or standing on the highest pedestal for the gold during the medal ceremony shows that we like to be on top.
The high mountain is the closest place to heaven that one can get on earth. In Scripture, it often symbolizes the border between heaven and earth, the place where God and humans meet.
Moses and Elijah
It was on Mt. Sinai that Moses spoke with God and received the Ten Commandments, which were to govern the life of the people of Israel. The people have forgotten the agony of Egypt, they no longer believe the vision of the promised land, they have become bitter and tired so they started worshipping the golden calf. Getting a mountain top experience, it kept Moses going, reminding him of God’s faithfulness and giving him the vision, the energy, and the hope to not give up.
The prophet Elijah journeyed to Mt. Horeb when he was discouraged and fearful for his life. There, God spoke to him, giving him encouragement and direction for the tasks that lay ahead of him. When Jezebel was after him, Elijah climbed on top of the mountain before the Lord. Not a great wind, not an earthquake, not a fire, but in the sound of sheer silence, Elijah heard God passed by. When God said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah told God that his life was being threatened. But God said to him ski down this
mountain and go to Damascus through the wilderness down in the valleys and do your job.
For Moses and Elijah, the mountain top experience of intense communion with God was a one-time event. Its purpose was to equip them to be leaders of God’s people in the valleys—in the ordinary places of life, where the presence of God seemed less vivid. For them, the high mountain was the place God gave instruction and encouragement and then sent them back into the world.
You see we like to be on top of a mountain. Heaven seems closer. The cares and concerns of earth are farther away. The mountain offers a place of quiet and peace, of sanctuary or escape. When a skier is high up in the mountain slope, she hears nothing of the noise and music down in the Olympic Village.
The Transfiguration
When Peter, James, and John climbed the snow-capped Mount Hermon with Jesus so many years ago, skiing was not on the agenda. But what they saw was Jesus in his glory, along with Moses and Elijah standing tall together like a medal ceremony.
Moses, of course, had stood high upon a holy mountain before. The venue was Mt. Sinai, and it was a 40-day event, complete with difficult trails, fireworks, an appearance of God himself, and he ends up with a new training handbook called the Ten Commandments. The country he represented was the Law.
Elijah, too, was an Olympic champion. His contest on Mt. Horeb had 400 competitors and a bad official queen named Jezebel. Elijah’s event included confronting kings, meeting with angels, mountain meetings with God featuring earth, wind, and fire. And then he took this upward ride to glory in chariots of fire that left onlookers open-mouthed and shocked. The nation he represented was the Prophets.
Now Moses and Elijah are now standing together on another mountain with Jesus. By this time, Jesus has had some miraculous victories himself over hunger, blindness, bleeding, and seizures. Those events alone brought him widespread attention like Apolo Anton Ohno and Michelle Kwan. But Jesus was a bit of a quirky hero, telling parables that jarred the crowds, making comments that would make his public relations team worried, and offending those in power.
So Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were standing on the medal pedestals while the Olympic wannabees, Peter, James, and John were hanging around close by. And suddenly, they were stunned to see that it was their Jesus who stood tallest, transfigured before them, taking the gold and gleaming like a star. Sure, their leader was impressive to the crowds, but who could have known that Team Gospel would outshine the Law and the Prophet!
Of course, Peter himself attempted to bolt out of the starting gate like a champion and said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, the gold medalist, one for Moses, the silver medalist, and one for Elijah, the bronze medalist.” Peter wanted to enjoy the glory and safety of the moment. He wanted to freeze the moment and not let it end.
But God rejected Peter’s plan. A voice in a cloud sounding like a national anthem said simply, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, all three of them fell to the ground in fear—realizing that they were in the very presence of God. But Jesus came and touched them, healing their fear, and raising them up again as if from death itself. And when they looked around, they saw no one on the mountain except Jesus.
Before the Transfiguration, Jesus told his disciples that “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Peter didn’t want to leave the mountain medal ceremony because he wanted another way out of taking up his cross.
Carrying the Flag
At this year’s Olympics, in the aftermath of September 11th, the IOC permitted the USA athletes to carry the tattered American flag found at the World Trade Center. In the Olympics and in other sporting events, carrying the flag is a great honor.
The Olympic flag with the five intertwined rings was based on the discovery of an ancient Greek artifact. The rings are intended to represent the five general regions of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Every national flag in the world includes at least one of the five Olympic ring colors: blue, red, black, green, and yellow.
The Olympic flag was first unfurled in 1920 and today we see the rings everywhere, from Coke bottles to M&M wrappers to Campbell soup cans.
The rings of the Olympic flag can teach us about our faith.
The Blue Ring is justice. Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sinai to teach us about living justly with each other and with God. Elijah stood up for justice against a system that had forsaken the commandments and were following other gods.
The Red Ring is mercy. At the root of Jesus’ parables and healings lies compassion. Jesus dying on the cross for us is the ultimate sacrifice of God’s merciful love.
The Black Ring is repentance. On Wednesday is the beginning of 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting during the season of Lent. Here is an opportunity for us to seek forgiveness and to turn our lives around to God.
The Green Ring is growth. Peter and the disciples learned and obeyed God’s command to listen to Jesus and become his disciples. They came down from the mountain and ministered to the hurting people of the world.
The Yellow Ring is joy. When Jesus was transfigured on the high mountain, his face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white. When we become Christian disciples, our faces will shine brightly too. The glory of God will surround us and his presence is among us.
Olympic Christians
While we may be carrying the Olympic flag to announce to the world that Jesus won the gold medal, Jesus actually asked us to “take up the cross.” Before we can carry this flag that represents who Christians are, we first have to be Christians. We become Olympic Christians by first “taking up the cross.”
Jesus said, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
Too many young Christians say, “Yes, I am a Christian because it’s a lot of fun. I want to go on all the fun trips and hang out with all these cool friends. But now you are saying I need to be an Olympic Christian–to go all the way by taking up the cross. I just want to carry the flag!”
When the transfigured Jesus calls us to be his disciples, he calls us to be a “swifter, higher, stronger” disciple. We carry the flag but more importantly, we take up the cross to whatever venue or event that the Lord leads us.
Let us enjoy the Winter Olympic Games and cheer the downhill skiers and the ski jumpers. But let us remember that like the disciples we all have to come down from the mountains to be with the hurting people of the world. We might want to carry our flags high up because we feel proud and honored, but we must also remember that it’s not the flag but it’s the cross of Jesus that God’s love forgave us and gave us eternal life.
Let us pray.
Thank you, Lord for showing us how to be Olympic Christians. When we are with you on the mountain top, we also must come down with you to the valleys of life and serve you by caring for one another. During this season of Lent, lead us to a closer relationship with you through prayer and fasting. Challenge us to take up our cross and follow you. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.