During the Season of Lent (the 40 days, plus Sundays leading up to Easter) that begins this year on February 14th – Ash Wednesday, I plan to share a preaching emphasis I’m calling “Mountain Top Experiences”. Maybe you’ve had one of these experiences before? Usually we think of them as “high points” in faith where we may have been inspired, encouraged or given a sense of purpose or direction that is very clear. Traditionally, mountain top experiences come within the Christ following journey through welcome things like a week at church camp, a spiritual retreat experience, or going on a short-term mission trip. They can also happen via a dream or vision, or as part of a unique worship encounter when you are aware of being in the presence of the Holy One. As I look back on my life I can recall a few different mountain top experiences that fit these qualities. My life was enriched and in some way shaped or formed through each of them.
But mountain top experiences, in a spiritual sense do not always have to be euphoric and celebratory. The Bible is also filled with mountain top experiences that were very trying, tests of faith, results of disappointment, and even confrontational. What they share in common with their more joyous cousins is an outcome that is formative, with the capacity to redirect one’s life. I’m thinking of Abraham who takes Isaac up Mt Moriah where his faith is tested. Or how about Moses on Mt. Nebo overlooking the land he’d labored to lead a nation to for forty years, only to be denied entry himself. Then there’s Elijah, on Mt. Carmel in direct conflict with the prophets of Baal and their sponsors, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. None of those mountain top experiences would’ve had lines of folks waiting to participate.
Jesus journeys in and around many of these same mountains we read about in the Scriptures. He knew the stories and understood their significance. And he added some of his own mountain top encounters to the Biblical narrative. His “sermon on the mount” may be a collection of his most well-known teachings. His trip to the Mt of Olives was preparatory to his passion. And, of course, the Hill called Mt. Calvary was climactic in His mission.
Some people are ocean people, some like lakes and rivers, give me mountains any day. Their very contours and landscapes speak. They stand as obstacles, challenges and destinations. They offer us their own lessons if we will listen. They are places of epiphany and discovery, where mystery can be revealed and yet still retain much of its unknowns. They are meeting places between heaven and earth. When we climb them (literally or figuratively) they sculpt and chisel our lives and stories a bit, leaving us changed.
That’s my hope in sharing this series of messages on narratives that involve mountains. May they be used to once again shape, mold, sculpt and form us as we continue the journey with Jesus.
*If you are interested in following along, my Sunday messages are shared via Youtube on the First Marion Baptist channel, generally made available by Sunday afternoon or evening. This series will begin on Feb. 11th with the message “The Mountain of Revelation” on Mark 9:2-9.
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