Christians Need Christians

The Sunday night message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on Sunday, August 13, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Mark 9:2-13.

            One of the things that always strikes me about the Bible–and I’ve mentioned this before–is how incredibly matter-of-fact it is.  We read all kinds of incredible, awesome, extraordinary things in the Bible, and they’re written in such a way as to make them sound no more interesting than a traffic report.

Maybe it’s just that writing styles change.  Or maybe it’s because the gospel writers, writing under the influence of and at the inspiration of God, were trying not to put too much of their own interpretation on things, and so they stuck with the just-the-facts approach.  But just listen again to how the events of our Bible reading for today–the transfiguration of Jesus–are described:  “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.  His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.  And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.”

            Ho-hum.  Jesus becomes something we’ve never seen before.  He’s talking with the two greatest prophets ever, both of whom are dead.  Just another boring Tuesday.  Nothing to see here.

            Think about what this describes.  Try to picture it.  Better yet, try to imagine yourself there, seeing it.  Imagine that you’re James, or John, or Peter.  Put yourself in this story.

            You’ve been with Jesus for a while now.  You’ve seen him heal people.  You’ve seen Him feed five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish.  We sometimes think of the disciples as not having been exactly the sharpest pencils in the cup, but by this time you know there’s something special about this Jesus.  You know that He is the Son of God.  You may not know exactly what that means, but you still know it’s true.

            So now, Jesus takes you, along with two more of His closest disciples, up a high mountain.  You probably don't know why you’re going there.  You know, though, that Jesus often went up into the mountains to pray.  You probably feel honored that Jesus is taking you with Him.  If you’re Peter, you probably feel especially honored, because shortly before this you’d been arguing with Jesus and Jesus called you Satan.  There would not be very many things worse than having Jesus call you Satan, would there?  This would not be an apology, but it would be an indication that Jesus was not holding anything against you.  He still considered you one of His closest friends, close enough that He’s taking you and only two others up into the mountains with Him.

            So you’re going up a high mountain.  Do you say anything to Jesus?  Probably not.  Probably nobody’s doing much talking.  You may not know where you’re going or exactly why, but you know this is some kind of a special deal.  And you’ve been around Jesus enough to know that He does not always explain things to you right away.  Jesus will tell you what’s going on in His way and at His time.  Until then, you just keep walking in silence.

            And then, the four of you stop.  You figure, well, we must be here, wherever “here” is.  Something must be going to happen.  Maybe Jesus is going to tell you something.  You look over at Jesus.  And–what in the world is happening?  Jesus does not look like Jesus anymore.  He looks like–well, you’re not sure what He looks like.  His clothes are “dazzling white”.  Whiter than white.  Whiter than anyone could bleach them.  Whiter than anything you’ve ever seen or you can imagine.

            And then, you see Jesus is not alone.  There are two people with him.  And it’s Elijah and Moses!  How do you know it’s Elijah and Moses?  You don’t know.  But you know that’s who it is.  Elijah.  And Moses.  Two of the greatest prophets of all time.  And they’re talking to Jesus.

            Can you hear what they’re saying?  The Bible does not say, but I doubt it.  This is a conversation for them alone.  You feel privileged just to be present to see these three great people together.  

            But you’re not only privileged.  You’re a little scared, too.  After all, you don’t know what’s going on.  Jesus did not tell you.  Are Elijah and Moses going to take Jesus back to heaven with them?  Are you going to be left alone?  What if Elijah and Moses don’t approve of you?  After all, Jesus just called you Satan a little while ago.  What are Elijah and Moses going to call you?  You start talking about putting up shelters for them.  Maybe you think Jesus brought you there to be part of a work detail, to serve the three of them.  Maybe you’re just babbling because you don’t know what to say, but you feel like you have to say something.

            Then a cloud covers the three of them, and you hear a voice.  The voice says, “This is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to Him!”

            And that’s it.  The cloud disappears.  No one’s there but Jesus, and Jesus looks, well, He looks like Jesus again.  Jesus tells you not to say anything to anyone until Jesus has risen from the dead.

            Do you obey Him?  I mean, there are lots of times when Jesus told us to do hard things, but think about this.  You’ve seen this incredible thing, and you cannot say a word about it to anyone.  You know that when they got back, the other disciples must have asked them where they went and what happened.  How do you keep a thing like that to yourself?

            So what’s the point of all this?  Well, there are a lot of points we could make, but here’s the one I want to talk about tonight:  Christians are not supposed to try to go through life alone.

            The life of a Christian can be very hard sometimes.  Sometimes we have the idea that if we follow Jesus life should be easier for us, but that’s not true.  A lot of times, following Jesus can make life harder.  Following Jesus means not always doing what society says we should do.  Following Jesus means being willing to say certain things are right and other things are wrong, and that’s not always popular.  Following Jesus means believing we need to repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness, and that’s not always popular, either.  Following Jesus means believing that the only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus, and that’s not always popular, either.  

            There are a lot of ways in which following Jesus is not popular.  And so, we need to have other Christians around us.  We need other Christians to encourage us.  We need other Christians to strengthen us.  We need other Christians, sometimes, to hold us accountable and keep us on the right path.  We need other Christians for lots of reasons.

            And if you want proof of that, think about this:  Jesus did not try to go through life alone.  Jesus did not need people to hold Him accountable, obviously.  But He did need people.  He needed people to encourage Him.  He needed people to strengthen Him.  And when the encouragement of the disciples was not enough, Jesus got help and strength from Elijah and Moses.  And even then, Jesus did not go to see them alone.  He took Peter, James, and John with Him, even when He was going to see Elijah and Moses.  We don’t know what Elijah and Moses said to Jesus, but I’m pretty sure whatever they said was intended to help Him and keep Him going.  If even Jesus needed other Christians, I think you and I probably do, too.

            I hope you have those people in your life.  If you don’t, please know you can always call on me.  But beyond that, also know that you can always call on Jesus Himself.

            The old song says, “What a friend we have in Jesus.”  It’s true.  Jesus is our friend.  You can always call on Him.  You can always talk to Him.  No, I don’t suppose He’ll appear in front of you in dazzling white.  I mean, He could–nothing is beyond His power.  But probably not.

            But even so, you can always talk to Jesus.  And He will always listen.  And if you really open your heart to Jesus, He will respond.  Maybe in words, maybe not.  But somehow.  In some way.  Jesus will respond.  And however Jesus responds, it will help.  Maybe He will give you encouragement.  Maybe He’ll give you strength.  Maybe He’ll call on you to repent and change.  I don’t know what Jesus will say, any more than I know what Elijah and Moses said to Jesus.  But I’ll guarantee you that whatever Jesus says, it’ll be exactly what you need to hear.

            Whatever Jesus says will be exactly the right thing.  It will be the most helpful thing.  You may not realize it at first.  You know, sometimes the thing we need to hear is not the thing we want to hear.  Sometimes it may take a little time for us to admit that we needed to hear what Jesus told us.  But eventually, if we open our hearts to Jesus, we’ll realize that it is.

            Life as a Christian is not meant to be lived in isolation.  We need other Christians in our lives.  And sometimes, other Christians need us in their lives, too.  So try to have other Christians in your life.  But if you cannot do that, then go to Christ Himself.  Because as Christians, we never have to be alone.  We can always go to the best friend we could ever have, Jesus Christ.