A sermon delivered on The Sunday before Lent. Sunday 19th February 2023 at All Saints Church, Oakham.

Readings: Exodus 24:12-18; Matthew 17:1-9.

Having escaped free of the Egyptians and having crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites find themselves in the desert at the foot of Mount Sinai. It was whilst the Israelites were settled next to Mount Sinai that God began to give the law and commandments to the people. And God was regularly inviting Moses up the mountain to give him laws and instructions for the Israelites. 

In this reading, God again calls Moses up the mountain. So, Moses went up Mount Sinai where he remained for forty days and forty nights. As Moses goes up the mountain, a cloud covers the mountain. The cloud coverage was the presence of God settling on the mountain as God came to speak with Moses. It says the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. Moses was not merely climbing a mountain to get the best reception to hear from God. Moses was entering into the glory and presence of God. On the seventh day that he was up there, God called Moses to step out the cloud and see the full sight of the glory of the LORD, which was like a devouring fire, visible on the top of the mountain to all the people of Israel. How incredible and overwhelming must it have been for Moses to see God’s glory when it was as bright and intense as a roaring fire, big enough that every one of the Israelites could see it too. Mount Sinai was more than double the height of Mount Snowden, towering at 2,285m, so you can only imagine how big this fire of glory appeared. Moses himself only saw the full glory of God on this one day and remained in the cloud of God’s presence for the rest of the forty days. 

There is a recurring theme in the Bible of people going up mountains to meet with God and to encounter his glory. Moses did this, as our Old Testament reading shows us, but in our Gospel reading we also see Jesus and his closest friends go up a mountain. Jesus would often go up mountains to pray. Mountains were a place of escape to go and be with God, to talk to him and to encounter him. And this trip up the mountain was no exception. 

As they went up the mountain, Jesus was transfigured before him, that is he began to shine from his face like the sun, and his clothes become dazzling white. Like bright fire of the mountain top, God’s glory was shining in Jesus. And in this place of meeting and encountering God and his glory, two of God’s prophets Moses and Elijah, who both met with God on mountains, appeared and spoke to Jesus and his disciples. Peter wanted to honour this place of God’s presence by building three dwellings for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, but God himself interrupted him. God came suddenly in a bright overwhelming cloud (notice the cloud again) and from the cloud he spoke to them saying, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ The disciples fell to the ground overwhelmed in fear, but Jesus picked them up and told them to not be afraid. There now remained only Jesus and the disciples on the mountain. 

These two accounts of mountains for Moses and Jesus are different in their contexts, however, both demonstrate how God uses mountains to be a place of meeting and encounter with God’s presence and glory. This is not to say that we can only encounter with God’s presence and glory on mountains – we encounter God here in flat-ish Oakham and in this time together now – nor does it guarantee this kind of experience for us every time we go up a mountain. However, I do think that there are significant qualities about mountains that help us in our prayer and encounter with God. 

Mountains are often very quiet spaces, separated from the rest of the world on the ground. This is often a helpful setting for creating time and space to pray and meet with God. Why do you think Jesus so often went up a mountain to pray? Because it was so often the only place he could escape to get some time and space to himself to pray and be with his father. Once on his own away from everything, Jesus could pray and talk with God; he could encounter him and his presence. God does speak to us in busy and crowded spaces also, but if our day to day conversations teach us anything, it is that you need a bit of quiet space in order to really get into your conversation with the other person, especially if you are going deep into conversation. And you see and understand so much more of the other person when you have space to go into the same depth.

We are approaching the season of Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday this week. It is a time for reflection and drawing near to God in prayer, like Moses did for forty days on Sinai, and like Jesus did for forty days in the desert. And so, in preparation for Lent, I ask you, where is your mountain? Where is the place where you are going to go to meet with God? It could be a physical mountain, but it doesn’t have to be. What I am asking you is where are you going to pray? Where are you going to escape from the busyness of life in order to find some peace and quiet to talk with and encounter God. It could be here in church. (I often find the 8am service a great quiet space to pray and meet with God). It could be on a walk, or it could be in a special chair in your living room. Your mountain will be specific to you and different from someone else’s, but I encourage you to find your mountain and go to it during this Lent. And these biblical accounts show us that on our mountains we not only meet with God’s presence and speak with God, but we see and encounter his overwhelming glory. To some it may be an audible word from God, or a picture or image that God has put in your mind. To some it may be a great feeling of emotion. I know that I have had times in prayer where I am crying my eyes out and feeling overwhelmed by this sense of God’s overwhelming love. God’s shares his glory and presence with us in different ways, all good and wonderful. 

Find your mountain place and go to it this Lent, go to it today, to meet and encounter with God. Climbing mountains can be tough, and so don’t feel disheartened by it feeling difficult to find your mountain or climb to it for that space with God. We all find that life can slow us down and make it hard for us to climb up the mountain. But remember how God’s appears to people in his great glory on mountains, so together let us keep the charge to find our mountains, climb up them, and there see and encounter with God’s presence and glory this Lent. 

Amen.