Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to

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1 Are We There Yet? February 7, 2016 Luke 4: Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. If God is with us all the time, wherever we are, why did Jesus feel the need to climb a mountain in order to pray? Why didn t he just find a spot on the floor in someone s house or sit under a tree in the yard? Why did he decide to walk up the side of a mountain? What do you think? (leave time for a response get away from distractions, needed time out from other people, a rest, felt closer to God, thin place) Where do you go to pray? Have you ever travelled to a distant place so you could connect with God? If you have, you are certainly not alone. People have been going on pilgrimages to sacred places for centuries. One of the most famous modern-day destinations for pilgrims is Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. I know that some of you have walked at least part of the Camino de Santiago. If you begin in France at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port then it takes most pilgrims about a month to get to Santiago. That s a pretty long walk. There are lots of other pilgrimages, lots of other sacred places to visit, and not everyone walks to get there some take planes, trains, ride buses or horses or even donkeys. Of course, if you were Muslim, instead of Christian, your pilgrimage of choice would be the hajj the journey to Mecca, a city in Saudi Arabia. 1

2 Why do people go on pilgrimages? Maybe they just need to get away for a while. Away from phone calls, s, Facebook pages, tweets, texts and all the other distractions of our daily lives. Maybe they are looking for a physical challenge walking km each day for an extended period of time is not trivial. Maybe they need time to think about a new direction for their life. Maybe, just maybe they need time to connect with the Spirit, to pray. We don t know much about the pilgrimage that Jesus and his disciples took to the top of that mountain. For instance, we don t really know how high the mountain was or how long it took them to get there. We don t know what they saw along the way or what they talked about as they climbed. We don t know if the weather was hot and dry or cold and wet, whether the path was steep and dangerous or if it had a gradual slope and was relatively easy to walk. All we know is that when they got to the top, Peter and the other disciples were tired and, depending on which translation your read, either fell asleep, or they were very close to falling asleep. In fact, they nearly missed the big event. They nearly missed the transfiguration of Jesus and the appearance of Moses and Elijah. They had walked all the way up the mountain and they nearly missed seeing Jesus in dazzling white. They nearly missed the voice from the cloud that identified Jesus as the Beloved, the Chosen son of God. How many times have we done that in our lives spent so much time and energy getting ready for an event, or trying to get to an event, that we were too tired to really appreciate it once it began. 2

3 When Peter realized that Moses and Elijah were about to leave he did his best to keep them there on top of mountain, even suggesting that they could create a dwelling place, a tent, for each of the prophets. But if there s one thing that pilgrims know it s that the journey is not just about the destination or the big event. That it s not possible to stay on the mountain top or at the cathedral in Santiago or by the great mosque in Mecca forever. Eventually you have to leave. Today, most people who walk El Camino de Santiago, journey on foot for at least a week, then they stay for a day or two in the city and then quickly catch a plane and fly home. But in earlier centuries, the pilgrim upon reaching their destination would stay for a while and then they would have to turn around and walk all the way home. They didn t have planes or trains or buses. When they reached their destination their pilgrimage was only half done. Jesus and his disciples had no choice but to walk back down that mountain. Do you think they stopped to rest and pray after Moses & Elijah were gone? We know they must have had a conversation about keeping silent, but what else did they share with each other on their journey back? What were they thinking, what were they feeling? Going on a pilgrimage, or experiencing a sacred place can be momentous event. Some people return home and change their entire lives: their home, their job, 3

4 possibly even their friends and family. Some have come home and, without changing their home or their job have still managed to change the way they live their life. I found a blog on the Internet where various people were talking about the impact that walking the Camino had on their lives. I woman named Anna- Marie wrote: I suspect I'm not particularly more spiritual, or necessarily nicer, or (much) better at dealing with life than I was pre-camino. When I got home, I wasn't any closer to knowing what I really wanted to do with my life. But then again walking the Camino has made me look at these things more, and maybe to some extent in a different way. So it continues to affect my life, I suspect often in ways I don't realize. Judging by myself and my Camino friends (although we could be abnormal), a lot of people don't have huge epiphanies on the Camino. But I think the experience can keep working away in our lives if we let it. A pilgrimage is a journey and every journey we take impacts our life. Some journeys we get to choose, others we don t. Over the last few days, as I ve been contemplating this sermon, my thought process has often been interrupted with phone calls and s about the arrival of our refugee family. And my mind has wandered to their journey, wondering where they are, how they are feeling, what they are thinking about as they make their way to Swift Current. As I write these 4

5 words they should be on a plane flying from Amman, Jordan to Frankfurt, Germany and as I speak these words this morning, they should be in Toronto having arrived in Canada less than 10 hours ago. They are on a journey, a journey not of their own choosing, but a journey that will change their lives forever. Life itself is a pilgrimage and during our Community Learning Time this morning we were reminded that we are not alone on that journey. No matter where our life takes us, no matter where we choose to go, God is with us. We may find it easier to experience God s loving presence in locations like mountain tops, sacred buildings, and favourite places in nature. Like Jesus, we may find it easier to experience God s loving presence when we are away from all the distractions of our daily lives. But even when we are in the midst of life s craziness, even when we are totally unaware of God s presence, we are not alone. God was there to hear our borning cry, God is there thoughout our life s journey and God will be there at the end with just one more surprise. 5