Wednesday, April 13, 2011

April 14, 2011

"Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”   Matthew 17:4-5

One of the reasons you like the mountain-top is because it momentarily rescues you from the mundane grind of daily living.

When Peter, James and John were led up the mountain with Jesus for an eye-witness gaze into His true nature, they experienced the essential difference between the glory of the revelation and the grind of the routine. No wonder they wanted to remain up there! Who wouldn't?

The word "mundane" has an interesting origin. It comes from the same root as "world" and refers to how you live out your life in this world of time and space and physical demands. That is why the distance between the mountain-top and the mundane can seem so vast.

Jesus and His disciples faced a daily routine of perpetual need and never-ending demands. Everyday they were challenged by the "religious establishment". Each day they were beseiged by helpless, hopeless, and healthless people with no where else to turn but Jesus. And for everyone they helped and healed there were three or four more who they couldn't reach. It was unrelenting day after day. Even tough they moved from village to village the desparation was the same. But up on the mountain it was quiet and safe and simple! For nearly three years they witnessed on a daily basis what Jesus could do - but on the mountain-top they got to see Who He is!
I have had mountain-top experiences! There are those moments when I receive a fresh revelation of Who Jesus is! Once I get a clear glimpse of His glory you really don't want to stop looking. The thought of returning to the ordinary is a bit depressing and a tad scary. When Jesus ministers to me and restores me, it feels so good I don't want it to end. If you know what I am talking about I need no further explanation and if you don't, no amount of explanation will suffice.
At the end of those mountain-top moments there is always a dread or a fear that when I come down from the mountain to the mundane I will lose that feeling and that focus I received. There is a fear that when I get back into the mundane it will grind the glory out of me! That is what I mean when I refer to the "fear of the mundane".

But, a proper understanding of what the mountain-top means can deliver us from the fear of the mundane. Understand that Jesus did not call Peter, James and John to remove them from the mundane - He called them up there to remove the mundane from them! He wanted them to understand that there should not be this dicotomy between the spiritual and the secular. He didn't call them to overcome the secular by His Spirit! The purpose of the mountain-top is to transform the mundane! When the glory of God resides in us, everything we do is holy and everywhere we go becomes holy ground! Jesus is not just glorious when He is on the mountain-top, He is glorious everywhere but that glory must be expressed through us!

As long as the enemy can maintain a distance between the mountain-top and the mundane - he wins! But when God's people Who Jesus - "Christ in you the hope of glory" - and when we bring the glory of God into the grind of daily living faith rises and fear falls!

Don't just go to the mountain-top, be the mountain-top for others!