Mountaintop experiences

I am thinking about an old sermon about the transfiguration theophany, based on Luke 9:28-36

The reason Peter wanted to make shelters was because he wanted to stay there forever. Or at least he wanted to stay as long as he could. But he couldn't.

We too are like that. We have experiences in our lives that we do not want to ever end.

A lot of us remember our Redeemer Episcopal Church experience like that. We found God coming close to us and it was exciting and peaceful at the same time. We wanted it to never end.

It was also hard and there was sin. Julia Duin's book emphasizes that part. But like we talked about Jeroboam II a few days ago, God is often gracious despite our not walking correctly.

But after it is over, and it is over for most of us, we cannot recreate it. We must, if we are to do God's will, move on. Paul speaks of being called by his gracious choosing to do good works. We must be about doing that. That means looking forward to what we have a burden to do and not looking back at what came before.

We happened in the past shapes us and matures us and gives us faith. But it's over. The theophanies in our lives are to cherish but not to try to relive. If we continue with God there may be new theophanies, maybe not. But there will never be a theophany by trying to recreate the old.