Nothing Short of a Mountain
2 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.
3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.
4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders...
Mark 9:2-13
It's Morning, Jesus
I come to you on the mountain top of praise.
I come to you at the place to which you took your disciples
You took them to the mountain of worship.
After this worship, Lord
No mole hill will do; no thing or substitute will satisfy my soul.
Here, on this mountain top of worship I have the law giver- Moses.
Moses is with me now. Your Moses, who was buried on a mountain top overlooking the promised land. This Moses is not dead, but alive and a witness this morning to your glory.
Moses is here.
The words you gave him as law giver, are on my lap.
These words are words of life and they burn into me
These words are little swords that cut into me
These words are little flames that shatter and scatter all the darkness in me.
How wonderful to be with you, Lord.
You and Moses.
And here on this mountain of worship is Elijah.
Elijah who never died but represents all the living.
Elijah, to whom you gave a chariot of fire, a supernatural exit from this world.
Elijah is here on this mountain of worship, in the supernatural presence you promise to every living worshipper.
And so, on the mountain top of the back deck of my home, I worship you now
The supernatual presence of the Holy Spirit is with me now.
The supernatural presence of the Holy Word is with me now.
And here you are too, Jesus. Supremely present.
You are "meta-mor-phooed"...(metamorphosis)
You are translated. You are changed.
Your face still shines like the sun.
O sun and son of God, you shine on me.
And I want to stay here with you, Jesus
I want nothing else for my life right now
I want no other person
I want no other thing
I want no other presence
I want no more
For I am filled by You, by Word, be Spirit.
Why can I not just stay here with you, Jesus?
Why can the world not just wake up this morning and worship you?
And why are you filling me this way, my supernatural savior?
Why are you letting me live in this light?
For what reason are you filling me?
Why is there a flow of You into me?
I have come to worship you.
I have come to exalt you.
Why do you send so much of yourself back toward me
that I feel as though I should explode?
Even now, I don't even want to answer these questions, Lord
I just want to be with you.
I want to build a booth on my back deck
And tell you what I feel this morning.
If everybody would just worship you this morning
everything would be all right
If the world just stopped right now
nobody would miss a thing
If everybody would worship you and come up here
There would be no need of fasting or praying
For this is the end of all fasts, this is the object of all praying
If everybody would worship you and come up here
There would be no need for schools and teaching
For here is the end result of all learning
If everybody would worship you and come up here
There would be no hospitals and no surgeries
For this would be the perfect healing, the perfect translation of our life into your life.
What wound is really a wound when it is bathed in your light?
What pain is really pain when it is washed over by your soothing presence?
What demonic presence can dare to stand on this mountain? It cannot!
I want to stay here, Lord Jesus
I want to sit right here with you and Moses and Elijah
I kiss this book that you gave Moses
I open my mouth and am filled with wind and spirit like Elijah
I close my eyes but still the brightness of your radiance shines and burns
in my head
in my brow
in my face
in my chest
in my heart
I want to stay here, Jesus
I want to be here with you, and Moses and Elijah.
But deep down on the inside,
I wonder why.
Why have you, the one to whom I have come,
Flowed back so powerfully into me?
Why is it that the longer I sit here,
And the farther I read in your word
This light, this burning, starts moving?
It moves from my head, my brow, my face, my heart,
down into my arms and hands.
I sit transfixed
And it moves into my legs and feet
This transforming light.
And now my arms and legs and hands and feet
creep like vines toward your light
I cannot sit anymore, I stand
I can lean on no thing..
I lift my arms.
And why have you made me this way, Lord Jesus
Why is it that suddenly I find myself standing before you?
Why are my arms and hands suddenly lifted up?
Why do I feel like running?
Why do I feel like shouting?
Why do I have this emotional charge?
Thirty minutes ago, Lord Jesus
I sat before you
I slumbered with the book
I sipped coffee
I awakened from sleep
And now, look at me
I thought a moment ago I wanted to just sit with you
But now I am standing
I thought just a moment ago I wanted the world to join me in this silence
But now I am shouting
I thought just a moment ago the whole world should be all right
And I secretly wished you would make the world all right
And I inwardly despised the world for not being all right
But now you have made me all right
Now you have filled me.
For what reason?
I really thought, just a moment ago, Lord Jesus
That the answer was for you to somehow say to the world...
Come up here with me.
I really thought I should get off this back deck,
And go ring door bells and bring others right here
I thought I should fill this mountain with worshippers
Fill this back deck of mine with coffee drinkers, bible readers, spiritual believers
But Trish Butler is blind and cannot drive
She is crippled and cannot walk all the way here
Little Aiden is a baby, whose daddy left him when he was two weeks old
and his Mama worked late last night and is sleeping
Shall I ring their door bells?
Jack is getting ready to go to the jail
And Lin will teach this morning at the nursing home
And Matt is tired from teaching kids last night your Word.
Shall I ring their doorbell?
And you, even you, Lord Jesus
Are walking off this mountain
Down into a valley
A valley with a boy who has a demon
Don't go, Jesus!
Stay up here with me.
Call those people up here.
Give me a megaphone Lord, and I'll call into the valley
and get all those folks up here
This is where the power is
This is where the glory is
This is what I was made for.
Why are you going down the mountain, Jesus?
Stop! Why are you doing this to me?
What? What did you say?
Follow me?
