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Sermon #126
St. James the Less #34
3/3/19
Cosmic Mountains
Mountains have always captured the human imagination. They are rugged,
massive in size, and dangerous. For centuries, every high mountain was idolized
by the people who lived in its shadow.
It is no wonder then that many different cultures not only honored the
mountains around them because of its sheer size, but they also came to believe
that its summit was the fortress and castle of the Higher Powers. It was there,
high above in the lofty peaks, where the gods dwelled.
Inspired by the Himalayas, the people of northern India imagined of, yet a
higher mountain hidden from their sight to the north, which they called Mount
Meru. “Hindus and, later Buddhists made that mythical 84,000-mile-high
mountain-above-the-mountains the dwelling place of the gods” (82).
They believed Meru was the central mountain of the universe, and that
there were rivers of sweet water running through it, just like the snow melted
streams that came down from the Himalayan peaks and gave life to their villages.
Buddhists added that Meru lied between the four cardinal directions, and thus it
was the center of the earth.
For the Japanese they had Mount Fuji which had many different myths and
traditions surrounding it. The Greeks had Mount Olympus, where Zeus reigned
supreme while Poseidon ruled the sea, and Hades had possession of the
underworld. The Greeks were confident that Olympus was the highest mountain
on earth.
For cultures that were not near any mountains, they would make their
own. The Egyptians created pyramids and the Mesopotamians created ziggurats
as a way of reaching to the heavens and connecting with the gods.
Time and again, like in the case with Mt. Meru, these were not simply
mountains, nor were they just the home of gods, they were also cosmic
mountains; spoken of as center of the world, the place where creation first
began. These cosmic mountains captured the human imagination because it was
a link to the transcendent and divine.

Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Year C. Exo 34:29-35. Lk 9:28-43. Quote from The Discovers, D. Boorstin.
Theme based off Sinai & Zion, J. Levenson.
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Sinai and Zion

Ancient Israel was no different. Open up your Bible, especially to the
psalms, and you will hear some subtle, and some not so subtle, references to a
cosmic mountain. If we are to understand ancient Israel’s story then we must see
the vital link that Mount Sinai played in that story.
Sinai is wrapped up in the larger story of the Exodus, where God led his
people out of slavery and bondage in Egypt, and into the wilderness. It was in
that wilderness that the great Israelite leader Moses ascends Mount Sinai and
receives the Law directly from God, and this is what we see in our Old Testament
reading this morning.
It is this Law that will define them as a people distinct from all the other
nations of the world. The Law was not a burden, but a gift… and this gift was
given on Mt. Sinai.
Thus, wrapped up in Mt. Sinai is the story of slavery and liberation,
exodus and renewal, the Law and what it means to be a follower of God. In
so many ways, Sinai is a cosmic mountain.
But, as you know, the story doesn’t end with Sinai. If you read through
Exodus and continue onward, you realize the whole story is to get to the
Promised Land, and then ultimately to another mountain, Mount Zion.
Mt. Zion was not massive like so many other cosmic mountains, but on top
of it was Jerusalem, that holy city where the Temple was built. This was the place
God’s glory resided, this was the focal point of their faith, and the center of
festivals and sacrifices.
For the Israelite faith, this is where heaven and earth met. Because of this,
it was seen as the center of the world. Everything revolved around Mount Zion.
The Jewish imagination focused on these two cosmic mountains: Sinai and
Zion. From one Moses met with God and received the Law, from the other God’s
glory dwelled in the Temple in the midst of his people.
The ancient Jewish story is the story of these two mountains, and the
journey between them.

Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Year C. Exo 34:29-35. Lk 9:28-43. Quote from The Discovers, D. Boorstin.
Theme based off Sinai & Zion, J. Levenson.
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Mount of Transfiguration
Now that you know all that, it should be no surprise then that today when
we read the story of Moses on Mt. Sinai that we find in our gospel reading that
Jesus is also on a mountain.
There are enough oddities that could keep us guessing as to what is really
happening here: Moses is present along with Elijah, there’s a cloud and voice, and
Peter blurts the first thing that pops into his head without really thinking about
it. And so there’s enough random things going on to make us wonder what all
this means.
But the real clue, as to why our Old Testament and Gospel readings are
together, has to do with what Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were talking about. Luke
tells us that they were talking about Jesus’ “departure, which he was about to
accomplish at Jerusalem.”
Another way of translating the word “departure” is “exodus.” They were
talking about Jesus’ “exodus, which would be accomplished in Jerusalem.”
This word wasn’t placed here haphazardly.
What happens on the Mt. of Transfiguration sounds a lot like what
happened to Moses on Sinai. The cloud, God’s voice, the transformation, and the
overwhelming brightness are all hints to the reader that something similar is
happening on this mountain to what happened on Mt. Sinai.
The writer Luke knows the Exodus story; he knows that the great
Exodus themes of slavery and liberation, promise and fulfillment are in its
essence the journey between two mountains, Sinai and Zion.
And now there is a new mountain. This unnamed Mt. of Transfiguration
has taken the place of Sinai, but the destination is the same. Jesus’ journey will
lead him to the same place it led the ancient Israelites, the cosmic mountain of
Zion, on which the holy city of Jerusalem stands.
If you haven’t guessed it yet, what Luke is wanting to show us is that Jesus
is the leader of a New Exodus.
The great themes of slavery and bondage are still central to this New
Exodus, but rather than being enslaved by the Egyptians or any other foreign
nation, Jesus has come to set his people free from being slaves to sin and death.

Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Year C. Exo 34:29-35. Lk 9:28-43. Quote from The Discovers, D. Boorstin.
Theme based off Sinai & Zion, J. Levenson.
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The story has shifted from Moses and the disobedient Israelites
wandering through the desert failing to fully live into their covenantal
relationship with God, to obedient Jesus perfectly doing the will of God as
he makes his way to the same cosmic mountain they were going towards
generation before him.
It is quite clear that Jesus walks off of the Mt. of Transfiguration and begins
to head towards Jerusalem. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, it will be a
slow journey and one that makes a lot of stops along the way, but it is a journey
set for Jerusalem, nonetheless.
Our Way Forward
If there is something we share in common with the other ancient faith
traditions, it is that our imagination should also revolve around a cosmic
mountain, but like the Jews, our particular Christian imagination should revolve
around not just one, but two mountains.
The experience on the Mt. of Transfiguration is useless without the
cross and the tomb on Mt. Zion. But the actions on Mt. Zion cannot be fully
understood or appreciated without realizing the significance of what
happens on the Mt. of Transfiguration.
The New Exodus, brought about by Jesus for the people of God, is a
journey between two mountains.
We are about to embark on a journey ourselves as we enter the season of
Lent on Wednesday. Just as Jesus and his disciples walked off that mountain and
headed towards Jerusalem, we too will journey with him to that cosmic
mountain.
Like any long journey, whether it be 40 days or 40 years, there is
plenty of time to reflect on our lives. To ask what it means to be a follower
of Jesus, to be a representative of his kingdom, or better yet, what it means
to be a part of this New Exodus…That our story is linked to the story of two
mountains.
On one mountain he climbed up to talk to the prophets of old, on the other
he climbed onto a cross to make right what we had done wrong.

Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Year C. Exo 34:29-35. Lk 9:28-43. Quote from The Discovers, D. Boorstin.
Theme based off Sinai & Zion, J. Levenson.
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On one he was raised for but a moment in pure brightness to show a few
who he truly was. On the other he was raised forever so that all might one day
rise with him.
On one he descended to begin his long journey, on the other he ascended
to heaven so that our journey may end with him forever.

Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Year C. Exo 34:29-35. Lk 9:28-43. Quote from The Discovers, D. Boorstin.
Theme based off Sinai & Zion, J. Levenson.