Christianity has gotten pretty easy. It requires only an hour of our time on Sunday morning. You just need to show up once to get baptized. It doesn’t really demand too much of us. Just believe a few things that don’t have too much of a bearing on our lives. And very often those things that we are asked to believe will change depending on our life and politics. We have misinterpreted what it means to be inclusive. Where inclusivity should mean, if you want to join us all are welcome regardless of race, gender, orientation, or ability; we have used it to become a fast food drive thru with an “order what you want “ mentality. These are just a few of the ways that Christianity has gotten easier. It fits nicely into our culture of ease. We want spirituality, to experience relationship with God, right now with minimal effort on our part.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
In our scripture reading for today, we read about the Transfiguration of Jesus. It is the story of Jesus up on a mountain, conversing with Elijah and Moses. While he is there, he seems to undergo a radical change in front of his inner circle who have climbed the mountain with him. A cloud descends upon the mountain, the voice of God rings out, “This is my Beloved Son! Listen to him!”
As I reflected on this story, I read something proposed by the theologian Helmut Thielicke that the transfiguration event does not happen to Jesus, rather it happens to the disciples instead. This story is not about Jesus, he remains as always the incarnation. This story is about the experience of the disciples. Up on the mountain, it was something inside of them that changed. They were shaken, they were rattled, and they saw Jesus in his fullness. They experienced it only for a moment, but even in that moment, Peter knew he wanted it to last longer.
It is no coincidence that this happened up on a mountain. Throughout the history of human myth and religion, mountains have become symbolic as seats and homes of the divine, where people encounter the holy. In Judaism, Moses encountered God and received the Law on Mount Sinai. In Greek Myth, it was Mount Olympus that was the home of the gods. In Hinduism there is Mount Meru, the seat of Brahma, and the centre of all things. Mount Kailash in Tibet is another Holy site for Hinduism, as well as for Jainism and Buddhism. Mount Kailash is so holy, in fact, that it has never been climbed. And in Islam, it is in the mountains outside of Mecca, where Muhammed received the revelations from God that would become the Koran.
Mountains reach up to the very heavens, and to ancient people it only makes sense that these would be the seats of heavenly beings. Trying to climb these vast and mighty peaks would have been daunting, a rare occurrence if it ever even happened.
Even today, they are not climbed half heartedly. People die every year on the great peaks. And getting within a stone’s throw of the summits does not guarantee reaching them. Mountains are intimidating, though awe-inspiring. They are terrifying while beautiful. But it was when these three disciples climbed one, Peter, James, and John, that they encountered something marvelous, something inexplicable. It was through this unknowably difficult journey up the mountain that they experienced God. This was their pilgrimage.
And that’s the way that Christianity should be. It should be difficult, because it is difficult.
What do you know about the practice of pilgrimage?
The practice of pilgrimage has been a part of religious custom since long before Christianity. It is the practice of going on a long journey to some far off destination. There is the Hajj, the pillar of Islam that calls for Muslims to journey to Mecca at least once in their life if they are able. Mount Kailash is in one of the most isolated areas of the already isolated Tibet, where Hindus and Buddhists make a pilgrimage to. In medieval times, Christian pilgrimages were common, venturing to the Holy Land, or to a relic site was often considered an act of penance.
Pilgrimages are difficult. It is in their very challange that they are transformative. If I just had to cross the street to get to the Santiago Cathedral, El Camino, that famous pilgrimage through Spain, would not be a pilgrimage at all. It would not have any effect on me whatsoever. If I could just get in my car and drive past Mecca as I look out my window, how would that effect me? My pilgrimage will cost me something. My pilgrimage will not be easy. It is trial.
This is wisdom that we all know. Certainly for myself, as I look back at my most trying times, those are the times that forged me. This past year, though very difficult on a personal level, has greatly effected and strengthened my faith; though I may not always have said that as I went through it. Anyone who has been through a 12 steps program and met with some success will tell you that it is not easy, but out of it they were transformed. We are not made, we are not transformed in times of relative ease and abundance. We are created out of the difficult. I’m a big Calvin and Hobbes fan, and I always love how every time Calvin goes through something that is tough, his dad shouts out that he is building character. There is truth to this.
This is the pilgrimage. This is the journey up the mountain by the disciples. This is exactly what Christianity should be. This is how we should be looking at our faith. As a pilgrimage.
Christianity must reflect that fundamental truth of life, that out of struggle comes growth, out of fire comes steel, out of death comes resurrection. That is the great pilgrimage of life that is reflected in our faith.
Christianity should not become a faith that says life is tickity boo. Any time we try to make our faith easier on people, we are re-enforcing the lie that everything can and should be easy. We are nodding our heads along with the culture, which tries to sell us that garbage. And which, we all want to agree with, which we all want to believe for obvious reasons. But deep down inside, we know it is not true. We know it is not true because all of us have experienced trial and tribulation. All of us have experienced suffering and pain.
And so, if we want our faith to be true, if we want our faith to be deep, and transformative, we need to struggle for it. It must honestly reflect that reality of life, otherwise it loses all credibility. It must mimic the trial, the challenge of life, and all the while say to us God is present. The incarnation exists even in times of difficulty, and it will transform us to new life. Christianity must challenge us, it must call us to live that eternal cycle of life, death, and new life, resurrection.
For the month of February, our book club is reading Karen Armstrong’s The Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life. Since selecting this book, I have had a number of people come up to me and tell me how difficult it is. More than that, some of the steps that she says are a part of the journey to becoming more compassionate are tough. Certainly the last step, Love Your Enemies, that same commandment from scripture, is not easy. I have had numerous people express to me how intimidating this book is, and how intimidating the work she asks of us is. And to all of that, I say, Good. It is not an easy book, and the path she invites us to, is not an easy path. It is hard. But I find it tremendously praise worthy that everyone who has come to me and said, “this book is hard” or “I really am struggling with this idea”, has also said to me “but I really want to read it.” What I hear when this is said “I am willing to do the hard stuff… I want to walk the path towards compassion.” That’s a good thing. This is a wonderful example of what Christian faith looks like. Pushing our boundaries, experiencing ideas that may make us uncomfortable and trusting that we will somehow experience God along the way.
And so let us abandon the idea that religion is simply a set of beliefs someone has. Instead let us see it as a journey. Christianity is the path we tread, it is the climb up the mountain, it is the pilgrimage we take throughout our whole lives. One of the earliest names for Christians was “People of the Way”. It wasn’t “People who believe certain things”. It was people of the Way. And as we find out in our Gospel reading, for Christians, that Way, that holy journey, that walk up the mountain, is called Jesus, the Beloved of God, who God tells us to listen to. God doesn’t say, “Believe this about Jesus”, God says “listen to him.” Even when the bible uses the term “believe” a more accurate interpretation would be “trust”. Listen to Jesus, trust in his way, follow him. As Christians Jesus is our path of pilgrimage.
And it is hard. It wouldn’t be true, it wouldn’t be relevant in the world, it wouldn’t be worth anything if it wasn’t. Christianity is hard. It is our long climb up the mountain. And yet, it is through climbing the mountain that our eyes are changed to see the glory and wonder of the incarnate God.
I can't remember too much about this sermon... so long ago that I wrote and preached it. But quickly re-reading it today, I like it.
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