The last couple have weeks we have focused on evangelism. We talked about inviting others to come and see for themselves. We talked about that good news is something that affects us now: It’s an emancipation proclamation of our souls. This week I want to talk about what fuels our fire for evangelism. To be a true sharer of good news we must encounter God in our lives. It can’t be just about summarizing a religious tract. It can’t even be just the quoting of scripture to people. It must come from our own encounter with God.
Do you remember the movie Close Encounter of the Third Kind? Richard Dreyfus witnesses some UFOs one night on his way home. They come so close and they are so bright that he gets a kind of sunburn on his face. Later he begins to see a vision in his head of a mountain. A sculpts his vision with everything to shaving cream to mashed potatoes. His family thinks he has lost it. But late he finds out that other people saw what he saw and are have the same image in their head. Eventually, the come together at the mountain that was in their head and the UFOs come back for them.
This reminds me of our story today. The disciples have a close encounter of the God kind. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on the mountain. But the encounter really started with an invitation from Jesus, “Come. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They have witnessed Jesus’ amazing teaching, preaching, and healing. They are beginning to understand that Jesus is something more than a prophet. In the chapter before Jesus says, “Who do people say that I am?“ Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.“ But he still didn’t quite know what that meant.
But words would not be enough for Peter and the others they must witness who Jesus truly is. So he brings Peter, James, and John up the mountain with him for A Close Encounter of the God Kind.
First of all, in the history of Israel, amazing things happen on mountaintops. Moses was given the ten commandments. Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal by prayer to God to consume wetted down wood by fire. Mountains are holy places. They are closer to God. So Jesus takes his three main disciples up with him. Deuteronomy tells us there must be 2 or 3 eyewitnesses for an event to hold up in court. So Jesus takes his witnesses up with him.
When they get there something absolutely amazing happens. Something happens to Jesus right before their eyes. Jesus become like a lamp. Rays of light are streaming from his face and his clothes. One wonders if they could even see his face at all, if it shown like the sun. We can’t actually see the sun, just the light.
Then something became visible in the light. It looked like two men standing there with Jesus. Somehow they knew it was Moses and Elijah. It’s not like they had pictures of these men. But somehow this knowledge was just revealed to them. Moses and Elijah.
It sounds like the beginning of a good joke. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were hanging out on top of the mountain. That’s all I’ve got. It’s just seems so bizarre. Why are Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus?
Moses represents the Law and Elijah, the prophets. The Law and the Prophets are the two main components of the Jewish religion. Who knows what they discussed, but their mere appearance would suggest that Jesus’ purpose had something to do with completing the purpose of both the law and the prophecies.
Had the story ended here it would have been quite a whopper already. Peter thought so. He doesn’t want it to end he says, “Lord, it’s a good that we are all here to see this. I’ve got a digital recorder in my backpack. You all just continue doing what your doing and I’ll just be over. In fact, if you want I’ll make the three of you some tents so we can keep this going.
Put yourself in Peter’s place for a moment. What if as I was standing up here and Abraham Lincoln and Elvis Presley appeared. Some of you would be selling tickets at the door. We would need to get CNN in here. We could set up some kind of forum. Come join us live with dead celebrities.
Perhaps Peter had hoped that the new era of God’s reign was beginning right before his eyes. We’ll rule the world right up here on this mountain. As Peter was babbling on- Poof!! This glowing cloud appears above them, overshadowing them, enveloping them. A voice from the cloud, kind of like when Jesus was baptized, says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” God doesn’t give a new list of commandments. He just gives one: Listen to my Son.
This was just too much for the poor disciples. They knew what every Jew knew: If you see the face of God you will perish immediately. So they drop to the ground. I wonder if in school they had God sighting drills. Ok, children, when you hear the deep voice put your face on the ground. It happens throughout the Old Testament. Abraham, Moses, Ezekiel, Daniel and others.
As they are shaking on the ground with their faces buried, Jesus comes to them and he touches them. He touches them. This mighty Son of God reaches out to them. He showed them his glory, but then he shows them his great love. The human touch is one of the greatest gifts God has given to the world. It is a source of comfort. A way of expressing what words cannot express. It relieves anxiety and stress. It calms the fears.
Then he says, “Rise, and have no fear.” Get up and don’t be afraid anymore. And they looked up and find that there is no more talking cloud, no more Moses and Elijah. Just Jesus. Just plain old Jesus. No more beaming light. Just the familiar face that they had grown to love. The one who had touched them. The one who had called them to follow him. They felt safe. Then he tells them to keep their vision to themselves until he has been raised. Not forever just until the story has been complete. Then tell it.
Most of probably have not had an encounter with in a cloud. We have not seen the glorified Christ with our own eyes. However, many of us have felt the touch of Jesus. Some of us have even heard his voice. We may not even been aware of it at the time, but as we look back with the eyes of faith we see that we had had a close encounter of the Jesus kind.
Maybe we experienced it in a dream. Or maybe through the help and kindness of a friend. Maybe while grieving the loss of a loved one we felt the gentle presence of Christ telling us not to be afraid. I believe God encounters us every week in worship. A close encounter with God opens us up to God’s vision.
I felt the touch of Christ one morning almost five years ago while doing a Lenten devotional. I took a day off from work. It was quiet. I was reading. I heard a voice in my ear: “Paul, you need the church.” I turned my head. No one was there. But I felt a presence about me. For about two weeks as I commuted to and from work on foot and on the subway. I felt a presence at my shoulder. The presence was drawing my attention to people. A man in a business suit, “Paul, that man is my dear son.” A woman walking to work, “Paul, that woman is my beloved daughter.” A homeless man. “Paul, that man is my cherished child.” Over this period I was given a vision of how God sees his children. A vision that transfigured my heart into a pastor’s heart. This vision led me to seminary and here to you. When I need fuel for my fire I remember the voice, the presence, the vision.
How has God encountered you in your life? What fuels your fire? It may not be as dramatic as a UFO, or a mountaintop experience. Remember the times in your life when God broke through our everyday reality and touched you. Remember the times when God said, “Rise. Get up.” And you did and it some how made a difference. Remember when God said, “Don’t be afraid.” And a strange peace came over you.
Peter did. He remembered his encounters with God in the person of Jesus. He would remember this mountaintop encounter of the God kind. This opened Peter up to be the visionary leader of the early church. And when the Holy Spirit blew over him, he became the first evangelist. 3000 people came to believe through his witness the very first time he shared it and the church began.
In the end of Closer Encounters of the Third Kind, the aliens come out of the giant UFO. They are gentle peaceful looking aliens. Not scary or threatening. They have come to take a few humans with them to get to know them better. But in our story God did not come as an alien. He came as being that we can truly understand: one of us, a human. And he didn’t come for a few. He came for all of us.
He came so that we could know Him better and not for a time, but for all of eternity. He entered into out story. It’s not science fiction. It really happened. The disciples witnessed it and they passed on their witness person by person…generation by generation. And now it is our turn. We are now the main characters. Peter, James, and John have played their part. Now it is our turn to continue this incredible, touching story. Tell it. Live it. Spread the vision that Christ has been raised for the sake of all.