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[Luke 9:28-33] He (Jesus) took Peter, John, and James with Him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to Him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Have you ever been someplace where you were just moved to say, “It’s good to be here?” Maybe you were visiting relatives that you hadn’t seen for quite some time. Or perhaps you were on a travel vacation and were seeing something live and in person that you had only read about in books or looked at in magazines. Or maybe you were awed by a snow-capped mountain range, enraptured by a tranquil lake, or mesmerized by the pounding of the ocean’s white-capped surf. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, all you could say was, “It’s good to be here.” Jesus’ inner circle of disciples – Peter, James, and John -- felt much that same way as they stood on a mountaintop halfway around the world. Peter spoke in awe the words of our devotion theme this morning:
It Is Good To Be Here!
1. Because Of The Company We Keep Here
IT IS GOOD TO BE HERE! Peter felt that way as he stood on a mountaintop overlooking the Galilee in a beautiful corner of the world. Interestingly, he wasn’t talking about the view. He was talking about the company he was keeping up there: “Jesus took Peter, John, and James with Him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.” Peter felt proud and privileged to be included in such elite company. We can almost feel his eagerness: “Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to Him, “Master, it is good to be here.” That was somewhat of an understatement as he contemplated the company he was keeping there: Jesus, the Son of God and two of the greatest heroes of faith ever to walk the earth, Moses and Elijah.
For much the same reason, it’s good for us to be here at this Christian school, Crean Lutheran High School. Because of the Company we Keep Here. Here we have the best company in the world. Here we are with Jesus every single day as we hear and learn His Word. He is our dearest Friend, who poured out His lifeblood into the dust of Calvary for no other reason than because He loved us. He couldn’t bear to see us suffer the punishment that was due to us for our sins. Coming here to visit Him daily is just a little taste of what heaven will be like when we will be in His presence forever.
It is also good for us to be here because we are in the good company of fellow believers, the folks with whom we’ll spend all eternity. We are all fellow travelers along life's narrow and treacherous path toward our heavenly goal. These people will…
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catch us when we stumble and fall;
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find us when we lose our way;
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strengthen us when we are weak;
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encourage us when we are down;
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help shoulder our burdens when they become too heavy;
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laugh with us and cry with us; and
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pray with us.
Saints, here at Crean Lutheran, we share something far more precious than anything this world has to offer. We share a deep and abiding love for God. Yes, It Is Good To Be Here – Because Of The Company We Keep Here.
2. Because Of The Conversation We Carry On Here
Peter had another reason to exclaim: “It is good for us to be here.” Because of the Conversation That Was Being Carried On: “Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” It was good for Peter to hear the sermon of the saints as they spoke of how Jesus’ noble mission would be accomplished shortly: the deliverance of the world from sin. It bolstered his faith and prepared him for the difficult days ahead.
Likewise, It Is Good To Be Here! Here, we also hear the sermon of the Saints; we hear conversation, which will prepare us for difficult days ahead; more importantly, it will prepare us for endless days ahead…in heaven. Here at Crean Lutheran, the soul business is not our sole business – not only do we have faiths to feed, but we have brains to train – however, it is our most crucial assignment by far. Here, we hear those same things Peter, James, and John heard up there on that mountain, namely the precious truths of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. With Paul, we insist that we must teach and preach Christ and Him crucified! It Is Good To Be Here – Because of the Conversation that is Carried on Here!
3. Because of the Comfort and Courage We Receive Here
There was one more reason why Peter felt that it was good for him to be there on that mountaintop on that day: Because of the Comfort and Courage He Received There. The road ahead for the disciples was about to get real rocky real soon. Jesus was about to head to Jerusalem to suffer and die. Up there on the mountain, Jesus gave His followers a glimpse of His glory to comfort them with the knowledge that come what may in the days ahead, their Lord was in control, even when things seemed mixed up, upside down, inside out, and backward. He also gave them a glimpse of His glory to lend them courage to carry out the work the Lord commanded them to do in the rough days ahead and on into the future.
We all know all too well that it isn’t easy to be a Christian. Nobody ever said it would be, either. “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” We’re at war with the unbelieving world. We are constantly doing battle with those who care nothing about the Lord. And we get war-weary and worn down by their attacks. The unbelieving world chisels and chips away at our faith. The hustle and bustle of our lives in this fast-paced society often leaves us with little or no quiet time with the Lord.
So Jesus says to us, as He did to the disciples when they got hurried and harried: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” In the Word heard here at CLHS, we can find that rest. In that Gospel, we can spend some quiet time alone with our Savior. Here at Crean Lutheran, we can find rest for weary souls, peace for troubled consciences, hope for helpless lives, and comfort for our cares and concerns.
Saints, not only do we receive comfort here, but we also receive a healthy dose of courage here. Courage to carry out the Lord’s command. Courage to take our communities by storm with the Gospel. Think back to Peter’s mountain. He didn’t especially want to leave that mountain, did he? He didn’t want that magical moment on the mountain with the Lord ever to end: “As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” We can sympathize. After all, Peter had tasted God’s glory. He didn’t want to leave that mountain and go back down to the sin-sick world. But the Lord had other plans for Peter. He couldn’t stay up there on that mountain. The Lord had work for him to do. Important work: to spread the Gospel that he had witnessed firsthand up there on that mountain.
We can’t stay here on our “mountain” either. We must return to the plain. Our children will graduate and move on to their colleges and careers. And when they get there, the Lord has work for them to do in this sin-sick world, the same work Peter had to do: share the Gospel. God wants us all to be about the Lord’s business. He wants us to be the Lord’s representatives wherever He places us. But right now, we are here where we can be fed a daily diet of the Life-giving and faith-growing Word. Here, our faith is bolstered, and our courage is summoned up. Here, we are being prepared for life and for Life Eternal.
The beautiful thing is that when we leave here, we won’t be leaving the Lord behind. When we seek the Lord here on the “mountain,” He will return with us to the “plain.” He will be at our side as we go about His business.
It Is Good To Be Here! Wouldn’t you agree? We pray with the hymn writer:
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