I’ve Looked at Clouds

[This message from Mark 9:2-9, the transfiguration of Jesus, was delivered at John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Henrietta, NY, on 2/11/24.]

I watched the Grammy awards show last Sunday night. I don’t keep up with a lot of music trends these days. Didn’t hip-hop start two or three years ago? When I am driving by myself, I tend to listen to Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, and the Carpenters. So I watch the Grammys to get a glimpse of the music and musicians I don’t know well or at all. From everything I hear and read, I like Taylor Swift, but I can’t hum a tune of anything she has recorded. (Do you think she’ll be at that football game today?) Little did I know that the highlight of the Grammys for me would be 80-year old Joni Mitchell singing her classic, “Both Sides Now.” It was beautiful and emotional. And I could quietly sing along:

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Now I can see Peter, James, and John (perhaps the forerunners of Peter, Paul, and Mary) singing those words as a cloud envelopes a mountain on which they have just seen something spectacular. This happens in the middle of Mark’s gospel. It becomes a hinge; a turning point, and a curious event.

Mark is the first and the shortest gospel account. It doesn’t give us as much info as Matthew, Luke, and John. This heightens our interest in what Mark includes. In Mark there are two important sets of threes. First, there are three great affirmations about who Jesus is:

–At the beginning as Jesus is baptized, And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (1:11);

–At the end as he is crucified, Now when the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (15:39);

–And in the middle as he is transfigured, Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” (9:7).

In the middle chapters of Mark, Jesus speaks three times of himself and what lay ahead around the bend in Jerusalem:

8:31—Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.

9:31—“The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 

10:33-34—“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the gentiles;they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him and kill him, and after three days he will rise again.”

The transfiguration happens in the middle and, frankly, it doesn’t seem necessary. John’s gospel doesn’t even mention it. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where he will be betrayed, suffer, die, and be raised again on the third day. Take out the transfiguration and the story continues. The ultimate drama will be that week in Jerusalem beginning with palm branches and a borrowed donkey and ending with the crucifixion, burial, and rising. We still have the teachings, the healings and other miracles, and the parables. The transfiguration is a rather intimate affair. Jesus takes just three of the twelve with him. It lasts just a few hours, if that. Two long dead saints make cameo appearances and speak with Jesus, but we have no idea what they say. Jesus even says, “Don’t tell anyone yet.”

Peter—I love Peter the entrepreneur—has a wild idea: let’s build three shelters, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one larger and in the center for Jesus. Maybe Peter also is thinking of a parking lot and a visitors’ center, with souvenirs, clean rest rooms, and snacks. Centuries later, American Christians could visit when they go on a once in a lifetime trip to the Holy Land. That idea is shot down and never mentioned again. The word spoken from the cloud to Peter, James, and John is the needed word: Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.  

Why this seemingly unnecessary story? Maybe because Jesus knew precisely the suffering that was just around the corner and needed a glimpse of the glory that was coming. Don’t we all need moments of encouragement that remind us a brighter day coming? When the present circumstances are difficult, don’t we all need a glimpse of a better future?

And then it is time for Peter, James, and John—and Jesus—to go down the mountain to the journey before them. A climber is much more likely to get injured descending a mountain rather than ascending it. Be careful descending. And listen for Jesus speaking, both in the cloud and beyond. I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now . . ..

I had an experience in a cloud last summer on Lake Pleasant in the Adirondacks. When I vacation there, my goal is to sail my little sunfish every day multiple times. Monday started foggy and stayed foggy longer than usual. We were playing some board games with friends in a cabin with a lake view but we couldn’t even see the lake. Then I saw a patch of blue in the sky. That was enough for me. I stood and said, I’m going sailing. Anyone want to join me? A new friend, a young man that had never sailed, said yes. Off we went. After about 5 minutes, a thick cloud of fog descended on the lake. We could see nothing but the water right next to us. Though the shore line couldn’t have been more than a half mile from us, we couldn’t see any shore. We couldn’t see any trees. If we could spot the sun, I would have my orientation. I couldn’t see the sun. “Liam, find the sun while I keep us upright.” He couldn’t find the sun. I was so disoriented, the boat overturned. Liam and I climbed back on board and found some wind, but I had no idea what direction we were going. There were no other boats on the lake. It was the two of us on a little sailboat totally disoriented. Then we heard some noise. Be quiet. Listen. We heard the voices of children playing. That meant we were near a beach, probably the beach from which we set out. Listen to the voices; they will get us to shore. The cloud bank was thick as soup, but we could follow the voices. As I steered the boat toward the voices, they got stronger. We knew we were heading in the right direction, though all we could see was a cloud of thick fog. Within a few minutes, we saw children playing in the water, fuzzy at first, and sailed back to the beach. The only way we got there was by listening.

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.  

In three days we begin our Lenten season on Ash Wednesday. How will you keep Lent? I adopt several disciplines for my life each Lent. Let’s agree on this one: we will work at listening to the Lord. How will that work for you? I suggest setting a time, roughly the same time, each day to shut out all noise and listen for God’s whispers. That time could be in a favorite chair, indoors or out. Or on a quiet walk in a quiet place. “This is the Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”