Mountaintop Experiences
Exodus 24:12-18
Matthew 17:1-9

When I was a teenager we lived in New York City.  Every spring, the youth of our denomination would gather at a resort outside the city for a weekend retreat.  It was pretty intense.  There were some recreation experiences on Saturday afternoon, but the weekend was geared to deepening our religious experience, with most of our time spent in worship services.  We were a pretty close-knit bunch, since we saw each other frequently throughout the year, so it was always a good weekend.
Invariably, during the Sunday morning service, the worship leader would use the phrase, “mountaintop experience.”  We all knew what he meant.  Being together in an unfamiliar setting was always stimulating, first because we knew each other so well and enjoyed each other’s company, but even more because we felt God’s presence and God’s power more clearly in that atmosphere.  The leader was reminding us that, although mountaintop experiences were refreshing and strengthening, at some time we had to leave the mountain and return to daily life.  The hope and expectation was that we would take with us some newfound spiritual power to help us in our daily lives.

Read more