Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, Chapter 36, verses 8 and 9, “O mountains of Israel, see now, I am for you: I will turn to you and you will be tilled and sown,” (NRSVB). The mountains are places towering over landscapes and therefore easy to behold and see. The psalmist calls and says, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains. From whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth,” Psalm One Hundred and Twenty One, verses 1 and 2, (Amplified Bible). The mountains are therefore visible reminders of God’s omnipotence and power, his creative word and work in the life of the universe, creating the physical mountains, and in the life of nations, congregations and individuals, creating spiritual mountains. God allows himself to be revealed through the majesty of the mountains to uplift the down-casted spirit of those who are confounded in the valley of despair. God called Moses to meet with him on the mountain to receive the law, while the Israelites were waiting at the foot of the mountain. Jesus Christ was transfigured and given power for his work and mission on earth, when he and his three disciples, ascended the mountain to be in the awesome presence of God and the prophets. People speak of a mountain-top experience when they have received a very special revelation from heaven to strengthen them for a specific task, usually a task that they have to perform in the valley of vilification and vexation.
God revealed, through visions, to the prophet Ezekiel that the shame and derision that Israel suffered, the invasion of her mountain-tops and the destruction of her temple and places of revelation, will come to an end. God will appear in his might and rebuild the nation and her people. He will bring about renewed righteousness and fear of God as the people turn back to God and return from their captivity. The feet of the prophets will again bring the message of salvation and hope. Then the eyes of the people will behold the Lord’s presence in the temple and the prosperity that will return as the hill-sides will be tilled and harvested. This is not only a prophesy of material welfare, but of deep spiritual nurturing, as the assembly would congregate again and praise and worship the Lord in all faithfulness, bringing their sacrifices, selected from their produce, to honour God and share with their neighbours. The enemies, who tried to destroy Israel, would stand in awe and would behold that the God of Israel is the One and Only God.
Mountains resemble upward journeys. Climbing to summit and to seek the view from the elevated point of sight, gives those who took the journey, the breath-taking view of the world beneath. This is the world God blessed and the world that God loved so much that he sent his Son to save. No one would be denied this experience of seeing some of the plans and purposes of God for those he loves. He wants them to summit their mountains of fear and anxiety and receive the bird’s eye-view of his love and bounty through his Son, for each and every one. Mountains orientate us towards heaven. We have to keep on looking up, towards our goal of the summit, as we climb. It is only once we find our feet placed on the safe space of surety that we can look down and see, “Wow, this is what God has made for us.” Our problems pale when we compare it with the wondrous universe that that unfolds before our eyes. We can say with the psalmist, David, as he calls out in Psalm 18 verses 18 and 19, “People and problems confronted and came upon me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay and support. He brought me forth also into a large place; He was delivering me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me,” (Amplified Bible).
God comes to us in various guises, hidden sometimes, and revealed, during other times. Because God is hidden, does not mean that he is gone, he is just not visible to our eyes, like the sun is not visible to our eyes during the night. God gives all of us a chance to work in his vineyard, there, where we experience the pain of the hard toil and the joy of the harvest. Whether we meet God and accept that he accepted us in our later years, or whether we have known him since birth, God has called each one to him, and gives each one a mountain-top experience in his time. However, the mountain-top times are to give strength to continue to work as labourers in the vineyard of our Lord. Jesus taught us, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard,” as we read in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 20 verse 1. We are precious and worthy of work and reward in the economy of heaven on earth, even when we are only able to work for an hour or less. Nothing and no one is insignificant to our Lord, for all has infinite worth and are loved with unconditional love.
Father, we come to you and we thank you that you give us mountain-top experiences to strengthen our flagging spirits. Thank you that you inspire us to keep on looking towards the mountains for there we will find the revelation of your love and life and light for us in this world. We behold the silver lining of the sun reflected in the clouds, telling of your smile on us, as we work in the valley and on the hill-sides, Amen.