Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9:28-36 NRSV)

vs. 32 "Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep...."

It figures! There they were, on the mountain
brought there by Jesus to pray with him ...
And they fall asleep!

So what else is new???

Thus far they’ve been missing what’s been going on throughout the Ministry of Jesus
... why should things be any different now??

It figures that Peter and Co. would miss this
and then, when they finally DO shake off the cobwebs and realize what’s going on,
and in whose presence they were actually SLEEPING ...
It’s not surprising that they jump up and want to take part in things
... too late, as usual, to do any good!

We learn at least 3 basic lessons from this story:

1. When you’re praying, STAY AWAKE! You’re in the presence of God.
2. When God speaks, PAY ATTENTION! Don’t be up and about, busying yourself with minor details
3. When God speaks, BE SILENT! When God speaks, we too are transformed.

Would You Pray with me?

[Centering Prayer]

1. When you’re praying, STAY AWAKE!

Ever been trying to pray, late at night, and discover -- with a sudden start --
that it’s no longer “late at night” but early in the morning???
Ever been praying, only to have a spouse, friend, or loved one nudge you in the ribs?
Ever been been up late at night with insomnia???
The two best ways I know of to cure it are to read the Law of Moses,
or try REALLY praying!

The TRUE nature of prayer involves keeping silence.
Sometimes we get caught up in our list of petitions
that we babble off our prayers and then say “Thanks God” and
run off, leaving God going “Bu .... bu .... buuttt!!!!!!”
Other times we try to LISTEN and then,
that still-small voice of God becomes so soft and
soothing that, the next thing we know, we’re snoozing!

Praying is HARD work, my friends.
It’s NOT easy to open yourself to the Almighty in prayer.
It involves quite a lot patience and willingness to LISTEN.
It involves the will to Stay Awake.

You know, it’s possible to pray, and not “fall asleep,” but to still NOT BE AWAKE.
Spiritual slumber is common place.
I can remember once, while on a Retreat at the Monastery in Boston,
It was the second week in Advent
and the purpose of the evening was to spend several hours
in quite, silent, non-vocal contemplation of a single verse of scripture.
I eagerly began by running it through my mind, over and over again,
considering its different nuances,
the various ways it could be translated differently,
and the difference that IT made in my life.
About 40 minutes latter I was having trouble focusing on the verse.
I was tempted to open a Bible and look for something else to focus
on, but I had remembered the directions of the Spiritual Director:
only THIS verse for tonight.
UGH!!!!
20 minutes later ... my mind was wandering, my attention was NOT on the exercise,
and I was getting tired, aggravated, and restless.

Prayerful contemplation of a passage of scripture -- for that was what we
were doing ... Praying with and through the scriptures ... is NOT easy.
It’s EASY to lose your focus and NOT pay attention.
It’s EASY to miss EVERYTHING of importance.
It’s HARD to pray, in silence, and truly LISTEN to what God is saying to you.
But it is SO important.

It was important for those Disciples to pray with Jesus.
This wouldn’t be the last time that the Disciples would fall asleep while
praying ... they would nod off again in the Garden.
Jesus brought them up on this mountain to pray with him
because Jesus knew that it’s always helpful if one doesn’t pray alone!
It helps to have someone else with you, to pray with you,
to help you with your focus in times when you begin to nod off.
Only, in the case of Peter and Company they just couldn’t do it.
THEY fell asleep when they should have been there, praying with Jesus.
They fell asleep In the Presence of God.
It’s SO important to NOT fall asleep -- physically or spiritually --
when praying; for, when you’re praying, you’re in the presence of God.

2. When God speaks, PAY ATTENTION

Sometimes, when we pray, we can be surprised at how quickly and clearly,
the voice of God speaks to us. It's rare, but it's true.
Indeed, it's so rare that we sometimes don't believe it.
"Is it me, or is it God?" we ask ourselves.
Sometimes the voice of God is unquestionably GOD’s voice,
but more often it seems as though it could be your own voice.
Well, when you think you’re hearing God’s voice,
When you believe God is speaking to you,
Pay ATTENTION!

The Temptation is GREAT to jump--
to act, to be up and about, busying ourselves with minor details,
Thinking that there is something we can do.
That’s precisely what Peter and the Disciples tried to do.
When they realized what was going on they leapt up and
tried to busy themselves
tried to involve themselves
tried to be active and responsive ...
And in so acting,
in so offering their services in the building of 3 booths or tents
for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah,
they NEARLY missed what God was saying!

We do the same thing, don’t we?
Some of us are so busy in this life, trying to BE spiritual
that we aren’t REALLY paying attention to God, standing right in front of us!
When we believe we’re hearing God speak to us,
When we are in the presence of God,
we should PAY ATTENTION to what God is saying
we should redirect our attention away from ourselves ...
something that is, truly, VERY HARD for must of us ...
and PAY ATTENTION to the transforming Presence of God.

3. When God speaks, BE SILENT -- for when God speaks, we too are transformed.

But our transformation can only be accomplished if we will first
BE SILENT
And listen for that still, soft voice of God, speaking within us.

Too often we have too much noise in our lives.
Indeed, especially in this day and age,
the noise of our lives fills us with such an isolating barrier to the
Holy Presence of God that we often can’t even hear God over the din of noise in our lives.
In this coming Lenten season, let’s learn a lesson from the Disciples,
up on the mountain with Jesus.
They didn’t stay awake
They didn’t pay attention
They didn’t even listen!
And neither do we.
This coming season of Lent,
let’s stay awake in the Presence of God
let’s pay attention to what God is saying to us
let’s be SILENT, so that we can listen ...
let’s seek a place of inner silence, and listen for God’s voice.
For God is speaking, and offers us a transformation, too,
If only we will stay awake, pay attention, and listen.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
-Amen