Keeping a Secret
Rev. Alex Stevenson

Mark 9:2-9

Have you ever had a secret that you had trouble keeping? Some Secrets are easier to keep than others, and some people are better at keeping them than others. When you are planning a surprise birthday party there is always someone who spills the beans. But you can't blame them for not being able to keep some secrets. Some secrets are just burning to come out. When you care about someone and you know something that will make them happy you want to tell them. And sometimes that good news just come bubbling out.

There is that danger that we will let a secret slip out unwillingly. This is even true for those of us who are good at keeping a secret. Let me show you what I mean. There was this family and they had bought an old car for the oldest daughter to drive to college in the next year. Now the whole family knew about this car but the oldest girl. They were keeping it a secret from her until her birthday later that week. It was the talk of the family at any time except when she was in the room. A few days before the girl's birthday the oldest daughter was working her schedule for the next week. She was asking when she could have the car to do this or do that. The parents were playing along with her so as not to let on about the car. Then all of a sudden one of the younger children burst in without thinking and said, "You can use your new car to do that." Sometimes it is even more subtle than that. Even if we don't consciously give the secret away our actions may do it for us. You see when we are party to some knowledge that knowledge governs our actions. We act based upon what we know. There is always the danger that we will do or say something that assumes the knowledge that we are trying to keep secret. In short knowing something others do not know changes the way we act around them and toward them.

I have spent all this time talking about keeping secrets because that is the situation these three disciples in our lesson are in. You see on the mount of transfiguration Jesus showed James, John and Peter something marvelous, But then he told them not to tell anyone about it. How could someone keep secret the things they had seen. Jesus, their master, had been part of a wonderful miracle that took place before their eyes. They had seen the great prophet Moses and the prophet Elijah. These were people that they had only heard read about in the Scriptures They had seen these holy people standing before them. And then they heard the voice of God. This kind of thing didn't happen every day. It didn't even happen every millennium. And they had seen it.

This was one of those secrets that just burns to be let out. Not just because of how marvelous it was, but because of what it showed them about Jesus. This event confirmed their suspicions about Jesus. And the voice of God quelled their doubts. It was the very thing that the other disciples needed to give them strength. You see only six days before Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah. And he and James and John and the other disciples probably believed that. Then right before their eyes Jesus appears in a heavenly white robe. And Elijah and Moses are standing with him. And God proclaims from heaven, "This is my beloved Son." This confirmed and strengthened the belief they already had in Jesus. It was such a mountain top experience that Peter wanted to built three tabernacles right there so that they could all worship. As they headed down the mountain I am sure their first thoughts were to tell the other disciples. Out of love they wanted to bring this good new to their brothers because of the joy it would bring them. But Jesus told them to keep it a secret until after the resurrection. I am sure that was a hard secret to keep.

Secrets are hard to keep, but they all have their reasons. Why did Jesus tell them to keep it a secret? This knowledge had strengthened them, and it would surely strengthen the other disciples. It had made Peter and James and John's faith strong it would strengthen others and even bring people to Christ. But yet Jesus told them to keep it a secret. I guess it was not yet the right time for the rest of the world to know who Jesus really was. God had a big surprise for the world. And if Peter and James and John spilled the beans before Jesus' resurrection it might ruin the surprise.

The three disciples Jesus took up on the mountain had to keep a secret, but I am sure that secret changed the way they acted after that. How could it have not changed them. They may not have been transfigured like Jesus but I am sure their faces glowed with a holy light. The secret they shared probably also set them apart from the other disciples. They probably seemed standoffish to them. I can imagine Matthew or on of the other disciples saying. Peter and those Zebedee boys aren't the same anymore. They think they are something special ever since they went up on that mountain. So what if Jesus asked them to Go up on that old snowy mountain to pray. That doesn't make them any different from us. But it did! What Jesus showed them on the mount of transfiguration changed them. It gave them a new perspective on life. They had seen God's glory in Christ and they would never be the same.

James, John and Peter I am sure never told about this event until after the resurrection just as the Lord instructed them. But they couldn't help but let their actions proclaim it loud and clear. I am sure that their strengthened faith in Jesus was as plain as the nose on their faces.

In many ways we are like those three disciples. There are times in our Christian pilgrimage when we have mountain top experiences. Jesus takes us by the hand and leads us up on a mountain. And there we see the glory of God reveled in Christ.

Like the disciples we yearn to share the great news we have learned. We know that it has strengthened us. And we know that those we love will be strengthened by it.

And like the disciples this experience of the glory of God changes us. We come down from those mountains and our faces radiate a heavenly glow. Others may think us standoffish. They will say, "he thinks he is something special since he got saved." Or, "She thinks she is different since that religious experience of hers." And the truth is that: when Christ encounters us we are changed and when we accept salvation from God we are something special in God's sight.

I said that we are like the Disciples. We are like them in that God shows each of us his glory through forgiveness. And as a result we want to tell of this good news. And this new knowledge changes us.

But in one important way we are different from the disciples. We don't need to keep what we have seen a secret. We can tell the world of the glory of God that has been revealed to us in Christ.

If at some time in you Christian journey you have experienced God's forgiveness or grace. If in some way, no matter how small, Christ has taken you up on a mountain and shown you God's glory. Then tell about it. There is probably some disciple who needs to hear your story to strengthen their faith.