Luke 9:29

"As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening" Luke 9:29.

Peter, James, and John saw the face of God - but they didn't know it. They saw it nearly every day for three years and didn't recognize the fact that they had seen God and LIVED! Only on the Mount of Transfiguration did they get a glimpse of whom they hung with on a daily basis - and then they totally misinterpreted the event! Peter wanted to build dwelling places for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. He wanted to live on the top of the mountain forever. It wasn't until the glory departed and the voice of God spoke that the dynamic trio realized they had been

in the presence of the Almighty.

It is easy to jump on Peter's foolishness. He is easy to pick on. "What were you thinking, Peter? Couldn't you have kept your mouth shut for one hour? I would love to have learned what Moses and Elijah were saying to the Master. But, no. You had to open your trap and

scare the Spirit of God away!"

Of course you see that the other two said nothing. They took no initiative at all. At least Peter tried to get the great prophets to stay a while longer. The others were too dumb founded to do anything. Have you ever wondered why no one ever says anything bad about James and John? Here they were, two fishermen on top of a mountain. They were tired and fell asleep only to

be awakened by the shining glory of God. And they said nothing! I can imagine these two fellows standing like statues with their mouths wide open, hands tensed in shock. It would be years before they would tell about this experience.

Before you get too smug in your criticism, put yourself in their position. What would you have done? Would you have sat "doe eyed" afraid to move for fear that the Light would attack you? Would you have shouted "Glory"? Would you have pulled a Peter act and tried to get the

Threesome to stay a while longer? It's hard to say what we would do because we weren't there.

I visited a large Baptist church a few years ago. Most Baptists are a bit modest in their appreciation of the preacher's words. Usually he has to ask for an "amen" before one is spoken. On this particular Sunday the pastor was doing a mighty nice job when from the right rear of the sanctuary a male voice shouted, "Amen!" While this church is not of the usual Baptist variety, I recognized that they were a bit uncomfortable with this gentleman's exuberance. How? I knew by the little bits of laughter that was sprinkled about the auditorium. They were embarrassed by this outburst - even though it did not seem to be an unusual occurrence because the pastor said something like, "Good to see you, John. I've missed you."

In short, we are no better than Peter, James, and John. We are not comfortable in the presence of the Almighty God of the universe. We shy away from His presence - or, like Peter, we don't know when to say our farewells - and we miss the experience of seeing the face of God - and living to tell about it. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.