Mountain Faith and Valley Living

Luke 6:12-26

There have been a handful of mountaintop moments in my faith journey. These are the moments that defy time and space; moments when I encountered God in such a way that I was forever changed. These moments are surreal and transcendent and they are moments which are fleeting. As much as we might like to stay on the mountaintop, life moves on and we find ourselves back in the valley sooner or later. They key to faithful living is not seeking to replicate our mountaintop spritual highs where we meet God, but seeking ways to live in the mundane valleys of life; the places where we meet God's people.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we find people ascending mountains and encountering God. From Moses to Jesus, the mountain is a holy place of transformation. In Matthew's gospel account Jesus' most well known speech takes place with him speaking on a mountain (cf. Matthew 5-7). But in the gospel of Luke this same speech is given from the plain, on level ground. After being on the top of the mountain for a time of prayer and commissioning the 12 apostles, Jesus returns to level ground to offer his most important teachings.

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Luke 6:17

The symobolic transition from the mountain to the plain cannot be overemphasized. We meet God on the mountain, but do God's work in the valley.  Jesus brings himself down from the mountain to offer physical healing and powerful words of hope to the poor, the hungry, the mourning, and the persecuted. Jesus cannot meet the needs of the hurting world from the mountaintop, but must meet God's people on level ground. The same is true for us. We need mountaintop moments to build and solidify our faith, but we are called down to offer love to God's people. It is in the everyday ways of serving and loving others that we can be a blessing to those who need to experience God's love.  We are called to live out our faith on the plain.