Have you ever noticed in the movies that when there is a really scary part that one person feels the need to talk? Of course talking is exactly what shouldn’t be happening at that moment, so the other people try to get them to be quiet. It usually happens with a “Shhhh” and a look. That is because there are times when silence is appropriate.
Appropriate silence is one of those culturally assimilated skills. It has been fun to travel to other parts of the world and see the differences. You can always pick out those from the United States because we are the loudest in public places. In restaurants, we will be laughing and carrying on, and everyone else will be talking quietly and eating. The one exception is during sporting events. Everyone gets carried away during Soccer!
Jesus is standing with Moses and Elijah, shining like the sun, and Peter feels the need to talk. And of course what he has to say is totally inappropriate. His fear has turn on the “speak” switch, but fear has turned off the “think” switch. This is what happens in the brain. When fear strikes there is no real need to have higher order thinking. It is all about survival. Grunts will usually do.
There is a tendency in us to try to ‘freeze frame’ our positive experiences and make them last forever. The early church tried to keep things the same, but the LORD sent persecution in order to get them out of their comfort zone and carrying out His mission. They would have been content to stay in Jerusalem instead of spreading the Good News across the world.
Peter wanted to make this encounter between the three permanent. Or at least make it last longer than he knew it would. He wanted to set up tents, I guess for inclement weather. Remember, his fear is driving his speech. He really didn’t know what he was saying.
Sometimes churches try to hold onto mountaintop experiences and make them permanent. God calls for a season of intense prayer and we build special prayer rooms to try to make the season permanent. A particular song ignites the congregation and then we sing it into the ground, trying desperately to hold onto the previous experience. A particular sales campaign at work brings in lots of new customers, so we try running the same campaign again in hopes of gaining some new customers. But we already got all the customers that would respond to that particular angle.
The LORD does not want us to try to hold onto the former experiences we had with Him. His presence is new every morning. What He wanted to use yesterday is not what will meet the need today. Having a monotone preacher in a dimly lit church will not reach our generations. Times have changed. People learn differently now than they did back then. We must change the method of delivery to meet the people in a way they can hear without changing the content of the message.
We must move forward with the same message of Truth. We can’t set up tents. We can’t capture and preserve the past. No refrigeration system can keep God’s moving fresh.
The Arnold Journey 