Things We Miss When Prayer-Sleeping

I’ve long assumed—incorrectly—that Peter, James, and John only fell asleep during prayer when they were with Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane on the night when Jesus was betrayed and captured for crucifixion (Matthew 26:40, 43). But as we also learn in Luke 9, it seems they were also snoozing when they were with Jesus up on the mountain at the Transfiguration! (Indeed, it’s quite possible that these guys also fell asleep at other “prayer sessions” that the Synoptic Gospels didn’t mention about.) Knowing that, I don’t feel as bad whenever I fall asleep during prayer!
 
The passage in question, Luke 9:28-36a, begins with a clarification that the trip up the mountain by Jesus and his three amigos took place eight days after the incident where Jesus asked the disciples who people thought he (Jesus) was and who they themselves thought he was. And Peter reportedly answered, “You’re the Messiah” (Luke 9:20).
 
“About eight days after saying this, he [Jesus] climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem.  Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He blurted this out without thinking. While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: ‘This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.’ When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone...” (Luke 9:28-36a).
 
There is a lot that we can glean from this but let’s highlight three things. Firstly, the conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah focused on Jesus’ coming “exodus” (mentioned in 9:31), which I’m assuming was about the Lord’s coming crucifixion and resurrection. Now, that would have been an amazing piece of revelation for Peter, James, and John to eavesdrop on, wouldn’t it?? But they probably missed out on that incredible tidbit because they were asleep! Which makes me wonder: How often have I missed out on what God may be saying—because I’m either asleep when I should be praying or just plain distracted or worse, ignorant?
 
Secondly, have you ever been in a situation where you’re talking with someone about something, only to have a newcomer join the conversation belatedly and contributing something irrelevant to your ongoing conversation—because that newcomer did not know, or did not bother to learn, what had been discussed before he or she came along? In the same way, because Peter, James, and John had been asleep and did not know what had transpired earlier between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, Peter then contributes a non sequitur, that is, something completely irrelevant to the ongoing discussion: “Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (9:33)—and Scripture even adds that Peter blurted and blabbed without thinking (9:33-34). Which leads me to wonder: How often have my prayers been filled with complete utter nonsense, full of non sequiturs thrown at God because I simply haven’t been paying attention to what He wants or is saying? 
 
Finally, I wonder if we are all about building memorials and monuments to ourselves or to people we think are deserving of adulation. Peter wanted to capture the moment, to monumentalize the event. He wanted to construct three memorials—one each for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, respectively. I don’t know about you, but I get the distinct impression that what Peter had in mind, if only unintentionally, was to put both Moses and Elijah on the same pedestal as Jesus! I realize I’m just as prone to doing the very same thing to Christian leaders or other great men and women whom I highly respect. It isn’t just our Catholic friends who beatify—who declare this or that person a “saint”—because I do it too in my own way through building monuments to my heroes and heroines, through putting them on pedestals and idolizing them, only to be disappointed later when those persons are exposed for sin and wrongdoing and their reputations—worse, the Name of God, is—tarnished.
 
But it is so instructive that Peter’s proposal was ignored! No memorials or monuments were allowed to be built atop the mountain that day. Indeed, even Jesus did not ask for, nor did he desire, a monument with which to honor him. But Peter’s perspective wasn’t completely ignored, was it? Certainly not by God the Father. Because there was a response, and a very telling one, from out of a cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.’ When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone” (9:35-36a).
 
Ultimately, it is not Moses (representing the Law), nor Elijah (representing the Prophets), nor even Peter (the rock on which the church presumably would be built, in Matthew 16:18), nor anyone for that matter — other than Christ Jesus, the Chosen, and he alone. Indeed, if you and I want to monumentalize God, this is the only way to do it: Listen to Jesus (Luke 9:35)!
 
* All Bible quotations are from The Message