Listen to Him
Transfiguration – Narrative Lectionary 1
Grace, Mankato, MN
February 15, 2015
Matthew 16.21-17.9
“This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
A number of years ago during a routine physical I was given a hearing test. At its completion, I was asked by the nurse if I was married. Replying yes, the nurse said, “Well, you can tell your wife your hearing is just fine.” Through the years whenever I’ve been accused of not listening, I’ve learned to ask my wife, “Was I looking at you when you said that?” About 4.5 years ago this hearing thing stopped being funny when I experienced Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, a condition for which there is no explanation or treatment. Ringing in my ears, background noise and diminished range make hearing and listening a challenge every day.
It may have been my hearing struggles that made me focus on God’s command in today’s reading, “listen to him!” We’ve reached a pivotal point in Matthew’s gospel, one that both looks back and forward. Five weeks ago on the first Sunday after Epiphany at Jesus’ baptism, as Jesus was coming up out of the water, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove alighted upon him and a voice from heaven said, “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Now we have a similar scene, except that Jesus is transfigured on the mountain and the divine cloud appears, adding the phrase, “listen to him!”
This past week in a number of places, I asked people what they thought it means to listen to Jesus. Pr. Collette Broady Grund mentioned a sermon she’d read by Barbara Brown Taylor. Taylor said that Jesus’ disciples needed to trust what they hear from Jesus, not what they see, because it’s the only way that they can make sense of what happens to Jesus. In the time to come they will see their master and friend be arrested, beaten and crucified on the cross. We all know that appearances, especially first impressions, can be deceiving. Nowhere is that more true than in the counter-cultural message of losing our life in order to find it.
This past Wednesday night I tossed the question out to the adults and confirmation students in our worship service. Becky Glaser said something simple, but profoundly theological: we have to give up ourselves in order to listen. When we listen to another person, our normal habit is to think ahead of what we are going to say next. Instead, we have to remove all thoughts and concentrate on what the other person is saying and meaning by what they say. In listening to Jesus, we have to shut out distractions, especially voices telling us life is found elsewhere. Here’s a small example: I struggle to do my daily devotions, being distracted by thinking about all I need to do. Sometimes I even fall asleep! Eliminating distractions is hard, but necessary in order to listen to Jesus.
Finally, Joyce Nelson reminded us that listening is not a passive affair with Jesus; we are to act on what we hear. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus has some hard things to say to us about the life of faith. We are to empty ourselves, take up the cross of Servanthood and follow the example Jesus set for us. What we hear Jesus teaching us about God’s kingdom is deeply connected to how we live our lives. In the coming weeks, Jesus will teach us about true humility, forgiveness, and the need to be alert. He will also remind us that God’s lavish grace that is meant for all people also demands a response from us.
This last week we learned of Kayla Mueller’s death, probably at the hands of her captors, ISIS. Kayla had gone to Syria to help ease the suffering of the thousands caught in this brutal conflict. She has said that, while other people see God in various places, she sees God in the suffering of others. So, she went to Syria in response to God’s call on her life, to ease suffering. In a little while, we’ll gather to eat omelets to support Edith White, serving in Togo and Benin West Africa and Global Eye Mission around the world. Not all of us are called to go to foreign places to serve God and others, but we are called to listen for what Jesus does call us to do. We can’t always trust we see, so we listen, cutting out the distractions and noise, actively listening. And when we stumble, which we know we’ll do, we know Jesus is there to pick us up, telling us not to be afraid, sending us out again. Listen to him. Amen.
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