Listening is important, though it isn’t always easy. For instance: a couple of years ago, one of
my parishioners stopped me following Sunday morning worship. He told me that, the previous Sunday, he’d
come through the line after the service to shake my hand. I’d asked him how he was, and he’d replied
that his shoulder was giving him some problems.
My response? “Good, glad to hear
it!” Needless to say, I was stunned and
rather embarrassed by this revelation.
Still, I can’t say precisely why it happened. Perhaps it was misfiring synapses. Perhaps old age is setting in. Perhaps someone else was talking to me at the
same time. Regardless, I wasn’t
listening well. I’m just fortunate that
this particular congregant has a good sense of humor, and lovingly teases me
about my faux pas.
So yes, listening is
important. It’s an essential component
of human communication and relationships.
It’s one of the best ways we have to stay connected with one another,
and to learn about one another. Yet
listening’s also an essential component of our relationship with and understanding
of God. Myriad verses in scripture
beckon us to hear, to pay attention, and to listen to and for divine
instruction and guidance. In the New
Testament alone, one finds the word akouō
(“to hear,” “to consider,” or “to perceive”) and its derivatives hundreds of
times.
But the passage which
stands out most, from my perspective, is one that’s somewhat easy to
overlook. The story of Jesus’
transfiguration is one that, in my experience, hasn’t received due attention in
Christian preaching or teaching. I’m not
sure why this is the case. But it
typically doesn’t get the same airtime as other gospel narratives, like Jesus
walking on water or feeding the multitude or cleansing the temple. Those are all great stories, with invaluable
lessons. But they lack something which
the transfiguration story has, something found only in the transfiguration story: a direct mandate from the voice
of God. In the gospels, God speaks but
one command. And the command is to
listen to Jesus (Mt 17.5; Mk 9.7; Lk 9.35).
This is striking to
me, because in that moment wherein the glory of Christ was revealed—wherein the
divinity which rested on him and dwelled in him was fully disclosed—God
could’ve said anything. God could’ve
instructed anything. God could’ve
commanded anything. But God simply tells
those disciples who were present to listen to Jesus.
It really is a simple
command. And I believe that many of the
problems which the Church faces might be resolved (or, at the very least,
diminished) if we could better live into this command: if we spent less time
squabbling and quibbling over peripheral issues and highlighting matters of
little consequence, and more time just listening to Jesus. Being who he asks us to be. Going where he asks us to go.
The issue is that, while it’s a simple command, it
isn’t simple to do. Not all the
time. Even after that mountaintop
experience, during which they saw clearly who Jesus was, the disciples didn’t
get it right at every turn. They still
had lapses in their faith. They still
stumbled as they tried to follow Jesus.
Even the sincerest Christian will make mistakes, saying or doing things
which he or she later regrets.
What it comes down to, I think, is the effort we make. In the story I offered at the beginning of
this post, I shared that I simply wasn’t listening well. And maybe that’s the key in our faith
journey. Maybe we just need to be a
little more deliberate—a bit more intentional—in our listening, recognizing
that we have the opportunity to hear Christ in various ways. Christ might speak in moments of private
prayer or devotion. He might speak in
worship, as we open our hearts to praise.
He might speak through a coffee shop conversation with a friend or
colleague. He might even speak through a
tattered soul on a street corner, holding a cardboard sign and asking for
grace.
Thanks be to God for pointing us to the Son. May we have ears to hear him, and to listen.
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