February 23, 2020: "Listen"
February 23, 2020 Rev. Rhonda Blevins, DMIN
Listen
Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
______
Listen. (Silence.) Can you hear it? No, not that. Not that either. Let me give you a hint. If I gave you a stethoscope, you could probably hear it. Your heartbeat. My heartbeat. 300 people (or so) here today, and almost each one (J) has a heartbeat—beating, beating, beating at a wavelength most of us can’t hear without a special “listening” tool.
There are lots of sounds happening all the time that we can’t hear without the right equipment.
There are sounds at wavelengths too low for us to hear, called “infrasounds,” like the rumbling of the earth before a volcano erupts, or like some sounds that elephants, whales, and hippos use to communicate to one another.
There are sounds at wavelengths too high for us to hear. Dog whistles are the perfect example. And have you heard about the Mosquito? It’s a device that emits a high-frequency sound that young people can hear that most adults can’t hear. It’s used in places where teens tend to loiter and cause trouble—it drives them away, but the adults are unphased. Some brilliant young person created a ringtone with the noise, undetectable by unsuspecting teachers.
Then there’s the completely un-hearable wavelength from the sound of every wife speaking to every husband.
I heard recently about a man who went to the doctor, concerned about his wife’s hearing. The doctor said, “Stand behind her and say something and tell me how close you are when she hears you.” The man went home, saw his wife in the kitchen, cutting carrots on the countertop. About 15 feet away he said, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” Nothing. He gets halfway to her and repeats the same question. Nothing. Very concerned, he gets right behind her and asks again “What’s for dinner?” The wife turned around and saying, “For the THIRD time, beef stew!”
All the sounds, and we only hear but a very few. What if we could expand our hearing? What might we hear? Not just physically, but spiritually as well.
Shifting to the spiritual today, on the last day of the season of Epiphany, three days before the beginning of the 40 days of Lent on Ash Wednesday, we remember the most exciting event in the entire New Testament save for the resurrection. It’s the transfiguration of Jesus. Allow me to set the scene . . .
Soon after Jesus begins to set his sights on his final visit to Jerusalem, he decides to go up a mountain. Now oftentimes when you read about a mountain in the Bible, there’s an encounter with the Most High God. Think of Moses on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments or Elijah on the mountain when God appears not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in the silence. And today we find Jesus going up a high mountain taking his three closest companions with him: Peter, James, and John. (From the Blevins Original Version):
And Jesus was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then answered Peter, and sayeth unto Jesus, “Lord, dost thou mindest if I takest a selfie?” And after Peter tookest his selfie and began working with the Instagram filters due to the apparent overexposure of the glowing Lord, James beganest a video, which he narrated for his YouTubest channel. Meanwhile John callest Jerusalem Channel 6 “News You Can Trusteth” to tryest to get a camera crew up there, or maybe at least their “eye in the sky.” (Okay, enough of the Blevins Original Version. You get the idea. Back to the NRSV.) Suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
Immediately the disciples fell down to the ground overcome with fear.
Have you ever had a fear so great that it brought you to your knees? If not literally, figuratively?
Psychiatrist and best-selling author Elisabeth Kübler-Ross suggests:
There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt. It’s true that there are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it’s more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They’re opposites. If we’re in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we’re in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear.
But there, prostrate on the ground, Peter, James, and John fell in fear, in terror upon hearing the voice speaking to them from the cloud. The voice (presumably God) offered them two things: information and instruction.
The first thing the voice gave them was information. The information was twofold: 1) this is my beloved son, and 2) I am well pleased with him.
This is the second time we hear the mysterious voice proclaiming this blessing upon Jesus. The first was at his baptism before his public ministry began. And now we hear it once again as Jesus sets his sights on Jerusalem—his public ministry and his human life drawing to a close. These words, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased,” are like bookends in the Gospel of Matthew, and I think the words were carefully chosen. Not:
· This is the Messiah, the one you’ve been waiting for
· This is the chosen one
· This is the redeemer
· This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
While all these things may be true of Jesus, God introduces him, bookending his ministry, in terms of relationship, and using the language of love. What did we learn about love a moment ago? That love and fear cannot exist in the same person at the same moment. It’s either love or fear. And when we hear the voice of God, God speaks the language of love.
The second thing the voice of God offered them was instruction. After informing the three disciples, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased,” something was added to this proclamation that we first heard at Jesus’ baptism: “Listen to him.” Stop what you’re doing, your neurotic compulsion to “build something” up here on the mountain. Stop and listen. Can you hear it? (Silence.) No not that. Not that either. Underneath the noises clamoring for our attention, there’s a heartbeat—it’s the heart of God beating with love for you. The voice is saying, “You are my beloved son—this is my beloved daughter—in you I am well pleased.”
Some of us are resistant to the idea that God calls us “beloved” in the same way God called Jesus “beloved.” Maybe it’s because so much of religion is shame and guilt based—we just can’t shake the deeply ingrained feelings of worthlessness given to us by fear-based religious traditions. Or maybe it has more to do with family of origin stuff. With imperfect parents who offered imperfect love, we felt unworthy or cut off from love.
But hear me say this today, no matter how cut off from love you have felt, you are loved with a deep, and perfect, and abiding love. “Beloved.” The word in Greek is agapétos, root word agape, which means divine love, perfect love, never-ceasing, ever-flowing, enduring, amazing love. God’s heart always beats with divine love for you. Can you hear it?
If you can’t hear it, it may be because most of us live much of our lives in a state of fear. We’re like terrified disciples falling on the ground, terrified in God’s presence. But we don’t have to live that way. Jesus bridges that gap when he touches the disciples. You know what happens in a touch—energy is transferred.
Yesterday was opening day of little league baseball, so my husband and I took our six-year-old out to the ballpark, and it was cold! His little hands were like ice. So he stood in front of me and I grabbed both of his little hands and held them a while to warm them—the warmth from my hands passing to his. Energy transfer.
When Jesus touched the disciples, he transferred agape energy to them. Love and fear cannot exist in the same person simultaneously. Jesus’ perfect love began to cast out their fear. “Get up,” he told them, “and do not be afraid.” Love, not fear.
So what’s making you fearful these days? I know someone dealing with a serious health issue. I know someone facing bankruptcy. I know someone afraid of growing old. I know a young person afraid they’ll never realize their dream. Maybe your greatest fear is that this sermon will never end. J
Whatever your fear, feel the gentle hand of the Lord reaching out to touch you, telling you, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” Love, not fear.
Listen. (Silence.) Can you hear it? Yes, that’s it! It’s the heartbeat of God, always, forever, beating with perfect, incomprehensible, undaunted love for you, beloved daughter, beloved son of the Most High God.
And to think you didn’t even need a stethoscope.