The Art of Listening
(Free Version), Transfiguration Sunday- Year B; 2 Kings 2:1-12; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
Icon: Khrystyna Kvyk, “Transfiguration”
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This Sunday is the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany. Next Wednesday, we step into the season of Lent. On the final Sunday before Lent, we remember that Christ enters both the mountain and the wilderness with us and for us, that God is faithful to speak to us, and changes us by his love. Today, we remember the God who reveals Godself to us, and the ways in which this is always surprising, always different from what we would expect.
In our Old Testament reading (2 Kings 2:1-12), Elijah knows that he is about to depart the world, and yet, his disciple Elisha refuses to leave his side. The “company of prophets” also know of Elijah’s departure and they ask Elisha if he knows. Elisha says, yes, he does know and he tells the company of prophets to be quiet. The third time through the repetition of this litany, Elijah says that the LORD has redirected him. He is not going to the town of Bethel, but to the Jordan River. Then, in a dramatic reenactment of the Exodus story, Elijah strikes the water with his cloak and the river is divided, allowing the two prophets to walk through it. On the other side, Elisha asks Elijah for a “double portion” of his spirit (his authority or anointing). Elijah says that, if Elisha sees Elijah when he is taken up, it will be his. Elijah is carried into heaven up into heaven in a whirlwind accompanied by chariots and horsemen. Elisha tears his garment in two.
Talk about a surprise! Elisha experiences the intersection of heaven and earth, God’s space and our space. And, the experience changes him. This change happens in the midst of his grief at the loss of his spiritual father. It appears that Elisha does receive the double portion, but he does so from a place of vulnerability and dependence. It is God who allows Elisha to see. In seeing the chariots and the fire, Elisha is reminded that Israel’s strength is not in the weapons of the world, but in the power of God. Another way to say this is that Elisha sees past Elijah to see the God who is speaking to his people.
In our Epistle reading (2 Corinthians 4:3-6), Paul acknowledges that there are some for whom the good news of Jesus is “veiled” by the god of this world. Those who experience this veil, are prevented from seeing Christ revealed, Christ shining in the world. Thankfully, this “veil” is not the final word. The good news still goes out. Christ’s light is still shining. In a world full of teachers who boasted in their own strength, Paul boasts only in Christ, the true light.
In our gospel reading (Mark 9:2-9), Jesus is transfigured before the disciples. It is not that Jesus himself has changed, but that the veil has been lifted and the disciples see him clearly. Like God meets Elisha, Jesus meets the disciples in their vulnerability. Peter is so overcome, he does not know what to say, and blurts out something that reveals his need to control the situation.
There are a few exhortations I hope for my congregation to hear this week as we approach Lent.
Look to Be Surprised By Mountaintops
In this season, we can be encouraged to look for moments and spaces where God is speaking to us, where we hear something,…especially something surprising. I say “surprising,” not in the sense of novelty, but in the sense that the word of God is always surprising because it is so different from much of what we are told by the narratives of the world.
The world’s narratives always point us towards that which is bigger, faster, and stronger, more influential, widespread, “viral.” By contrast, Jesus calls three of his disciples (not a crowd), and then tells them not to tell anyone what has happened. Recalling another story from the life of Elijah, we often expect to find God’s presence in the wind, fire, and earthquake. But God’s voice is heard in the still, small voice (1 Kings 19). Be prepared to hear God in he quiet places, the vulnerable and sensitive places, and in the midst of pain.
2. Recognize and Celebrate Your Own Folly
By definition, human beings are dependent creatures. We need God. On Ash Wednesday, we will discover this reality as we remind ourselves that we come from dust. Without God breathing his life into the dust, this is all that we are. Still, there is such freedom when we recognize that we need God. Our limitations are not something of which to be ashamed, but to be celebrated. God takes our bumbling, blustering, don’t know what to say or do lives and transforms them, and shines through in us, revealing whom we always have been called to be.
3. Listen for His Voice
We are about to enter a season of listening. This is an opportunity to invite your congregation into the discipline of fasting without allowing Lent to sneak up on them unprepared.
In my context (and perhaps in yours), it is important to be pastorally sensitive in talking about fasting. We live in a world colored by experiences of religious legalism, nutrition culture, and the reality that most everyone today faces issues related to body image. Fasting may appear different for different people; and the old saying is true of fasting: “All can. Some should. None must.”
We do not fast because we need to give up sweets or want to lose a few pounds, but as one way to intentionally make space in our lives to listen for the voice of God. It is God’s voice that reminds us who we are. You can hear earthquakes when you are busy, but you can’t hear still, small voices.
The Father’s words to the disciples are “Listen to Him.” We need to listen for his voice. When things are difficult, when life doesn’t work out how we thought it would, when we are lost and confused, it is important to have prepared our ears to listen; because there will be other voices that will ring in our ears.
The mountain and the wilderness always go hand-in-hand, as do the mountain of the Transfiguration and the one at Golgotha. Christ’s shining will always look different from the shining of the world. In suffering, in weakness, in death, in self-giving love we see the radiance of Christ. For some, this good news is veiled, but it is still true.
May we look for God to surprise us. May we recognize and celebrate our clumsiness, our awkwardness, our inadequacies, specifically in the ways to which they point to our dependence on Him. And may we listen for His voice, our only true source of strength.