Listen up

a Sermon for the Last Sunday after Epiphany, B
Text: Mark 9:2-9


We’re visual people, aren’t we? We watch TV and movies more than we listen to radio shows. They tell of the famous Lincoln and Douglas debates going on for seven hours—now, it can be like pulling teeth to get people to watch for an hour in their own living room!

They say that my generation is more visually oriented than its predecessor, growing up on the Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Millenials are even more so.
Some suggest that if we want to communicate with the emerging generations, we need to think visually.

This morning’s gospel seems tailor-maid for a visual representation—it seems to operate solely on visuals. In the first verse, Jesus picks three disciples and hikes up a mountain to be by themselves. And, while nobody else is watching, Jesus is suddenly transformed in front of their eyes. It is easy to imagine the film adaptation, isn’t it? The quiet leader, names three people to go on this secluded hike with him. “Peter,” he says. “James, John, you’re with me.” Out into the wilderness, they hike. And as their base camp is out of sight, the leader holds up, stopping in the middle of a clearing. The three stop, wondering why they aren’t moving. Suddenly, a bright light shines around their leader, and his clothes change from dust-covered gray to a brilliant white. And the three can tell, they’re not sure how, but they can, that Jesus is different—he’s changed.

The visual examples continue, as Elijah and Moses appear, and they have a conversation with Jesus. Amazed, Peter suggests that they pitch three tents for these three special people.

Then a cloud comes over them and a voice speaks a familiar phrase: “This is my Beloved Son; listen to him!” And without warning—it’s gone. The cloud, the light, Elijah and Moses, everything. And standing there is Jesus.

Jesus then leads them down the mountain, telling them not to speak of this.

In the midst of all of these visuals, it can be pretty easy to get distracted by any of them. Each piece of the story seems to be an allusion to something else.

1. Jesus’s walk up the mountain is reminiscent of Moses’s walk up Mt. Sinai.
2. Elijah and Moses may be a reference to the Prophets and to the Law.
3. The tents that Peter suggests are a reference to Leviticus and protection of holy and sacramental things.
4. The voice in the cloud speaks some of the same words as at Jesus’s baptism.

Other elements have potential symbolic meanings:

1. Selecting 3 disciples parallels the three figures (Jesus, Elijah, Moses).
2. The cloud symbolizes the presence of God.
3. Jesus asking the three to say nothing about it is a recurring motif in Mark.

And some elements add confusion to a concise story:

1. There are 7 characters in it—that’s a lot.
2. Major story elements happen simultaneously
a. Jesus is transfigured
b. Elijah and Moses appear
c. The cloud speaks of Jesus
3. The events end suddenly.

It’s pretty easy for us to get distracted by everything that is going on—all the time. We have to figure out what is going on in scripture, what is going on with our budgets and all of our church stuff, what is going on with our economy, our homes, and our families. There is so much going on that it can be really difficult to cut through it all—to see what’s there.

But in the midst of all of those visual cues—all of this action in this passage—all of the things that could distract us from understanding it, we are given one strange clue.

In Mark’s depiction of Jesus’s baptism, the Spirit, descending like a dove says to Jesus: “You are my Beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” In this passage, the voice in the cloud says to the disciples “This is my Beloved Son; listen to him.” Listen. Don’t just watch or observe. Listen.

The disciples are just as likely to hear that word and catalog it as patently obvious as we are: “of course we’ll listen to Jesus!” “Makes sense; he says lots of good stuff,” we think. But for a relationship that is born out of observation, imitation, and practice, listening requires different skills. It requires the ability to reflect, and openness to not only understand what is said, but the emotional and personal background that created the words. Listening requires us to shut off that internal editor that is looking for the next appropriate thing to say, and instead, being present to hear what is said.

This statement takes even more importance when placed in its context. In the immediately preceding verses, Jesus tells his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, undergo suffering and persecution, and then rise again in three days. This is the first of three such pronouncements. And each time, the disciples misunderstand him. The second time, later in chapter nine, it even says: “But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him” (9:32).

“This is my Beloved Son; listen to him,” the voice says.

This passage is truly the crux—the transition in Jesus’s ministry when his ministry turns toward Jerusalem. His transfiguration is a physical manifestation of a changing call. But God gives us our instructions: “listen to him” God says.

Some of us act like Peter—willing to defend Jesus, despite his instructions. Some of us act like James and John—asking Jesus to elevate them as most important. And some of us act like all of the disciples—arguing over who is the greatest. We could all work on our listening skills.

But here we are, on the precipice of Lent, on World Missions Sunday, being told to listen to Jesus; perhaps more importantly, listening for Jesus. As we fast, take up new endeavors and teachings, or however each of us chooses to mark the 40 days, we certainly have the opportunity to listen. To shut out the distractions, close our eyes, and open our ears. To listen for what the Spirit has to tell us. To reflect on the needs of those around us and those we cannot see. To reflect on the great hunger of those we have met and those we will never meet. To reflect on the preventable and curable diseases that afflict those nearby and those 6,000 miles away. To hear what some of us are already doing and what each of us can do.

Listen up.