Listen to What the Man Said

Matthew 17:1-9

In the February edition of our church newsletter, my pastor’s page is titled “Church 2.0.”  In that article I highlight the movement of the modern worshipper and church member toward a more interactive experience of worship.  Characterized by the parallel transition in the online world of the internet from host created content that is surfed by the user, to a new landscape where the web content is created by the users themselves in an ever changing digital conversation of interactive community, my article presents our congregation with the reality that people today want to be actively involved in the creation of whatever experience they are a part of. 

Long gone are the days when Christian education was defined by pouring knowledge into the heads of waiting and willing learners.  The modern Christian learner doesn’t want to hear about the love of Christ, they want to experience it.  In the same fashion, there is a similar movement in church worship as well.  It is a movement away from the model that envisions the worshipper as a passive receiver of the message that is presented to them in word and song, and toward a more active and interactive form of worship where all members of the congregation are co-creators of the worship experience itself.   Dealing with, and incorporating this new style of worship is one of the many challenges that I speak of so frequently when talking about the future of the Christian Church.

But of course, this desire to do, to be involved and active is nothing new for the human being.  After all, when God put the first man and woman in Eden at the very beginning of time, He put them there to do.  As Genesis 2: 15 tells us, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”  Doing is at the heart of who we are. 

But if we flash forward to the end of that same story of creation we will be reminded that our inborn desire for doing can also get us in a whole lot of trouble.  We all know that some of what Adam and Eve did in Eden, specifically eating of the forbidden fruit, got them kicked out of the garden, and it is a fine tradition of human mis-doing in the Bible that continued right down through the years in the building of the tower of Babel, the creation of the golden calf, and ultimately, the crucifixion of Jesus.

This morning’s scripture offers us another example of at least attempted human misdeed in the story of the Jesus and 3 of his disciples on top of the mount of transfiguration.  Here we find Peter, James, and John, ascending to the top of Mount Hermon with Jesus.  3 of the same disciples that Jesus invited to go fishing for men at the beginning of his ministry, when they reach the top of the mountain now find themselves standing face to face with the full expression of their religious tradition.  There they were, close enough to touch.  Moses, Elijah, and Jesus; God’s law, God’s prophet, and God’s word, the entire history of God’s interaction with human kind was gathered right there before their very eyes.  It’s hard to imagine the wonder, excitement and even the fear that must have filled the heats and minds of the apostles as they gazed on this holy gathering.  They were transfixed and transformed.  They stood in wonder and amazement, astounded and confounded by the vision set before them.

And that’s when Peter decided that he needed to do something about it.  Desiring to preserve the moment and hold on to the excitement and privilege of this divine meeting, Peter says, “Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”True to character, Peter, the one who walked on water with Jesus and cut off the ear of the centurian who came to arrest him, when presented with the image of the divine, Peter felt the irresistible urge to do something.

God’s frustration with Peter’s response is shown in verse 5 of the passage, “He (Peter) was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”  You see, even before Peter could finish getting the words out of his mouth, God stepped in and told him to be quiet, to be still, and to do nothing more than listen to Jesus.

It’s a lesson that we need to hear this morning as we stand on the doorstep of Lent, the season of preparation for Easter.  Lent is, in and of itself a time of introspection and quiet, it is a season of listening, and learning, it is time not of doing but of being.  As in “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

However, this is not to say that there isn’t a dimension of doing inferred in the listening that God is calling us to do.  Indeed, the Greek word for listen that is used here carries with it the Old Testament Hebrew connotation to not only listen, but also to obey.   As in the Shema, the ultra familiar passage from Deuteronomy that every good Jew of Jesus day would have known by heart, “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”  Hearing and acting are two sides of the same coin that is obedience to God.  But the point that God’s divine interruption of Peter’s desire to leap into action is trying to make is that before we can ever begin to understand what is that God wants us to do we have to take the time, and give the effort to stop and listen to the voice of Jesus.

How much time do you spend listening to the voice of Jesus in your life?  How much time to you spend in quiet and prayer?  How much time do you spend reading, and better yet, studying God’s word?  I’m not going to ask you to raise your hands, but honestly, think about it.  When is the last time that you read your Bible?  Have you even picked it up in the past week, 2 weeks, or even the last month?  And if you have taken time to read it, has it been just a quick little dash off devotional that you cram into your overly busy day between breakfast and the time that you run out the door?  Or have you really taken time to sit down, read the words, and allow them to soak deeply into your heart of hearts? 

And about your prayer life, when you have taken time out of your busy day to spend a couple of moments with God, who has done the bulk of the talking?  Have you been pouring out your heart and soul to God, thanking Him for your blessings, confessing to Him your sins, and sharing with him all of your wants and needs without ever leaving the time, space, and silence required for God to have the opportunity to respond?  How can we possibly ever hope to understand what God really wants for us or from us, if we don’t take time to stop doing and start listening?

When I was a teenager, Paul McCartney had a song called, “Listen to What the Man Said.”The lyrics went in part, “Love is fine for all we know, for all we know our love will grow.  That’s what the man said, so won’t you listen to what the man said?”  While the man that Paul was talking about is likely not the same one that God was referring to in Matthew 17, when he told Peter to stop doing and start listening, the point is much the same.  Love is fine, and our love for God and the world around us will grow if we just slow down, take the time, quiet our noisy minds and listen to what the man said.  Amen.