2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?
We have just spent several weeks meditating on that question. The season after Epiphany is the season where we celebrate Jesus being revealed to the world. We go straight from celebrating his birth to celebrating his revelation.
On the Feast of the Epiphany we always read in Matthew about the visit of the Wise Men.
On the following Sunday every year, we read of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.
The next two Sundays this year were about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, as he called his first disciples.
The following Sunday was Mark’s first account of Jesus expelling a demon, and last Sunday was Mark’s first record of Jesus’ healings.
The culmination of the season comes today, when, as we always do on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, we read an account of the Transfiguration, where Christ is revealed in his glory to a select few of the Apostles. Jesus invites Peter, James, and John up on a mountain, where he is transfigured. His clothes become “dazzling white,” and Elijah and Moses appear and talk with him. Jesus’ transfiguration bears an echo of Moses’ descent from Mt. Sinai, when his face glowed so brightly that people couldn’t bear to look at him, and he had to wear a veil.
In fact, we have two such miraculous events in our reading today. In the Old Testament reading, we hear the story of Elijah being taken to heaven in a whirlwind, with flaming horses and a chariot of fire. It’s quite spectacular. Elisha, the man who is to be Elijah’s successor, is there with him, even though Elijah has done his best to send him away. So Elijah appears in both the Old Testament and Gospel readings today.
People do not always do well with with these kinds of events. We don’t have a way to process them. Our minds aren’t built for it. Elisha, when he can no longer see Elijah, tears his clothes, normally a sign of mourning. The only context Elisha has for Elijah no longer being there is death, so he behaves as if Elijah is dead.
And good old Peter, always impetuous and generally inappropriate, wants to build huts for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, as if they could be kept from leaving. As if they were confined to the strictly physical. And I can sympathize with him. He is witness to an event that is so incredible, so overwhelming that his mind can’t really deal with what he is seeing. So he reverts to what he knows. He reverts to the purely physical.
It’s a transcendent experience, and Peter misses the significance because he wants to respond by doing something mundane.
But then God’s voice comes through, telling the apostles to listen to Jesus.
Stop doing. Start listening.
I think all of us probably have problems listening at one time or another. How many times in a conversation has our mind wandered? How many transcendent experiences have we missed because we weren’t listening? Because we just weren’t paying attention?
Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, does speak to us, and we need to listen. One way we can listen is contemplative prayer. We are used to active prayer, where we are praising God, thanking Him, or asking Him for something. This is the way we are taught to pray. But in contemplative prayer, you don’t spend time talking. You spend time listening.
Mother Theresa was once asked about her prayer life and told the reporter she prayed an hour every day. The reporter asked, “What do you say?” She replied, “Mostly I just listen.” The reporter asked, “What does God say?”
Mother Theresa’s reply? “Mostly, He just listens too.”
Sometimes we don’t need to do something. Sometimes, we just need to listen.
One of the mottos of my own order is “Contemplare et contemplata aliis trader,” which in English is “to contemplate, and to share with others the fruits of contemplation.” We are encouraged to spend time daily contemplating scripture. We pass along the fruits of that contemplation in our preaching and teaching. It’s one way that the Dominican life supports Dominican preaching. And when you’re contemplating scripture, at least in my experience…mostly, you just listen.
As Christians, we want to be working for the kingdom of God. The thing is, when we are active, when we’re doing all the time, we tend to not listen. Often the things of the world get in the way of our listening. There is just so much going on. The Holy Spirit has trouble getting to us through the noise. We need to learn to shut out that noise.
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season. Lent is an excellent time to practice our listening skills. Maybe this year, instead of just giving up chocolate, or meat, or something else we know very well we’re going to start enjoying again once Easter hits, we should try taking up something new. Maybe try sitting quietly and just listening. Listening for what God wants to say. Maybe he’ll just listen too. But, then again, he may have something important we need to hear.
This Lent, let’s remember today. Remember the whole season after Epiphany and how it showed just who this Jesus of Nazareth is. In God’s own words,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Take some time to stop doing, and start listening.
Amen.
Becoming Dominican 