Are You Listening?
In what is surely a triumph for Hallmark cards, today ranks second only to Christmas as the day for which the most greeting cards are purchased. It is estimated that more than one billion Valentine’s Day cards will be purchased worldwide in what is, perhaps, the strangest observance of a Christian holiday to mark the martyrdom of two saints of the Roman Catholic Church. Most of us don’t think of Valentine’s Day as a Christian holy day, but this day was set apart by Pope Gelasius I in 496 C.E. as a feast day to honor two Christian martyrs named Valentine. Valentine of Terni was martyred in 197 C.E. by Emperor Aurelian during an early persecution of Christians. Valentine of Rome was martyred in 269 C.E. by Emperor Claudius II. Tradition has it that Valentine of Rome was caught performing a marriage ceremony for a soldier in the emperor’s army in direct violation of a decree forbidding single soldiers to marry during their service to the emperor. As the story goes, Emperor Claudius was captivated by this young priest and attempted to convert him to paganism to save his life. When the young priest, instead, attempted to convert the emperor, the death sentence was pronounced and he was executed on February 14th, the day later set aside as his feast day.
Of course, this may all be a fabrication when one realizes that there was a major pagan festival in the city of Rome… the festival of Lupercalia… that was celebrated each year between February 13th and February 15th. History records that Pope Gelasius I condemned the observance of this pagan festival in Rome and he, himself, may have scoured the history books to find a Christian saint who was born or died on any of those days in order to appease a remnant of the populace of Rome who still adhered to pagan worship and who might have become enraged at the loss of a serious party. This, of course, brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘politically correct’. At any rate, the feast day of St. Valentine was observed for centuries before it became linked to romantic love in the Middle Ages. And it was another five hundred years before the exchange of Valentine cards became de rigueur.
As for me, as a pastor, I think it is wonderful that we take one day out of the year to focus upon the individual who is the object of our affection and attempt to find a way to please that person… if only for one day. How much better it would be if the effort that we make on this day to please the one we love would become such a natural part of everyday life that the hype surrounding this one day would die because that effort would no longer be viewed as an aberration. Alas, like Christmas, the reason for the season has been twisted by the commercial value of the day for those whose living depends upon our human shortcomings. C’est la vie!
The importance of this day in our lives may have something to do with that elusive process that we participate in, but few of us do it very well… communication. It is one of the most popular topics on the Internet. Why the word alone will generate over three hundred million hits… with sixty-two million for communication skills and fifty-three million for communication problems in relationships. One might get the idea that someone out there is interested in this. I did find it fascinating that “communication problems” generated fifty-three million hits while “communication problems in relationships” only generated twenty-eight million hits. If you are not in a relationship of some sort, what do you have to communicate about that would generate a problem? Something to think about…
Chad Levisay called me up a couple weeks ago to ask me a series of questions for a school assignment. There were several questions about my career and my motivation, but the question that captured my attention was this: “Why did I think effective communication skills were so important?” My answer: “Because I never have learned how to read someone else’s mind.” While I cannot say that I have examined all of the millions of web pages devoted to this topic, a cursory examination of a number of them identified two themes that seem to run through them. First, no one is a mind reader and second, the only way to deduce what others desire is by listening to them. That would seem to support the guidance given by the stoic philosopher Epictetus in the second century C.E. who said, “We have two ears and one mouth so we may listen more and talk less.” Unfortunately, we seem to be challenged in this area, and thus, we have Valentine’s Day to restore the balance. I found it amusing that one article on this topic found it necessary to state… and I quote… “Remember, that you can't listen and talk at the same time!” Are you listening?
Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a mountain with him to pray. While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white. Did you notice the similarities between what happened to Jesus when he spoke with God on this mountaintop and what happened to Moses when he spoke to God on another mountaintop in the text that Ralph Taeuber read for us today? Both men were transformed by the experience of being in the presence of God… transformed in such a way that others could attest to the physical change in their outward appearance. In Jesus’ case, his entire body was transformed. In Moses’ case, the transformation of his face was so powerful that he was compelled to wear a veil when he was among the hoi polloi… the common folk… so that they could look at him. When Moses entered the Holy of Holies… the sanctum sanctorum… he removed the veil to speak to God. The veil… and the Holy of Holies… that sacred part of the Temple that only the priests were allowed to enter… were physical reminders of the distance between a powerful and majestic God and the creatures that God created. These reminders remained securely in place for millennia… until the day that Christ died and the veil in the Temple… the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the area where the common folk could worship… was torn in two. Just as the lifting of the veil in a marriage ceremony signifies the removal of the final barrier that separates two people from each other, allowing them to become one in the eyes of God, so the tearing of the curtain in the Temple signified the removal of the barrier between God and humankind by Christ’s death. Before that, Jesus’ prayer on the mountaintop and Moses’ conversations with God on another mountaintop were privileged communication between an almighty and all-powerful God and two who knew how to listen to that God. While we do not know all that transpired between God and these two on the mountaintops, we do know that God’s message to us through them was consistent… Listen!
Now, we could speculate for hours about the two men that the disciples who were with Jesus saw. They are identified in Matthew, Mark and Luke as Moses and Elijah. How did the disciples know that these men were Moses and Elijah? No one knows. We could talk about how Moses represents the law, for he wrote the books of the law in Hebrew scripture. We could talk about Elijah and how he represents the prophets, calling the people back to God with truth-telling and judgment. And we could contrast those who represented the law and judgment with the one who represented God’s love, mercy and grace, Jesus Christ. We could ask why the disciples were so sleepy on this day… just as they were sleepy in the Garden of Gethsemane. We could chastise them for their inability to understand what was happening in each instance. But much of our judgment of them would be based upon speculation, for we do not know what truly happened. And much of our anger would arise from our own guilt… for we recognize that we might have done exactly the same thing if we were in their shoes.
The critical teaching in both stories is not the actions of the disciples… or the physical appearance of Moses or Jesus. The critical teaching is the word of God. In the case of Moses, it was the Ten Commandments and the teachings surrounding those commandments. In the case of Jesus, it was three little words: “Listen to him.” The word ‘listen’ appears over three hundred times in scripture and, most of the time, it is an imperative… as it is in our text today. It is God commanding us to listen. Contrast that with the word ‘speak’ which, in scripture, usually describes what someone is doing. But on the times when it appears as a command, the person being commanded to speak is being commanded to speak the words of God. Why is there such an emphasis on listening? Why are there so many places in scripture where the people of God are called to listen to God’s word? Could it be that we have some difficulty in this area? Are you listening?
There are only two times in the life of Jesus when God speaks and the voice of God is audible to those who are witnesses… once at Jesus baptism… and once at his transfiguration. Both occasions are recorded in the three synoptic gospels… Matthew, Mark, and Luke. At Jesus’ baptism, God identifies Jesus as his son and says that he is pleased with him. At Jesus’ transfiguration, God identifies Jesus as his chosen one and commands the disciples to listen to him. These are the only times that God speaks audibly to human beings during the life and ministry of Jesus and only one imperative is issued: ‘Listen’!
I spoke earlier of the importance… and the challenge… of communication in human relationships. I shared my own inability to read the minds of other people. It may be the single most frustrating aspect of serving as a pastor… not knowing what others are thinking and yet knowing that others believe that I should somehow intuitively know what they are thinking. I spend a great deal of time counseling people… both in this congregation and in this community. Most of the time, the problems that arise stem from the lack of communication… or poor communication… between two or more people.
Despite all of the gifts that God has given to us, we still lack the ability to ‘intuit’ the thoughts of another person. If it is difficult for us to the read the mind of someone we may see every day, how much more difficult do you think it is to ‘intuit’ the mind of Christ when we do not see him at all? I think of Peter… one of the most passionate followers of Jesus during his life and ministry on earth… how much he loved him… and believed in him… and yet how often he misunderstood what Jesus was doing or what Jesus was saying. Peter… who lived with Jesus for three years! Peter… with whom Jesus became so angry with that he called him Satan on one occasion where Peter misunderstood what was going on. Peter… who… after all that Jesus had said and done… denied him three times. Is it any wonder that the voice of God would only speak one command: Listen to him!
On this day, when we celebrate the gift of romantic love… and we ask ourselves what we can do to please the one that we love… I would guess that time set apart to listen intently to the thoughts… feelings… wishes… and desires of that person would please him or her more than all the greeting cards… flowers… and chocolates in the world… though I know that some here might debate including chocolates in that list. When was the last time that you stopped and truly listened to the one that you profess to love? On this day, when we celebrate the transfiguration of our Lord… and we ask ourselves what we can do to please the one that we profess to serve… to be a better follower of Jesus Christ… I would guess that time set apart to listen intently to the voice of God speaking to us would please God more than all the mission work that we can do… or the cans of soup that we can collect. When was the last time that you stopped and truly listened to the voice of the one that you profess to serve? That is the question of the day: Are you listening to the one that you love? Are you listening to the one that you serve? Are you listening? Amen.
Luke 9:28-36