"KEEP ON LISTENING"

Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-43; 2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2

If someone were to walk up to you on the street,

someone you'd never met before,

a number of things could happen.

They might smile,

or mumble or grunt.

They might say "excuse me" and keep walking.

They might not break stride at all,

and expect that you would be the one to move.

But I doubt

that they would walk up to you,

lock gaze with you,

and say, "Well, now there's a human being!"

It's easy for us to recognize another human being

because, well, that's what we are.

Humans are easy to identify.

According toPrinceton University's "Wordnet,"

humans are "any living or extinct member

of the family Hominidae,

characterized by superior intelligence,

articulate speech and erect carriage."

I thought our official name was "homosapien,"

but apparently that means "intelligent human,"

and in some cases, that might be going too far! 

Other definitions of what it means to be human

go on to talk about our social nature,

or our propensity towards beauty and music and art.

Some definitions go further into our physical capacity,

and use my new favorite term:

"full bipedal locomotion."

But none of them

talked about another aspect of our being

which is pretty well limited to the human race.

Each of us,

male or female,

adult or child,

wealthy or not,

educated or not,

wants to matter to someone.

We want to be important.

We have almost a drive to leave our mark on the world.

Each one of us wants to know

that we matter to someone,

that someone will notice if we're not around,

and that when we're gone,

someone will remember that we've been here.

Maybe that's part of the fascination with genealogy.

For those of us who are interested in it,

there's hardly anything better

than finding some documented evidence

that one of our ancestors was really around.

Surely that's what's behind the tendency

to want to carve our initials into a tree

or write our name in wet cement before the sidewalk sets.

We want others to know that we were here.

But friends,

for those of us Hominidae who call ourselves Christians,

life is not about the mark that we make upon the world.

It's about the mark that God makes on us

in order that God might change the world.

God wants to take us

out of that never-ending internal struggle

to be noticed and known,

to have it be all about us.

Instead,

God wants us to learn who we are

as the people of God,

people according to the apostle Paul

who are being changed from one glory into another.

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If we had been present with Peter and the others

on that day that we now call the Transfiguration,

we'd have been right there with Peter,

gathering up hammer and nails,

ready to build a monument

so that everyone would know

something important had happened here.

We might even have built a booth for Moses,

who would come down from the mountain

after talking with God

with a face that was so shiny,

he had to wear a veil to keep from blinding people.

There are enough special effects

in both of those stories

to keep Spielberg busy for years!

But you know,

as showy as those events were,

"illumination" was not the miracle in our readings this morning.

We get all distracted by the fact

that Moses glowed like a lightbulb after talking with God

or that Jesus had a visitation from Moses and Elijah

and began to shine in the same way.

But that wasn't the miracle.

The miracle //

was that God dared to reveal God's glory to others,

who underwent their own transfiguration

just because of what they witnessed.

And then they could then go on and share it -

all the way down to us,

we who stand to be changed by the good news of the gospel

and made willing to share it too.

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Back to what it means to be human for a moment.

You know,

out of all those definitions I read,

and out of all the attributes they listed

which belong to humans,

none of them mentioned

that human beings are capable of listening.

Maybe that's because our listening skills are underutilized!

Some did mention that humans are able to hear.

But you and I know

that having the ability to hear

doesn't always guarantee that we have the ability -

or should I say willingness -

to listen!

Friends,

if you and I want to leave our mark on the world,

the best way for us to do so

is not by building monuments,

or carving our initials anywhere,

or by "doing" anything -

but simply by listening:

listening to other human beings,

but most of all, to God.

Think about it:

When's the last time you came out of your prayer time,

or closed your Bible after a period of reading,

and your face was aglow?

When have you gone to prayer,

or to worship,

or to scripture reading,

so expectant of what was to come

that when you were finished your face was shining?

Literally or not,

that's what can happen!

Because of God's great love for us,

we want to respond.

But more than singing,

or serving,

or giving,

more than any other response we could make,

we are called to listen to God.

Luke tells us

that once Peter realized what was happening,

his first reaction was to do:

to commemorate,

to build,

to take action.

But Luke reports

that what God very literally said to Peter

was this:

"This is my Son:

keep on listening to him."

Keep on listening.

Do it continuously.

Don't stop.

Carry on with listening.

It's the most important thing you can do.

You and I take such pride in being "can-do" people.

What would happen

if we began to take equal pride

in being "can-listen" people?

I think if we did,

our faces couldn't help but shine.

The most important thing

that you and I can be about

is listening to God and to God's Son.

Every day.

All the time.

Listen in your prayers.

Think of prayer as a time of dialogue,

not just one-way asking on your part

and giving on God's.

I know that I'm guilty of "drive-by prayer"

more than I would like.

We need to give God the gift of time.

God wants to refashion us

through the gift of conversation with God.

Allow time in your prayer life

not just to say "thank you,"

not just to say "please,"

but also to say "What?"

And "How?"

And "Tell me."

And then, give God time to answer.

That's also a good way to read scripture.

Too many of us see reading the Bible

as a task to be conquered,

an item to be checked off our list,

something that we're supposed to do

whether we like it or not,

like brushing our teeth.

What if we were to read our Bible

with expectation,

thinking of it as a time

when God will say something to us,

or through us?

Time spent in two-way reading of the Bible,

reading to understand as well as to listen,

will make us as radiant

as if we'd just come down from the mountain.

And worship can be the same way.

Mary Wells has been leading a wonderful class

in adult Sunday School

on what happens during this hour.

It's true -

the word "liturgy" comes from two Latin words

that mean "the work of the people."

We're expected to do something in worship.

But going to worship

is about more

than just checking another duty off the list.

We are also expected to just be.

And being here each Sunday

helps us learn how to listen to God

It shapes us to do things

in ways that we would not ordinarily do them,

left to our own devices.

Seeing worship

as a time to listen to God and for God

will open us up

to God turning us around,

sending us off on a new course,

or maybe even confirming a path we're already on

that we were beginning to question.

"Come every week to worship,

because God will always have new things to tell you.

Read your Bibles every day,

because God's revelation always gives words to change our lives.

Keep on listening in your prayers,

because God always wants to surprise us." - Marva Dawn

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You might be thinking

that this all sounds well and good,

but it doesn't really say anything at all

about how we Hominidae are supposed to exist

without doing something to leave a mark,

to make some kind of memorial.

Yes, it does.

In God's economy,

the memorial becomes us.

Only by God's grace

are we set free never to have to justify our existence.

We never have to prove to others

that we are wonderful, or memorable, or worthy.

We are declared that way.

We are declared important, beautiful,

even saints -

by God's forgiveness and reconciliation.

And because of that,

you and I can go out from this place this morning

and change the world.

Verse 18 of our reading from Second Corinthians

gives us the key.

It says:

"And all of us, with unveiled faces,

seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror,

are being transformed into the same image

from one degree of glory to another;

for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit."

Listen to that:

the more we look at the transfiguration of Christ,

the more we are changed.

The more we look at God,

the more we become like God.

And it's the same for this community.

The more we worship together,

and pray together,

and study together,

the more we can be the people that God has called us to be.

If we expect that God has something to say,

then we are more likely to listen.

The more likely we are to listen,

the more likely we are to hear what God has to say.

The more that we hear God,

the more we will be transfigured

into God's children of light.

Friends, life is not about

the mark that we make upon the world.

It's not about anything we do.

It's about the mark that God makes on us

in order that God might change the world.

God is up to that, even now.

The world needs what we have to offer in God's name.

Because Jesus has been transfigured before us today,

and because you and I have seen it,

we are being changed from one glory into another.

And because we have this ministry,

we do not -

not now, not never, not nohow -

lose heart.

Let's get listening

so that we can reflect the good news of God's love

to those who need it as much as we do.

Amen.

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I found "Wordnet" on the Internet by doing a Google search on "human being definition." It's AMAZING what's out there on the Web, isn't it?!

Thank you to Marva Dawn for the wonderful quote about worship, scripture and prayer, found in a sermon on this passage in her book A Royal "Waste" of Time.