March 13, 2014
Matthew, today, gives us an
important challenge:
Listen to him!
So spoke the voice from out of
the cloud that overshadowed Peter, James and John on the mount of the
transfiguration.
Each of the three men had
experienced something extraordinary in the presence of Jesus.
Each also probably had an idea
and a plan as to how things should unfold afterwards.
Acting as their spokesman, Peter
wanted to arrange that the extraordinariness of the moment would endure.
"Let's pitch some tents and
savor the glory!"
But the voice had other plans.
Glory would indeed come, and
those who came to believe in Jesus would live to savor it forever; however, and
before all else, they had to listen.
Abraham had cultivated the virtue
of listening to the divine voice to the degree that he was willing to risk
losing all that had become familiar in order to embrace the unfamiliar.
You can be sure that a variety of
other voices also clamored for his attention.
Perhaps Sarah's was the voice of
reason, reminding Abraham of their ages and the fact that they enjoyed a fairly
comfortable, stable and secure existence.
Without a map to guide them or
specific destination toward which to travel, it probably seemed foolish to
listen to God.
Perhaps Abraham only thought
that's what God said ... perhaps his hearing wasn't what it used to be.
Reasonable objections
notwithstanding, Abraham dared to listen to God and from that listening a great
people has been born.
Like Abraham, Paul also dared to
listen to God as did Peter, James, John and the other disciples.
Each of them discovered that with
listening comes learning;
with learning comes loving,
and with loving comes the
strength to leave all else in order to go where God leads.
When we also resolve to listen,
learn, love and leave all to follow God's lead, there will also be other voices
clamoring for our attention.
For this reason, Lent is given to
us to as an opportunity for sharpening our ability and willingness to hear
God's voice.
It=s really important for us to
sharpen our listening skills,
To become disciplined listeners,
to learn how to listen to God=s voice over all the other
noises.
A young man from a
rural area traveled to New York City to visit a friend he had known since
college.
As they walked down
Madison Avenue, the visitor stopped suddenly and said, "Listen, I hear a
cricket."
"Don't be
silly," said the New Yorker, "with all the traffic, people and
construction noises, that's impossible! "
His guest disagreed.
Then he listened
attentively and walked in the direction of a large cement planter.
There in the soil
and under a leaf, he found a cricket.
His friend was
astounded!
By way of
explanation, the out-of-towner said, "My ears are no better than yours; it
simply depends on what you are listening for."
At that moment, he
pulled a handful of change from his pocket and dropped it on the sidewalk.
Every head within a
block turned in their direction.
As he bent down to
retrieve the coins, he asked, "Now, do you understand?"
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