The Transfiguration of Our Lord Sunday, February 18, 2007

Preached at Providence Lutheran Church, Holland, O.

Pastor Dennis R. King

"Did You Hear?"

Luke 9:28-36 [37-43]

The Grace and Mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all. Amen!

We have celebrated Christmas and with Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds, we have knelt at the manger of Bethlehem. We have accepted that little child as the Christ, our Lord. We have, likewise, celebrated Epiphany and we have knelt with the Wise Men of the Orient and adored and worshiped the Christ Child as the Savior of the Jews and the Gentiles. Now today, we join together to remember the transfiguration of our Lord and to hear again God’s word. "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to Him!" It is a time to give thanks to God and to respond with faithful obedience.

Often the celebrating of Christmas fades into business as usual. Some people may be surprised I mention Christmas this morning. Yet, it was only eight weeks ago. The darkness of the world seems so much greater, than a dimly burning light. The darkness is so overpowering, so we find ourselves slipping back into our routines. It happens so quickly. We are all busy enough. I’m sure. Our minds are full of all kinds of information and our days are packed with all kinds of tasks. Amid all the shouting and promoting of goods, things, and pleasures of life, Satan loudly peddles his wares. No wonder, the Word of God is like a still small voice. Do you hear it? Did you respond? "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to Him!"

We are apt to think that if God's call came to us with the distinctiveness of the call of Abraham or Moses, Samuel or Isaiah, or Peter, James or John or Saul of Tarsus, we would readily and gladly respond. We think if anything as dramatic as the experience that Peter, James and John had on the mountain would be duplicated in our experience, we, too, would be overwhelmed by the presence of God and of our own unworthiness to be commissioned by Him. Again, if we were pursuing our own common place avocations, and a majestic and gracious person should appear while another speaks to us, we, too, might be quite willing to drop our many activities, rise up, and follow the One who is spoken of, the One in our midst. But are we right in thinking that the Heavenly Word is not pressing in upon us in our lives today? Are we right in thinking that the Son of Man is not walking our streets as when He went up and down the highways of Galilee? Instead of looking for these extraordinary tokens of God’s presence, we should keep quiet long enough to hear the still quiet voice of God and learn that He is still speaking to us.

Do you hear Him? He says, "Listen to My Son." The Word of His Son is precious, indeed, because in spite of all the darkness in the world, the Word is still the Lamp which guides people safely through this life. For the guilty, it offers mercy and grace. To those under going trial, His Word comforts. To the weak, it gives courage. To those who leave this world, it gives security. It is the one and only answer to all the spiritual needs of people. It reveals God’s infinite love to people in spite of people’s lovelessness. "It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." The celebration of Christmas reminds us of that very fact. Jesus came to save us. The celebration of Christmas encourages us to grow and continue to grow in our Christian lives. It encourages us to listen anew. Someone once said that the Christian life is like a bicycle, if you do not go forward you will fall off. We need to go forward as Christian people with a new momentum - a momentum of mission. Such mission is always needed. It is needed this time of year as we face the tragedy of Christmas. And there is a tragedy. One might explain it this way. Once, a little boy fell out of bed. As his mother tucked him in again, she asked him how it came to be that he fell out of bed. "I don’t know, Mama." He replied. "Unless I went to sleep too near where I got in." The celebration of Christmas calls us to renew faith not for just a moment but for a lifetime. The tragedy of Christmas is that too many fall asleep on the edge of their faith and fall away shortly there after. Too often people live their lives in a manner that says "Speak, Lord. I’ll listen to you in a minute or later." God says, "This is my Son, my chosen; listen to Him!"

A pastor in Los Angeles met a man who had been there for quite a long time without ever attending church. When asked by the pastor if he had ever been a member of a Christian congregation, he replied, "Oh, yes! I was very active in a congregation in Ohio. When I left Ohio, I wrote my Christian experience down in full. I asked for my letter of transfer from the church and both of them are in a little box in my home. Would you like to see them?" "Yes," said the pastor. Where upon the man produced a little box, opened it and discovered that a mouse had eaten his Christian experience. There may be a dash of humor in that antidote, but it tells the tragic story of many a Christian experience. "Lord, your servants have become entangled in the world’s ignorance and are not listening, anyway." Like Peter, James and John we quickly want to provide for God instead of listening and letting God provide for us. "Listen to My Son!" God says. It is only by the grace and mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that God continues to speak to us. We cannot begin to fathom the depth and mystery of God. All we know is that He continues to speak to us through His own Son, Jesus Christ. Let us not be hearers of the Word only but doers also. Hearts that hear with loving devotion will hear to remember and to live what they have heard. Life will glow with the many opportunities for service in the love that we have learned from Jesus. And what do we hear? Jesus says, "Follow Me." Philip hears and responds as a faithful servant. Certainly, Philip set an example for us. He was spirit-led, did not hesitate about going, knew his Bible and did not hesitate to talk religion with even a dignitary. His message was Jesus. He had results, departed quietly and left rejoicing.

What kind of Christian example do we set for others? In Norway the great ships cruise ceaselessly off the shore from the southern most tip of this great nation to its northernmost coastal lands. The ships are not only the pride of the country but also bind it together commercially. When a ship goes down, the entire nation watches in stunned silence. A large vessel did go down one night. Those, who were listening to the radio, were shocked to hear that a smaller vessel soon sank at the exact spot where the larger vessel had gone down. Everyone wondered how such a strange coincidence could take place. Upon investigation, it was learned that the smaller vessel had not been using its navigational gear. It simply was following the larger ship thinking nothing could happen to it. When the large ship went down the small ship followed. Are we listening to Jesus? Others may be following us.

Do we hear God speaking? Hearing with proper attention has almost become a lost art in our day. Our attention is distracted by so many things. The information that we receive is so quickly forgotten. We move rapidly over our streets, our eyes give a quick glance at a splash of color, a word or two upon a billboard and the next moment we are looking at something else. Our minds bounce from one thing to another. We are bored with the really worthwhile things in life which should receive our eager attention. We sometimes seem to be unable to gather up the energies of the mind for the purpose of hearing. That is perhaps one reason we fail to do the kind of hearing that we ought to do when in the presence of God. We fail to hear with our hearts and to follow when God addresses us. It is imperative that we be reminded again and again to listen. Did you hear? Amen!