Listening and Doing

Many of us spent our February Sunday mornings on a mountain with Jesus – or, at least, listening to The Gospel of Matthew’s rendering of Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7). Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, and others who share the “Common Lectionary” (“Lectionary” – a schedule of readings from Holy Scripture) experienced anew the life-giving, life-changing, life-redefining teaching of Jesus – all of it based on the notion that “the Kingdom” is at hand, but that “if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom.” Jesus does not intend to deny us entrance to the Kingdom, but to warn us that our choices make it unlikely that we will choose to enter and abide in the Kingdom.

On Sunday, March 6 – Transfiguration Sunday according to the Lectionary; the Sunday of Mardi Gras weekend for folks in south Louisiana – the Lectionary takes us to a “high mountain” (Matthew 17:1-9) to witness Jesus’ transfiguration, wonder about what he discussed with Moses and Elijah, and hear God speak to the Apostles Peter, James, and John.

. . . “and from the cloud came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’” – the same words spoken at Jesus’ baptism (with which we began the Season of Epiphany and now end the Season) with the added imperative, “Listen to him.”

Listening to Jesus can be challenging. Think again about the “Sermon on the Mount” (“turn the other cheek”, “love your enemy, pray for them”, “if your virtue goes no deeper”, etc.) and you quickly recognize that he asks us to think and to act as he does. There’s the “rub”: Jesus insists that it’s not enough to listen, to agree with him in principle, we must choose to do what he tells us to do.

Just prior to God speaking from the cloud, Peter expressed his inclination to make tents and stay on the mountain, basking in the glory of God’s glory and grace. Many of us have had “mountaintop experiences” – we know how good it feels and how tempting it is to want to stay there forever. Why bother about the world and all its problems? Or the Church, or the family? Let’s just live “above it all”.

Jesus came down the mountain and immediately healed a man. He was constantly seeking the least, the last, and the lost. Join him this Sunday and every Sunday “on the mountain” – and walk with him day by day sharing his ministry “in the real world”.