Far from the crowds, leaving the noisy and busy towns far behind, the small band hiked up and over the rocks to the top of the mountain. Mount Tabor, windswept with a view over the long valley of Jezreel. The Master led the way, with his three close and confused friends following his footsteps. Glory shone, reality made plain, and the disciples left that mountain-top more bewildered than ever. And yet, the Voice had spoken loud and clear:
Listen to Him.
I have long been impressed by the wisdom of the 12-Step movements. By God’s grace, I have never yet needed to participate in one of these groups, but I admire their simplicity and their single-minded focus upon their central mission. In addition to the 12 Steps which guide the person in recovery, each group is guided by 12 Traditions. (You can see these downstairs, I believe, at St. Luke’s.)
The 11th and 12th of these AA Traditions are as follows:
[Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion;] we need always to maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Did you hear those words written by Saint Paul and read here this morning? “For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.”
Within this new community that it is called the Church, the confession of sin is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter who you are: your gender, your personal wealth, your job, your ethnicity. When we gather in Church, ALL of us confess to the Lord that we have sinned. ALL of us bow our heads to ask for forgiveness. This is one of the things that I love most about the church. There are no honorable positions that remove one from the reality of human life. Even this position of “Priest”, which as you know means Elder, is primarily one of function. Someone has to be prepared for each Eucharist. Someone has to study the Scriptures and speak the words of Institution and Absolution.
But in this life, it is so easy for us to lose this perspective. Look again at this story of the Transfiguration. Three great apostles are there: Peter, James and John. If we were to meet them in person, we would be tempted to fall down at their feet and worship. But look! They are as fleas compared to the glory of our Lord! When seen next to him, they are nothing, like a small cloud which the wind easily pushes away.
Make no mistake: I am not denigrating the saints nor the apostles. By their diligence, they have earned the crown of life and they stand before the face of God in worship today. I believe that their example is absolutely critical for us who follow Christ today.
What we learn from our Lord Jesus by his teachings and his example are made clear to us in the life of the saints. This is what we rightly call the Sacred Tradition of the Church. Their stories complete in life what the Bible teaches in word. The two are inseparable.
The Scriptures lay the foundation for a healthy, complete human life. But the building itself is the life of the saints, and in them we can see the practical outline, the structure of life the way God intended it to be. Without their stories, without their concrete examples, we cannot clearly understand what the Gospel means to us for our lives.
HOWEVER! Given all of that, we must know that the lives of the saints are NOTHING compared to the majesty, the magnificence that is Jesus our living Lord.
Why should we stand in awe of any man or any woman? Why? Because they have a bunch of this make-believe thing that we call money? Because others have given them authority and power to make decisions on their behalf? We, who talk and walk with the Risen Lord of life, we know better, and we know that any human is like a fly compared to the glory of God who surrounds us at all times. This is the secret for the boldness and courage of the martyrs over the centuries, who have stood before kings and emperors and generals without fear because of the name of Christ.
“We do not proclaim ourselves.” For why should we? Peter and James and John represent us on Mount Tabor. They didn’t know what was going on. And at the exact moment of human confusion and misunderstanding, the voice of God spoke loud and clear: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.”
Let’s be honest: how often do we actually LISTEN TO HIM? If we truthfully, honestly believe that he is the most intelligent person who ever lived – that is, he is the one who most understands how life works, how the universe works – if we truly believe this, then why would we turn to Oprah for advice? Why would we listen to Suze Orman about how to plan our lives?
What does Dr. Phil know that Jesus does not know?
“This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to Him.”
What does it mean to listen? To listen is: to pay attention to sound
Dallas Willard is a writer whose insights have had a profound impact upon me and my relationship to Christ. Listen carefully, please, to these words from his book The Divine Conspiracy about the intelligence of our Lord. They convict me every time that I hear them.
“Our commitment to Jesus, “ Dallas Willard wrote, “can stand on no other foundation that a recognition that he is the one who knows the truth about our lives and our universe. It is not possible to trust Jesus, or anyone else, in matters where we do not believe him to be competent…Can we seriously imagine that Jesus could be Lord if he were not smart?...[The declaration of faith,] “Jesus is Lord” can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate before saying, “Jesus is smart.” He is not [just] nice, he is brilliant. He is the smartest man who ever lived.” (The Divine Conspiracy, pp.94-95.)
We have to learn to trust him, to really and honestly trust him with our lives. We cannot do that if we see him as out of touch, some mystical figure from the distant past, someone who does not truly understand what our life is like.
He does, and we can trust him. And if we learn to listen, we can learn how to live, how to really live. None of us are too old or too young to learn that. So may it be among us who gather around this table to taste the goodness of the Lord. Amen.
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