Last Epiphany Year B Mark 9:2-9 February 19th, 2012
Loving God bless the word of my mouth and the inspiration of all
our hearts that they might be ever pleasing to you, O Lord our
Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
This
is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him!”
As the party began people started to arrive one man asked
another how he was doing and the 2nd man replied that
he wasn’t too well because just that day his wife had just been
diagnosed with cancer. The 1st man man said, “Good,
good,” and walked away to greet other people. Now this is a true
story and to be fair the man did come back after a time and
apologized for not truly listening.
The other morning Robert was talking to me as he always does in
the morning but I was interested in listening to an interview on
Canada A.M. After he left for work I thought about my behaviour
and felt so badly. We have all done exactly the same thing! We
get involved in our own stuff and we end up ignoring our friends
and family members. Sure our concerns about car problems, bank
balances and doctor’s reports are important; but sometimes we
are only involved in a book or TV show? Sometimes we just have
selective hearing. My friend was married a preachers son but her
side of the family had never been church goers. After she
married she did try to go but and the few times she did attend
she was ignored, leaving her to feel that church was an
unfriendly and hostile environment. She shared with me that she
didn’t like church and that she tried everything in her power to
dissuade her husband from attending. I was offended by her
actions but my response to her was worse because when I answered
her I said; “I can’t stand egg shells in egg salad sandwiches.”
There had been no mention of egg salad sandwiches. I heard her
words but I didn’t agree with her refusal about going to church
again so I changed the subject. That little discussion happened
40 years ago and I still remember it so I am pretty sure that my
behaviour helped her to feel ignored by another church member
and this time that church person was a friend.
Too often we adults tend to ignore
children too; there is a story of King who had a good
relationship with his grandchildren but still when the young
prince tried to get his grandfather’s attention during dinner
the King ignored him. The little prince kept talking and talking
so eventually the king turned his attention to the child; but
the boy said, “It’s too late now, grandpapa; there was a
caterpillar on your lettuce but you’ve already eaten it.”
[1]
It is so easy to ignore voices most especially if people are
saying things we don’t want to hear and of course there are
times when something else holds our interest. Paul Tillich once
wrote, “The first duty of love is to listen.” Listening is one
important way of showing respect and caring; particularly in
families. That should be self-evident, but sadly it is not. The
Superior Counselling Services building on Front St. in Nipigon
has a sign that says something to the effect if you teenagers
say they are “fine” you need to find out what they are really
saying. Good advice! A study conducted amongst teenager
prostitutes in San Francisco asked about the home life during
the formative years of these youngsters. Interestingly the
greatest problem in the homes of these kids was not divorced
parents or parents with addiction problems. The most common
problem was that they were ignored; no one cared enough to
listen to them. [2]
So who do we ignore, and who do we
listen to?
This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him!”
Listening is a choice we make. That means laying down the
newspaper, turning off the TV and moving away from the computer
if we are truly interested in hearing what the other person is
saying. When we truly listen we are demonstrating regard and
care for people; listening enables others to know that they are
valued and respected.
When we listen with our ears, our eyes and our hearts we are
able to be more empathetic and sympathetic and we are better
able to tune in to the emotions and feelings behind the words.
When we are truly listening we can make a difference in the
world. A few weeks ago 11 people were killed in a horrific
traffic accident in Hampstead near Stratford. Ten of the victims
were migrant workers from Peru. The people of Waterloo and Perth
counties are listening with ears, eyes and heart so changes are
being made to protect vulnerable migrant workers. Programs are
being implemented that will offer language, medical, social and
legal support.
According to studies approximately 80% of
communication is non-verbal. Facial expressions and body
language tell the real story. I was reading a magazine article
this past week by Patrick Dewitt who wrote the book The
Sisters Brothers this book won the Governor General’s
Literary Award for fiction. Dewitt had been asked by the
Librarian of a men’s Penitentiary to do a reading from his book
at the prison. He agreed and after a nine hour drive to reach
the penitentiary he was cautioned by the Librarian that inmates
were hyper-aware of body language; she went on explain that she
overheard a conversation from two prisoners talking about how a
guard was holding his hands which indicated to them that the
guard was feeling vulnerable that day. Dewitt said it made him
nervous because he wondered what these men would learn about his
feelings just from his body language.
[3]
People’s body language speaks loudly; so when we look at people
when they are talking we are listening with our whole selves and
we are better able to be supportive. Listening takes time and it
isn’t always easy or even possible; teachers, preachers, store
clerks, doctors all know that there are many people who are
clamouring for our ears. So it is important that we try to
commit ourselves to listening; the first duty of love is to
listen.
So all this brings us to God’s request; “This is my Son the
beloved, Listen to him.” If we struggle to really hear those
who are close to us, imagine how much more difficult it is to
listen to Jesus whose voice is still, small and gentle.
On the mountain with Peter, James and John; Jesus was
transfigured. His clothes became dazzling white. And there
appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with
Jesus. Then a cloud appeared and a voice came from the cloud
saying: “This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him!” Lately
Robert and I have learned in very real ways as we deal with
aging parents that God speaks in love; he does not speak in
punishment; God speaks in inclusion not in exclusion. By his
examples of self-giving Jesus teaches us to love and to care for
others. There is only one reason that God would ask us to listen
to Jesus and that is so that we may know we are valued, that we
are loved and that we are cared for. And as we hear about God’s
love and care for us we are able to share that with others.
I invite you to close your eyes and lay your hands open on your
lap and as we pray expect that Jesus will fill your hearts with
his love, grace and his peace. Loving Jesus, help us to hear the
ways you love us, help us to listen for your words and know your
compassion, help us to hear and know that we are cherished and
precious; so precious that you gave your life for us.
“This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him!” Amen
Rev. Diane+
The Rev. Diane
Hilpert-McIlroy
