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February 03, 2008

Frannie Hall Keischnick - Feb 3, 2008

In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean, hardened by 19 years of hard labor, has stolen precious silver from the bishop who has welcomed him into his home, fed him, and given him a bed. Valjean has been captured and returned by his captors to face the bishop who adds two candlesticks to the recovered bag of silver and says:

Remember this, my brother, See in this some higher plan
You must use this precious silver
To become an honest man
By the witness of the martyrs
By the Passion and the Blood
God has raised you out of darkness
I have bought your soul for God.

The bishop’s words of forgiveness and hope and challenge change Valjean forever.

Whether they call us to new life or crush us, we are shaped by the voices to which we listen.
That is the message in this morning’s lessons, especially of the Transfiguration- we usually associate the Transfiguration with the sight of a transfigured Jesus-today I want to reflect on the sound of his voice.

You have heard the story often-of how the disciples and Jesus climb the mountaintop to find God in prayer. What they find is Jesus transfigured –his clothes glistening white-no more dust of Galilee only bright white light. And not only is Jesus there, but Moses, the symbol of the law and Elijah the symbol of the prophets are there-past, present and future focused in that moment.

Moses, Elijah, Jesus. All three known for defining moments; transformative moments in their lives. Moments where they are called by the very voice of God.

That day on the mountaintop they all hear the words God spoke at Jesus baptism, "This is my beloved in whom I am well pleased". But it doesn’t end there, and that makes all the difference. Do you remember? Did you hear it? What the voice said next? "LISTEN TO HIM!"

What was he saying? What did they hear over and over again above the din and cry of the voices in their hearts, the voices of the oppressing forces of Rome, the heartless religious leaders. "You are beloved. You who are poor and hunger for justice, you whose hearts are breaking at the suffering you live with, you are blessed for God is with you-God’s kingdom has broken in to this moment and you are blessed."

I live with a committee of voices within me-you may recognize them. They are the ones who say, "you are a failure, you are a bad mother, spouse, friend" (you fill in the blank)-they are the voices placed there by relationships, not necessarily but often abusive ones, by the "isms" of the culture-sexism, racism, ageism…by the messages of institutions- yes even the church. The ones Frederick Buechner calls the "great blaring boring voices of mass culture."

When I hear those voices I try to remember today’s story –
When I am counseling, and someone tells me about their "committee", the inner and outer voices-familiar to us all.

I try to say to them as I say to myself, "Of all the voices in your life, the voices from family, from the culture or from any institution including the church, listen to Jesus and no other.Take your cue from his voice. Hear your calling from his voice. Hear your hope in his voice."

When you are confused, doubting or despairing, when you have been told you are less than or not enough or incapable or unloved, when the church or the nation or the culture tell you to do something, or think something, that will be destructive to yourself or to others, listen instead to the voice of Jesus-the voice of compassion, the voice of mercy, the voice of forgiveness, the voice of justice, the voice of peace, the still, small voice of God.

Jesus spoke through words –mostly stories, through community’s healing touch, through fellowship at a table to which all are invited, all are welcomed. That is why we gather in community. That is why we come together in fellowship around the Holy Table - to taste the Kingdom of God, where all are loved-equally and unconditionally.

But let us not kid ourselves. It’s not always easy to discern the voice of Jesus. That's another reason to gather together, to listen together - to name the false voices - To hold one another accountable to Jesus' call - to be instruments for the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom.

Jesus is in the news these days. But these days Jesus is associated with a judgmental, condemning God. We hear those voices within and we think they are God’s voice. They are not! You are not a fake, you are not a failure, you are not unworthy, you are loved - you are loved. Which brings me to a story about my son Jordan and Josetta Walsh, dear Josetta who with Kris Goodrich founded the Child and Family Institute many years ago.

I was in my office at church and Jordie was at Meadow Time at the Institute. I had a feeling I should check in - you know the way parents have those feelings. I went over and found Josetta Walsh sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around my toddler son who was having a huge tantrum. Over and over she was saying, in her Josetta voice, "you are loved, Jordie you are loved." Even when he relaxed and became still and peaceful in her arms, she repeated, "you are loved you are loved". The voice of Jesus.

Jesus, these days, has been hijacked by the radical Right who tell you how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Well I am here to tell you I do have a personal relationship with Jesus-in fact, many of you have heard me say, I have a huge crush on Jesus, but like Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar, sometimes "I just don’t know how to love him."

But a personal relationship is different from a privatized one. Jim Wallis, Ed Bacon, Richard Rohr, all progressive religious leaders, all talk about the fundamental difference - A privatized relationship never gets translated into the communal, nor to any concern for the common good. There is no sense that the beloved community is universal, there is no call to exercise responsibility for the common good. There is no emphasis on true test of what it means to be a Christian - when you love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself. And "neighbor" is always understood by Jesus to mean anyone in need.

What does this mean for us? Today... as we live our lives in today’s world, our's may be the only voice of Jesus someone hears this week. Like the Bishop who spoke those words of forgiveness and challenge and changed Valjean forever, God calls us to be that voice to others. Who is in our life who needs to hear that voice? Who will God bring to us this week, needing to hear those words of unconditional love, speaking the deepest truth, that we are all worthy, all children of God, all beloved? Who needs to hear, through word and deed, that God has raised you out of darkness - you are God’s own - God’s beloved!

Does this sound like a challenge? Oh yes, but the same voice that kept those disciples going down from the mountaintop, to Calvary and beyond, that same voice speaks to us from the deepest places of our souls, where no din of blaring, banal, messages from outside can penetrate. Remember his words, spoken on another mountain in the beginning of his ministry, "blessed are you," he said. "Joyful are you." He wasn’t talking about some far-off day. He was talking about that moment. Although you may be poor, you already stand in the Kingdom with God. You have already felt the touch of the one who says "be not afraid." Let us listen to him!
AMEN

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