Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Year A

“Listen to Him”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Year A

Holy Names Church

Memphis, Tennessee

In Genesis 12: 1, 4, God says to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Verse 4 says, “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.”

Psalm 95:7-8 says, “For God is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”

Hebrews 4:7 says, “Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Hebrews 3:15 says, “As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”

Hebrews 3:7-8 says, “So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

In the gospel of John 10:27, Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

In John’s gospel 10: 14, Jesus again says, I am the good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know.” In verse 15 he says, “Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Verse 16 says, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

Have you ever had a real mountaintop experience? Have you ever had a profound experience when you felt an unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever had a one-one encounter with Jesus Christ? The experience was so real, so overwhelming, so captivating and so true that you heard the Son of God talking to you. This experience is usually termed a deep religious experience. It is usually the turning point in the lives of many. The mountaintop experience is a Shechinah experience where a believer feels the glory of God resting upon him/her.

This mountaintop Shechinah experience can sometimes be experienced in a retreat or summer camp. Some have experienced it while reading and reflecting on the Word of God. In some cases, it has been experienced when someone is alone with self. The ups and downs of life have also led to this Shechinah experience. It has been experienced by people at different times and places.

The Sacred Scripture is full of persons who had had this mountaintop experience. A good example is John’s testimony found in Revelation 21:1-8-

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them (as their God). He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away." The one who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Then he said, "Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true." He said to me, "They are accomplished. I (am) the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son/daughter. But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Other examples of persons who had mountaintop experiences are these:

In Genesis 15, Abraham had a vision in which God told him all that was to come, how he would bear a son and, through him, become the father of a multitude, and how he would prosper in every way and live to a ripe old age and die in peace.

In Genesis 32: 24-28, Jacob had a vision and in it he wrestled with an angel all night until he received a blessing … and a new name, Israel.

In Judges 6: 11, Gideon met the angel of the Lord sitting under an oak tree as he was threshing wheat in a wine press to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

In Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah said, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”

In Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel speaks of the vision of many dry bones which the Lord had showed him and then asked him to prophesy to the bones:

“The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

The entire gospel of Luke 1 tells us of Zechariah’s and Mary’s encounter with Angel Gabriel that totally changed their lives. Zechariah was promised a son- John the Baptist; Mary was also promised a Son- Jesus Christ.

In today’s gospel, Jesus stands between Moses and Elijah on Mount Hermon, and a voice declared from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” It is the transfiguration of the Lord! In this mountaintop experience of the Lord, Moses and Elijah appeared and started talking to him. Peter, James and John were also present. It was Moses who received the Law from God on Mount Sinai, and Elijah could be regarded as the greatest of the prophets. So, on this mountaintop experience of Jesus, there is the Law and the prophets in conversation with Jesus Christ the New Testament/ Covenant. And this gives lots of credence to our Lord’s earlier declaration in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Now in this mountaintop experience of Jesus, two great figures of the Old Testament- Moses and Elijah, appeared on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured, just to confirm that Jesus is indeed the expected Messiah. Jesus is the expected Savior, that’s why he was the only one whose “face shone like the sun and his clothes became as dazzling white as light.” As this was not enough confirmation, the voice of the Father declared from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” So, the Old Testament and the Father in heaven are now confirming that Jesus is indeed the long awaited Messiah. And the Father is saying to us, “Listen to him.”

A Christian by definition is a follower of Jesus Christ. The Christian is the person who listens to Jesus because you cannot follow someone you are unwilling or unable to listen to. And listening to Jesus entails hearing his Word or reading his Word and obeying his Word. Listening to the Lord also entails keeping silence. Psalm 46: 10 says, “Be still (be silent) and know that I am God.” God is not a noise maker. When God speaks, he tends to whisper.

This is the season of Lent. During this holy season, the Church emphasizes the practice of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. The Gospel reading on Ash Wednesday taken from Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18, Jesus speaks of how we should give alms, how we should pray, how we should fast. The Lord does not want us to blow our trumpet when we give alms as the hypocrites do. He does not want us to showcase our prayer in public places just to get people’s praise as the hypocrites do. Jesus also does not want us to appear gloomy when we fast in order to tell people that we are fasting. He wants us to give alms. He wants us to pray. He wants us to fast. But alms-giving, fasting and prayer are not the goal. They are not the end. They are means to the end.

The Father wants us to listen to his Son. His Son asks us to pray, fast and give alms especially during this season of Lent. To listen to him therefore means doing what he has asked us to. In this case, we must pray, fast and give alms. But as you pray, remember that the greatest prayer is praying to be more like Jesus; the greatest fasting and abstinence is avoiding sinful acts, and the greatest alms-giving is giving ourselves completely to Jesus. Jesus did not just give alms to the needy; he gave himself completely to all who need him. Giving ourselves totally to him is the greatest alms giving. And the best decision we can make during this period is to decide to live better, and to follow the Lord wherever he leads us.

The Father declares from heaven, “Listen to him.” Listen to what my Son tells you. Listen to what he communicates to us through his Church. If he tells us go, just go. And if he tells us come, just come. Obey my Son and it shall be well with you. We can fast for all we can, pray all the time, give everything we own to the poor, but if these external disciplines are not as a result of inward conversion and renewal, then we are wasting our time. We must listen to Jesus who says in Matthew 3: 2, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.” In Mark 1: 15, he says, “The time has come, the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” Jesus loves us so much and desires what is good for us. It is this love for us that drives him to cry out “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.” Now this call to repent is a call to abandon sin because sin hurts. It takes away our peace and joy. Sin cuts us off from life and dries up within us the very source of our freedom and dignity. Again the Season of Lent tells us to let go of sin and let God in our life. “Listen to him” in what he says in Isaiah 55:6-7, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord for mercy, and he will have mercy on them.” We must listen to Jesus who says in Matthew 16: 24, “If anyone would come after me, the person must deny self and take up the cross and follow me.”

Dearest beloved, the voice of the Father that sounded from heaven at transfiguration of his Son has two things to say to us. First, the voice introduces Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Having introduced his Son to us, the voice urges us, “Listen to him.” Listen to my Son if you want to live; listen to my Son if you want to be happy; listen to my Son if you want to experience peace. Listen to my Son if you want to have a Shechinah experience. Listen to my Son if you want to be faithful to me. Listen to my Son if you want to have your life secured. Listen to my Son if you want to experience eternal bliss in the world to come. The Father says, “Listen to him.” To listen to Jesus is to be a disciple of Jesus, and to be a disciple of the Lord is to walk with him to Golgotha. As we walk with him, as we talk with him, as we listen to him, our human nature is being transformed into the likeness of divine nature. By listening to him, we become more and more like the person we listened to.

If we listen to Him today, listen to him tomorrow, and listen to him to everyday, we will be transformed, transfigured, translated and transited into eternal glory.