Do we listen to Jesus?
JOE MILLER JR.

Luke 9:28-36

Do you remember who had the first word? Let me remind you... it was God. Open the Bible to Genesis and read what God said... "Let there be..." and it was so.

It was so, and it was good! What God says... happens. There is no time lag, no hesitation, and no maybes. We lack the ability to comprehend His power and majesty. The more scientists study the cosmos and the big bang that they currently associate with the beginning of time, the more some of us realize just how infinitely powerful the Word of God is. God spoke into the darkness, and there was light... and so on with the rest of creation.

Very few have the opportunity to hear the word of God directly from God himself, but Peter, James, and John had that opportunity. During this extraordinary and mystical event, God the Father spoke some words that the three disciples heard for themselves.

"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" This is an affirmation of Jesus and his mission. These words are the climactic end to the episode, and no more words are recorded by Luke until the four come down from the mountain top.

"Listen to him!" Do you think that the disciples heard what God said? Yes, they had to hear; they were right there when He spoke. Do you think that they listened to Jesus after hearing God command them to do so? You read the rest of the story and decide for yourself.

I am interested in a more current question: "Do we listen to Jesus?" To answer that question we have to look in the scriptures (not our preconceived notions) and review what Jesus did say. A good place to start is to see what Jesus had said up until this point in the gospel of Luke. Try this for yourself and you might be surprised. Let us look at just one example.

Once when Jesus was at a banquet prepared by Levi, the tax collector turned disciple, the Pharisees complained he was hanging around with the wrong crowd, sinners and tax collectors. He responded, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance."

Throughout the gospel of Luke, Jesus ministers to the marginalized of society much to the disgust and anger of the religious leaders of the day. Do you think that the church listens to what Jesus says? How often do we find ourselves passing judgment on people?

"They are not the kind of people that we want in our church. They will not be able to contribute anything, and we will just end up spending our resources to take care of them!" Sometimes these thoughts are not expressed orally, but they creep into our minds and hearts limiting our ability to listen to what Jesus says.

The best place to listen to what Jesus says is in Christ's church. If you have a church, worship passionately. If you do not have a church, find one. East Texas is full of churches. Email me at newtonumc@ valornet.com with your thoughts.

Joe Miller Jr. is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Newton.