To Those Who Listen

Luke 6:20-31

One of my favorite movie quotes comes from Gremlin. The young man in the movie is holding a Mogwai, a gremlin before it becomes a gremlin. He is sitting with a wise old man when the Mogwai begins "mewing and purring" in conversation with him. The young man doesn't understand a thing which the Mogwai is saying, so the wise old man translates. The young man looks puzzled and in a voice filled with frustration he asks the wise old man, "How do you know what he's saying?" The wise man says, "All one needs to understand is to listen." (It's been a while since I've seen the movie so forgive any discrepancies in setting the scene, but the line is correct.)

In today's passage Jesus gives us a litany of what are called the beatitudes. They are called beatitudes because the Latin translation of the Greek word for happy is beatitudo. Each verse literally begins with the words, "Happy are...". If the verses look different it's because this version is from Luke's retelling of the Sermon on the Plain, not Matthew's version of the Sermon on the Mount.

Also included as a part of today's passage are what are called the "woes". This word comes from the Greek ouai which is pronounced very similar to woe. The definition as used in these passages, however, is "alas"; an expression of concern, pity, or grief.

A brief example of each beatitude or woe could be: "Those of you who are poor are happy because God lives with you, however those of you who are rich need to be careful because you've already lost everything." (Paraphrase and connection of 6:20b and 6:24.)

Towards the end of the reading we hear Jesus make this statement: "But I say to you that listen." What follows are words with which to live our lives, said in such a way to emulate how Jesus lived his life as exampled by the rest of the story as told in Luke. Love your enemy, be good to the people who hate you, pray for those who abuse you, and more. All of which is summarized in what has come to be called the Golden Rule.

It has become my current belief that the world has stopped listening. We can recite, we can repeat, we can remember; but we cannot and do not listen. Listening is an active verb. In order to listen you must engage that which you are listening to with your senses. You have to watch for expressions and hear the tempo and tenor of the words. With your mind you need to find understanding and with your heart you need to feel how that which you are listening to feels.

In the movie Gremlins, the Mogwai never becomes a Gremlin, as did his counterpart. If you're aware of the movie you will know that the gremlins multiply at a very fast rate and create havoc on the town. Somehow, the fate of the town depends on the young man being able to understand what it is the Mogwai is trying to say. In order to save the town this young man must figure out a way to understand what the Mogwai is saying.

All one needs to understand is to listen.