10.30am Holy Communion, All Saints Oakham
Readings -Exodus 24.12-e, 2 Peter 1.16-e, Matthew 17.1-9
2 Peter 1:17 “For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’”
This morning’s epistle reading is one of those occasions when the Bible provides a commentary on itself. Peter is re-telling his mountain top experience of Jesus transfiguration. And one of the terms he uses is the word glory. Glory is an attempt to describe who God is; to describe his nature; his essence. Inevitably we struggle to even come close to doing that. God is a mystery beyond our capturing. So one of the words we use is glory. It’s the glory that Exodus is attempting to describe, in our OT reading, when Moses goes up the mountain to receive the 10 commandments for the first time – a devouring fire in the cloud – the impossibility of darkness and light coming together.
In his latest book “Constructing an Incarnational Theology” (catchy title) Sam Wells, vicar of St Martin in the Fields, helpfully explains that the Bible talks about glory in 3 different senses. Firstly, it describes the ultimate sense of glory, God being with God. The relationship of the trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit which exhibits glory in its very essence. God all glorious. ( Peter uses the term “majestic glory”.)This morning’s gospel is perhaps one of those rare occasions where we read about glory in this first sense, and may explain why the gospel writers give it such prominence. On the mountain top Jesus is transfigured and we are told that “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” And the voice of God declares “this is my Son”. The Transfiguration is about revelation – more Epiphany than the threshold of Lent. The event is just after Caesarea Philippi where Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah. In fact he is more than this he is God. “God in man made manifest”. This is the glory of God being with God. No wonder the disciples “fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.”
Secondly glory describes the experience of human beings in the presence of God.It’s significant that it is Moses and Elijah, Jesus is seen in conversation with. They represent the law and the prophets the essence of the covenant God has between him and his people. And both have encountered God on the mountain of God, Mount Sinai/Horeb. Exodus in particular, records that after meeting with God to receive the 10 commandments for the second time
“Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
This is Moses reflecting the glory of God. And Elijah has met God in the deafening sound of silence. I was reading one preacher who said the Transfiguration came alive for him when he realised that what was most significant was not Jesus transfiguration but the transfiguration of the disciples. And that was because it opened up the
possibility that we too can be transfigured. In John’s gospel (John 17:4) we hear Jesus praying
“Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
It is Jesus DESIRE that we should be with him to see his glory.
“For he received honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’”
St Paul takes up this theme and can say to the Christians in Corinth
“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.(2 Cor 3:18)
(transformed is the same Greek word as transfigured used rarely in NT). Inevitably sermons on the Transfiguration turn to what are our mountain top experiences? those experiences of joy, or delight, or security, or great beauty and harmony, If we want to be transformed, we are challenged with “catching the glory”. Where and how does that happen for us? There is an article in the Church Times every week where someone describes their “Holy Place”. The choice is wide ranging. I think if someone was to ask me about my Holy Place, it would be Launde Abbey. We are lucky we are so near. It is a place of beauty outside and inside – wrapped in peace and stillness and where the welcoming Christ waits for us. But encountering the glory of God in a special way isn’t restricted to a place. It can be music; an event; a person. And these encounters do change us. I remember my Aunty Hetty, a devout woman, and people used to say that she had this wonderful smile, and an almost shining face.
Thirdly, There is the sense of glory which is heaven. God desires for us that we will eventually share the glory that is God’s through eternity. Sam Wells believes that God’s overarching purpose in creation and incarnation is “Being With” us. His desire that He will be with us for ever. Jesus doesn’t go up this mountain on his own. He takes with him Peter, James and John. And when the disciples are struck down with fear, Jesus touches them and says don’t be afraid. (As an aside does “being with” tell us that being with people is more important than ticking off item 5 on your to do list?) This all speaks of God being with us, not just in the mountain top experiences, but on the planes of everyday life and especially in the valleys of despair and pain. The Transfiguration opens up to us a view of who Jesus is; a challenge to who we can become; and a foretaste of what will be, when we have “gone to glory” “The more we know God – the more we will love God”. Charles Wesley captures it in his hymn “Love Divine all loves excelling.”
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.”