postID: 7056; title: The Last Sunday After The Epiphany (Quinquagesima)
groupKey: secondary
groupKey: other
The Last Sunday After The Epiphany (Quinquagesima)
O God, who before the passion of thy only-begotten Son didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Array
(
[date] => 2016-02-07 16:00:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 1320
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => formatted
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2016-02-07 16:00:00
)
2 post(s) found for dateStr : 2016-02-07postID: 7039 (The Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7039; date_type: variable; year: 2016
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7039
displayDates for postID: 7039/year: 2016
Array
(
[0] => 2016-02-07
)
postPriority: 3postID: 7056 (The Last Sunday After The Epiphany (Quinquagesima))
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7056; date_type: variable; year: 2016
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7056
displayDates for postID: 7056/year: 2016
Array
(
[0] => 2016-02-07
)
postPriority: 1primaryPost found for date: 2016-02-07 with ID: 7056 (The Last Sunday After The Epiphany (Quinquagesima))
The Last Sunday After The Epiphany (Quinquagesima)
Array
(
[date] => 2016-02-07 16:00:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 1320
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => simple
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2016-02-07 16:00:00
)
2 post(s) found for dateStr : 2016-02-07postID: 7039 (The Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7039; date_type: variable; year: 2016
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7039
displayDates for postID: 7039/year: 2016
Array
(
[0] => 2016-02-07
)
postPriority: 3postID: 7056 (The Last Sunday After The Epiphany (Quinquagesima))
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7056; date_type: variable; year: 2016
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7056
displayDates for postID: 7056/year: 2016
Array
(
[0] => 2016-02-07
)
postPriority: 1primaryPost found for date: 2016-02-07 with ID: 7056 (The Last Sunday After The Epiphany (Quinquagesima))
The reading_id [310146] is already in the array.
No update needed.
Scripture citation(s): II Corinthians 3:7-18
A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
on
II Corinthians 3:7-18
✛
Changed from Glory into Glory
Array
(
[0] => 60762
)
book: [60762] (reading_id: 310146)bbook_id: 60762
The bbook_id [60762] is already in the array.
No update needed for sermon_bbooks.
The word ‘glory’ is a very powerful word and yet, in English, does little to convey the depth and complexity of God’s glory for, in the Bible, there are several words in Hebrew and Greek and, indeed, in Aramaic also, that this one English word describes. In Hebrew it derives from the word for ‘heavy’ – God’s glory is immense and fills the universe. There is also a Hebrew word that derives from the word for ‘luminous’ or ‘radiant’ – God’s glory is bright and fills the darkness of our lives. Glory in the Bible can also represent God’s presence with his people through saving acts by which his glory was revealed in what we call Salvation History. The greatest story of all was the story of the Exodus in which God called his chosen people to himself and through which his glory was revealed in many different ways, not just in the Exodus itself but in the particularity of his encounter with the twelve tribes and with Moses: the burning bush; the pillar of cloud by day; the pillar of fire by night; the cloud covering Mount Sinai or the Tent of Meeting.
The salvation history of the Jewish people is a sign of God’s glory. In the Torah we see the light of God’s glory and the immensity of his saving love. Moses yearned to see God’s glory and was allowed by God to glimpse some of it on the mountain. Being close to God changed not only the character of Moses but also changed his outward appearance. The glory of God created luminosity on his skin so that when he came down from the mountain, his face was shining. This was at one and the same time awe-inspiring and unsettling for the people of Israel, and Moses covered his face with a veil. The veil, of course, also served another purpose; the shining face of Moses was caused by close proximity to God’s glory – it as not from within but a reflection from without. Because the glory was not his, but God’s, that same brilliance or luminosity faded with time. The veil also protected the people from discouragement – seeing the brightness fade.
In our second lesson today, Paul comments of this and reflects on the glory of God revealed to Moses but which was only a temporary experience and one which faded with time. In Jesus Christ, however, the glory of the Father, we see God face to face for the first time: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) or as Paul describes Jesus later in the letter we heard this evening – ‘the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ (2 Corinthians 4:4b)
At the heart of the Christian faith is the fact of the incarnation – no longer a story to be recounted but a new way of life. Indeed, before being named Christians, the early followers of Jesus were called followers of the Way. Paul reminded the people of Corinth that the law was veiling the glory of God and that Jesus Christ removed that veil and revealed God in his very person – fully God – fully human.
Last Tuesday, in our doctrine class we were exploring what we understand by the Trinity and Father Austin shared a very helpful image of an author of a book or story who, eventually, yearns to be part of that story. Jesus allowed his friends to have a new and deeper relationship with God the Father and through the Holy Spirit for that life to be rooted in the glory of the Godhead – the glory of the Trinity. As Archbishop Michael Ramsey once said, “In God’s glory righteousness and power are inseparably one, in radiance bright so that men and women may receive real knowledge of the truth, yet so bright that the fullness of truth remains beyond their understanding. Thus the concept of glory illuminates every part of the Christian faith.” (The Gory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ p.83). This, I think, is what Paul means when he says “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 Corinthians 3:18)
We see the glory of God, but, like Moses, not fully – we still glimpse ‘as though reflected in a mirror’ – seeing the glory of God face to face will only come after our death, or at the end of time when God makes all things new – what we call the Second coming of Christ.
In the meantime, Paul reminds us that we put on Christ ‘head to foot’ (cf Galatians 3:27) and this clothing with Christ gives the Christian a character and the ability to glimpse the glory of God. And so here is the rub: in John’s Gospel, the glory of God is revealed not just through power or sign but also through humility and service, the washing of feet, betrayal and death. We realise that the glory we speak of is not the same as human glory – human fame – neither is it a cheating of our humanity. The glorification of Jesus in his resurrection and ascension to the Father is one and the same glorification of Jesus on the cross. This means that for the Christian to yearn to see the glory of God, he or she has to understand the sobering reality that the glory may still yet come through suffering and pain. As Michael Ramsey also said “The glorification of Christians is no pious mysticism…It is a matter of conflict and struggle in human flesh and blood. (The Glory of God and the Transfiguration of Christ p.54)
Moses reminded the people of Israel to never forget the law of God – to love him with all their heart and soul and might and to “Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” But, ultimately, these external reminders were never enough, just as the glory on Moses’ face was also external. But we who have been baptized into the death of Christ have now glimpsed the glory of God and our lives will never be the same again – God has made his dwelling in us and his glory will be revealed through us as we journey towards him. Charles Wesley, probably reflecting on the passage from Paul read tonight, puts it so much better in that wonderful first hymn we sang earlier: “Finish then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be; let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee: 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.”
