Glory

Reverend Philip Stringer

Luke 9:27-43a

LET US PRAY: Enlighten our hearts, O God, through the hearing of your word and the meditations of our hearts, that we may be strengthened in faith and bear a bright witness to the world, through Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. Amen

Yesterday Patty and I did some work around the property that we’ve been putting off for a while. Mostly, clearing a tangle of downed trees that came down last fall, and building up brush lines that have largely decomposed.

Wielding a 10 pound chainsaw to cut branches over one’s head is hard work. I’d take a few cuts and then have to relax. Several times I had to stop to catch my breath. I’m not as young as I used to be.

Today I am stiff and sore and all scratched up. I slept nine hours last night and when I got up I felt like I could use another nine.

I don’t have the strength I had in my glory days.

And all of our work, we hope, will restore our property to its glory days.

Glory is a word we use to describe all sorts of greatness. Luke uses the word in our Gospel reading for today so it got me thinking about it.

The dictionary defines it as a word that means, “high renown or honor won by notable achievements.” It can also mean, “magnificence or great beauty,” and to, “take great pride or pleasure in” something.

We talk about the “glory days.” The times when things were better than they are now — like me returning the farm to its glory days — or making America “great” again — returning to some perceived time of glory, whatever one imagines that to be.

Today, Luke speaks to us of another kind of glory — and ultimately the only glory that matters. He speaks to us about the glory of Jesus. And what Luke proclaims to us is that all true glory — and the basis for what we should define as glorious — is revealed in Jesus.

Matthew, Mark and Luke each give us an account of what we refer to as the “Transfiguration.” Each of the accounts differs from the others according to the emphasis of each.

Interestingly, Matthew and Mark are the only ones to use the word, “transfigured.” Luke doesn’t use that word. All he says is that Jesus’ “face was changed. He doesn’t tell us how.

Matthew says Jesus’ clothes shone like the sun. Mark says they were whiter than anyone on earth would be able to bleach them. Luke tells us that his clothes were as bright as a flash of lightning.

Luke is the only one to speak of glory. He tells us that Peter, John and James awoke from sleep and that they, “saw his glory.”

BUT FIRST — he tells us some other things involving Moses and Elijah.

Matthew and Mark also tells us that Moses and Elijah are there, but that is all. They don’t tell us what they are talking about. Only Luke tells, “they appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.”

Exodus — Moses, who led God’s chosen people out of slavery into freedom — wilderness — law to hold them in relationship with God. Never gets to Promised Land.

Elijah — proclaims the sovereignty of God — harbinger of messiah.

Together they testify that all of this is summed up in Jesus.

It is not until after this that Luke speaks about Jesus’ glory. “Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.”

They awoke and saw HIS glory. And they saw the two men who stood with him. Luke doesn’t say anything about them seeing the glory of Moses and Elijah.

It seems to me that there are three possible ways for us to interpret this:

That they didn’t notice the glory of Moses & Elijah. It was there but they just didn’t see it.

That the glory of Jesus is so great that it outshines the glory of Moses and & Elijah.

That the only glory is that of Jesus, and Moses & Elijah appear within it. I think that it is this third view that makes the most sense. Whatever is seen as great in Moses and Elijah is only great because it is a manifestation of the glory of Jesus.

Moses was not great in-and-of himself. What we honor as “glorious” is what God accomplished through him.

Elijah was not great in-and-of himself, either. Rather, we honor as “glorious” what God accomplished through him.

And what about what we do?

Every day we are confronted with the daily struggle of life on earth.

The Psychologist, Abraham Maslow, identified the goals of life in a “hierarchy of needs.”

Our highest goal is for self-actualization — that is, to achieve one’s full potential.

Next are our psychological needs — feelings of accomplishment and being recognized, respected and loved by others.

And finally, are our basic, physical needs for safety and security, food, water, shelter and rest.

What we often lift up as “glorious” in this world are those whom we judge to have succeeded in reaching the highest degree of perfection in acquiring these things. That’s why we glorify athletes and Nobel Prize recipients and billionaires. That’s why we glorify war and power.

Luke calls us back to a glory that reaches beyond these ideas.

As Christians, we ascribe glory to Jesus. Whatever is worthy of praise or honor is attributed to Jesus. Moses and Elijah are seen within the glory of Jesus. Anything we do that is worthy of praise and admiration is only as a result of Jesus.

And what is the glory of Jesus?

Moses and Elijah were speaking with Jesus, “about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.” They were speaking with him about his crucifixion and resurrection.

The glory of Jesus is the cross. Jesus took up the cross out of love for this world. He took up the cross out of love for you. And the power of his love overcame the power of hate and the power of death.

The glory of Jesus is love.

So what does this mean for you? Well, certainly it means that the power of God’s love holds you safely to this day. But what does it mean for you in terms of meaning and purpose? I think it comes once more back to glory.

What form of glory should define your days? Are we to seek glory for ourselves as Maslow would see it, in mortal needs? Or do we better reflect the new life we receive in Christ another way?

Glory isn’t domination. It is service. It isn’t amassing or taking wealth. It is giving. It is to have mercy. To give shelter to the refugee and the powerless.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all place the transfiguration event in a timeline — Matthew and Mark say it was 6 days after . . . Luke says it was 8 days after . . . but all three say it was mere days after Jesus said to his followers, “whoever wants to be my disciple must take up their cross and follow me.”

The way of the cross is the way of love.

You and I are great when we serve. You and I glorify God — we point to God — when we serve in love.

AMEN