Glory.\u00c2\u00a0 What is Glory?\u00c2\u00a0 We talk about a glorious sunrise; we talk about people being in their glory.\u00c2\u00a0 But what do we mean.\u00c2\u00a0 Is glory incredible beauty?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it an ultimate state of happiness?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it both of these things and more?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
All three readings today address Glory- an other-worldly Glory.\u00c2\u00a0 First, Abram, soon to be Abraham, is cast into a deep trance, and, in the midst of a terrifying darkness, he senses the glory of the Lord passing between the animals he has prepared as smoking fire pots and a torch.\u00c2\u00a0 And in that trance, he hears the Lord make a covenant with him.\u00c2\u00a0 This sensing of the Glory of the Lord motivates Abram to believe- to believe the incredible promise of the covenant made to him that an old man with a barren old wife could be the Father of a nation as numerous as the stars in the sky, if he obeys the Lord, and goes on an exodus, a journey where he takes his family away from safety and prosperity, and goes to the land the Lord promises to him.\u00c2\u00a0 The vision of that promise became believable to him, as hard as it might be to believe- and it came true.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the Gospel, the Apostles John, Peter and James, witness Jesus in a transfigured state, along with “glorified” appearances of Moses and Elijah.\u00c2\u00a0 They are dumbfounded and don’t know what they are saying.\u00c2\u00a0 But it had a lasting impression on them, whatever they really saw.\u00c2\u00a0 It was an image and an impact that wasn’t fully appreciated until after the Resurrection of Christ; an image that predicted that Jesus would have to suffer and pass into his glory at the resurrection.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what the exodus was that Jesus was foretold in the image- Jesus’ exodus, Jesus’ journey to fulfill the will of his Father.\u00c2\u00a0 And that exodus, that journey, involved suffering and self sacrifice.\u00c2\u00a0 That also came true, the suffering, death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus.\u00c2\u00a0 So, just as with Abram, the Apostles are blessed with an image of the Glory yet to come, the promise made to us all.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now in Paul’s letter, he talks about how our bodies will change into a glorious state to conform with the glorified body of Christ, if we can rightly claim our citizenship in Heaven.\u00c2\u00a0 How do we do that?\u00c2\u00a0 How do we catch sight of the glory in store for us, and change our lives to claim that citizenship in heaven?\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Paul tells us what we cannot do.\u00c2\u00a0 He tells us that many conduct their affairs as enemies of the Cross of Christ.\u00c2\u00a0 Their God is their stomach, and their glory is their shame.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now we are all human, and we have needs as humans.\u00c2\u00a0 These needs might be summed up as follows:\u00c2\u00a0 Oh that I was younger and stronger.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh that I would have comfort and no pain.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh that my hungers for the things of this world would be filled.\u00c2\u00a0 Then I would be happy; then I would be in my glory.\u00c2\u00a0 But the fact is, despite the human needs we have that need to be met to live this life, these are not the needs that define what life is about.\u00c2\u00a0 The fact is, in the end, they are not what real life is about at all.\u00c2\u00a0 Because when we die, these wants, these needs, pass away along with our mortal bodies.\u00c2\u00a0 And so we should be seeking other things during our life.\u00c2\u00a0 We need visions of our future glory so that we might seek after them, just as Abram and the Apostles did.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
What can these things possibly be?\u00c2\u00a0 Can we have visions of the glory that God has in mind for us?\u00c2\u00a0 I would like to suggest that we can.\u00c2\u00a0 I think that all of us are given experiences- dreams, visions, life experiences, in which we catch a glimpse of the glory meant for us.\u00c2\u00a0 But it is not in the fulfillment of our bodily or worldly needs.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather, it is our appreciation of God’s creation, appreciation of each other when others do things for us; and the feeling of happiness we feel over successful efforts we make to help others.\u00c2\u00a0 It comes in our visions of what can be, when we apply ourselves, even in a small way, to solving the problems in the world.\u00c2\u00a0 And, for some, deep in their prayer life, it comes from glorious visions of things to come for them who live life jst the way God has given it to us, no matter how difficult and painful that is and yet, still believe in Jesus and the Glory he promises.\u00c2\u00a0 I believe that we can sense that ultimate glory, a glory where we are with our Father in heaven and our loved ones, at peace, with no more pain, no more concerns, no more wants.\u00c2\u00a0 But just peace and love.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Second Sunday of Lent Gen 15: 5-12, 17-18; Phil 3: 17 – 4: 1; Luke 9: 28b-36 Dc. Larry Brockman Glory.\u00c2\u00a0 What is Glory?\u00c2\u00a0 We talk about a glorious sunrise; we talk about people being in their glory.\u00c2\u00a0 But what do we mean.\u00c2\u00a0 Is glory incredible beauty?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it an ultimate state of happiness?\u00c2\u00a0 Is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}