Sunday, February 10, 2013

Shining with God's Glory



Sermon preached on February 10, 2013 at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Washington, DC
Last Sunday after the Epiphany: Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-43

Finding the right translation for an ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek word is often difficult. And in today’s passage from Exodus, for centuries the Church got it spectacularly wrong! According to the definitive Bible translation of the pre-Reformation Western Church, the Latin Vulgate Bible, Moses “did not know that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord,” instead of “did not know that the skin of his face shone.” This mistake had consequences. You will find many pictures and statues of Moses showing him with two horns growing out of his forehead, most famously on this statue by Michelangelo from the early 16th century, found in the Vatican. 


I also wonder whether this sort of illustration in some way contributed to the demonization of the Jews by the Christian Church which had such tragic consequences in the 20th century.

But as I said the correct translation is that the skin of Moses’ face shone because he had been talking with God. He was radiant or glowing, infused with God’s glory, we might say, or reflecting it. So much so that the people were afraid to come near him because they knew just how dangerous God’s immediate presence could be. Earlier in Exodus, when Moses asks to be shown God’s glory, God tells him “no one shall see my face and live” (Exodus 33:20) and only allows Moses a glimpse of his back. So seeing Moses’ face shining was for the Israelites like a glimpse of God. Moses kept his face hidden, behind a veil, except when he was speaking on God’s behalf, when he passed on God’s commandments and pronouncements. His radiance was a visible sign of his privileged position and authority as a messenger of God.

The Gospel passage about the event we call the Transfiguration picks up a lot of the themes from the Exodus story. Just as Mount Sinai is shrouded in cloud when God is present, so too the mountain Jesus, Peter, John, and James ascend is covered by a cloud when God the Father is present. The very appearance of Jesus’ face changes and his clothing becomes dazzling or shining white. This transformation also happens when Jesus talks to his Father, because it is while he was praying, which is a good reminder for us too that we are closest to God in prayer. Unlike Moses, Jesus’ glory is not reflected, it is his own: the glory of Jesus’ divine nature “shining through.” Like Moses’ appearance it is a sign of Jesus’ role and authority and of the divine origin of his teaching and commandments, but Jesus is more than a messenger of God. The voice from heaven tells us, as it did at Jesus’ Baptism, that he is “my Son, my Chosen.”

When Moses came down from the mountain he brought the two tablets of the covenant with him: the tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. Traditionally these are divided into two groups. Commandments that regulate how human beings are to relate to God – having no other gods, not making a graven image, not taking God’s name in vain, keeping the Sabbath holy – and those that regulate how we relate to each other – honoring our parents, not murdering, committing adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, or coveting. That’s why Jesus summarized them as the two Great Commandments: to love God and love your neighbor.

Yet when Jesus comes down from the mountain he seems to be empty handed – he has no stone tablets, no new commandments. What Jesus brings with him however, what he had been praying for, is his resolve to continue on to Jerusalem even though he knows just what awaits him there. As one of our collects for Morning Prayer puts it, “he entered not into glory before he was crucified.” (BCP, 99) Instead of giving us new commandments, Jesus demonstrates what the “old” commandments mean. In his journey to Jerusalem, to the cross, and in his willingness to sacrifice himself in love for all of humanity we see the commandments in action. That journey stands for doing the will of God, and that sacrifice stands for his love of us all. We are given another sign of his compassion right after he comes down from the mountain when he answers a father’s fervent cry and heals the boy who had been possessed by an unclean spirit. The Cross is the physical sign of our renewed covenant with God through Christ, just as the Tablets were, and still are, a sign of the Covenant between God and Israel.  

I’ve just spent some time comparing Moses’ and Jesus’ transformation, but what about ours? Oh yes, we too can be transformed to shine with the glory of God. We can see God and God’s glory and live, though there is some risk involved for us too.

First of all we can see God in Christ: “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who has made him known” (John 1:18). We encounter Christ in Scripture, here at his Table in the Eucharist, and when we make him part of our lives. Secondly we can all talk with God when we pray, whether publicly or privately. That is our means of conversation with God and it should be a regular one. As I mentioned earlier we are closest to God in prayer.  Last but definitely not least let us not forget that we can also see God in other people, not just in saints, but in all people, for every one of us, regardless of their color or gender or age or ability, is made in God’s image. There is a risk involved in seeing God this way, it is the risk that we will be changed and that we will feel called to act in ways that the society we live in does not always understand or accept.  

As Christians we are transformed through our imitation of the one we follow. If we take Christ’s actions in today’s Gospel as examples for imitation then we are called to show compassion to those in need. We are called to act as healers, which we can do even without being miracle workers, for there is plenty of hurt in the world that we can heal. And we are called to cast out the demons of this world, the demons of hate and oppression, of greed and ignorance. These examples can help us transform the world and transform ourselves; these actions are our way of keeping the commandments that Moses brought down the mountain with him and that Jesus lived out.

Being transformed this way will allow us to shine with and radiate the glory of God that is God’s goodness and love, a glory that does not need to be veiled or hidden. We don’t want people to be afraid to come near us, instead we want to astound them with God’s greatness and love as shown in our witness and our deeds.

I’m going to finish by quoting from a modern hymn, “Shine Jesus, Shine.” It sums up a lot of what I have just been saying – but more poetically. Here is the last verse and the refrain:

As we gaze on Your kingly brightness.
So our faces display Your likeness.
Ever changing from glory to glory,
Mirrored here may our lives tell Your story.
Shine on me. Shine on me.

Shine Jesus shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word
Lord and let there be light.[1]

And let us be that light in the world by shining with God’s glory.
Amen



[1] by Graham Kendrick 1987, Hymn 317, in Hymns Old and New, Kevin Mayhew Ltd, 1996