1/2/11 - Christmas 2 - John 1:14-18

WHERE'S THE GLORY OF THE LORD NOW?

When the angels appeared to the shepherds on the hills around Bethlehem in that familiar Christmas night story we heard just over a week ago, the Bible says that “the glory of the Lord show around them, and they were terrified” (Luke 2:9). And so my question to you is this: what was that “glory of the Lord”? Was it simply a blinding light? Was it a misty, hazy, shimmering fog of sorts? Did it involve a dream-like feeling that enveloped the shepherds? Was it completely quiet without a single noise or did it come with new and remarkable sounds that had never been heard before? It’s hard to say what this “glory of the Lord” was really like because it’s not explained to us in Scripture. But you can bet that any Israelite reading this story during that time would have had something very specific in mind about the “glory of the Lord.” Because the “glory of the Lord” is mentioned throughout the entire Old Testament.
That “Cavode Adonai” - the glory of the Lord - had been something very special and very meaningful for God’s people for a very long period of time. The first place it appeared was in the desert through which the Israelites were wandering, just before God gave them quail and manna to eat. “They looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud” (Exodus 16:10). It was God’s way of saying that he was right there among them; he would take care of them; he would provide for them; and that is exactly what he did. Later on in their travels they came across a mountain named Sinai. And “When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai… To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain” (Exodus 24:15-16,17). There were even heavenly trumpet blasts and thunder and lightning that crashed around this mountain peak. In a very visible and audible way the Lord was letting his people know that he was there in all of his power and might and glory. Still later in their journey to the Promised Land, after Moses had overseen the construction of the Tent of Meeting - the tabernacle - “The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34-35). In a very similar way the Lord wanted his people to see with their own eyes that he was present among them, that this was his house, that this is where he could be found. And that is where the glory of the Lord continued to appear for many years - at the tabernacle - wherever the people went and wherever that special tent was set up.
The glory of the Lord remained there until they entered the Promised Land. And although the Tent of Meeting was set up in the land of Israel for a few centuries, it didn’t appear again for 5000 years until the days of Solomon. Because Solomon was the one who finally built a permanent structure for the Lord. And instead of the tabernacle taken down and moved from place to place, Solomon constructed a temple. And after he prayed his prayer of dedication, Scripture says that “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple” (2 Chron. 7:1). God was among his people once again! In his house. To rule and to watch over them and to reign. But that is the last time the Bible records for us that the glory of the Lord was seen by the people. After that incident it was never displayed again. Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord in his visions about the future; and Isaiah and Habakkuk prophesy about the glory of the Lord that would come along with the Messiah, but the people never saw it again - until the time of Christ.
Now, with that extensive history lesson in mind, I would like to read again John 1:14. And I’m going to read to you a very literal translation of it so that the connection between what we just talked about and what John is getting at is absolutely clear: “The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the Only-Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Do you see what this verse from John chapter one has to do with the glory of the Lord in the Old Testament? John says that Jesus actually “pitched his tent” with us in the flesh. Just as that Tent of Meeting was taken down, and wrapped up, and carried with the nation numerous times throughout the 40 years in the desert, only to be set up again when the Lord found a new place to camp, so Jesus himself set up camp with us. He lived among us for a time. And just as the people actually saw the glory of the Lord with their own eyes at many different times in the Old Testament, so too John and the rest of the disciples saw with their own eyes the glory of the Only-Begotten Son of the Father. They saw it in his face on the Mount of Transfiguration. They saw it in his miracles and his healings and his exorcisms. They saw it in his appearances to them after his resurrection from the dead and while he ascended before their very eyes up into heaven. The glory of the Lord, which hadn’t been seen since the time of Solomon, was back! And not in a frightening way this time; not in a mysterious or intimidating way; but the glory of the Lord was back in the life and the death, the resurrection and the ascension of Christ.
And so where is the glory of the Lord now? It was in the form of clouds and fire and smoke in the Old Testament. It was in the form of Christ himself and his supernatural accomplishments in the early part of the New Testament. And so where is it now? Is it hidden again? Has it been taken away only to come back sometime in the future? No! It’s right here: in his Word. It’s not in a cloud anymore; it’s not in thunder and lightning; it’s not hovering over an earthly temple in a remote location or visibly demonstrated through outwardly powerful acts of the Son of God himself. The glory of the Lord is in the forgiveness he grants to you through his gospel - packaged for you in the English words of our Bibles and the waters of baptism and the body and blood of the Lord’s Supper. The glory of the Lord is still “seen” in the miracle of someone being brought to faith in their Savior. The glory of the Lord is still “heard” through the proclamation of law and gospel from a pulpit. The glory of the Lord is here; invisible but filling this room; undetectable but effective. And it’s just as real now as it once was hovering over the tabernacle. It’s just as powerful now as it once was covering Mount Sinai. It’s just as breath-taking now as it once was in the face of Christ. The glory of the Lord has not gone away; it has just taken on a different form for a different people at a different time - just like it has done before.
And so let’s not lose sight of it. Let’s not lose sight of the glory of the Lord like so many of those in the past did. Moses, for example, was given a special glimpse of the Lord’s glory when God passed by him in the crevice of a rock so that Moses could see a part of his back. But then Moses disobeyed the Lord’s command right in front of the nation of Israel soon afterwards, taking glory for himself instead of giving all the credit to his God. And because of that action Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. At another point the 70 elders of Israel saw the glory of the Lord when they were invited up on the mountain. But when they came back down they led the people into the sin of worshiping a golden calf! Solomon was a witness of the glory of the Lord at the brand-new temple in Jerusalem. But then he allowed his wives to lead him away from the true God and bow down to the idols of foreign nations. John himself, who write these words about the glory of Jesus Christ in John 1, experienced the glory of the Lord in the transfiguration of his Savior. But on the very next day he was one of the disciples who were arguing about which one of them was the greatest! The people that actually saw the glory of the Lord throughout Scripture soon fell into inexplicable sins. And I don’t know if they just took the glory of the Lord for granted or if they were so used to the glory of the Lord that it didn’t make much of an impact anymore or if it was just simply a matter of sinful people succumbing to their sinful natures despite the glory of the Lord all around them, but I’m afraid that we do the same thing.
I’m afraid that sometimes we take the glory of the Lord for granted although we have an opportunity to see it in Scripture every day. Sometimes we just get so used to the glory of the Lord because we hear about and sing about every week in church so that it doesn’t have the impact it once did. Sometimes our sinful nature convinces us to dabble in sinful thoughts and words for a while as our Bibles sit right next to us on the end table. We have to be careful. We have to be very careful that we don’t lose sight of the glory of the Lord like so many of those people did in the past. Because it’s so easy to do, isn’t it? When we have the availability of the glory of the Lord in the Word of God 24/7 it’s so easy to let our daily Scripture reading slide since it’s going to be there waiting for us tomorrow. When we have the blessing of being able to go to a church and worship whom we want to worship in the way we want to do it at any time we feel like in this country, it’s so easy for us not to take weekly worship or our Lord too seriously because we aren’t forced to stand up for our faith; no one is pressing the issue. When we don’t have someone constantly looking over our shoulder and checking what we do and correcting our sinful habits, it’s so easy to fall into completely unnecessary sins because no one is going to know about them anyway. We are surrounded by the glory of the Lord through his Word and sacraments - and we have been our entire lives - but how much time do we really spend looking at it and listening to it and singing it and reading it anymore? The glory of the Lord found in his Word has become so commonplace in our lives that it’s almost nothing special anymore; it’s just normal.
Don’t let happen! Don’t allow this glory of the Lord to be “normal”. Don’t treat this glory of the Lord as nothing out of the ordinary. Because it’s anything but. This glory of the Lord is “the Word who became flesh and pitched his tent among us.” Is that normal? Is that nothing out of the ordinary? This glory of the Lord is “the Only-Begotten from the Father”: and yet the eternal God has a human birthday! That’s not normal! That’s not ordinary! This glory of the Lord is Jesus Christ “full of grace and truth.” And that’s where the glory of the Lord can be seen the clearest today: in the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. The glory of his grace is that he forgives us whenever we are spiritually complacent; and he forgives us whenever we take his Word for granted; and he forgives us whenever we commit inexplicable sins for the thousandth time. And the glory of his truth is that the glory of his grace will never be taken away. We might ignore it; we might lose sight of it; we might miss it every once in a while; but it’s still going to be there. Your Bible will still be sitting on your nightstand waiting for the glory of the Lord to be read. Your congregation will still be around waiting for the glory of the Lord to be heard and to be sung and to be studied. Your spot at the altar of our Lord will still be reserved waiting for the glory of the Lord to be tasted and touched and received.
This glory of the Lord will always be here because Jesus has pitched his tent among us. He has settled here in this country and has drawn hundreds of thousands of people to him. He has made his camp in this town and has patiently instructed the people of this congregation for almost 71 years now. He has pounded his tent stakes into our hearts and has made his home in us through faith. And here he will continue to live, showing us his glory, giving us his grace, grounding us with his truth, until the day we reach the place where the glory of the Lord is unbridled and unmatched. Until that day we get to see the glory of the Lord in all of its glory.
But as long as we are here, make sure that this glory of the Lord is not lost. And now is as good a day as any to renew that love and zeal for the glory of the Lord! It’s only the 2nd day into the new year. Now is the time to read about the glory of the Lord a little longer, to worship the glory of the Lord a little more seriously, to study the glory of the Lord a little deeper. The glory of the Lord will always be here for you. The glory of the Lord will always surround you in his Word. Don’t leave it behind.
Amen.

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” - 1 Tim. 1:17

12/31/10 - New Year's Eve - Joshua 23:14

COUNT ON IT

Joshua had led the people of Israel for about 25 years. And during that time he had accomplished quite a few things for God’s people. He had taken them across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land for the very first time. He had coordinated the assaults on the towns and cities that did not surrender to them. He had sent the tribes of Israel out to take possession of the portions of the land assigned to them. He had been their spiritual leader. He had been their mediator in the presence of the Lord. He had been a faithful servant and a living reminder about what the Lord had done for his people in the past. But now Joshua was getting along in years and he knew that his time was just about up. And so before he died he called together all of the elders and leaders and judges and officials of the people of Israel and gave them his farewell speech. This heartfelt address was filled with reminders and encouragements, warnings and instructions. And although every one of Joshua’s words that day were worth remembering, what he said near the end was something especially important for us on a night like tonight: “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”
Not one promise had ever failed. Everything that the Lord had ever said to his people had come true. The promise of 40 years of wandering in the desert: fulfilled. The promise of keeping them safe from their enemies: fulfilled. The promise of bringing them one day into the “Promised” Land: fulfilled. The promise of handing over to them the cities and the nations in the land of Israel: fulfilled. The promise that Abraham’s descendants would become uncountable: fulfilled. The promise of his patience, his guidance, his presence, his love: fulfilled. And as the Israelites took a moment to look back that day on all of the things that the Lord had done for his people, it would have been unmistakable to them: every one of God’s promises had been carried out. Not one had been left unfinished. Even during those times when it didn’t seem possible. Even against those enemies that were much stronger and well-prepared. Even at those critical moments when nothing seemed right. Somehow in some way, God made sure that his promises to his people happened just the way he said they would. And if he had done that for his children throughout all those years in the past, they could count on that exact same thing being done for them every year in the future.
Tonight we once again sit on the last few hours of a year that is almost gone. And before we look ahead to what may or may not happen in 2011, let’s take a look back at what has already happened in 2010. Because what Joshua said to his people almost 3500 years ago in the land of Israel could be said to us right now: “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” That is a truth valid year in and year out. It might not have looked feasible at the beginning of the year; it might not have seemed probable in the middle of the year; but now at the end of the year we can look back and see things clearly. Every promise did come true - again. Every guarantee was carried out - again. Every pledge that the Lord gave us in his Word was accomplished - again. Just think about all of those things that the Lord has done for you this past year:
When you were sick in the last 12 months or when you faced surgery or when you had to deal with a death, wasn’t the Lord right there with you every step of the way just like he promised he would? When you prayed to him for yourself and for others and for your congregation, didn’t he listen carefully to every one of those prayers just like he promised he would? When you came to church and heard the Word, when you sat at home and read the Word, when you gathered together with others and studied the Word, didn’t the Lord strengthen your faith through his gospel just like he said he would? When things weren’t going so well, when money got a little tight, when your sinful nature was pounding on your door more often than usual, didn’t the Lord provide you a way out just like he promised he would? And if the Lord was willing and able to keep all of those promises once again in 2010 just like he had the year before and the year before that and the year before that, what do you think you can count on tomorrow when a near year begins? What do you think you can count on during the next 12 months? What do you think you can count on for the rest of your earthly life?
But that’s not the way our minds work, do they? You’d like to think that after all of God’s promises that have been fulfilled in the past that we wouldn’t get worked up about anything ever again! You’d think that we would be calm and content and never anxious or worried about what might happen in the future! You’d think that it would have sunk in by now! But it hasn’t! One little thing can set us off. One little setback can get us upset. One little change in plans can tie us up in knots. One difference of opinion or one unfixable problem or sometimes just one possible negative outcome that might not even come true can affect us to such an extent that we lose sleep over it.
And when that happens, where are God’s promises? What about his Word? What about all of the things that he has proved to you in the past? Don’t they matter anymore? Don’t they mean anything? Are the situations you are dealing with now any tougher than what the Lord has dealt with in the past? Are the problems you are facing now any more difficult than what the Lord has faced in the past? Is the future any more uncertain now than what the Lord has planned for and worked out for the good of his people in the past? “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” But if we know that, why do we seem to forget that? Why do we seem to ignore that? That is a truth that will never change! That is a truth that we can always count on.
That’s not a truth that only we forget, though. The Israelites themselves forgot about this truth soon after Joshua died. In the very next book of the Bible, the book of Judges, it says that “Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten… After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:8,10). They had forgotten about what the Lord had done! They had left his Word behind! They had lost his promises! And so what did the Lord do with his promises? After his own people had forgotten them and left them and lost them, what do you think the Lord did with all those promises he had given them so long ago? Nothing different. Nothing different! He did not take them away. He did not cancel their fulfillment. He did not withdraw his Word. The Lord continued to keep his promises to his people despite the fact that they didn’t even know about them, despite the fact that they didn’t even care.
And that is the power of the promises of our God: we can’t annul them; we can’t invalidate them; no matter how bad we are, we cannot do anything to stop God from carrying out his promises to us! He’s always going to see them through - whether we believe them or not. Because when he was born into this world he promised us that he would always remain faithful; and so we can count on it. When he died on that cross he promised us that our sins would always be forgiven; and so we can count on it. When he rose from the dead he promised that we would live forever; and so we can count on it. When he ascended into heaven he promised us that he would never leave; and so we can count on it. And that’s never going to change. What he did for us today is what he will do for us tomorrow. What he did for us in 2010 is what he is going to do for us in 2011. What he did for us five years ago is what he’ll do for us five years from now. What he did for us at our birth he will do for us at our death. He will love us. He will forgive us. He will take care of us. And, just like he promised to every Christian in this world, one day he will take us home. That is the Word of our God. And you can count on it - today, tomorrow, and every other year you spend on this earth.
Amen.