Preparing
with Joy for the Paschal Feast
I
The Charge to Moses
and Joshua
II
The Story of
Creation
Part III of XV
Sunday 11 February
2018
Sunday before Lent
The Future Glory of
Zion
Isaiah 4:2-6
On that day the branch of the Lord
shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride
and glory of the survivors of Israel. Whoever
is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has
been recorded for life in Jerusalem, once the Lord has washed away the filth of
the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst
by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord
will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a
cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed over all the glory there will be a
canopy. It will serve as a pavilion, a
shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
In the name of the
Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
On this Sunday before Lent, I want to focus
on one of the former readings for the Easter Vigil in the Prayer Book
Lectionary that is not included in our current lectionary. It is titled: “The Future Glory of Zion.”
The reason I am choosing to look at this
reading today is that it fits perfectly with the Gospel that we hear on the
Sunday before Lent. Every year, on this
Sunday, we hear the Gospel of the Transfiguration. This Gospel presents us with the Glory of
Zion. Peter, James and John receive the
gift of seeing the fullness of the glory of Christ revealed on the
mountaintop. In that moment, these
disciples witness a moment of conversation between Moses, the great lawgiver,
Elijah, the great prophet, and Jesus, the fulfillment of the prophecy. It is a glorious moment.
But how is this the glory of Zion? Remember that when the Scriptures speak of
Zion, what we are being presented with is an image of the people of God. Moses and Elijah represent the absolute best
of God’s people. Their presence here in
the Transfiguration Gospel is a reminder that the glory of the people of God is
not a historical past that is no more but rather an ongoing reality. It is a reminder of the truth that, as Jesus
says elsewhere when speaking of the great patriarch Abraham, our God is not the
God of the dead but of the living, even of those who appear to the world to be
dead.
The glory that is revealed on the Mount
of Transfiguration points forward as well as looking backward. Today’s Gospel reveals a greater Epiphany, a
greater Theophany, revealing God and of the glory of God that transforms the
world and shows the glory of God’s people in brilliant perfection. And the primary way that we know this is not
so much from what happens on the Mount of Transfiguration but rather what
happens when Jesus and the disciples come down from that mountain. Jesus tells these three disciples to say
nothing of this Epiphany until he, the Son of Man, has been risen from the
dead.
The disciples don’t understand what he
means by this. Jesus has already spoken
of the coming cross that awaits him, but they could not hear this message. It made no sense to them that Jesus would
speak of what appeared to be his defeat.
And even though Jesus spoke before ascending the cross of the victory
over death that would take place when he is raised, the cross could not be seen
by the disciples as anything but defeat.
Jesus knew this. This knowledge caused him to tell them that
they should say nothing until after the Resurrection. In the light of the Resurrection, the
Transfiguration, the revealing of the glory of God and of God’s people makes
sense.
We can easily forget this because we have
not known the life of faith apart from the knowledge of that Jesus Christ is
risen from the dead and giving life even to the dead. Even in Lent, as we walk the way of the cross
once more, we know how the story ends, and we celebrate the victory of
Jesus. That, by the way, is the reason
why there are 40 days in Lent even though there are 46 days between the
beginning and the end of Lent. On 6 of
those days, on the Sundays that fall between Ash Wednesday and Great Sabbath,
the Church celebrates the Lord’s Day, the Resurrection, and does not number
those Sundays as Lenten Days.
These days in which we are about to enter
are a fitting description of the glory of Zion that is ours as the people of
God. We have the benefit of knowing the
power of Christ’s resurrection, but we should be mindful of the fact that we
know this power by faith and not yet by sight.
The glory of God has been revealed, and yet there is a greater revelation
of that glory for which we pray. This is
a reminder that we who live as Christians by faith and not yet by sight are not
merely preparing for the Easter that lasts for 50 days that we will, God-willing,
celebrate in 7 weeks. We are preparing
for the everlasting Easter feast into which we hope to enter when Christ calls
us from death to life eternal.
And how do we speak of that Easter? How do we express our hope that we shall see
the fullness of the glory of God and participate in the revealing of the glory
of the people of God? It’s a matter of
salvation.
There are Christians who express great
confidence that they are already saved.
There are others who express great hope, but are uncomfortable with claiming
confidence. Remember that one of our
identifying characteristics as Anglicans is that we are the people of “The
Middle Way.” What does this “Middle Way”
say about salvation? What shall we say
when people ask us if we are saved?
That is an important question, and we
need to be able to answer it if we are to exhibit signs of faith. The answer that is the most fitting for us, I
believe, is this: “I have been saved. I
am being saved. I shall be saved.” This answer recognizes that we do not presume
to being worthy of attaining the glory of God and having a place in the
Kingdom. It also speaks a word of faith
by faith that Christ our Lord and God is at work in us to transform us to be
like God. And finally, it clings to the
hope that is yet to come that Christ will so work in us to bring us a salvation
that we are not worthy to attain but that is always and only pure grace.
Such an explanation of salvation, of the
glory of God and of God’s people, reminds me of the words of the Collect of
Humble Access that we pray in the Rite 1 Eucharistic Liturgy:
We do not presume to come to this thy Table,
O merciful
Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold
and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather
up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord
whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore,
gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ,
and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him,
and he in us. Amen.
Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold
and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather
up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord
whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore,
gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ,
and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him,
and he in us. Amen.
As we draw near to Lent, let us prepare
our hearts to partake of the glory of God, not presuming that we are worthy,
but longing for God to so clothe us in grace and in glory, that we shall one
day stand and see the fullness of the glory of God in the face of Jesus, who is
resurrection and eternal life for us and for all who long for his appearing.
In the name of the
Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
The Rev’d Timothy
Alleman
Rector
The Church of the
Holy Cross
Preparing
with Joy for the Paschal Feast
IV
The Conversion
of Nineveh
V
The Flood
VI
A New Heart
and a New Spirit
VII
Salvation
Offered Freely to All
VIII
Israel’s
Deliverance at the Red Sea
IX
The Valley
of Dry Bones
X
The
Gathering of God’s People
XI
In Praise
of Wisdom
XII
The Gifts
of Wisdom
XIII
The Three
Youths in the Fiery Furnace
XIV
The First
Passover
XV
Abraham’s
Sacrifice of Isaac
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