of God glory of God honest allowed.

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Denis Hart
5 years ago
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1 1 GLIMPSES OF GLORY: We all want reassurance. We all want to know for sure that we re doing the right thing that we re on the right track For Moses as he struggles to lead the people mere words of encouragement and affirmation are not enough Let me see! he pleads Let me see God, then trusting will be easy keeping on the road will be easy How do you describe the indescribable? How do you talk about the ineffable? How do you express the inexpressible? Say you were commissioned to construct a stained-glass window that illustrates the theme of The glory of God What signs and symbols would you use? What artistry and poetry would you try weave together to catch hold of the impossible mystery that is The glory of God? A mere list of attributes would never do it all justice A mere description would be cold and lifeless Sometimes only poetry will do to describe - in glances and glimpsesthe glory of God And that works fine The Bible is full of imagery and metaphors and pictures and parables to draw us into the cloud of unknowing that is our faltering attempt to talk about God our puny humanity seeking to wrap in stammering words the cosmic majesty of God Nice try, but no cigar! Glances and glimpses if we are very lucky, very blessed, very enlightened. And it works fine - until some people get the poetry mixed up with narrative - and they miss the point that poetry and symbol are different from hard fact and cold reality. Then all the nonsense starts and the literal mind kicks in and wants it all tied up and beribbonned and clear-cut and definite with no gaps, spaces or just not really knowing, to be honest allowed.

2 2 Moses wanted more than ideas and dogma about God He wanted some experience that would take him beyond cold hard statements and into the numinous, the wonderment, the mystery that God has to be to mere mortals like ourselves, with all our limits and limitations. For, if we could totally absorb God in our thinking, if we could absolutely encapsulate him in our language, if we could hold him in our head or on our heart he would have to be a pretty second order deity a God made in our image instead of the other way round. We need to understand that, no matter how hard we try, how ingenious we are, how gobamasckingly huge our brains we can t do it we can t define, explicate, deconstruct and contain God Now, that doesn t mean we don t talk about him at all just as we can t stop ourselves thinking and talking about Love though we know we will never catch it and hold it and keep it in our grasp But, we sing about it we write poems about it and we seek its reality in our life Its full measure may slip through our fingers like mercury but we still write the songs and sing them We need to allow, though, that when Moses talks about hearing God s voice, seeing God s face, God hiding his face behind his hand so that Moses can only glimpse his back then we are in that realm where language struggles to cope with the indescribable mystery of God and where poetry and symbol do their best to demonstrate the truth the glory of God too bright to bear the holiness of God, too hot to handle so, men and women, even the best believers, take refuge in pictures powerful images of majesty, shielding us from the fire and transcendence that is the being of God God speaks to Moses but does he speak to us? The glory of God is revealed to Moses at least a glimpse of it

3 3 Do these things happen for us? They can do, perhaps, when we allow them to In particular places a magnificent cathedral with stained- glass windows of shocking loveliness a mountain top a sunset splashed across the lake the dark vault of a sharp winter s night lit with a billion stars if we are listening at these moments, in those places he speaks God speaks to us when people demonstrate care; gather round us in loving support where people challenge us and rebuke us with important truths if we are listening, he speaks God meets us, and we glimpse his glory, in moments of private devotion stillness when, for a while, we hush our busy lives, and have the discipline to wait on God he comes to our life. God speaks to us and we glimpse his glory in holy places of pilgrimage where the mood is set and the whole experience is baptised in the countless prayers of the people something special something sacred We need to be open to more of those journeys, more of those opportunities God speaks to us and we catch a glimpse of his glory in worship and through preaching healing challenge call and that can bring a word of comfort, or of summons of inspiration or of hope God grants us a glimpse of his glory and speaks volumes to us as we share the sacraments and draw meaning and power in that place, in these moments beyond words, drawn into the symbols our spirit fed by his grace But, the New Testament reminds us that we most truly encounter the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ The New Testament with a shocking daring Invites us to see the glory of God Somewhere very different Somewhere very unexpected In the face of Jesus Christ. ++

4 4 We re very fortunate in the 21st century We have the film-makers to help us understand how that can be To expose us with dramatic force To the glory of God In the face of Jesus Christ. ++ Passolini, in his powerful Gospel according to St Matthew Very beautifully invites us to see, in the tender look of Jesus, The God who welcomes and honours children. There s one scene, where Jesus is speaking to the crowd And a little boy comes up beside him and tugs at his tunic. The Jesus of Passolini s vision Looks down at the child and smiles This great man This historic figure This icon Looks kindly and patiently and lovingly on the child.. And we see the glory of God in the generosity of heart the spontaneous gentleness the commitment to welcoming the child And that is crucial for us as we present God to the children and as we, the church of this Jesus connect with them. Children have long memories One censorious look One harsh comment One dismissive remark And that is embedded in their response to the church And the faith we present to them The face of Jesus Open with welcome Expresses the love God has for each child Each child entrusted to us As the people of God in the church family. ++ Zefferelli s Jesus of Nazareth was a film of fabulous beauty And the glory of God In the face of Jesus Christ It presents Is the glory of a God who forgives When the woman taken in adultery Is brought by the snarling crowd And thrown at Jesus feet, The mob expects disdain and recriminations Judgement condemnation

5 5 All these hate-filled, self-righteous prigs Blind to their own appalling acts of selfishness and unkindness Bay for her death - As she trembles there We see the glory of God In the face of Jesus Christ And that face has forgiveness etched upon I wanted to cheer when I saw that part of the film I wanted to be as free from a spirit of judgement as that Christ To be embraced by that unconditional grace. Of course, the edges get blurred Of course, being forgiven brings obligations But this is not a God to run and hide from - but one to run towards, and be embraced by love. When we come to Mel Gibson s the Passion of the Christ we might well wonder where is the glory of God in that face? Horribly disfigured by a viciousness the sound of which reaches to your very bones: And human beings deal despicably with an innocent man and with gratuitous violence, brutalise a good man And they beat him up so that his face is a mass of blood His eyes puffed and bruised His forehead torn to shreds By the joke crown of thorns. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ?? Hardly! And yet the greatest glory is there The unquenchable love The undefeated mercy and grace The utter commitment to truth The glory of God is suffering embraced - if that s what it takes to show us To make it clear beyond any doubt That there is nothing that can separate us from his love The gospels may tell us about a mysterious transfiguration event On the mountain top When the closest disciples of Jesus Catch a glimpse of the majesty and the holiness of God.. And we might want to go there with them To that highlighted experience in the rarefied moment.

6 6 But in reality, The glory of God is seen in the open face That welcomes the outcast, The smiling Christ who enjoys the Palm Sunday parade and can see the joke The suffering Christ from whose bruised lips come words of forgiveness And here s a thing Theresa of Avila That profoundly spiritual woman once said Christ has no hands but our hands No voice but our voice No face but our face? The glory of God in the face of his people Our welcome for the children Our generous hearts Our willingness of suffer for the needs of the world Maybe By his grace maybe? AMEN

SURELY THE LORD IS IN THIS PLACE AND I DID NOT KNOW IT

1 SURELY THE LORD IS IN THIS PLACE AND I DID NOT KNOW IT It was the last thing he expected out in the wilderness going about his business and Jacob is stopped in his tracks, invited to an encounter that