The God of Glory

Good morning, everyone.

Why don't we bow our heads and pray together as we come to think about God's Word to us today.

Our gracious Father, we thank you for your Word.

And Lord, thank you that your Word teaches us that that Word is truth.

And even more than that, Father, your truth can set people like us free.

And so we pray now, Lord, that in this quiet hour you would send your Holy Spirit.

Lord, you would visit us that we might see your glory and be changed into your likeness.

And we pray these things in Jesus' name and to his glory. Amen.

Psalm 29 and verse 1.

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones.

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name.

I mostly believe that there's a lot in a name, as Clive was saying at the beginning of the service.

Except that earlier this week I was in London, sitting on the tube, dropping off, praying the prayer of travelers who sleep.

Lord, don't let me drool.

When somebody approached me and said to me, are you Rupert Murdoch?

I'm like, oh, come on, man, he's 92, you know.

Mostly there is something in a name.

And today we're talking about the God of glory.

Strictly speaking, I guess it's not a name, it's more an adjective that describes who God is.

And it's when you start to think about that, you begin to see how the limitations of language affect that task.

All language has its limitations.

I think it's worth retelling the story of Michael Bourne, the former Bishop of Chester.

Who, with his wife Myrtle, was invited to South Korea to give some lectures.

And on his first lecture he stood up.

And of course his South Koreans, not quite up to snuff.

So he needed a simultaneous translator.

He stood up and without thinking said,

My wife and I are tickled to death to be here.

Translator looked at him a bit nonplussed.

Said something in South Korean and the whole assembly took in a huge inward gasp.

It was only at the end of his lecture he discovered that what the translator had actually said was,

I scratched my wife so hard she died.

Language does have its limitations.

And throughout this course of teaching,

which I hope you will agree with me, I can say this, as this is my first go I think,

has been very rewarding.

Does, however, face a fundamental problem.

How do you describe God?

Or to put it in more philosophical terms,

how can we, who are infinite,

try and articulate

he who is infinite?

How do we do that?

You find

those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the Bible

struggling

to find words that would describe the holiness,

the awesomeness,

the mightiness of God.

In Ezekiel chapter 1,

Ezekiel 1 · chapter mention

we read this really strange stuff.

Ezekiel said,

I looked and I saw a wondrous windstorm coming out of the north,

an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant lights.

Incidentally,

it is interesting, isn't it?

How often God reveals himself through extreme weather events.

The center of the fire looked like glowing metal.

And in the fire was what looked like four living creatures.

In appearance, their form was that of a man.

But each of them had four faces and four wings.

Their legs were straight,

their feet were like those of a calf,

and gleamed with burnished bronze.

I mean, I could go on.

It goes on for a bit like this.

But I mean, my basic response to that is,

what?

What?

Is that really what God looks like?

Half man, half cattle?

Goes on to say that he travels on wheels?

Of course.

Of course.

It's symbolic.

It's trying to use language which is infinite to reach that which is infinite.

And it's a struggle.

And you begin to see the limitations of that.

Back in the 17th century,

were a group of people,

some of them clergy,

who became poets as well as ministers.

They were called the metaphysical poets.

And they were called that because they were trying to use poetry

to describe realities that are hard to get your head around.

People like John Donne and George Herbert.

And then I found this lovely poem by Henry Vaughan called The Retreat.

He may be saying,

sitting there feeling very nonpluss.

You know, what's all that about?

What it's about

is somebody reflecting on the innocence of youth

and how we lose that

and how we might get back to it.

And then there's another word.

A word that I imagine,

if you are a regular church girl,

you've heard that

is used to describe glory.

It's the word Shekinah.

And it means, basically,

it's applied to God's glory

in relation to the light

that seems to come from God

every time he reveals himself.

You get that,

and we'll get it when our readings,

when Christmas comes around,

in Luke chapter 4, I think it is,

Luke 4 · chapter mention

or chapter 2, I beg your pardon,

where we're told that the angels

were sitting there,

binding their flocks,

minding their own business,

when the angel of the Lord appeared.

This is verse 9 of chapter 2.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them,

and the glory of the Lord shone around them,

and they were terrified.

The word Shekinah,

interestingly,

Hebrew word,

is never mentioned in the Bible.

But rabbis picked on it

to describe the glory of God.

Amazing, isn't it,

when God reveals himself,

an epiphany,

when God reveals himself,

how often two things happen.

Firstly, there seems to be bright light,

and secondly,

people tend to be knocked down,

or fall down in wonder,

at what they see.

Glory is a word that we use,

isn't it,

like we use lots of religious language,

but do we realize,

do we realize,

what the word actually might mean,

what it might look like?

Today, we're thinking about the glory of God,

and the opening verse of Psalm 29

crashes on the sand like a wave,

with a bold and triumphant call to praise

the God of strength and glory.

Verse 2,

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name.

Ascribe to the Lord, almighty ones.

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

The Hebrew word for glory is not Shekina,

it is kavod.

And it means,

at least it means in certain circumstances,

importance, weight,

deference, or heaviness.

But primarily kavod is translated as glory,

respect, honour, and majesty.

See, there is something about God

which is intrinsically glorious.

That's what the Bible is trying to describe

in certain occasions with that bizarre language.

If you wanted an example of some more bizarre language,

go to the back of the book

and start to read the book of Revelation.

But God is not only intrinsically glorious,

He is also somebody who seeks

that we would recognise that glory.

That's what the Psalm says to us, isn't it?

Ascribe to the Lord.

That's what we're being called to do.

Ascribe to the Lord glory.

There is something that's intrinsic about God's glory,

and there is also something which is extrinsic.

So this word glory,

what does it mean for us?

How will we ever

appropriate it

in our worship

and in our lives?

I want to say three things

about that to you right now.

The first thing is,

and I hope this is becoming clear already,

God is essentially glory.

It's a strange word for us

because we tended to use that word

in modern parlance

more to describe victory and warfare

and that kind of stuff.

But this is about the very nature of God.

God is glory.

The Psalm makes that very clear, doesn't it?

In echoes of the creation narrative

in Genesis chapter 1,

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

where it is God's voice

that calls order from chaos.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

The God of glory thunders.

The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful.

The voice of the Lord is majestic.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars.

The Lord breaks in pieces

the cedars of Lebanon.

And so on.

One amazing idea that is.

That the glory of God

is in His nature

and we can see it in His nature.

I know most of us now, rightly so,

see extreme weather events

as threatening and difficult.

But the fundamental message of this

is that God's glory

is visible through the creation.

And the call is

not therefore to worship the creation,

which of a lot of environmental theories

today depends upon.

No, we're called to worship the Creator

who made the heavens and the earth

and all that therein is.

Someone say amen.

Amen.

God is glory.

Secondly,

our praise

is in part

our response

to God's glory.

glory.

I can't remember what music

Julian chose for us today,

but he could easily have chosen

that wonderful hymn,

To God be the glory.

Great things He hath done,

so loved He the world

that He gave us His Son,

who yielded His life,

our redemption to win,

and opened the life gate

that all may go in.

Listen,

if that verse

of that song

doesn't make your scalp prickle,

maybe you need just to take a step back

and ask yourself the question,

do I get it?

Have I ever had a glimpse

of the glory of God?

Our praise is in part

our response to God's glory.

God's glory.

Thankfully,

this is a bright church.

That's why it makes it difficult

to see the screen sometimes.

But the brightness of God,

were it to come here,

would be blinding.

It very lightly would knock us

to the floor.

It would be so amazing.

And so in this life,

most of us only capture

glimpses of that.

Don't shout out,

but have you seen the glory?

Do you know it?

Do you know that the God

whom we worship today

is glory?

Do you know that today

He will inhabit our praises

when our praises

recognize that glory

and give voice to it?

And the third thing

I want to say,

it is given to those

who trust Christ

one day

to share

in that glory.

In John's gospel,

one of the most amazing things

about that gospel is

that God's glory

is made manifest

in the suffering

of Jesus.

Let me say that again.

God's glory

is made manifest

in the sufferings

of Jesus.

In fact,

there is a verse

in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

and verse 15

where Paul says,

look,

don't worry about

your momentary afflictions

because they won't

even rank

to the glory

which will be revealed

in you,

in which you will share.

Imagine that.

The book of Revelation says,

when John looks up

and he sees

there are people in heaven

whose robes are white

because they've been washed

in the blood of the Lamb.

Imagine that.

It won't just be Arabs.

We'll all wear a white robe

in heaven.

It will be yours

and you will share

in that glory of God.

One of the issues

with defining glory

is that what comes with it

is the promise

of God's presence.

Theologians talk about

the theophanies.

That's where God

reveals himself

in physical ways

to human beings.

I don't think

that's necessary

for all of us

but it is important

to some of us

and important

to the church

that God

has revealed himself

in such a way.

Theophanies are assurance

that God

is with us.

Remember,

according to Matthew,

Jesus' kind of

closing speech

at the end of the gospel,

Jesus says,

Lo,

I am

with you

always.

Not I'm going to be with you

when you're feeling good,

but I'm going to be with you

when life's not so good for you.

I'm not just going to be with you

when you're in church,

but I'm going to be with you

when you're at work.

I'm not just going to be with you

when you're well,

but I'm going to be with you

when you're sick.

I'm not just going to be with you

when you have a great marriage,

but he's with you

when you're bereaved.

oh my

imagine that blessed Lord

is with me

is with me

even with me

when I go into the dark places

that I know are not good for me

yea though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death

wrote David in Psalm 23

I will fear no evil

why?

because said David

thou art with me

listen to me

I want you to get this message

can you repeat after me now

no matter what you're feeling right now

no matter what your life is like right now

say this

thou art with me

together

thou art with me

and pray for the grace to believe that friends

because it will

make a real difference to life

not just when it's good

but when it's bad

and John 15

Jesus says this

remain in me

abide in me

it says in the old translations

as I recall

as I abide in you

no branch can bear fruit by itself

it must remain in the vine

neither can you bear fruit

unless you abide in me

I am the vine

you are the branches

if you abide in me

and I in you

you will bear much fruit

apart from me

you can do nothing

you know one of the saddest realities

about the church in the 21st century

and maybe through all the centuries of the church

is that it's inhabited by fruitless Christians

wonder

you're a Christian

your family relationship with God

won't be called into question

on the day of judgment

but what will be called into question

is what did you do

with what I gave you

what will you say

you say well

Lord you know

I warmed the

not the pews

the business class seats of church

you know

I came quite a bit

and you know

I've tried to do my best

and

how good

will your best need to be

Jesus says

if we abide in him

if we recognize his presence within us

then that is the foundational building block

to being fruitful disciples

we need to practice

leaning

on his presence

second thing I just want to say about this

is what can

I want to ask this question

I always like people to go home from church

with something to take home with them

to think about

you up for that?

apparently not

just kidding

three things

one

mind the gap

as Russell

very articulately

told us last week

that when we come to worship God

when we come to praise him

when we come to celebrate his glory together

God's not looking at our outward appearance

he's looking at our inward appearance

what's going on

in your heart

just now

you see

there's a gap

isn't there

a gap between

the kind of things

we ascribe

in worship

and actually

what's going on

in our hearts

mind the gap

and maybe today

you need to seek repentance

you need to say

sorry to God

for that gap

the second thing is

I want you to look harder

for God

at work

in his world

which he loves so much

he sent his son to die

that we could be forgiven

keep your eyes open

there's something called

common grace

common grace

is not the kind of grace

that saves you

but it explains why

people who are not religious

not Christian

not Hindu

not Buddhist

not anything

it explains why

some of them

do good things

and you may have noticed this

but we Christians

don't have the monopoly

on doing good

there are plenty of other people

who do good

and sometimes

has it crossed your mind

it's crossed my mind

and I've slapped my own wrist

sometimes I think

I see people who have no

religious affiliation

whatsoever

doing more good

than the people who do

and that puzzles me

does it puzzle you

so we need to close that gap

and we need to look harder

for God at work

the more

you keep your eyes open

the more you will see

and the more you see

of that common grace

or indeed the grace exercised

by your Christian brothers and sisters

the more likely you are

to catch a glimpse

of his glory

and the last thing I want to say

is this

it's been implicit

in everything I've said

and that is

can you try and remember

a bit more

that phrase

encaptured by David

in Psalm 23

thou art with me

when I'm frightened

when I feel life

is hopeless

when I feel desperate

and when I feel good

thou art with me

listen to me

there's nothing more

that I could want for you

that today

maybe this week

in God's time

we catch a glimpse

of that glory

and it flattens us

so that we can stand up

and stand firm

for him

who as we recalled

in this service

of Holy Communion

loves you

loves you

enough

to send his son Jesus

to die on the cross

that your sin

may be forgiven

you may be completely

oblivious

to the wrong

in your life

you may be thinking

well hang on

you know what

if I read the Ten Commandments

I probably score

eight out of ten

and I'll settle for that

at university

no

sin is

when I choose

to go my way

rather than God's way

friends

open your eyes

open your ears

open your hearts

and you will see afresh

the God of glory

let's pray

our gracious Lord

we are

so grateful

that though

we find it very difficult

to find words

to express

your

quintessential

being

Lord we have

this word

glory

a word

which speaks

to us

of your might

of your mightiness

of your splendor

and majesty

and Lord

of your presence

and Lord

I pray for people

in church

this morning

who know

there's a credibility

gap

between the kind

of hymns we sing

and the way

we live our lives

Father I want to pray

for those people

who are frightened

people who feel

desperate

people who feel

without hope

Lord please

say to them

now

thou

art

with me

Lord

right now

we could cut

your presence

in this place

with a knife

but Lord

we don't want

to go home

thinking about

just what went

on here today

but we do

want to go

on thinking

about what

happened here

so Lord

I pray

come

Holy Spirit

Lord help us

now

this week

whenever

in your time

oh Lord

to catch a glimpse

of your glory

that we may

know who you

are

because you

know each

of us

personally

come down

oh love

divine

fill thou

this soul

of mine

and visit

it with

thine own

ardor

glowing

oh comfort

to draw

near

within

my heart

appear

and kindle

it thy

holy flame

bestowing

Lord

we pray

that right

now

you would

do your

work amongst

us

and we

pray it

in the name

of Jesus

and the

people who

agreed

and the

people who

wanted it

said together

in a loud

voice

Amen

Amen