Enjoy the Light of God's Glory!

Last Sunday after Epiphany, The Transfiguration of Our Lord, 2/14/10
2 Corinthians 4:3-6


Enjoy the Light of Christ’s Glory!
I. A light God shared with you
II. A light God shares through you


The past ten days have been a perfect example of how a little sunshine could have gone a long way in dealing with a cold and snowy winter. Imagine the spring in our step even for a minute or two if we could have watched the piles of snow melt just a little bit and see them decrease ever so slightly in size. Just a little bit of sunshine at this time of year fill us with the optimistic truth that spring is just a few weeks around the corner.

I hope that thought is sustaining our fellow citizens in the mid-Atlantic region. A little bit of sunshine will remind them that in about 8 weeks the flowering trees around our nation’s capital should be in full bloom, a certain sign that the snow will be long gone. It’s amazing what a little sunshine can do to give us a temporary emotional lift.

It’s even more amazing what the light of divine glory can do! This Sunday of the church year—the Transfiguration of our Lord—is one of the most glorious Sundays of the year. What an awesome God we have! Prior to sending our Savior to his death on Calvary’s cross our God let the world see our Savior’s divine glory through the eyes of his faithful witnesses Peter, James and John. This event is another resounding proclamation of the saving truth that Jesus is not only true man but also true God. It was none other than this God-man who went to the cross for us.

How tragic that so many miss and even deny that saving truth! But by God’s grace you and I believe it and that truth fills us with certain Christian hope for eternal life and also for our daily lives. Our God has shone the light of his glory on us. Enjoy that light! Enjoy the light of God’s glory! May his glory fill us as we focus on his saving glory as shared with us through this portion of Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians.

Part I.

I noticed some time ago that the Planet Ford dealer just east of here went out of business. I must have passed that dealer more than a 1,000 times but I only went inside it once. It was in response to a promotion they were running. I received a mailing from them announcing, “Joel Voss, your winning number in the Planet Ford sweep steaks is 605948. Prizes for winning numbers include a used car valued at more than $10,000.” So I brought my winning number in. The manager greeted me at the door and took my number. He then looked at a printout attached to a clipboard and gently informed me that my winning number wasn’t for the used car. It was for a deck of Planet Ford playing cards. But he quickly followed that with, “But now that you’re here, could you use a new car?” I told him to keep the deck of cards and walked out. I should have known that they weren’t really serious about giving me a used car.

Our world is full of gimmicks like that and so we’re rightly skeptical. But when God offers the prize of eternal life to all—free of charge—he’s absolutely serious. That prize of eternal life was won by Christ’s sufferings and death and is offered to every sinner. That’s the gospel which Paul speaks about in our text. God never puts a limit on who is eligible for the gift of eternal life. If there were a limit, it wouldn’t be the gospel—good news—for all people, would it? Instead, our God repeatedly emphasizes universal salvation. He wants all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4) He so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (Jn. 3:16). He reconciled the world to himself in Christ (2 Cor. 5:19). He didn’t leave a single sinner out of his plan of salvation.

And by God’s grace you and I believe it! Think about that for a moment. This world is filled with more than 5 billion people. The mass of humanity is staggering. And yet out of all those people you are one who knows and believes God’s saving truth that Jesus lived and died for you. Your sins are forgiven. Heaven is yours. It’s God’s gift to you. No gimmicks.

So, if this is God’s eternal truth—that Jesus won salvation for all—then why aren’t all people going to heaven? Is there something wrong with the plan? Did God fall short of saving all sinners? Was their winning number for a deck of cards instead of eternal life in heaven? Not at all. If not, what’s the problem? Paul explains. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” You may have noticed when we read those words earlier that the word “god” is spelled with a lower case “g”. That’s not a typo. He’s not referring to the true God. He’s referring to Satan who is the god of this age. He does not rule forever; he only rules until the Last Day. He rules over a world that is against the truth of a God which offers forgiveness and eternal life. That world not only denies the existence of God, but also sin and hell. Consider the countless billions over whom he rules. He’s blinded them to the truth.

But our God has shared his glory with you. That glory doesn’t shine on us like a blinding light. Instead, it comes to us in the still, small voice of his word. It comes to us through a splash of water connected with that word. It comes to us in the Savior’s body and blood as we receive the bread and wine. Through those means our God has eternal glory in store for us.

Enjoy the light of God’s glory—a light God shared with you!

God shares the light of his glory with us through these simple means of his word and sacrament. Are you impressed! Not always. Instead, we’d like to see something far more astounding. We’d like to see some great manifestation of his glory such as Peter, James and John witnessed. Or, we’d like him to do something really impressive for us, like remove this ache or pain, make our financial woes disappear, heal a hurting relationship, or grant us a week without stress or disappointment. In a way, that’s the same thing Peter wanted on the Mount of Transfiguration. He wanted to build shelters there so that they could enjoy heaven on earth. But Jesus refused. Instead he went down that mountain so that he could climb another hill called Calvary. There he won not a week’s worth of glory for us, but eternal glory as he took our sins upon himself and suffered our hell. And now he gives us that glory through his gospel in word and sacrament. He shines the light of his glory on us. Enjoy the light of God’s glory!

Part II.

More than one business owner will tell you that satisfied customers are their best advertising. That owner knows that, if you love his product, you’ll tell others about it. He also knows that your opinion of his product is far more valuable to others than his opinion of his product.

It’s no wonder, then, why God uses us to share the light of his glory. We know the burden of our sin. We confess it at every Sunday service. We hear God’s law which does not tell us how wonderful we are; it tells us that even our sinful desires rightly deserve eternal punishment. That law exposes us for the daily sinners that we are. We know that.

But we also know the peace of God’s forgiveness. God does not withhold his forgiveness from us until he sees if we are worthy of it. Instead he announces his forgiveness full and free. He tells us that our sins are gone as far as east is from west. His deepest desire is that we know and believe that Jesus has removed our sins forever. You have come here today because you know and believe that truth. We’re God’s satisfied customers.

Add to that the fact that among all of Christianity you know and believe that your good works have nothing to do with it. Unlike so many Christians who confuse God’s grace with good works, you know that God’s grace is grace—it has nothing to do with your good works.

And that’s why God calls you and me to be his witnesses—to share what we know about Jesus as our Savior. You and I are God’s satisfied customers. It’s not that we have paid him for a product and have enjoyed it tremendously. Instead, he’s given us the greatest of his blessings—our forgiveness and eternal life. As one of the portions of our order of worship states, we have tasted that the Lord is good. Tell everyone what he has done.

But how do we do that? Paul puts it rather briefly. “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Jesus is our Lord and we mean that in two senses. First, Jesus is our Lord because he redeemed us. The tragic truth is that, because of sin, we belonged to Satan’s hellish kingdom. But Jesus bought us back. He did so with his holy, precious blood and his innocent sufferings and death.

He did that so that we could enjoy an eternal relationship with him. As Martin Luther wrote, “All this he did that I should be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.” What we long for every day, Jesus has won for us. By God’s grace we know and believe it. He has eternal glory in store for us. That makes us the perfect ones to share it.

Enjoy the light of the glory of God—a light God shares through you.

You don’t need a pulpit like this one to share God’s glory. You don’t need seminary training or people in the pews. What you need is another sinner like yourself who is willing to listen why you have the peace they want so much. You work with them. You socialize with them. They’re your relatives and friends. They know you—along with all your faults. But they may not know your Savior who removes those sins by his death and resurrection. Share with them the peace that you have, knowing that Jesus is your Savior and Lord. Tell them what the Savior has done for them. That’s the light of God’s glory. God has shared that light with you and he shares that light with others through you. May that light burn brightly in us! Amen.