Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Hudson, OH.
Thank you for
being with me today.
As we come up on
Transfiguration Sunday, I would like to take a moment to remind you that this coming
Wednesday, February 14, is Ash Wednesday
– the beginning of Lent. Lent is a penitential season that is often observed
with fasting. I will talk a little more about fasting as we go through Lent,
but for now I want to encourage you to consider giving up something for Lent. I
don’t want you to give something up just for the sake of giving something up,
and I definitely do not want you to think that this will score you points with
God. Also this isn’t intended to be diet or something for your physical health.
The purpose of fasting is to drive us to pray. So as you consider giving
something up, think about something that you will miss so that when you miss it
you can be reminded to pray.
The appointed
epistle lesson for Transfiguration Sunday is from 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6
The Reading:
2 Cor. 3:12– 4:6 ESV
12 Since we
have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put
a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of
what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened.
For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains
unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to
this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16
But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord
is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this
comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Therefore, having this ministry by the
mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced
disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with
God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves
to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In
their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to
keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus
Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ.(2 Cor. 3:12-13; 4:1-6
ESV)
Comments
A little
background might be helpful here. At one point in Moses’ ministry he asked to
see God’s face. God told him that he could not see His face. No sinner can see
God and live. However, God said that He would proclaim His glory in front of Moses
as He passed him by. He hid Moses in the cleft of a rock and after He passed by
Moses saw God’s back – which is to say that God did not show Moses His full
glory. The result of this encounter with God is that Moses’ face radiated with
God’s glory, and he wore a veil because the people were afraid to come near
him.
Paul used that
veil to describe the experience of people who do not have the Holy Spirit when
they read the Scriptures. They understand the words, but they do not receive
the glorious message the Scriptures contain – the message of God’s love and
salvation in Christ. We can see a similar temptation for us who go to church; that
is that we would know a lot about the Word, but we wouldn’t know the glorious One
the Scriptures point us to … that we wouldn’t know Jesus and believe in Him.
Jesus is the
image of God. If we want to know God, we must know Him through Jesus. He is
God’s message and messenger to us to reveal more than a set of rules for us to
abide by. No, He reveals an eternal relationship which is rooted in God’s
mercy, love, and grace. It is after we experience these things – these expressions
of God’s kindness toward sinners – that we begin to desire to do the things
described in the Law out of love and gratitude for our God and Savior.
Meditate on this
today: For some people God’s Word is veiled. Pray that God uncovers His Word
for us so that we receive it by faith and pray that He will unveil His Word to
many others so that the glory of Jesus will transform the lives of many.
Prayers
O God, Your Word
is under a veil when people read it without the Holy Spirit and without the
faith He gives us. Thank You for giving us faith so that we might receive Your
Word, read it, believe it, and share it. Forgive us for our limitations and the
times we have misunderstood, doubted, and distrusted the Word. Forgive us for
imagining that our opinions, ideas, and feelings are more important than Your
Word. Let Your Spirit work in us so that He opens our eyes to read Your Word
rightly, and grant us to be Your servants to bring Your Word to others so the
Spirit may open their eyes as well and they may experience the glorious love of
God in Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Memory Verse:
2 Corinthians 4:6
- For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6 ESV)
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
Would you do me a
favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
share it on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you do social media? That would help
me get the word out, and hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to
others.
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God bless you!
Comments