God’s Glory And Vainglory

Epiphany 1C 2019

God's Glory And Vainglory

Fr. Dale Matson

Today is the first Sunday in the Season of Epiphany. What does the word “Epiphany” mean? In a more general sense the word Epiphany means a revelation about something. It is a discovery, a realization.

Just last week, I had an epiphany during Anthony’s sermon. He quoted from Genesis. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” God gave Adam and Eve the dominion… power…the authority over the earth. Adam and Eve were also told to dress and keep the garden (Genesis 2:15) Other translations say cultivate and watch over or cultivate and guard the garden.

Further, we hear God confronting Adam and Eve after they have eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Eve states that she was tricked or beguiled in most of the other translations. What does beguile mean? It means to charm or enchant.

So, the original sin was disobedience but where did this disobedience begin? It was an act of disobedience that came from an attitude of disobedience. Adam and Eve had dominion…authority over the serpent yet they let the serpent determine the agenda. They were told to guard the Garden yet they allowed the serpent to deceive them. “To whom much is given, from him much is expected.” (Luke 12:48) They relinquished their authority to the serpent. Can you imagine how disappointed God was with Adam and Eve?

I believe Jesus had this in mind when he said the following in chapter 12 of Luke’s Gospel. “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.”

In the Church the Season of the Epiphany means the divinity of Christ revealed to the gentiles. Today’s Gospel reading reports the Magi following a star to visit the birthplace of Jesus. This is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isaiah 60:1-3)

Before I begin writing my sermons, I read and meditate on the lectionary lessons for the coming Sunday. The theme for today in most of our readings, including the Old Testament prophesy of Isaiah, and our Psalm, is the glory of God. In the alternate reading of Psalm 72, we include verse 19. “And blessed be His glorious name forever, and may all the earth be filled with His glory. God’s glory is included in our seasonal opening Collect and Proper Preface. It is in the words of our Gradual Hymn, Be exalted oh God. “Be exalted, O God above the heavens; Let thy Glory be over all the earth. Be exalted O God, above the heavens; Let thy Glory be over all the earth.” Additionally, I was amazed how much of our Liturgy reflects the Glory of God. We begin our service with the words of the Gloria. “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.” The glory of God is in our Offertory, the Sanctus and the Eucharistic Prayer. Epiphany is discovering what is all around us already. God’s glory is all around us. In Epiphany, the veil is lifted and we see God’s glory.   

It is the glory of God perfectly manifested in His Son Jesus Christ. Christ came to reveal the Father and He did this by glorifying the Father. Jesus stated, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (John 17:4) Everything in God’s creation is a testament to His Glory. If we don’t participate, it is to our shame. If we remain silent, God could have rocks cry out. (Luke 19:40) It is the reason for everything that exists, including you and me. God created everything for His glory. Without God’s glory, there would be nothing.

What is the glory of God? It is who God is. It is the essence of his nature, the weight of his importance, the radiance of his splendor, the demonstration of his power, and the atmosphere of his presence. God’s glory is the expression of his goodness and all his other intrinsic, eternal qualities.

Where is the glory of God? Just look around. Everything created by God reflects his glory in some way. We see it everywhere, from the smallest microscopic form of life to the vast Milky Way, from sunsets and stars to storms and seasons. Creation reveals our Creator’s glory. In nature we learn that God is powerful, that he enjoys variety, loves beauty, is organized, and is wise and creative. The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”

Not long after I returned to God in my mid 30’s, I had a numinous dream that God was like the sun. There were millions of rays of light coming from God and one ray came directly into my heart. It was such a sense of belonging and comfort. St. Paul stated, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.” This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7).

The most difficult adjustment for professional athletes in retirement is not dealing with the chronic injuries. It is dealing with the fact that they are no longer cheered, worshipped and adored. In spite of all the crippling injuries including severe head injuries of football players, 86% of former players would do it all again.

Some sins are more problematic for me than others. If vainglory is a form of pride, it is the ugliest form of pride. While vainglory is not easy to define, it is easy to describe. I know it when I see it.

In the Greek epic poem, “The Odyssey” Odysseus and his men are captured by a giant, one-eyed man named Polyphemus. In order to make his escape, Odysseus blinded the eye of the cyclops with a spear. The cyclops asked, “who did this to me?” Odysseus replied, “No man did this to you”. This was to keep the Cyclops from recruiting his friends in pursuing the men. When his men asked him who blinded him, he replied, “No man”.  Later as Odysseus was sailing away with his men, Odysseus yelled back to the Cyclops, it was me Odysseus who did this to you.  The Cyclops began throwing giant boulders in the direction of the voice as they sailed away imperiling the ship. The Cyclops was now blind but had not lost his sense of hearing. Odysseus could not resist setting the record straight by yelling back to shore that it was he, Odysseus that had blinded him. That is an example of vainglory. Odysseus wanted the credit even if it might lead to the death of him and his men.

St. Paul had been shown the glory of the third heaven yet was careful in describing himself as the “least” of the apostles (1 Cor. 15:9). He would only glory in the cross. (Gal. 6-14, KJV). Let him who boasts, boast only in the Lord. (1: Cor. 1:31)

The problem is once again the almighty ego. Am I working for my glory or the glory of God? What is the underlying reason for setting goals and the accomplishments? Do you spend too much time checking to see whose paying attention? Is there too much need of adoration? Too much need for "atta boys" and “atta girls”. Is there too much score keeping and not enough of God's glory in it. Why is there is so much time spent shoring up and buttressing your own ego? Our ego feeds on applause. Applause is high density nutrition. It’s easy to get a fat head.  

You know what the most precious and marketable commodity is in the marketplace today. It is attention. Face book, is all about how many people will affirm our ego with a thumbs up. And that is the hook. Think of a thumbs up or a positive comment as a shot of beer. Both cases can lead to an addiction. In 2012 adults spent 1.5 hours a day on social media. By 2017 the time spent increased to 2.5 hours. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/) If you are interested I posted an article in 2011 about why I got off Facebook. https://sanjoaquinsoundings.blogspot.com/search?q=facebook

This past year I read about an unfortunate couple who fell off Taft Point last year taking a selfie too close to the edge.  Lots of camping/hiking articles now are filled with selfies for example, the person has his face in front of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Falls, Vernal Falls, etc. I would guess that many people who travel to Mt. Rushmore have their faces included with presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt.

So, what do selfies have to do with anything anyway? When I am focused on myself, I am not focused on God. It is all about my glory not His. What does this have to do with Original Sin? Satan offered the first “Selfie “to Adam and Eve. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…” (Genesis 3:5a)

In last week’s Gospel Saint John stated, ^“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Where did John see a glorious Christ? He saw the Glory of Christ in the transfiguration. “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” (reported in the synoptic Gospels and 2 Peter) We also see the glorified Christ depicted by St. John in Revelation. (1:12-16) Revelation is sometimes referred to as the “Unveiling”

The Epiphany is the realization that a baby in a manger is gradually revealed to be God. That is our Epiphany. That is what is revealed to us. Emanuel; God became flesh and dwelled with His people in the Person of Jesus Christ. The glory of God is eternal and fills His entire creation. We were created to proclaim and reflect His glory. We are sealed forever as His children.  He is present in His body the Church and indwells His children with His Spirit. “In Him we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 17:28) Amen.