Changed From Glory Into Glory
Preaching
The Life Of Christ And The Death Of A Loved One
Crafting The Funeral Homily
A Funeral Homily For Epiphany
Canticle: Nunc Dimittis
Music: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
There is an old story about a fellow who was not very handsome at all. He fell in love with a young woman, but he was sure that she would not be interested in him. So with the help of a surgeon he had a special mask designed, a handsome mask that was then placed over his face. With this handsome new look, he easily won over the woman he loved and they were married. But many years later, she discovered the trick and asked him to remove it. When he peeled off the mask, what was underneath, but a handsome face! For, after all those years, his natural face had taken on the handsome contours of the mask. His face had been transformed into the likeness of the mask.
The Christian life, from baptism to death, is a journey of being changed, transformed, into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Charles Wesley, the great hymnwriter of the eighteenth century, put it this way:
Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
(''Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,''
The Hymnal 1982, 657)
What does it mean to undergo this transformation, to be changed from glory into glory? How does such a thing happen?
As Christians, we believe it begins in baptism. The moment that we put our whole trust in the grace and love of Jesus
Christ is the moment that we begin the transformation. From that moment on, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever. It means that we are on the way, just as Jesus' baptism was the beginning of his life's mission.
Our transformation continues as we gradually understand our life's meaning to be about turning things upside down. It was shortly after his own baptism that Jesus returned to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. Jesus was beginning to get a picture of what God had in store for him to do. One day he went into the synagogue, and stood up to read the lesson. He opened the scroll to the prophet Isaiah and read:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Jesus finished the reading, rolled the scroll back up, and realized, in a flash, that the Scripture was about him. His ministry was about turning things upside down, so that prisoners would go free, and the brokenhearted would find comfort. As we begin to act on these things, as we minister to those who are captive, burdened, imprisoned, an amazing thing happens. We are transformed more and more into Christ's likeness.
As we mature in the Christian journey, we see the glory of God only dimly. Our knowledge is only partial. The changing from glory to glory reaches a new height when we enter into suffering. The difficult times of our life are the fires which refine us into purer disciples of Christ.
The purpose of our suffering is to unite us closer to Christ, and it works within us to transform us. ''We suffer with him,'' writes Paul, 'so that we may also be glorified with him.'' The apostle also comforts us with these words: ''I consider,'' he says, ''that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.''
Our transformation into Jesus' likeness continues with our own physical deaths. Death is our ''transfiguration.'' Just as Jesus' glory was revealed upon the holy mountain, so we reach a new state of being changed into his likeness from glory to glory. We enter the home stretch.
We are here to acknowledge that death is not the end for the Christian, but it is in fact a cause for rejoicing. For the next stage of glory, the most important one yet, has been entered by one who dies in the Lord.
At last God's glory is seen face to face, in the face of God's son, Jesus Christ. Now we are ready for the final transformation. In the direct presence of God's love, we are changed into his likeness. Like the fellow who stripped off his mask to find a handsome face underneath, the Christian at death awakes to find the human mask stripped away, and what is underneath? A soul transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ! From glory into glory is now finished. Our transfiguration, our transformation, is complete.
This glory which the dead in Christ enjoy today remains a future hope for us. We still await the day when we fall asleep, and wake up in Christ's likeness. This is the promise for those who love God: that from the day of our baptism, through our life's mission and sufferings, until the day of our death when we see God's glory face to face, God is changing us into Christ's likeness, from glory into glory, until our transformation is accomplished.
So whether living or dead, those in Christ are assured of this, and this is what we celebrate today: it is but a matter of time till we are
Changed from glory into glory; till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before [Him], lost in wonder, love and praise.
(The Hymnal 1982, 657)
Amen.
Canticle: Nunc Dimittis
Music: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
There is an old story about a fellow who was not very handsome at all. He fell in love with a young woman, but he was sure that she would not be interested in him. So with the help of a surgeon he had a special mask designed, a handsome mask that was then placed over his face. With this handsome new look, he easily won over the woman he loved and they were married. But many years later, she discovered the trick and asked him to remove it. When he peeled off the mask, what was underneath, but a handsome face! For, after all those years, his natural face had taken on the handsome contours of the mask. His face had been transformed into the likeness of the mask.
The Christian life, from baptism to death, is a journey of being changed, transformed, into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Charles Wesley, the great hymnwriter of the eighteenth century, put it this way:
Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
(''Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,''
The Hymnal 1982, 657)
What does it mean to undergo this transformation, to be changed from glory into glory? How does such a thing happen?
As Christians, we believe it begins in baptism. The moment that we put our whole trust in the grace and love of Jesus
Christ is the moment that we begin the transformation. From that moment on, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever. It means that we are on the way, just as Jesus' baptism was the beginning of his life's mission.
Our transformation continues as we gradually understand our life's meaning to be about turning things upside down. It was shortly after his own baptism that Jesus returned to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. Jesus was beginning to get a picture of what God had in store for him to do. One day he went into the synagogue, and stood up to read the lesson. He opened the scroll to the prophet Isaiah and read:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Jesus finished the reading, rolled the scroll back up, and realized, in a flash, that the Scripture was about him. His ministry was about turning things upside down, so that prisoners would go free, and the brokenhearted would find comfort. As we begin to act on these things, as we minister to those who are captive, burdened, imprisoned, an amazing thing happens. We are transformed more and more into Christ's likeness.
As we mature in the Christian journey, we see the glory of God only dimly. Our knowledge is only partial. The changing from glory to glory reaches a new height when we enter into suffering. The difficult times of our life are the fires which refine us into purer disciples of Christ.
The purpose of our suffering is to unite us closer to Christ, and it works within us to transform us. ''We suffer with him,'' writes Paul, 'so that we may also be glorified with him.'' The apostle also comforts us with these words: ''I consider,'' he says, ''that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.''
Our transformation into Jesus' likeness continues with our own physical deaths. Death is our ''transfiguration.'' Just as Jesus' glory was revealed upon the holy mountain, so we reach a new state of being changed into his likeness from glory to glory. We enter the home stretch.
We are here to acknowledge that death is not the end for the Christian, but it is in fact a cause for rejoicing. For the next stage of glory, the most important one yet, has been entered by one who dies in the Lord.
At last God's glory is seen face to face, in the face of God's son, Jesus Christ. Now we are ready for the final transformation. In the direct presence of God's love, we are changed into his likeness. Like the fellow who stripped off his mask to find a handsome face underneath, the Christian at death awakes to find the human mask stripped away, and what is underneath? A soul transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ! From glory into glory is now finished. Our transfiguration, our transformation, is complete.
This glory which the dead in Christ enjoy today remains a future hope for us. We still await the day when we fall asleep, and wake up in Christ's likeness. This is the promise for those who love God: that from the day of our baptism, through our life's mission and sufferings, until the day of our death when we see God's glory face to face, God is changing us into Christ's likeness, from glory into glory, until our transformation is accomplished.
So whether living or dead, those in Christ are assured of this, and this is what we celebrate today: it is but a matter of time till we are
Changed from glory into glory; till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before [Him], lost in wonder, love and praise.
(The Hymnal 1982, 657)
Amen.
