“The Final Doxology”
WAIT FOR IT: Love! Advent 4
Luke 1:26-45; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:46-56
In the First Testament as it is called now, out of honor and respect for our Jewish cousins, the word for "glory" is the Hebrew word, כָּבֹוד "kabowd," which carries the idea of heaviness and weight. Think about this for a moment--God's glory has its own heaviness & weight. It is solid, yet can be moved. Regular Humans, like you or me, can shine with God's glory; look at Mary and Elizabeth. it’s a generous light. God's Word manifests His glory; even creation is filled with the glory of God. We just sang, “and the mountains in reply, echoing their joyous strains...”
This glory is strange, though.
Moses carry’s those words down the mountain in his hands as his face shines. And the people are terrified! Beg him to put a cloth over his face. Elijah goes off to heaven in a chariot of fire. David, the little last brother of a big family of boys, is named King. Esther averts a disastrous end for Israel. Farmer Amos becomes a well-quoted prophet, 2700 years later, “...let justice roll down like water, righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” All filled with glory, offering the penultimate doxologies.
This Glory is the residue of God's steadfast love for Israel and for us. This incredible faithfulness in the face of betrayal, over and over again; in full recognition of their and our failure, God offers a dignity and honor we did not choose, Nor would we ever on our own. Prevenient grace, John Calvin calls it - the wonder of being chosen! But God does it in such a peculiar way. He is born a baby. A humble, vulnerable, human baby.
In the New Testament, the Greek word is δόξα "doxa," think doxology. which carries the idea of opinion, judgment, but also, splendor, a lovely word. A very close cognate of kabowd. It’s what silences Zachariah for 9 months. It’s the words that come out of Gabriel’s mouth. Eventually, It's what terrifies Peter, James and John up on Mt. Sinai. Jesus' identity is confirmed in all these encounters of doxa. Mary Magdalene has her own experience with a Gabriel gardener at the empty tomb.
What is the purpose of all this craziness? We hope, we hope, it's design is to help us; to catch a glimpse of the long road that is ahead. The long road that includes great joy and great sorrow. Life and death. Hope and despair. So much so, we say when someone dies, “she’s gone to Glory.”
In contrast, What is our culture's approach to glory? Sports, Movies, Reality TV, Music, Billionaires, Politicians; so-called 'self-made' men & women. We are to want more than we have; we are to measure our happiness with things, products; we are to stand or fall to our knees in awe of those who get to walk the red carpet of Oscar glory. Or Grammy Awards. Or Winter or Summer Olympics. Or Super Bowl glory. Or NBA Championships. Or best App glory. Or vaccine glory. Or whatever glory.
God's glory is odd in this regard--because it always includes sacrifice. It is this great paradox we are called to have faith in. Yes the power of the universe made some part of Himself small enough to fit in a birth canal. Explain it? Not hardly. Sit with it, in mystery and truth? You bet.
In so many unbelievable encounters like with these pregnant women, Glory goes up against evil in a match of death or life, as the case may be. A barren woman, near menopause, forsaken by her God as judged by her community; In the 6th month - a measurement of Elizabeth’s pregnancy; a young girl, on the cusp of womanhood, made pregnant, yet not married, exposed by this magnificent light. She did not gain status, power or wealth when she said yes. She simply got to be a witness to doxa.
For Glory no longer resides on the beautiful mountain tops, it's down on the ground where awful, violent, unspeakable acts take place. This is where glory resides. Right here, right now. Look at the scandal of the cross.
Yet, You can’t see glory when you are always looking down at your phone or your feet. Listen to what happened to me Thursday afternoon. Rainbow! Both Ends! To the glory of God!
This light is peculiar, its shine renders an incomprehensible notion: the space/time continuum, the very scaffolding of our daily lives, does not matter, at least in the moment, the blink of an eye, like an hummingbird’s wings aflutter. It is a light which holds its own demand: for recognition, cognition, reception, a call to digest this light inside, thus making you new, different, filled with cosmos, eternity. The baby leaps in Elizabeth’s womb, quickened by glory. She knows Mary is the mother of Jesus, her intuition names it: “And why has this happened to me that the mother of My Lord comes to me?”
It often leaves one speechless, in a state of awe, confused, for now you know you stand on ground marked HOLY. As if Gabriel came and whispered in your ear, “Greetings favored one. The Lord is with you.” (Pause) There are approximations of this glory:
The Olympic or Cascade Mountains, covered in snow, in early winter sunlight. Mt. Rainier peeks out right up behind downtown Seattle. Spectacular!!!
Sightline's of glory definitely include music of all kinds; poetry for some of us; paintings, literature, movies, novels; theological, deep readings, a walk of awe; a successful surgery either by docs or patients: a good, long, hard run; getting out on the water or up in the mountains; even silent prayer, sitting quietly in a chair. Service to others, with no thought of reward. The smile on the hungry person’s face at the Food Bank. Answers to prayer. All penultimate doxologies.
How do we prepare ourselves to receive this light? What do we do with our fear of ridicule when we talk about it? If we talk about it? We are called to talk about it, its part of our conversion process. To be witnesses, to share this grace, to evangelize if you will, offer good news to a world gone mad.
I wonder; is this-why God’s glory leaves us speechless, for its peculiarity. In sharing glory, God suffers and dies, chooses the way of the cross, rather than the glory of the crown. Jesus’ birth story is always shadowed for us, we know. Mary, did you know? (Song?).
The Final Doxology
Kneeled in glory, forgiven
silenced in eternity’s vulnerabilities -
holy stillness