Andrew Kinoti Vermilion July 23, 2017

Experiencing the Glory of God

Genesis 28:10–19a Romans 8:12–25

The Hebrew word for glory is Kabod, usually used in connection with God. Its basic meaning is “weight” or “importance.” It is the term that has been used to describe the importance or the significance of God when encountered by the humans. Mainly the term is used when God reveals God-self to humans eliciting a complete sense of awe and excitement. When God reveals the divine-self, there is a sense of glow that that accompanies it, bringing with it a spontaneous realization of the divine presence. It is this sense of glow that may have led English to translate this term as glory. That means an extra-ordinary shining that can only be majestically divine.

In Old Testament we see several examples where the glory of God shines upon specific people. Patriarchs of Israel (, , and ) all had those instances where they experienced the presence of God in their own specific ways. We also see God revealing the Divine-self to in the burning bush experience, as he is sent to redeem the from Egypt. It is the same glory of God that follows the Israelites in their exodus journey in a form of “cloud of fire.”

In these examples, among many others, we see God’s glory shining upon a particular person with immediate realization of the divine experience. When these individuals experience the glory of God they react in a way of worship.

In Genesis 28: 10- 19, we see an example of God appearing to one of the patriarchs, Jacob. Jacob is running away from his brother whom he has just defrauded his Father’s blessing. On his way it becomes night and Jacob prepares a makeshift bed with a stone as his pillow. Here God appears to him. We read, “Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying... All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

When Jacob wakes up he realizes that he just had an encounter with God and therefore builds an altar there and calls it Bethel, which means the house of God.

In this incident we note a few things: That is, one can experience the glory of God at any place and at any time. Even in our most fallen nature God can reveal the divine-self to us.

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God’s glory can convert our bad experiences and even bad choices into blessing. Yes, Jacob has been a cunning man but God decides to change that. Of course there are consequences for all the things we do. Jacob pays for his cunning behaviour. This happens when his father in-law tricks him to marry Leah instead of Rachel, hence working 7 more years. And also, later when Jacob wrestles an angel of the Lord who breaks his hip referencing his previous experiences of defrauding his brother and his struggles with his father-in-law Laban (Gen 32: 22-32).

We also note that the presence of God can be experienced in our daily struggles and in our fragile humanness. Jacob experiences the presence of God not because he is the best of the human. This is a man who is in a self-imposed exile for defrauding his brother Esau of his Father’s blessing. But God appears to him any way. This divine appearance begins a journey of change which will culminate to him changing his name from Jacob to Israel. This encounter opens a room for others too to participate in God’s revelation. It is not only a blessing to Jacob but also to all other people of the world. God tells Jacob, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.”

We can therefore conclude that a revelation of God to one person is an invitation for all others to share in the glory of God.

This takes us to the reading for today. Here Apostle Paul talks of the Glory of God revealed to all people in the spirit of God. Paul says that in the spirit of God we all have been adopted as the children of God and therefore heirs of God. Paul continues that if we have been adopted as children of God, we are therefore co-heirs with Christ both in his suffering and in his glory.

So we are called to participate in the glory of Christ now and in the future glory of the consummation.

It is good to note that Paul argues that this glory to be revealed in future will not only be revealed to humans but also to all creation. This for me is important as a Christian who thinks we have a responsibility of beings stewards of God’s creation. We are called to share in the agonies of the whole creation. Paul says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

We agonize with the creation as we wait and hope for that ultimate moment when God will bring us all into the eternal glory.

We are called to always be open to experience the glory of God whenever and wherever. It could be glory revealed to us individually or glory shared. We are called to remember that we are all children of the glory of God, no matter our state of our humanness. Let us therefore rejoice and sing of this glory that has been revealed to us in Christ .

In the name of God the Creator, the Redeemer, and the . AMEN.

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