Trinity Fremont

If you’ve ever had heart burn, you know it isn’t a burning that feels good.  “Plop, plop, fiz, fiz.  Oh what a relief it is. ” Or at least we hope.

The heart burn that the two of the disciples felt as Jesus walked with them on the day he was resurrected was not a burning that needed relief.  It was a burning from being in the presence of  Jesus, the Word of God himself.

Being in the presence of the Light of the World will do that to a person.  But He is still present in many ways.  That burning wasn’t reserved just for the disciples.  As we are in the Word and the Word is in us, indeed that burning feeling the disciples had while Jesus revealed the scriptures to them isn’t going anywhere.  It is here to stay.  

In this story from Exodus 34, Israel is encamped at Mount Sinai while Moses has gone up the mountain to spend time with God. This is the time when Moses delivers to Israel the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God. In this encounter with God, Moses receives more than the Law from God. When he comes down from Mount Sinai, his face is shining.   The Hebrew word translated “shone” (qaran) can mean a radiance that beams out like sun rays. This is not a soft glow Moses generates. He is literally shining so brightly that it’s like beams of light are proceeding from his face.

Ultimately, and somewhat unbelievably, Christians too are called to reflect God’s glory to the world. Paul alludes to this in 2 Corinthians 3:18, where believers are described as being transformed “from one degree of glory to another.” This reference to Moses’s shining face reminds all believers that this spiritual transformation begins with time spent in the presence of God. And it leads to people being so completely transformed that it’s like they’re illuminated.

Are you illuminated by being transformed by Christ’s love for you?

Is it obvious that Christ is in you?

How do we go about going from one degree of glory to another?

It is one thing to “talk the talk.”  It is another thing to “walk the walk.”  The apostle Paul makes it very clear in his letter to the Ephesians that walking in the light of Jesus and bearing fruit for His Kingdom is not only a suggestion, it is indeed what Christians are to do - Bear fruit by walking as children of the light - Jesus.  

Two questions:

1) What are you reflecting in this world?

2) Who are you reflecting in this world?

The powerful truth that Jesus is our Living Hope—a hope made alive through His resurrection. Because He lives, we are not only forgiven by mercy but welcomed into a lasting inheritance that can never fade.

He who was rich became poor for our sake. By Christ’s poverty we have become rich – rich in God’s grace.  God gives.  He gave his Son’s life.  We receive – receive this gift of grace, undeserved forgiveness. We respond.  What does that response look like for you – response to this inexpressible gift of grace?  Are you a cheerful giver or a reluctant giver – giver of gifts that are not even ours?