2nd Sunday of Lent 16.3.14 Path to glory
The Transfiguration reminds us of our hope of eternal glory. We hope that one day we will be so glorious in body that to see that glory now would hurt our eyes.
But how do we get from the way we are now to that state? Only by being cleansed of all trace of sin and impurity, and filled with grace and virtue.
Then we become a shining light, figuratively for now, and literally at the resurrection.
We cannot be transformed without our own consent. We are not just put into some kind of machine that makes us come out glorious the other side.
There has to be internal transformation so that the way we think, the way we exercise our will, is in complete harmony with Almighty God. Then we share in His glory.
This is why we need to look closely at our lives, while we are still here, while we still have time. It all begins here.
Those who ignore the Lord’s commands will be imperilling their own salvation and glorification. It will not happen unless somewhere along the line they agree with the process.
The epistle today tells us plainly that we should avoid fornication, dishonesty, and generally seek to sanctify ourselves; that we bring all our desires under control so that we do not offend God.
This is a very standard sort of text which we hear all our lives, which we agree with in general; yet for all that we may not exert ourselves to put that instruction into practice.
It is easy to think of goodness in a general sort of way. I am good insofar as I don't do anything really bad; anyway not worse than others do. We hope that God is happy with that.
A little more thought, however, would tell us that the commands such as those of the epistle are meant to be taken literally and seriously. The word of God tells me to keep away from such and such a sin, so I must keep away.
At this point we tend to call on our human weakness as an excuse for not complying with every detail of God’s will.
Human weakness is certainly a factor but we should not use it as a cover-all excuse.
Our weakness makes us humble but not dormant. In spite of our weakness we must work to eradicate all faults.
Just as we do for a garden or a house. We would not leave a foul-smelling object in the middle of the house. So we don't let such things be in our souls. Jealousy, anger, lust, fear etc – these things are not meant to be there, and they can be removed.
Even weakness itself can be removed, or at least reduced. We become less weak as we engage the quest for a complete holiness. Especially in Lent we must look into our lives more closely. This thing I do – if it is wrong it is a sin. It may not be the worst sin in the world but it should not be there, and out it goes.
We cannot do this by our own strength. This is where the grace of God comes in. It will be there to help us if we seek it.
With grace we can train ourselves to look at things in a different way. A bit of planning and a bit of prayer, and the grace will enable a new insight. I do not need to fall into the same traps I usually do.
Instead of anger, impurity, envy etc, there are better ways of doing things. We can ride out the temptations and find new ways of responding.
May the Lord help us in all the changes we have to make and bring us finally to share His glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment