When God's Holiness Goes Public

In one paragraph

The pastor opened by finishing two verses he had skipped at the end of a multi-year study through 2 Timothy, then followed a thread about the glory of God into a rare topical, largely Old Testament sermon. The sermon landed on a simple but serious claim: God's glory is holy and real, and the people of God are called to be faithful stewards of it, not recipients of it. Second Timothy 4:17-18 closes...

Read together

1. 2 Timothy 4:17-18 the closing verses of Paul's letter that had been skipped the previous week, about the Lord standing with Paul and rescuing him, ending with 'to him be the glory forever and ever'
2. Isaiah 6 vision of God with the Seraphim singing 'holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty and the earth is full of his glory,' used to define God's glory as his holiness going public
3. 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paschal's hand-lettered verse: 'God who said let light shine out of the darkness has made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ'
4. Numbers 6:24-26 the Aaronic blessing, 'the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you'
5. Numbers 14:2-4 the congregation grumbling against Moses and Aaron, wishing they had died in Egypt and proposing to appoint another leader to return
6. Numbers 20 the account at Kadesh of Miriam's death, the people contending for water, God commanding Moses to speak to the rock, and Moses striking it twice instead
7. Psalm 19 cited as evidence that God shows his glory through creation: 'the heavens are telling the glory of God'
8. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 we have this treasure in earthen vessels, afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not despairing, struck down but not destroyed, carrying the dying of Jesus so the life of Jesus may be manifested
9. Ephesians 3:20-21 used as the benediction: 'to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think...to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever'
10. Ephesians 2:8-9 briefly referenced to clarify that Ephesians 3:20 is not a prosperity gospel verse, noting the context of the passage
11. James 4:6 paraphrased as 'God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble' in the discussion of Moses's humility

Talk about it

1. The pastor noticed he had skipped over the phrase 'to him be the glory forever and ever' at the end of 2 Timothy 4:18 and said he had essentially 'sloughed over God's glory.' Why do you think a word we hear so often in church can lose its weight for us, and what does the graph showing the declining use of 'glory' in English suggest to you?
2. The pastor described God's glory as what happens when God's holiness 'goes public,' drawing on Isaiah 6 where the seraphim sing 'holy, holy, holy' and 'the earth is full of his glory.' What does it mean to you personally that God's holiness is described as going public rather than staying hidden?
3. Moses had been obedient through nineteen chapters of Numbers, yet at Meribah he struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it as God had commanded. God told him, 'You did not believe me, to treat me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel.' What do you think the connection is between belief, obedience, and how we represent God to the people around us?
4. The pastor said the consequence for Moses was serious and that 'it always comes back to a heart matter.' He also said God has shown his glory through creation, Israel, Christ, and the church. Of those four, which one do you find easiest to see God's glory in, and which one is hardest, and why?
5. The pastor closed by saying we carry the glory of God in earthen vessels, and that we are 'carriers or reflectors' of it, warning that stepping in to receive the glory ourselves is 'a bad bad position.' What does a life that reflects rather than absorbs God's glory actually look like in day-to-day situations?