Otterbein United Methodist Church

April 13, 2008

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 5:1-14

Sermon: “Filled with Glory”

What’s the greatest petition you ever asked of God? Healing? Safety? Perhaps for a child? Peace in the midst of one of life’s fierce storms?

Most of our requests pale in comparison to the request first uttered by Moses in Exodus 33:18. After having been 40 days on Mount Sinai with the Lord receiving the 10 Commandments, being informed of the Law of God, Moses petitions the Lord, “Show me your glory!”

I wonder if he pre-thought the request or as I suspect in a moment of faith and wonder he just blurted it out and immediately wondered at his own boldness for doing it. Was this longing and cry of his spirit something that he was fully aware of, or did he find himself uttering the words and thinking, “I can’t believe I just said that!”

I believe there is a desire in all of us to see and behold the glory of God. Unfortunately, most of us have allowed our rational thinking to so suppress this longing of our spirit that anything that is beyond our cognitive understanding must be minimized, if not eliminated!

Because of this, I can confidently say that God is far more willing to show his glory than we are to see it!

Today’s scripture gives some insights into one of the wonderful times God did reveal his glory… Let’s take a look… 2 Chronicles 5:1-8, 12-14; 7:1-3.

Introduction

It was finally finished. Plan and preparation had been done by David. Now his son Solomon was King. For hundreds of years the Ark of the Covenant (a gold covered box that contained the stones with the 10 commandments written on them) had been kept in the special tent that God had told them to use while they were nomads. David had made preparation for a Temple in Jerusalem. He had given his plans to his son Solomon and Solomon had the wisdom and the know-how to pull it off!

It had taken over 153,000 workers more than 7 years to complete construction. Then Solomon invited the Levitical priests and all the elders of Israel to come to Jerusalem. Then Solomon had the Ark of the Covenant brought in by the priests; the singers and musicians joined in the celebration. The Bible says that the priests were unable to perform their duties “because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.” (2 Chron. 5:14). This glory of God showed up as a visible thing… it appeared as a cloud.

The Hebrew for “glory” is “ka-bode” which means “the splendor, majesty, or presence of God.” The etymology of the dwelling or presence of God is the Hebrew word Sh'cheenah or as we pronounce it “Shekinah.” The term “Shekinah” was many times used interchangeably with the word “God.” In the Jewish mind it always spoke of the fact that God was present, the he "dwelt in" or "rested upon" those who merited his favor. The Biblical understanding is that none of us is good enough to merit God’s favor, but the Lord delights to extend this presence upon the entire community of faith… all those who call upon him.

God's glory is the goal in all of His plans for mankind. The glory of God is all that we, his creation, are about. In fact, all that God orchestrates, all that God wills, all that God determines and purposes, all that God causes to occur in and through His creation in this life is for God's glory. God's glory is synonymous with God's magnificence, God's splendor, His beauty, His perfection. Glory speaks to God's dignity, God's honor, God's wisdom, God's majesty, and His unquestionable justice in all His dealings with His creation. All is to the glory of our God. All credit for all things is to be given to our God. To Him alone belongs all glory!

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Today’s scripture reveals 4 very distinct things that happened before God’s glory was seen…

1. Sin was removed by sacrifices. In fact so many sheep and cattle were offered that they couldn’t be recorded or counted. (5:6)

2. Gifts were presented… from David’s estate (and gifts that had been given for that purpose). (5:1)

3. Obedience was demonstrated; the Ark was transported properly. (Poles – 5:8)

4. The people worshipped (5:12-13)

AND THEN, the glory of God filled the temple! This physical structure was filled with a spiritual presence that was so real that it not only affected the priest’s ability to do their jobs, but became so evident to the people that when they saw the Glory of God above the temple, they knelt with their faces to the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks! All the people saw it, all the people responded to it!

This was beyond a “Give glory to God!” kind of experience, they were beholding an actual physical presence of the “Glory of God!” filling the temple!

But guess what? Here’s the real story… in the New Testament, God’s temple isn’t bricks and mortar, or massive marble or granite columns. We are God’s temple! 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”

We’re his temple but how much of his glory fills our lives? Is it just an empty physical structure, or is the presence, the Shekinah Glory, of the Lord evident in our lives. Have we cared for the four things that Solomon did before God’s glory came down on the temple?

1.) Have we cared for our sins? Solomon knew we were all sinners. 2 Chronicles 6:36 he says, “There is no one who does not sin.” To cover those sins, Solomon sacrificed more bulls and lambs than could be counted. Jesus was our one sacrifice that was given to cover our sins.

2.) Are we dealing rightly with our resources? Gifts were presented and dedicated to the temple. In this case, gifts were presented from the previous generation. David had set aside significant parts of his estate for the building and the duties to be carried out at the temple. Have we done the same? Do our wills reflect an ongoing caring for the church of Jesus Christ? Are we going to be giving significant portions of our estates to the cause of Christ, who gave his life totally for us? Or will we leave it to children and grandchildren who may not share our values at all, who may use the resources for which we give God thanks to support causes that may even be contrary to God’s purposes?

I don’t want to belabor the point, but if we expect to see the glory of God, what we do with what we have (even whose we think it is), is critically important! We must recognize that what we have is not our own. We belong to Jesus; our temple (body) belongs to Jesus, and our stuff belongs to Jesus!

3.) Obedience is expected even in the little things… they put the poles through the rings on the ark and carried it the way it was supposed to be carried. Inside this ark were the 10 commandments from God… written on stone by the finger of God. Do we obey in little things? If we’re not faithful in little things, we’ll not be much more faithful in the big! Matthew 25:21.

4.) They offered worship: there was music, instruments, trumpets, cymbals, singers all rejoicing before the Lord. Father is seeking the true worshipper to worship him… those who will worship in spirit and in truth. You don’t have to seek God… He is seeking us!

Conclusion… To encounter God’s glory tied to the stuff of this world, without forgiveness, and a desire to be obedient, and a heart of praise and worship would “short all our circuits and blow all our fuses.”

So much hinges on our being filled with God’s glory… our testimony, our witness, the brightness of our light shining in the world around us, the difference between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God are exposed by the glory!

Unfading glory! Not like that of an athlete, or a hero, a building or even a country!

But you may say, “Doesn’t God’s Word caution us that he won’t give his glory to another? “I will not give my glory to another.” (Isaiah 48:11). Yes, but remember, we aren’t another! We aren’t something independent and different from the Lord… We’re part of his body… and he wants to pour out his glory on us!

We need to be bold enough to go beyond Moses prayer (show me your glory) and pray, “Fill me with it!”