THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE SPIRIT

THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE SPIRIT

Exodus 34:1-35; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell, Pastor

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

April 20, 2008

Change … it’s probably the one thing we can expect in life. For example, I enjoy conversations with older members of our congregation who have been life-long residents of the island. I’m always interested in what they have to say regarding how life on the island has changed over the years – the transformation that has occurred. Some changes have been difficult to accept – like the traffic on East or West Main during the summer with all the tourists; but other changes have been welcomed in time, such as the cleanup of the harbor and the building of Americas Cup Avenue.

Our passage for this morning is also about change – but it is all about positive change for the better. It’s about a transformation that occurs in the life of every Christian by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit – change that is gradual, but permanent; slow, but steady; in degrees, but life-long. It’s summarized for us in the last verse of our passage for this morning:

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

BACKGROUND TO THE PASSAGE

The passage begins with a defense by Paul of his ministry. False apostles in Corinth had severely questioned his authority and integrity. They had their letters of recommendation to support their cause and their position, but Paul didn’t. But Paul replied that he didn’t need any; in fact, if the Corinthian Christians needed that, they should only look to themselves! Their existence as a church that he founded should be proof enough as a living letter of recommendation.

In continued defense of his ministry, Paul brought forth an image of contrast: between the ministry of Moses under the Old Covenant, and what God was now doing in Paul’s ministry under the New Covenant now that Christ had come. As some would say, “Big difference!”

Paul first pointed to the experience of Moses as given to us in the passage from Exodus. When Moses had met with God, the radiant glory of God stayed with him – for a while. But in time, that radiance began to fade, and so Moses put a veil over his face so that people wouldn’t notice so quickly.

In addition, over time the letter of the Law had become little more than an external code of behavior. This became “a ministry that brought death” because people are in fact incapable of perfect compliance to “the letter of the Law.”

There is a greater glory to be found under the New Covenant; not that the glory on Moses’ face was not real, nor the Commandments good. But now under the New Covenant in Christ, we have a radiance that lasts, and a power in the Holy Spirit to obey and conform to God’s good commands. True, he said, the Jews now have a “veil” covering up and impeding their understanding of all this. “Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

William Barclay sums it all up for us in this way:

Paul’s first thought is that the glory of the old covenant, of the old relationship between God and men, was essentially a fading glory. It was destined to be overpassed, not as the wrong is overpassed by the right, but as the incomplete is overpassed by the complete, the stage on the way to the final goal. The revelation that came by Moses was true and great, but it was only partial. The revelation that came in Jesus Christ is full and final and complete. As Augustine so wisely put it long ago, ‘We do wrong to the Old Testament if we deny that it comes from the same just and good God as the New. On the other hand we do wrong to the New Testament, if we put the Old on a level with it.’ The one is a step to glory; the other is the summit of glory. [i]

Again, looking at v.18, we are able to see some of that “summit of glory”: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Here we are able to see the promise of the indwelling Spirit bringing the radiance and the character of Christ, into our lives and through our lives.

BEHOLDING CHRIST

Now, naturally, we need to see or behold Christ before we can reflect Him. For how can we reflect the Lord’s glory, like Moses, unless we first behold or see the Lord’s glory? But how do we behold or look at Christ in order to then reflect Christ to others?

The obvious answer is that we need to deliberately take the time to do it. We are all quite familiar with the oft-quoted text of Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God”; but how often are we still enough to do that? We are all so incredibly busy at all stages of life – even “retirement”! And, in fact, that is precisely the problem. In running here and there, we so often neglect the most important relationship that we have, and the purpose for which we were created – to know God in Christ and relate to Him in a most personal and meaningful way.

Grace – as amazing as it truly is - is to be seen in the desire of God to have a relationship in Christ with us today and everyday. But like any relationship, this relationship deepens with time and attention, and in our use of such means as Scripture, prayer, reflection, journaling, worship, the Sacraments and more. The Holy Spirit, our Helper, Comforter and Guide, blesses and makes effective such deliberate spending of our time.

Some people think that a deep relationship in Christ is automatic for some, and especially so for pastors. Pastor Charles Swindoll reminds us that it’s not, and that it’s something we can all work at. He reminds us, for example, to “get out more”:

Sometimes just being out in God’s marvelous creation is all that is needed for the scales to be removed from your eyes and for you to silence the harassment and the noise of your day and begin to hear from God. On those occasions the Lord ministers to us in a gentle whispering. I took a walk in a forest some 6,000 feet high a few weeks ago. There, all alone in the cold, surrounded by snow about a foot deep, I stood and leaned against a tree and poured out my heart to God. I must have done this for 15 or 20 minutes … then I just listened. It was wonderful. Several things I had been concerned about fell into place there in His presence.

Scripture says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ Elijah was still, and that was all he needed to find encouragement from the living God. Take time. Be still. Unload the weight of your soul. Listen. [ii]

REFLECTING CHRIST

Now, as our relationship with Christ deepens on a daily and regular basis, so does our reflection of His presence to others as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and lives. We sometimes speak of how similar two people become because of the time they spend together – husbands and wives, two friends, co-workers … But the more time we give to the significance of the spiritual union we have with Christ, the more the Holy Spirit begins to transform our thoughts, attitudes and outlook, words and actions into the likeness of Christ.

We could perhaps all give testimony to certain people we’ve known, whose relationship with Christ became most apparent to us. They reflected a love deeper than their own, a joy greater than their circumstances, a strength more powerful than one can muster on his own, and a wisdom that far exceeds the insights of earthly wisdom.

This came to my mind just this past week as I thought of Bill Anderson. Pat and I met Bill in Scotland, when we were there during my sabbatical in 2005. Bill is a retired curator for the Free Kirk of Scotland and for the New College in Edinburgh. Bill graciously provided us with a personal one-day tour of Edinburgh, especially the notable historic sites along the Royal Mile. He showed us such historic places as John Knox’s house, St. Giles’ Cathedral, the location of the first presbytery, and where Covenanters were imprisoned and then martyred. They were such impressive sites for us, leaving us in awe of that great cloud of faithful witnesses.

But I must say that we were just as impressed with Bill himself. A man in his 80’s, he was nearly blind, due to macular degeneration. But he knew his way around, walked so fast and long that we could hardly keep up, and he knew the history so very well. His love for Christ was most impressive, and Pat and I could feel this all day in his character and in his witness, and in the way we closed the day together, praying together in Greyfriars’ churchyard.

Having said this, please note that this is the normal way, not an extraordinary or unusual way for the Christian. The more Christ by the Holy Spirit dwells within us, the more apparent His residence is seen in us by others. That is the promise - and the experience - of this verse.

BY DEGREES

Granted, we can sometimes become impatient with ourselves or with others whom we know in this regard. There are times when we would like to see more of Christ in the way we or others choose to think and live.

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the couple who started attending “First Church” for several weeks. It was quite apparent that the wife was especially pleased to be doing so, judging by the smile on her face. One Sunday, after the pastor preached a sermon calling for more Christ-like behavior and the service concluded, she and her husband came through the line to shake the hand of the pastor. As they did, the wife said to him, “That was a wonderful sermon this morning, pastor. My husband certainly needed to hear that!”

Well, this experience of transformation is for all of us, in mutual dependence upon the Holy Spirit. It never occurs instantaneously, but progressively. Literally, the verse reads that we are changed “from glory to glory” or as the ESV puts it, “from one degree of glory to another.” Nevertheless, there will be transformation now and in time.

Perhaps, we can then identify with author Steve Brown as he writes:

… as we consider the Holy Spirit, our Friend, it is important to see that He gives us the ‘workable reality’ of which our lives are made. In other words, I’m not always joyful but I’ve got enough joy to keep me going. I’m not always without doubts, but I have enough faith to get up in the morning. I don’t love everyone but I love more than I did. I am not pure but I’m better than I was. The fact that I have joy (real joy), faith (real faith), love (real love), and purity (real purity), albeit only partially, is the stuff that keeps me going, confirms my path, and promises me that I will get home when all those things will be given in their completeness.[iii]

And for the Christian on this same journey, we can only add, “Amen and Amen!”