Episode 1621: Glory Revealed

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 1,621 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Adam Lucero: I'm Adam Lucero, and I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live. Your calling. Having the ability to become the man you have the potential to become is key.

And one way to be inspired to do that is by listening to this episode of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer,

Scott Maderer: to guide your life. All of these words and all of this life is a declaration of love. That's where glory is revealed. It's in that simple statement. This is my beloved son. With him, I am well pleased. [00:01:00] Listen to him. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.

In the inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself. Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk about Exodus chapter 24 verses 12 through 18, and Matthew chapter 17, one through nine. I talk with you about how we hate to wait, but are also often called to wait. And I also share how in that waiting often comes wisdom in how we shape our lives. Exodus chapter 24 verses 12 through [00:02:00] 18 says, the Lord said to Moses, come up to me on the mountain and wait there, I will give you the tablets of stone with their law and commandment, which I've written for their instruction.

So Moses set out with his assistant, Joshua and Moses went up onto the mountain of God. To the elders. He had said, wait here for us until we come back to you. Look, Aaron and her are with you. Whoever has a dispute may go to them. Then Moses went up on the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the God settled on Mount Sinai and the CL cloud covered it for six days.

On the seventh day, he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the side of the Israelites. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. Matthew chapter 17 verses one through nine says six days later, Jesus took with him, Peter and James and his brother John, [00:03:00] and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun and his clothes became bright as light. Suddenly there appeared to them, Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here if you wish. I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, this is my son, the beloved. With him, I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, get up and do not be afraid.

And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone as they were coming down the mountain. Jesus ordered them. Tell no one about the vision until after the son of man has been raised from the dead. I don't know about you, but I really hate [00:04:00] to wait as a culture, as a people, as individuals.

I think most of us would admit we hate to wait. Patience may be a virtue, but it's often one we don't clinging to very well. And maybe that's because it's forced upon us so often this need to wait, and that's why we shave at that over time. The Exodus text, if you look through it, will show you that there's really nothing rushed or in a hurry about this encounter with the glory of God.

God says to Moses, come and wait. Moses says to the elders, wait until we come back. Moses is six days in the cloud and then God speaks, and then there's 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain while everyone is waiting. And if you've read on, you know, the kind of trouble that people got into because of that waiting, Matthew starts the gospel text with the words.

Six days later, [00:05:00] you may wonder, six days after what? And it's after the time that Peter is called Satan and told to get behind. Jesus. Six days after Jesus had told him that he was hindering the progress towards the kingdom. And if you think about it, that had to be some of the longest six days in old Pete's life, but it's about to get worse for now.

Imagine Peter there avoiding the glances of the other disciples. Maybe they're accusing him. Maybe they're glad it wasn't them, but he has a long time to wait. And then Jesus calls him out, calls on him and says, come over here. And you have to imagine Peter doesn't know if he's in for another chewing out if he's gonna be kicked out.

Instead, they go on a little field trip. They go up a mountain, and this is either the inner circle or it's the remedial class, depending on how you wanna look at it. But what happens up there? [00:06:00] Defies description, words escape, what anyone can really think of this. And so Peter speaks up. Maybe he's trying to make up for what happened six days ago, maybe he's just filling the silence with his own thoughts.

Yeah, but this time he doesn't get called out. He sort of gets overlooked or spoken over, at least with a voice resounding from the cloud. This is my son, the beloved, and with him, I am well pleased. Listen to him. You have to wonder, was this worth waiting for? Was this worthy for the disciples? Did they feel that moment?

I mean, they were transfixed by the experience. But of course afterwards they were told to wait some more and they probably or could have appreciated it because that didn't mean it was time to come down and explain this to anyone. They could have some time to [00:07:00] reflect and dwell on it to think about it, and maybe they begin to grasp that the glory that is revealed is more subtle than they realized.

You will notice, by the way, that clouds show up in both of these, and clouds speak of presence, but they also speak of obscurity or something hidden they saw, but maybe they didn't really see. And again, I don't know about you, but I think that happens to me a lot. I think I've caught sight of something, but just when I start to figure it out, doubts begin to arise and a question gets asked that we can't answer.

A circumstance happens that weighs heavily upon us. There's often clouds in the way that obscure our vision. It makes us hesitate uncertain. We don't see as clearly as we would like. But outta that cloud comes a voice. And this is one of the, if not the [00:08:00] most amazing thing about this story. It wasn't out of certainty that glory was revealed.

It was from the cloud that the voice spoke and that instructions were given. It came after the fumble attempt to make some meaning and provide some permanence to this incredible event by Peter. It came when. Shame might have been rising up. It came when Peter might have been wondering again if he'd screwed up.

And what came from the cloud was a declaration of love and a simple instruction. We try to make it complicated. We try to make something profound and deep and obscure, and here we get parental love and an invitation to pay attention. And at first glance, you may think is that it? If you think about it, that instruction, listen to him, isn't just about hearing the words that were said.

It's not just nodding [00:09:00] along and patting someone on the back and saying good words. Instead listen to him means being called to shape yourself, who you are, what you think, how you act, how you speak, shaping all of those things around those words. It means taking them into your soul and letting them take root and grow into a life worthy of the gospel.

Listen to him means letting the picture that Jesus paints of the kingdom be the vision. To guide your life. All of these words and all of this life is a declaration of love. That's where glory is revealed. It's in that simple statement. This is my beloved son With him, I am well pleased. Listen to him.

Thanks for listening.[00:10:00]

Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired.

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