Carrying the Burden of the Vision
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Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 7124 Epigram on Vision
• The poorest man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.
—Pennsylvania School Journal
• It is reported that Moody’s farewell words to his sons as he lay upon his deathbed were, “If God be your partner, make your plans large.”
• To the Israelites, Goliath is “too big to hit”; but to little David, he is “too big to miss.”
• There is a vast difference between a person with a vision and a visionary person. The person with a vision talks little but does much. The person who is visionary talks much but does nothing.
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 7124 Epigram on Vision
The poorest man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.
—Pennsylvania School Journal
• It is reported that Moody’s farewell words to his sons as he lay upon his deathbed were, “If God be your partner, make your plans large.”
• To the Israelites, Goliath is “too big to hit”; but to little David, he is “too big to miss.”
• There is a vast difference between a person with a vision and a visionary person. The person with a vision talks little but does much. The person who is visionary talks much but does nothing.
• The albatross has the widest wingspan of all birds in relation to body-size. It occurs to me that some people have large wing spreads, in relation to body size, which enables them to fly on and on.
Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Why are you here?
Why are you here?
Why are you here?
Why are you here?
The Lord, when He went up on the mountain, did not take all of the 12; He took only Peter, John, and James. At that moment, just a week after saying those words that I read to you, how would you have understood this action? How many of you would have wanted to go up the mountain with Jesus and how many of you would have been content to stay at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for whatever would come next?
The Lord, when He went up on the mountain, did not take all of the 12; He took only Peter, John, and James. At that moment, just a week after saying those words that I read to you, how would you have understood this action? How many of you would have wanted to go up the mountain with Jesus and how many of you would have been content to stay at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for whatever would come next?
I don’t know that there is a right or a wrong answer to that question. I know that no one volunteered to go with Christ, but those three were chosen. There is nothing in the Scriptures that indicates that these three were chosen as an honor or rather as a responsibility.
S. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, A.D. 374.
St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, 374 AD, said this in a sermon on this text:
Or, Peter went up, who received the keys of the kingdom of heaven; John, to whom was committed our Lord’s mother; James, who first suffered martyrdom. (Acts 12:1.)
These words, however, speak, not to how they earned this summons, but rather, what followed after. When the Lord calls us to go with Him, we are tempted to think that it is a reward for previous service, but it is not. Rather, it is in view of that which we will be given to do as His workmanship, as it is written,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
As
They went up, but only Jesus prayed. They were present, but only He prayed, while they struggled with their flesh and their fear. See how like us the apostles were? As He prayed, He was revealed to them, His glory, His mission, and His authority. As He prayed, they were revealed to themselves, their weakness, both physically and spiritually, and their need for further preparation
Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
Can You Handle It?
Can You Handle It?
The Transfiguration was not a moment when Jesus changed, it was the moment when He was revealed. God knows what we need in order to bear the burden of the vision. He provides what we need in order to fulfill the purpose that we have in Him. Therefore the Scripture says,
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
God knows that we cannot carry the burden of the Revelation of Him in our own strength? When God reveals Himself, as we receive it, it always overwhelms us, so high are HIS ways above our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts. We NEED God to speak to us through His Word and Sacraments, lest we be consumed by His unmediated presence.
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Did you hear that?
Did you hear that?
God protected Moses on Mount Sinai by hiding him when Moses asked to see His glory. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father shrouds Himself in the cloud as He declares His will to Peter, John and James. Now, God veils Himself by coming to us through the means of grace, and yet He speaks and makes known to us the mysteries of His will. He makes known to us His will that we be saved, His will that we walk in love towards one another, His will that we love our neighbors as ourselves, and His will that we be His witnesses until He returns.
He gives us the gift of vocation, through which we make use of the gifts and talents that we have from Him, and in which we fulfill His Commandments through His strength and in His grace. We don’t know what we should do as we ought, but He gives us more grace. We don’t pray as we ought, we don’t serve as we ought, we don’t build one another up as we ought, but He gives us more grace.
And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
God veiled Himself in the cloud, and made Peter, John and James heavy with sleep
Above all, He gives to us and to the world, the gift of Christ and the Church, His Bride, through which He brings us into communion with Himself, through which He empowers us to serve Him as we serve one another in Love. The World does not recognize the measure of Christ’s gift, and neither do we. If we fully understood, we wouldn’t judge one another, but we would resolve not to put stumbling blocks in one another’s way. We would resolve to work together, worship together, and edify one another. We would pray for the unity of His Kingdom. We would pray “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,” in every place where His name is named.
God still gives us more grace, because He still uses us, sleepy, not knowing what we are saying, and fearful. He uses us, to the praise of His glorious grace, so that we need not fear our inabilities, we need not fear our propensity to fall short of His glory.
Just continue to follow Him, continue to hear Him, continue to go with Him as He calls you to go wherever He goes, not as a servant who does not know where he goes,
Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Who are you?
Who are you?
What are we? We are God’s house. Who are we? We are God’s people. We are chosen by God and precious. We are His workmanship, created for good works in Christ. What can we do? We can do all things through Him who strengthens us.
We are the Bride, though the world does not recognize us:
I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!
The world tries to burden us, with its plans, with its problems, and with its purposes. For a while, we tried to do what the world wanted us to do, we tried to please the world, but now we see our Beloved.
As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
The Lord loves you, children of God, He shows His love in His gifts of Word and Sacrament today, in the fellowship of the saints that we experience today, in the grace that surrounds us like a shield today. So let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen