Saturday, March 5, 2005
Hieromartyr Konon of Isauria
Kellia: 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 16:14-23 Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 Gospel: St. Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 35-36
St. Luke 21:8-9, 25-27, 33-36, especially vs. 27: "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with
power and great glory." How often we hear the hymn of praise offered to the Life-giving Trinity, "Glory to the Father, and
to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen!" The hymn is called the little
"doxology," from the word in the original, "doxa," referring to the "glory," a praise which the hymn ascribes to the Holy
Trinity. The hymn enables us to bring, "... unto the Lord the glory due unto His Name..." (Ps. 28:2 LXX). What is this
"glory" we bring to the Lord? In fact, we praise that which already is God's nature, the "great glory" that all men shall see
when Christ returns.
Holy Scripture associates God's "glory" with what Orthodox Christians call a "theophany," an appearance of God.
Theophany literally means "a giving or bringing of God's light." In a theophany, God discloses not His essence but His
energies coming from His essence - light, love, power, and truth. Hence, in theophanies, we men do not see God directly,
as God teaches us: "...for no man shall see My face and live" (Ex. 33:20 LXX). Man, the creature, and God, the Creator,
are absolutely incomparable: "For My counsels are not as your counsels, nor are My ways as your ways, saith the Lord. But
as the heaven is distant from the earth, so is My way distant from your ways, and your thoughts from My mind" (Is. 55:8-9
LXX).
Theophanies typically are associated with cloud, fire, light, and voice - forms spoken of as "the glory of the Lord" (Nu.
16:19 LXX). However, even the power and the majesty of God's energies, being pure forms as Holy Scripture shows,
invariably overwhelm those to whom they are granted in theophanies (Deut. 5:23-27, Acts 22:9-11). Therefore, God
"modulates" His appearances to men, that His creatures may receive them. This means that the "glory" of God that men
see is limited by what impure human hearts, minds, and eyes can tolerate.
In the book of Exodus, theophanies occur repeatedly for the people of Israel. For example: "...all the congregation of the
children of Israel...turned toward the wilderness, then the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud. And the Lord spoke to
Moses..." (Ex. 16:10-11 LXX). Apparently, such spectacles were awesome: "And the appearance of the glory of the Lord
was as burning fire on the top of the mountain before the children of Israel" (Ex. 24:17 LXX).
Such experiences take ordinary men far beyond their spiritual depth: "And now let us not die, for this great fire will
consume us, if we shall hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, and we shall die. For what flesh is there which has
heard the voice of the living God, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have heard, and shall live?" (Deut. 5:25-26
LXX). When the Lord revealed His glory on Mt. Tabor, the disciples were rendered "...heavy with sleep; and when they
were awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him" (Lk. 9:32).
Invariably, when God imparts a message, He reveals His glory, and often what He communicates concerns both His
judgment and His salvation. Hence, in this reading, when the Lord Jesus speaks of His return, He announces that the Son
of Man will come "with power and great glory....Heaven and earth will pass away" (Lk. 21:27,33). It is a warning, but it is
not without hope: "Watch, therefore, and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things...and to stand
before the Son of Man" (vs.36), for the Lord's final, great theophany will come as a snare "...on all those who dwell on the
face of the whole earth" (vs. 35).
As I remember the terrible Day of Judgment, and Thy dark, ineffable glory, I tremble altogether, O Dread Lord, crying to
Thee in fear, O Christ God, deliver me from all punishments, and make me worthy to sit at Thy right hand, O Master.
