St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church -- Watertown, WI

Pastor Mark Gartner

Sermon for Transfiguration -- February 23^rd and February 26^th, 2006

Dear followers of God’s saving Gospel. Amen.

Fifteen years ago, when I arrived at my first congregation in Charlotte, NC, the church office was equipped with an old copy machine that copied somewhere between 5 and 6 pages a minute, if it didn’t jam up before that time. There was an old Commodore 64 computer sitting on the desk which was a huge step up from the electric typewriter that I had brought along from my college and seminary days. There was a an old dot matrix printer for the computer that used so few dots that at times it was difficult to make out all the letters on the page. Those things in the office seemed great to me. They served me well until we got a newer copier that did 18 pages a minute and had a duplex feature. The computer was upgraded to one of the first 285 IBM computers. A new dot matrix printer was purchased that made all of the letters clearer. Today I have computer that is far beyond that and a printer that does both color and black and white. There are two copiers which both do mor! e than I could ever ask. It seems that things are progressing so quickly.

As we gather today we are going to look at something old and something new. We are going to see that the old has given way to the new, but the old is still very good and useful. But the truth is that the new is what we want to concentrate on. The old and new that I am talking about is the Old Covenant given to Moses on Mt. Sinai which is God’s Law and the New Covenant which is the Gospel given to us by Jesus as he died on the cross for the sins of the world. We never want to get rid of the Old Covenant, but we want to remember that the Gospel is what has changed everything. It has changed our hearts and our lives. This morning we will look a little closer at this comparison as we especially take note of the glory that we find in the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul writes about forgiveness for the sinner. He writes extensively about the gospel ministry. "Therefore, since we have such hope, we are very bold." In the verses just before our text, Paul had stated that the ministry of Moses was glorious. Paul calls Moses’ law preaching "the ministry that brought death" and "the ministry that condemns men". But that glory of the law faded away. The glory of the gospel ministry, however, does not fade away. The hope that Paul speaks of is the certain hope of this gospel ministry. He calls it "the ministry of the Spirit", "the ministry that brings righteousness". He cites the greater glory "of that which lasts". Since we have the certain hope that our gospel ministry is glorious and lasts into eternity, "we are very bold."

"We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away." In the previous verses, Paul has recalled the incident of the veil of Moses recorded for us in the book of Exodus. When Moses spoke with God, his face would shine. As Moses then repeated what God had said to the Israelites, the people saw that Moses’ face was shining. After he finished speaking, Moses would put a veil over his face so that the people could not see that this glow faded away.

Paul contrasts Moses’ action with the boldness of the New Testament gospel ministry. "We are very bold. . . not like Moses." We do not need to put a veil over our faces, because the glory of the gospel ministry does not fade away. This "gospel boldness" is an important fact for every preacher to remember. "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God".

"But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away." The word for dull means to cover with a callous, to make the skin hard. It is also used of hearts becoming hard. Their minds were made dull, hardened, so that the truths of God’s Word could not sink in. "Their minds" refers first to the Israelites at Moses’ time, and then to the same kind of Israelite at Paul’s time. The words Moses brought to them from God were finally rejected. So also at Paul’s time many refused to see the great truths of the gospel.

Paul says that these people are reading the Old Testament with a veil before their eyes. That makes it very difficult for them to understand what God is saying to them. The veil before their eyes is not made of cloth, but of their legalistic mindset. Unbelieving Israel sees only rules and regulations in all of God’s words. That is all they can find there. God’s Word remained a closed book to them, because they could not see Christ there. Only in Christ and through faith in Christ could this veil be removed from their eyes.

"Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts." Of all the writers of the Old Testament, Paul has been speaking of Moses because Moses played an especially important role in God’s revelation. God dealt with him "face to face". Whenever any part of the Old Testament was read, the veil of legalism covered the hearts of the unbelieving Jews. They did not see Jesus in those Old Testament passages. All they saw were rules and regulations. Nor did they even read these rules and regulations properly. Even though Moses is read, yet the veil which he put over his face is never lifted, so that they cannot understand the Law spiritually, and how great things it requires of us, and how severely it curses and condemns us because we cannot observe or fulfill it. Such blindness is not limited to Israel

"But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." Moses wore the veil over his face between the time he finished speaking to the people and the time he reentered the Lord’s presence. He did not wear the veil while he was listening to the Lord. Paul applies this removal of the veil to faith. Whenever anyone turns to the Lord in repentance and faith, the veil is taken away so that he can see God’s salvation in Christ. Paul knew this from his own experience. After his conversion he spent a number of years restudying the Old Testament, seeing Jesus everywhere.

" Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." The Holy Spirit has opened our hearts so that we understand and believe what God says about our salvation. The Holy Spirit, who opens our hearts to the gospel, gives us freedom from the legal mindset, freedom from the veil, freedom to see all the great things God has done for us in Jesus. "And we, who with veiled 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." Paul and his fellow ministers of the gospel do not wear a veil over their faces. They reflect the radiant message of the gospel, the message given to them by God. The minister of the gospel who listens to God’s gospel daily will reflect God’s gospel to those he meets.

Furthermore, ministers of the gospel "are being transformed into his likeness"; they are becoming more and more like the One whose glory they reflect. The word translated "likeness" is commonly used for the image of God. Through the gospel we are regaining the image of God lost in the Garden of Eden. The present tense signifies a continuing process: "are being transformed." The whole ministry of the gospel is surrounded by the glory of God. Once again, none of this comes from the minister, or from Paul, or from Moses. All of it comes from the Lord, from the Spirit.

"Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart." What minister of the gospel doesn’t need such encouragement? Pastors did not become ministers because of their good character, or our surpassing gifts, or our hard work. They became ministers of the gospel through God’s mercy. God had mercy on them and entrusted his glorious message to them. We do not lose heart. The ministry of preaching the gospel to a people who are "obstinate and stubborn" can involve many things that could lead preachers to lose heart. The words of God we speak do not meet the reception they deserve, nor do we meet the reception God’s spokesmen deserve. Things go wrong. Our efforts seem unsuccessful.

And then we remember that it is "through God’s mercy" that "we have this ministry." We do not have this ministry because we went out and acquired it for ourselves, but because God, in his mercy, put us here. Therefore, we do not lose heart, but instead go back to doing what God told us to do: Preach the gospel. "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways: we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God." Faithful ministers of Christ "are very bold". They "reflect the Lord’s glory". "We do not lose heart". Therefore we do not use methods unworthy of the gospel, act or speak deceptively, twist the meaning of the Word. Paul has more to say about ministerial ethics in the last chapters of this letter. Instead of deceiving, Paul says, we set forth the ! truth of God’s Word plainly. That has been Paul’s point in discussing the veil. The veil kept the Old Testament believers from seeing that the radiance on Moses’ face faded away. New Testament ministers of the gospel, however, do not wear a veil. They have nothing to hide. Obedience and faith are not forced on people. Rather, "we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God." Our task is simply to proclaim the gospel message. We trust that God will work through his words on every hearer’s conscience to work faith in every hearer’s heart.

As we go out into the world, we always need to realize that it is the Gospel that changes hearts. The law has the purpose of convicting hearts in their sin and to show them their sins, but it is only the pure gospel that will change that sinful heart. It has worked this change in our hearts and God will work this change in many other people’s hearts.