Salvation, Honor, and Glory
John the Baptizer, the wild and crazy prophet in the wide Judean wilderness. He knew his Bible and he knew that something was about to happen. From the beginning of the prophet Isaiah he remembers the lines about winding roads being pulled straight, valleys being filled, and mountains leveled. The result will be that the salvation of the Lord will be seen.

Going back to Isaiah I realized that John left out a line and retranslated (or interpreted) the second line of that particular passage:

Luke 3:6 - And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Isaiah 40:5 - The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it [the glory of the Lord] together.

Now I don't think it changes any meanings or anything since the passage in Isaiah appears to be one of those Hebrew Bible "poetic" usages called parallelism (or at least a variation on it) where what is talked about in one half of the passage is also talked about in the second. What I found interesting is that John reflects on the glory of the Lord as the salvation of God. To experience the salvation of God- or even just to see it- is to see the glory of the Lord. According to the Blue Letter Bible the Hebrew word has a number of meanings: glory, honor, glorious, abundance, riches, dignity, reputation. (from Blue Letter Bible)

Salvation happens when we see the glory of God. Salvation is not the result of what we do- even our repentance. (I have to admit I don't understand that. I know it is a gift of grace but I am always afraid of "cheap grace"- but I guess if I have to do something to get it and keep it, it isn't grace. ) SO maybe it is in our ability to truly see the glory of God at work that opens us up to be ready to find salvation right under our noses.

That's part of what struck me this morning in Pastor Judy's sermon. She talked about the end of the Chronicles of Narnia when they were all put into this shed. The follower of Aslan looked around and the walls and dinginess of the shed disappeared. There was the heavenly Kingdom of Aslan. It was a place of eternal beauty. The others saw only hay and straw and walls just as dingy as they could be. They could see the glory of the Lord.

It is there for all. But you can't get what you can't see or have your eyes and soul closed to the possibility of. In that way we can defeat the purpose and work of grace. I do that regularly I'm afraid. I see only the dinginess or the plainness of life. I miss the opportunities to celebrate the glory of God. I miss the chance to be graced by His Glory. Maybe that's why we have Christmas every year. What a way to see the glory of God for all.