Experience Mountain Top Glory

Welcome to ChuckWarnock.com, my all-in-one site for The Rhythm of Grace, Today Shalom, and My Heart Failure Life. I hope you'll find this an easier experience, and will be a frequent visitor. And, of course, subscriptions are free and always will be. I'll tell you more later, but for now, I'm glad you joined me on this pivotal week. Let's get started –

On the Threshold of Lent

Sunday, March 2, 2025 is Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday in Epiphany. Ash Wednesday ushers in the season of Lent this week. Scripture mentions neither Ash Wednesday nor Lent, and yet their essence is implied in Jesus's awareness of his impending death in Jerusalem.

Lent is often referred to as the "journey to the cross," and so it is. A solemn time of reflection, repentance, and recognition of Christ giving himself in more ways than just the physical.

Somber as the Lenten season is, these six weeks offer us a space to step back, assess our own spiritual journey, and continue on our way. So, this Transfiguration Sunday catch a glimpse of the glory of God through Moses, Jesus, and in ourselves. Then hold onto to that vision – we will need it to sustain us in the weeks ahead.

Unveiled: How Encounters with God Transform Us Forever

Exodus 34:29-30, 33-34 NIV – ²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

³³ When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face.³⁴ But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out.

Luke 9:28-31 NIV– ²⁸ About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. ²⁹ As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. ³⁰ Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. ³¹ They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 

2 Corinthians 3:13, 18 NIV – ¹³ We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

When Glory Is Too Much to Bear

Picture Moses descending from Mount Sinai for the second time. The first engraved tablets containing the Law of God – the ones written by God Himself – had been shattered when an angry Moses discovered the people worshipping the Golden Calf. God dealt swiftly with that sin, but because of Moses’s intercession, God had not destroyed them completely.

Now they are beginning again, renewing their commitment to God. So Moses carries new stone tablets down from the mountain top, the covenant freshly inscribed by his own hands. But this time something else has changed also: Moses’s face radiates with the afterglow of God's presence.

The Israelites' reaction? They are afraid. They step back from him. They avert their eyes. The glory is too much.

Perhaps it was too dazzling, actually hurting their eyes. Or perhaps even this reflected glory was too much for their souls, shining too much light on their spiritual failures. For whatever reason, they can't look at him.

Moses understands their fear. After he speaks the words of God to the people, he covers his face with a veil, removing it only when he stands before God again. This wasn't just a courtesy—it was a profound symbol of our human condition. We want God's presence but often can't bear the full weight of divine encounter.

What does it mean when even the reflection of God's glory proves overwhelming? Perhaps it reveals how easily we settle for dimmer light, more comfortable compromises.

From Reflection to Embodiment

Now fast forward centuries later, to another mountain, where Jesus stands with three disciples. Suddenly, his appearance transforms—his face and clothes becoming radiant, dazzling white. Unlike Moses, who reflected glory, Jesus emanates it. He doesn't just carry light; he is the Light of God Himself.

Standing with Jesus are Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets personified, speaking about Jesus's coming departure – meaning his death – in Jerusalem. The glory that caused Moses's face to shine temporarily is now revealed in its permanent home in Jesus.

The disciples react much like the Israelites did: overwhelmed and uncertain. Peter suggests building three shelters hoping to contain what can't be. Then the Divine voice interrupts: "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!"

And just like that, the disciples see only Jesus.

Beyond the Veil

A few decades later, Paul brings these mountain encounters home in his letter to the Corinthians.

Startlingly, Paul suggests that Moses continued to wear the veil even after the glory of God had faded from his face. Moses was and is a revered figure. Is Paul accusing Moses of deception, of having an ego so fragile that he could not admit that the glory of God was slipping from him?

Of course, that possibility sounds very human. We’ve all seen athletes who continue to cling to their former glory on the field, only to have their aging bodies betray them. Or yesterday’s Hollywood stars, no longer in the limelight, but still seeking to revive their box office appeal.  

However, Paul doesn’t answer those questions about Moses for us. Instead, he reinterprets Moses's veil as a symbol of something deeper: the fading glory of the old covenant.

And he argues, if the law that was fading came with some glory, how much greater is the glory of God in Christ? That was the glory revealed on the mount of Transfiguration. The glory of God radiating through Emmanuel, God with us.

But there’s more. Paul writes, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." We no longer need veils -- not physical ones, not spiritual ones, not the self-protective barriers we create out of fear or shame. In Christ, we stand with unveiled faces, being "transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory..."

In other words, we don’t have to guard against losing the glory of Christ, or fear its fading as Moses did. We don’t have to cling to the glory of Christ because it is His glory, not ours. His glory shines through us as His Spirit lives in us.

This isn't about our occasional spiritual highs or momentary inspiration. It’s not about us maintaining the appearance of having been with God. The veil is no longer necessary because this glory, the glory of Christ, doesn’t fade.

The unrestricted glory of Christ isn’t reserved for one or two, it’s available to all. It isn’t dependent on us climbing spiritual mountains to receive it – it’s alive in us, through the Spirit of Christ. This is about lasting Presence -- the kind that reshapes who we are from the inside out.

Glory in the Darkest Places: Corrie ten Boom

Few stories capture this transformation better than Corrie ten Boom's. As a girl during World War II, Corrie and her Christian family hid Jews in their home in Holland, risking everything for love. Eventually arrested, they were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp where Corrie's sister Betsie died.

After the war, Corrie traveled, speaking about God's love and forgiveness. One night after speaking in Munich, she came face-to-face with a former SS guard from Ravensbrück – one of the men who had contributed to her suffering and her sister's death.

He approached her, repentant, asking for her forgiveness.

Corrie stood frozen. All the memories flooded back. How could she?

Yet in that moment—her hardest test of faith—she remembered Betsie's words: "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still."

Corrie later recounted she did find God’s forgiveness for the repentant Nazi guard. A forgiveness that came, not from her own human resilience, but from God’s transforming presence in her own life.

This was not the reflection of glory, but its embodiment -- glory that came not despite suffering, but through it. Like Moses, Corrie had been in the depths of struggle, yet emerged carrying the greater glory of God's love. Unlike Moses's fading radiance, her transformation continued growing from one degree of glory to another.

The Journey of Unveiling

As we enter Lent this week, we're invited into our own transformation through the glory of Christ. The journey to the cross strips away false security, old veils, and everything that keeps us from seeing clearly.

Lent isn't about temporary spiritual highs or dramatic mountaintop experiences. It's about the steady transformation that happens when we stand before God with nothing hidden, nothing held back.

The glory we encounter may sometimes feel overwhelming. It may call us to places we'd rather not go—places of vulnerability, honesty, and radical love. But this is the path to transformation that lasts, that grows "with ever-increasing glory..."

Moses only reflected God’s glory. And it faded. But Jesus is God’s glory. Unfading, always present, Spirit-borne.

And we, by the Spirit's work, are being changed into the same image. Not just radiant faces, but radiant lives -- bearing witness to God's presence in the world's darkness.

As we begin this Lenten journey, let's walk with unveiled faces, open hearts, and confidence. For the One who is the fullness of God's glory is still transforming people today – not just for moments on mountaintops, but for the long journey through the valleys and shadows ahead.

Prayer: God of transfiguration, help us remove the veils that mask our fading faith. Transform us from the inside out, that we might reflect your glory on both bright mountains and dark valleys. Amen.

Reflections for the Week Ahead

Monday: Notice where you tend to "veil" yourself—with others, with God, with yourself. What is fading in your life that you wish was radiant again?

Tuesday: Reflect on a time when God's presence felt almost too bright to bear. What made it challenging? What helped you face it?

Wednesday: Consider someone whose life radiates God's presence. Reach out to thank them for being a light in your life and that of others.

Thursday: In prayer, ask God to show you one veil that needs to be removed in your life right now.

Friday: Meditate on the phrase "with ever increasing glory." Where do you see this progressive transformation happening in your own life?

Saturday: As you prepare for worship tomorrow, pray for the unveiled glory of Christ to shine clearly, transforming those who bask in its glow.

The Way of Grace: A Lenten Study

 You still have time to get your copy of The Way of Grace: Gospel Stories for Lent which features 7 weeks of reflection on Christ's journey to Easter.

With one main lesson for each week, plus the bonus of Tuesday and Thursday devotionals, questions for reflection, and a leader's guide, The Way of Grace is a great resource for both individual and group study. Get your copy today, and walk with my co-author, Jim Stovall, and me on this journey to the cross, and beyond.

And, Buddy's back...