awakening, as prescribed by Spener, flowed from the Bible.

" The first,

Spener's instructions for the reading and study of the Bible, demonstrated
his strong confidence in the authority of the Scriptures and laid the
foundation for the proposals that followed. Each proposal, grounded
in Spener's hope for renewal, looked to the Bible as inspiration and W h y D o the Seraphim Sing,
source.
" T h e F u l l n e s s o f A l l t h e E a r t h Is
Whenever we read Scripture that calls forth praise in response to glory
or cries out for the renewal of the church, we do so in anticipation of His Glory"? (Isaiah 6:3)
an earth filled with righteousness and justice. One witness to that com-
ing day, F. Burton Nelson, dedicated his life to the pursuit of justice, Raymond C Van Leeuwen, professor of biblical studies,
particularly through the study and teaching of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania
life and writings. His last book, co-authored with Geffrey Kelly and
published before his death in March of this year, explores the "cost of [Note: Before this lecture, the "Sanctus" of Bach's Mass in B Minor was
moral leadership," a theme that permeated Bonhoeffer's spiritual and played. Its Latin lyrics are based on Isaiah 6:3.]
theological legacy. John Weborg's review traces the Lutheran roots of
that "cost consciousness" as a tribute to their work. Another tribute is

W
hen the seraphim around the divine throne sing their song,
due as well. Among Burton's numerous activities and accomplishments the context is the unsullied realm of heaven itself, the one
stand his twenty-four years as editor of this journal, a work that col- place in the universe where the kingdom of God was and
leagues remember was carried out with characteristic enthusiasm and is and forever shall be. In the heavens they do not need to pray, "thy
good humor. In recognition of the many editorials, articles, and book kingdom come." But Isaiah's vision of the divine glory in heaven reminds
reviews that Burton wrote for The Covenant Quarterly, this issue is dedi- us that things here on earth are different. There is a gap between heaven
cated to his memory, to his wife, Grace, and their beloved family. and earth that humans cannot bridge. This gap is not just cosmic or
ontological; most fundamentally it is the terrifying chasm between God's
holiness and human sin, between the infinite good of God and human
pollution. "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips," says the prophet. And he expects to die, for he
has seen the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah's eyes have seen the king, high
and lifted up, but his feet remain stuck in the muck of earth, and he
is sent to prophesy to a wicked and rebellious people whose hearts are
hard, whose eyes are blind, and whose ears are shut.
Though we began this morning with Bach's version of the heavenly
chorus, hymning God's holiness and delighting in his glory, on the
human level, history often moves from lament to praise, culminating with
the sort of praise that says, "Sing to the Lord a new song." Nonetheless,
given the sad state of human affairs, we should not traverse this road from
lament to praise too quickly, for praise without lament is inauthentic.
Praise that ignores sin and woe, evil and death, injustice and murder is
not biblical praise. Israel's book of praises, the Psalms, contains more

^
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tion are undone and all things made new. That is, one way of telling the
songs of lament and complaint than any other genre. Its praise is more
biblical story is in terms of God's glory, established in creation, attacked
profound for occurring among the laments.
in history, and finally victorious in space and time.
So also, with its unflinching realism about sin and misery, Isaiah's
This then is our journey in the first lecture. My thesis is simply the
vision reminds us that humans praise God with their mouths—and
second line of the seraphim hymn, literally, "the fullness of all the earth
their feet in the muck. To put it in terms ofa really bad image, we have
is his [YHWH's] glory." My antithesis is that human sin attacks and
a sort of hoof and mouth disease that affects us from top to bottom.
corrupts God's glory in creation, and renders humans blind and deaf
The Psalms hold praise and lament, adoration and complaint, in a fine
to it. "They have eyes to see, but see not; ears to hear, but hear not"
tension. They remind us that the church achieves authentic praise only
(Ezekiel 12:2). My take on redemption is that Christ came to restore
when it honestly laments the tragedy of human woe, including its own,
this world to a peaceable kingdom in which humans once again know
before the face of God. The traditional liturgies of the church knew this
the God of glory. Someday, says Isaiah, "the earth will be filled with the
well. In the church's age-old service, only after the Kyrie Eleison, "Lord,
knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9b; cf.
have mercy," does worship move to the Gloria or Doxology. Even in the
Habakkuk2:l4).
churches of the Reformation, the first utterance of the congregation was
To spell out the biblical drama of glory revealed, attacked, and restored,
not the hymn of praise, but the confession of sin and misery. Note that
we may use two New Testament texts. The human antithesis to God's
in Isaiah 6, when the prophet sees God in his glory, his first words are
glory appears when St. Paul comprehensively describes human sin in
not a praise song, but a lament: "Woe is me, for I am undone " In terms of failed glory. "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of
the book of Isaiah it is not until chapter 12 that we encounter a hymn God" (Romans 3:23). Set against Isaiah 6:3, Paul's text reveals its weight.
of praise. His indictment is comprehensive: all have sinned. The implicit definition
So underlying our lectures is a paradox to which human lament and of sin is even more devastating; in the complexity of life, everything that
praise are responses. Looking at Isaiah 6, we may put the paradox in does not reflect, contribute to, or show forth the glory of God is sin. By
the form of questions. First, how can God's glory fill the earth when this standard, even "good" deeds that do not serve the agenda oi God's
humans fill the earth with violence and cruelty? And second, looking at glory are sin, a failure to fulfill the purpose of our particular existence
Psalms 96 and 98, how can praise arise out of the terror of history and in the intricate network of created things. A good deed that does not
the mess of our lives? Indeed, why is there praise at all instead of cease- fit the particular needs of God's kingdom in our time and place is not
less lament and bitter complaint? Grim death, after all, comes even to really good. As an ancient Egyptian proverb puts it, "When you have
those who shop until they drop. been sent to get straw, don't get wheat." Wheat is good, but if God calls
Chapter 6 of Isaiah begins with the death of King Uzziah. In this you to make bricks, you need to gather straw.
grim setting, God takes the initiative, showing the prophet a glory that Our redemption text, towards which this talk is headed, is 1 Cor-
no eye has seen and, in the seraphim song of 6:3, no ear has heard. The inthians 6:19-20. "Don't you know that your body is a temple of the
prophet's response to the heavenly vision and song, however, is not a Holy Spirit in you... ? You are not your own; for you were bought with
hymn of joy, but a lament. Today, our focus is not on the lament, but on a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body." Here we must consider,
the hymn which we just heard in Bach's surpassing version: "Holy, Holy, even if briefly, the locus of God's glory in Christ and in the human body,
Holy is the Lord God of Hosts; the fullness of all the earth is his glory." individually and collectively. By way of anticipation, we may quote from
The second half of rhis verse is the he: i; I wi to explore with you i George Herbert's poem, titled simply, "Man":
wish to put this thesis ii termsofrh< ^reatbibl story fcreatior fall
(better: rebellion), ind redemption Inasen sin an< llion againsi My God, I heard this day,
: That none doth build a stately habitation,
the King of creation is rhe human antithesis to the g rod •
creation and his glory in it in the 1 i r's lemption of his creation But he that means to dwell therein.
through the death and rcsuncctio;: or Christ, sin, dea md desi i u
 God's glory, his kavod, is especially associated with his status as king
What house more stately hath there been,
of the universe. His glory is symbolized by the paraphernalia of kingship,
Or can be, than is Man?1
the crown, his robe and staff, as is the glory of earthly kings. In Israel and
Before proceeding, we must pause to get some sense of what glory is. the ancient Near East, the crown and robe of kingship are often repre-
The word in Hebrew is kavod and is regularly translated doxa in Greek. sented as radiant, shining with a splendor fierce as the sun. Sometimes
The senses of the Greek word doxa, both in the Septuagint and the New the radiance takes the form of flaming fire surrounded by a cloud as at
Testament, is governed by biblical Hebrew usage. Glory, or kavod, is a Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:l6ff; cf. Ezekiel 1:4, etc.), or more humbly as
metaphor that originally referred to heaviness. We have a faint parallel in a fire in a bush. Images of robes and light symbolizing the divine glory
English when we call someone important a "heavyweight." Figuratively, come together especially in the radiance of the heavens, as Psalm 104
to grant someone glory is to give due weight to their importance and majestically shows. YHWH is "clothed with honor and majesty," he covers
stature-as when a small boat proceeds with respect lest it be swamped himself "with light as with a garment" (w. 1-2). Divine glory is a radi-
in the wake of a great ship. In Hebrew, qillel, the verbal opposite of ant, shining splendor that fills all the space around with unquenchable
honoring or glorifying someone, is figuratively to "make light" of them. light. God's glory fills the entire house, whether that house is the temple
Eventually kavod as heaviness becomes less important, somewhat a dead or the cosmos itself.3 Such glory not only dazzles, it inspires awe, the
metaphor. On the one hand, the term acquires connotations of splendor, sort of fear and fascination that Rudolf Otto ascribed to holiness. In its
radiance, light, and greatness (Psalm 104). On the other hand, its range presence we feel small indeed, possessed of joy mingled with fear. For
of usage and connotation includes power, prestige, significance, majesty, Isaiah the fear is so great he bursts into lamentation.
honor, the prerogatives of office, competence, and even the wealth that
typically accrues to important and powerful people. In particular, kings The Earth Filled with Glory
have kavod. Concretely, the king's kavod is manifest in his crown and Now we can turn to Isaiah 6:1-10, which I translate as follows:
robe. Socially, the honor and respect that subjects accord to kings and
nobles is also called kavod. In the year King Uzziah died, I saw YHWH sitting on a
throne, high and exalted. The hem of his garment filled the
Thus, when Psalm 8, with impeccable exegesis, develops the concept
palace. Seraphim stood about him, each with six wings. With
of humans created in the image of God, it does so in royal language:
two each covered his face, with two he covered his body, and
"You have crowned him with kavod and honor, you have given him
with two he flew. The one called out to the other:
dominion over the works of your hands, you have placed all things
under his feet " 2 Because kings possess splendor and power, society "Holy, Holy, Holy is YHWH, God of Hosts;
responds by giving them "glory." Similarly, children give their parents The fullness of all the earth is his glory."
kavod because of parental authority, love, and care. If kings and parents
The threshold foundations shook from the sound of his call-
receive glory and honor from subjects and children, so all the more do
ing out, and the house was filled with smoke. I said, "Woe
humans owe to God the glory due his name. In fact, God complains at
is me, I am undone. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I
one point, "If I am a father, then where is the glory due me?" (Malachi
dwell in the midst ofa people of unclean lips. For my eyes
1:6). Isaiah 42:12 declares that the inhabitants of the entire world are
have seen the King, YHWH of Hosts." One of the seraphim
to give kavod to the Lord.
flew to me, and in his hand was a burning coal that he took
Finally, kavod signals wealth, goods, and possessions. So Psalm 49,
from upon the altar. He touched my mouth and said, "This
in a passage that reminds us that even the rich die, says, "Do not fear
has touched your lips, so that your iniquity and sin are atoned
when a man becomes rich, when the kavod of his house increases." In
for." Then I heard the sound of the Lord saying, "Whom
other words, don't despair when the rich, especially the wicked rich,
shall I send, and who will go for us?" I said, "Here am I, send
fill their houses with splendid things (Psalm 49:16-17; cf. Proverbs 1:13;
me." He said, "Go, say to this people, 'Hear, really hear...
24:1-4).
 so that you do not understand. See, really see... so that you God's house, but merely the hem of his garment. Isaiah here employs
do not know.' Fatten the heart of this people, make its ears a distancing device that is common in biblical portraits of God. God
heavy, and blind its eyes, lest it see with its eyes, and hear is seen, but never quite directly. Even an indirect glance at God seems
with its ears, and understand with its heart, so that the people too much. Ezekiel will even talk only of seeing "the appearance of the
convert and God heal them." likeness of the glory of the Lord" (Ezekiel 1:28).
The image of the fringe of God's robe represents glory revealed—in
This majestic passage is filled with God's holiness and glory. It is fact the Septuagint simply translates "hem" as doxa, glory. The image
also terrifying, for in it is revealed the unfathomable mystery of God's of dark smoke captures the mystery of the Deus absconditus, God hid-
wrath upon his own people—a people called to embody his glory, a den from view. Yet it also reveals God as present, for the visible and
people meant to be a light to the nations. The judgment is fearful, for incense-laden smoke is testimony that the invisible God is there. The
the people called to live as images of his glory are now deprived of the smoke reminds us that the one whose presence we sense in his cosmic
perceptual apparatus to see that glory. It is as if God has allowed his own effects is incomprehensible even as he dwells among us. It is like the wind
people to indulge their reprobate mind, a hardened heart that cannot that blows; no one sees it, but we know it is there, because we see the
know him. It is not the pagans here. It is God's own people: "They are branches bend and the leaves tremble. The king is seen and unseen, hid-
filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of den and revealed in robes of smoke that fill the palace. In a sense, there
envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, hat- is nothing there but the glory of God—God present on his throne and
ers of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient everywhere as glory, filling the cosmic house.
to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless." That was Paul talking We need to distinguish local glory, centered in a temple or palace,
about pagans in Romans 1. He could have been talking about Israel in from the universal cosmic glory that bears witness to God's omnipres-
Isaiah's day. He could have been talking about us Americans. ence in the creation he has made to be his home. God's local glory was
When Isaiah sees the Lord seated on his throne, Judah's king Uzziah variously manifest in the wilderness tent (Exodus 40), or in the "angel
has just died. When kings die, when regimes change, people fear, for the of the Lord," or in the person of the high priest (Exodus 28), and most
world is thrown into uncertainty, and the wicked creep out of darkness to definitively in the Word made flesh, who "tabernacled" among us so that
seize the light of day. When kings die, revolutions take place, the mighty we beheld his glory, full of grace and truth (John 1:14-18). The palace
jockey for position, and among ordinary folk, no one knows whether or temple with the divine king on his throne is a microcosmos of the
the new king will bring joy or bleak-faced chaos. Everyone is troubled, entire creation, as becomes clear when the seraphim sing their song. The
not sure whether regime change will bring better or worse. temple is the place where the God who "fills heaven and earth" (Jeremiah
The king has died, and Isaiah sees a vision of God seated on his throne, 23:24) is locally, intensely present. The temple on Mount Zion, like the
the everlasting king of the universe. The nations tremble and shake, tabernacle in the wilderness, is the place where heaven and earth are one,
but the throne in the heavens, high and lifted up, remains unshaken, where God's limitless existence is localized as an intense presence in the
untouched by the chaos and turmoil of humans below. The heavenly midst ofa sinful people, who are being made holy by grace. That juxta-
throne is far above the uncleanness of human history, but it is not uncon- position of the Holy God and his unclean people is made possible only
cerned or indifferent. The God of glory casts his eye upon his people by the altar, with its cleansing coals and atoning sacrifices. This vision
and upon Isaiah with compassion, even in judgment, for he knows their of the temple as the place of atonement and of God's local glory helps
story is not yet finished. us better understand Jesus's description of his death and resurrection:
In his vision, Isaiah sees through the cosmic veil that separates heaven "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19).
from earth and God from humankind. Yet, God is veiled and hidden by There, in the body of Christ dying on the cross and rising from the grave,
a cloud of smoke that fills the house. The king of heaven and earth is God's glory appears locally, with an intensity almost too great to bear.
veiled by a cloud of unknowing, but he is also revealed indirectly by the The glory of the cross makes people clean and holy, fit for the presence
fringe of his robe that fills the palace. Notice, it is not his robe that fills
 history: "As I live, and as the glory of the Lord fills the earth, none of
of God. Someday the knowledge of that glory will fill the earth. the men who saw my glory and the signs I did in Egypt. . . shall see the
land which I swore to their fathers" (Numbers 14:21-23).
The Mystery of Glory
In the same way, Isaiah sees the God of glory, and the seraphim sing,
The seraphim, however, sing of YHWH's universal glory throughout "the fullness of all the earth is his glory," precisely when Judah stands
the earth, and it is to this open mystery that we now turn. God's glory under divine judgment for its failure to do justice and righteousness
in creation is a mystery because our experience often seems to contradict (Isaiah 5:1-7). Underlying the seraphic hymn is a picture of the universe
or obscure our confession of God's omnipresence in glory. We proclaim itself as God's house, a glorious palace created for him to dwell in. This
God is everywhere present, but the experience of many people is that image of creation as God's house runs throughout Scripture in connection
God is simply invisible, unconnected to the humdrum of daily life. Pain with the related theme of YHWH's kingship. Sometimes this is explicit,
and injustice makes the reality of God seem dim. We see him not, we as when Jesus tells the kingdom parable ofa man who goes on a journey,
cannot find him. Isaiah's vision poses an ancient answer to this human leaving his "house" in care of his servants (Mark 13:32-37). Or as when
woe: the holy God is hidden by the heavenly veil, open only to the ter- God declares, "Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. What is
rified prophet, he is surrounded by a cloud of smoke. And yet, and yet, the house that you would build for me?... My hands made all these things
the hem of his robe fills the house with his glory. and they came to be" (Isaiah 66:1, translation of last phrase uncertain).
Isaiah sees into God's local palace. But the seraphim's song shows that At other times it is merely implicit, whenever metaphorical language of
more is at stake. The ultimate palace for God's glory is the universe. As house-building describes the creation. So in Proverbs 3:19-20:
in the local temple, so in the cosmos. It would be understandable if the
seraphim had sung that "the fullness of all the heavens is his glory." But The Lord by Wisdom founded the earth,
they sing instead, "the fullness of all the earth is his glory!" How can by his skill, he made the heavens secure,
this be? Is not this world the place where God's glory, his kingship, his by his knowledge the deeps were divided,
holiness are all compromised and ruined by the calamities and terrors and the clouds drop dew.
of history? The announcement is so shattering that the thresholds shake Not incidentally, these same house-building verbs ("founded" and
and the house fills with smoke. "make... secure") and nouns of wisdom, skill, and knowledge are used
There is a mysterious sense in which human history and sin do not of building the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Zion
touch the glory of God in creation, no more than the death of King Uzzi- (Exodus 31:1-3; 1 Kings 7:13-14). As God built his cosmos, so wise
ah shakes the throne of YHWH who never dies. God's glory in creation humans build his local, earthly habitation, and even their own houses
is never shaken, even by the tumult and terrors of history. Human sin (Proverbs 24:3-4). Such houses are meticulously provisioned with good
and pride seek to supplant or corrupt God's glory in creation. But God's and splendid things that reflect the splendor of God. The house, its
holiness and glory remain intact and are revealed also in history, for there furnishings, and its servants all reflect the glory of the owner. So the
is a penultimate, rough justice that undoes sin and stops civilizations gone universe is God's kingly house, the place he wants to live, and it is meant
awry. Thus it is that in the midst of Israel's rebellions God manifests his to be filled with good things and people.
glory, both locally and cosmically. For example, in the wilderness journey Several psalms give us a sense of this: Psalm 24 begins, "The earth
towards the Promised Land, just when the rebellious congregation is is the LORD'S and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell
ready to stone Moses and Aaron, we read, "Then the glory of the LORD therein; for he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the
appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel" (Numbers rivers" where again "founded" and "established" (= made secure) are
14:10). Moses prays that God, who judges sin and rebellion but who is metaphors from the realm of house-building. The psalm continues by
also "slow to anger and abounding in love" (Numbers 14:18), will once asking who may enter into the local presence of God: "Who shall ascend
again forgive his people. Then the Lord hears and promises to forgive. the hill of the LORD? ... He who has clean hands and a pure heart "
But he also swears an oath of terrifying majesty regarding rheir place in

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 20). On the other hand, in our culture, the exclusive, monotheistic claim
The psalm concludes with the King of glory, the Lord of hosts, coming that the earth and all in it belongs to YHWH alone, and that it embodies
into his dwelling place. Clearly, Psalm 24 and Isaiah 6 belong to the his glory alone raises objections from a multicultural and tolerant world
same world of thought. that says all religions are equally valid paths to God. In such a view, it
So does Psalm 29 (echoed in Psalm 96:7-8): "Ascribe to the LORD, O matters not whether people worship many gods or one god under many
heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength—" And then names. The church must find answers to these objections: How do we
the psalm continues with a remarkable description of the glory of the care for the creation (nature and culture both) without worshiping it?
Lord in the form ofa thunderstorm arising from the Mediterranean Sea: And how do we proclaim that God in Christ is redeeming the world
"The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders." without arrogance and pride that deceives only ourselves?
The thunderous voice of God shatters the cedars of Lebanon, themselves Isaiah 6:3 is not polytheistic or pantheistic when it proclaims that the
symbols of glory; his voice shakes the wilderness of Kadesh (whose name earth is filled with God's glory. But how does this actually take place?
means holy); his voice strips the forests bare, and in response, all within Calvin, in his commentary on Isaiah 6 notes that the literal sense of
his temple cry, "Glory!" The temple or palace of God here is clearly the Isaiah 6:3b is that the glory that fills the whole earth is the sum of all
cosmos, because, "The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD creatures taken together. He writes:
sits enthroned as king for ever."
The meaning of this world and of all that fills it is to make the glory of Literally it is, the fullness of the whole earth, which might be
its Creator concrete and visible. That is its purpose, that is its meaning, understood to refer to the fruits, and animals, and manifold
and that is why we humans and all creatures live. The angels do not sing riches with which God has enriched the earth, and might
that the earth should be filled with the glory of God. They do not say convey this meaning, that in the ornaments and great variety
that someday it will be filled with the glory of God. They do not even of furniture of the world the glory of God shines, because
say, as many translations have it, that the earth is filled with the glory of they are so many proofs ofa father's love.5
God. They simply say that "the fullness of all the earth is his glory." Calvin is not entirely happy with this literal idea. So instead he sug-
Today, the seraphim's majestic declaration that the fullness of all the gests that "the more simple and natural interpretation is, that the glory of
earth is YHWH's glory is susceptible to objections that to relate creation God fills the whole world, or is spread through every region of the earth."
and Creator so intimately is an incipient form of polytheism or pan- Calvin sees here an implicit polemic against Israel (whom he unfortu-
theism, where the creation is worshiped rather than the Creator who nately identifies as "Jews"), against the idea that God's glory is contained
is not a creature (Romans 1). In fact, some Christians are so afraid of and controlled by Israel within its Jerusalem temple. No doubt, Isaiah 6
the "world"4 (forgetting that God made it good) that they mistakenly contains both implicit and explicit critique of Israel: God's glory is not
assume that heaven is our proper concern. For such Christians any serious their exclusive preserve but fills the entire earth.
concern for the created environment is automatically seen as evidence But Calvin's preference for the idea that God's glory is "spread through
of paganism. Ironically, these same American Christians often embrace every region of the earth" still begs the question, how exactly is his glory
other forms of polytheism, which revere not the gods of nature but the omnipresent in the world? How is this accomplished? As far as I can
gods of culture and civil religion. These Christian polytheists share their see, based both on this and other passages, we are forced to return to
Sunday allegiance to Jesus with the Monday gods of Money, Power, his first idea: that the fruits and animals, beings and processes, creatures
Fame, Military Might, Personal Freedom, Sex, Food, Folly, Football, and humans of this magnificent created world are the mode in which
and What-Have-You (my name for the unknown god mentioned by the God's glory is present in all the earth, as a robe of glory that fills the
Athenians). Instead, care of the creation in all its aspects, natural and cosmic temple. Not only is the house filled, it is provident. In Scripture
cultural alike, should be seen as fundamental to our obedience to Christ, and in the ancient Near East, the image of a temple as God's house is
who reconciled all things to the Father and has given us a ministry of accompanied with images of abundance and provision, of furnishings
reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Genesis 1:28-31; Colossians 1:15-

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 is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and
and processes that supply all the needs of the inhabitants in glorious what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so
fashion and reveal the character of the owner. Ezekiel captures this when all these things are mine,' says the LORD" (66:1-2; alternate translation
he portrays the new temple as a source of water flowing from the throne of last phrase). Not only was the temple not enough to contain God, it
of God, filling the entire parched earth with life and abundance. Psalm was often polluted by sin, so that sacrifices and rituals of cleansing were
46 expresses the same image, "There is a river whose streams make glad needed to cleanse and make it holy, fit for God's presence. The thrice
the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the holy Lord of hosts does not wish to dwell where sin and uncleanness
midst of her, she shall not be moved—* deface his glory.
Our thinking about the glory of God in creation is helped here when My argument then is that the manifold of created creatures is the first
we consider Psalm 104. The psalm begins with the cosmic portrayal mode of God's glory in the world. They are not God—by no means! And
of God who has "stretched out the heavens like a tent, who has set the yet they, as creatures, bear and communicate his glory. Psalm 19 says this
beams of his chambers upon the heavenly ocean." The Creator, we read, explicitly: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament
is "clothed with honor and majesty, [he] covers himself with light as with proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to
a garment " The last section of the psalm begins with a petition: "May night declares knowledge... their voice goes out through all the earth,
the glory of the LORD endure for ever, may the LORD rejoice in his works." and their words to the end of the world" (Psalm 19:1-4). Elsewhere,
This petition is followed by a description ofa cosmic theophany which the faithful regular functioning and splendor of the heavenly bodies
echoes the opening of the entire psalm, where the glory first appeared declare God's righteousness (Psalms 50:6; 97:6) to a world that too often
in storm clouds and light (w. 1-4). This petition also echoes the delight wonders whether God is just. Psalm 148 is even more astonishing, for
shown throughout the psalm in God's creation and maintenance of all it animates all creatures, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate,
things: "How manifold are your works! In wisdom you made them all; with the praise of God. They embody his glory and by this fact they
the earth is full of your creatures" (v. 24). Yet, the very last petition of speak his praise. The poet works down from the highest heaven to the
the psalm reminds readers that all is not well: "Let sinners be consumed
lowliest creature, not forgetting humans: "Praise him, all his angels
from the earth, and let the wicked be no more" (v. 35). This sudden
Praise him sun and moon, praise him all you shining stars!... Praise
prayer against evil reminds us that, somehow, human sin is at odds with
the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail,
the glory of God in creation. Nonetheless, the earth is full of creatures
snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command! Mountains and all
that embody the glory and wisdom of the Lord.
hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all cattle, creeping things and
This brief glance at Psalm 104 confirms that seeing all creatures as the flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of
variegated expression of God's glory is the "literal sense" of Isaiah 6. It the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children!...
tells us how God's glory exists in this world, in spite of human sin and Let them praise the name of the LORD!" Creatures are both the praise
machinations. The creation and all creatures in it are not God himself; and the visible manifestation of God's glory, for "his glory is over earth
that would be polytheistic pantheism. Rather, the creation is the cosmic and heaven" (Psalm 148:13). The entire Psalter concludes simply, "Let
house, which God designed for his presence. And in that house, as it every thing that breathes praise the LORD."
were, all creatures together fill the creation with glory as his royal robe Superb Old Testament theologian that he was, St. Paul understood
fills his temple. The house and its contents are the Owner's glory. this very well. In 1 Corinthians 15, his great discussion of the resurrec-
Israel, however, needed to be modest about its house of worship, tion as the vindication and fulfillment of creation, he reminds us that
though God's glory filled it. Solomon saw this when he dedicated the each creature has its own glory. Creatures, he writes in 1 Corinthians
first temple: "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven 15, whether sun and moon, or humans, birds, and animals, all have
and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house different types of "bodies," and different types of "flesh," and thus have
which I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27). Or to repeat the divine utterance different sorts of glory {doxa). "There are heavenly bodies and earthly
in Isaiah 66: "Thus says the LORD, 'Heaven is my throne and the earth

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 Christ as the redeemed humanity, his glorious body. In him, creaturely
bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one sort and the glory of the glory and the glory of history become one and the same. Paul's theology,
earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory with its Adam/second Adam Christology, is based on Genesis 1. The
of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star idea is that each creature has its proper glory, and the glory of humans
in glory. So," he concludes, "it is with the resurrection of the dead." especially is to embody and represent the glory of God here on earth.
Christians die in the image of the first Adam, the man of dust; but they
are raised in the glorious image of the second Adam, the man from Falling Short of the Glory
heaven. Thus it is not surprising that when Paul presents his short definition
In this context we need to revisit Genesis 1, where the purpose of of sin, he does so in terms ofa global failure of glory: "For all have sinned
human existence is laid out, once and for all. When God gives Adam, and fall short of the glory of God." Paul here describes sin as a failure
male and female together, the charter of human society and culture, he to embody and express God's glory in the course of human history. If
says, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth—" You might ask, "Fill we recall the image of creation as a house to be filled with good things,
the earth with what?" Well, with little human bodies, no doubt. But the with the glory of God, then early in the biblical story we find that the
text really means something more, though it is left implicit. Humans humans who were blessed ("be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth") have
are created in God's image, as his royal agents, as servant-kings who not filled the earth with glory. Instead, in the flood story, we are told
represent the royal glory and purposes of God on earth. The text does that human sin corrupts the earth itself and fills it with violence instead
not say this explicitly, but it is a necessary presupposition of Hebrew of glory. The flood story begins with a disturbing echo of Genesis 1,
anthropology. This idea becomes clear in Psalm 8, with its answer to the "When men began to multiply on the face of the earth" (Genesis 6:1).
question, "What is 'man'.. .what is the son of Adam that you care for The echo is disturbing because soon "the earth was corrupt in God's
him? You have... crowned him with glory and honor, you have given sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth,
him dominion over the works of your hands, you have put all things and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon
under his feet... beasts of the field, birds of the air, and the fish of the the earth. And God said to Noah, 'I have determined to make an end
sea—" This is the psalmist exegeting Genesis 1 for us. Paul as Old Testa- of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them'" (Genesis
ment exegete confirms this reading, when he simply states that "man" is 6:11-13a). Evidently, God expected the humans to fill the earth with
"the image and glory of God" (1 Corinthians 11:7). Humans are royal something else.
agents and bearers of God's kingly glory here on earth. Thus when God
Sin makes God's local presence and glory a problem. God designed
blesses Adam, male and female, and says, "be fruitful, and fill the earth,"
humans to be holy so that he could dwell in their midst. Throughout
the subtext is "fill the earth with my glory, for each of you, and all of
Scripture there is a dialectic of God's absence and presence with regard
you in your various families and groups, is the image of my glory on
to humans. This theme runs through the biblical metanarrative as a
earth."
scarlet thread, sometimes as foreground and sometimes as background.
Again, St. Paul, or perhaps deutero-Paul, as our Old Testament theo- From Eden to Sinai and the Exile, from Christ incarnate to the heavenly
logian of choice, gets it right when he says that God's purpose in Christ Jerusalem descending from heaven, the burning question is whether
is "to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." the healing, saving God of glory and grace is near to us or distant—for
And in accordance with this plan, "we who first hoped in Christ have we experience the absence of his glory and grace as wrath. The double
been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory" (Ephesians climax of this great metanarrative occurs at its middle and end. The
1:11). Consequently, the church, as the communal body of Christ, is middle finds God present in the glory of Christ crucified and resur-
simply "the fullness of him who fills all in all." So in a sense, it is a false rected. The end (which is a new beginning) finds Father, Son, and Spirit
either/or to give a christological reading of Isaiah 6 and oppose it to an present in the New Jerusalem, center ofa new heavens and earth where
anthropological or cosmological reading of it. Hermeneutically, both are righteousness isfinally at home (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-22:7).
true, as Ephesians shows. What finally fills the earth is Christ, especially

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God lift up on its cherubim throne and leave the temple in Jerusalem to
Here the promise of "Emmanuel" is forever realized.
go and dwell among the exiles in pagan Babylon. It is as if the godless
It seems to me that no problem is more existential than the experience
nations around Israel are less offensive to God than his own people.
of the absence of God. We experience God as absent in our daily lives,
and sometimes most intensely when we sit in church to worship. Why In spite of many public claims of intimacy with God in our culture,
is this? How can it be? The problem of God's absence for Israel and us and many references to God's guidance (as in "Jesus laid it on my heart
is not merely ontological, that God is Creator and everything else is that you and I should be together, Sue Marie"), it may be that such
merely creature. Already in the Old Testament, God bridged that gap claims are in fact self-deceiving spiritual fantasies, for they are often
by taking human form. In the cool of the day he walked with Adam in utterly out of tune with God's guidance in Scripture, and particularly
the garden. He appears to Abraham as one of three men, as the "angel out of tune with his requirements for justice, righteousness, and truth.
of the Lord." God in his love has always bridged the ontological gap. The abundance of such claims, whether they are made for political pur-
The true problem of God's absence and distance is more radical. It is poses or to justify the trivia of personal desires, may actually be evidence
the conflict between good and evil, between the pure beauty of holiness for the absence of God in our culture and in our lives. Communally, we
and the unclean confusion of sin, which distorts and destroys the beauty live unclean lives in the midst of an unclean people, and perhaps we
all around it. In biblical terms, God's holiness is incompatible with the make much religious noise to hide our distance from God. Isaiah was
uncleanness of sin. From the beginning of creation, God's intention was certainly familiar with this problem. "I cannot endure your iniquity
to dwell among his human image bearers, in the midst ofa creation that and pious assemblies... even though you make many prayers, I will not
is his cosmic house. After the rebellion of humanity, the question now listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves
becomes, how can the Holy One of Israel dwell in the midst of an unclean clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do
people? How can the All-Consuming-Fire inhabit the bush without its evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the father-
being consumed? This mystery runs through the Bible from beginning less, plead the widow's case" (Isaiah 1:13-17). Even if we as individuals
to end. No more than humans would want to bed down in the cool consider ourselves morally and spiritually pure, as American citizens we
muck of a pig sty on a hot summer night does God want to dwell in communally have blood on our hands. I am not referring here to our
the muck ofa creation polluted by sin. Paradoxically, the prayer, "come recent excursions into Afghanistan and Iraq, or our historical slaughter
Holy Spirit" can be negated when we resist the sacrificial pain of sancti- of Native Americans, though we might reflect on them. Rather, I have
fication, when our individual and cultural life-styles prove incompatible in mind, among other things, a recent (2003-2004) series of articles in
with God's holiness. By sin we grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) the New York Times called "Harvesting Poverty." This series makes clear
and quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), becoming personally and that, in our global village, the American and European practices of sub-
communally unfit temples for God's presence. sidizing agribusiness violate our own policies of free trade and unjustly
foster poverty and starvation in places like Burkina Faso.
In the Old Testament, when God encounters extreme sin and unclean-
ness, he exercises two options: either he takes his localized glory and Glorify God in Your Bodies
leaves the muck behind, or he simply destroys what is unclean and
wicked, like a fire burns up a bush or leaps out from the altar to devour The good news of the gospel is that God has come and will come
Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-3). Twice in Israel's history, God leaves again to fix what we humans cannot. Ultimately we cannot fix the cre-
his people most dramatically. In the days of the judges, God takes his ation, our culture, or ourselves. The good news is that when the God of
throne, the ark of the covenant, and leaves the tabernacle at Shiloh to glory comes to earth, he makes all that is wrong right again, including
stay among the uncircumcised Philistines. A desolate mother's response us humans. This joyful theme is the subject or our second lecture. Here
to this departure of God is to name her newborn son Ichabod: "Where we must be brief, though the theme is worthy of our endless attention
has the glory gone'" ,1 Samuel 4:2 i >. The other instance is the dramatic and devotion, yes, even our lives! The end of the biblical story is that
vision of Ezekiel. In that vision, the prophet set s the lo< a izt gloi ol heaven and God come down to earth to dwell with humankind. Heaven

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and earth, God and humans are finally brought together in a righteous Endnotes
world that is a temple, a New Jerusalem, where the glory of God's light 1. Mario A. Di Cesare, George Herbet and the Seventeenth-Century Religious Po
(W.W.Norton, 1978), 40.
fills the entire place. 2. Christians, of course, will here recall the New Testament allusions to Christ as
But on route to the day, God in Christ is already engaged in a work of the second Adam, son of Adam, in whom humans find again their lost identity and
re-creation that begins in the human heart, restoring our bodily existence purpose.
to the image of the Creator, restoring us bodily as agents and emblems 3. The idea is found not only in Israel but throughout the ancient Near East.
4. In Scripture it is important to remember that "world" has two senses: 1) The good
of God's glory. Paul can write, "Do you [plural throughout] not know creation of God, which he is redeeming and will one day renew completely (John 3:16).
that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit among you, which you 2) This world in wicked rebellion against God (Romans 12:2).
have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. 5. J. Calvin, Old Testament Commentaries, 88.
6. Greek anthropos here refers to the "old man" (Adam) and "new man" (Christ the
So glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; cf. Romans 12:1- second Adam) respectively. See Galatians 3:27 and Romans 13:14.
2). Paul can command that we glorify God in our bodily lives, because
the risen Lord gives what he commands. Working from the inside out,
beginning in the hiddenness of human hearts, he has begun a new
creation, one that starts with humans being renewed in the image of
the Creator, renewed in the image of Christ. A few texts will have to
do. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with
unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into
his likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:17-
18). Again, the same "God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness'...
has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). Of course, we have
this transcendent power in earthen vessels, and the flesh often dims the
glory of God straining to be revealed in our bodies. We should not be
discouraged, whatever the apparent odds, for God does not abandon the
work of his hands, and he will complete the good work he has begun in
us and entrusted to us. "For we are his artwork, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk
in them" (Ephesians 2:10). Finally, "do not lie to one another, seeing
that you have put off the 'old man' 6 with its practices and have put on
the new man, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of
its creator" (Colossians 3:9-10). Here, it seems to me, is the beginning
of the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, "someday the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
Someday, the reality of God's glory, which fills all the earth, will find a
humanity that knows it and embodies it in its ordinary life before the
face of God.

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