Terror and Glory

March 29, 2018

The fog this morning lay thick and opaque as I drove up the hill towards Cassadaga, headlights not even denting the mist that swirled and billowed around me. Everything looks different through a fog; perspective is all askew. But sometimes that different perspective helps us see more clearly.

The Biblical story of Samson begins with an angel. Samson’s mother isn’t even named. Apparently, she wasn’t significant enough to be remembered with a name, but it was to her, not her husband Manoah, that the angel appeared, telling her she would give birth to a very unusual child. When she told her husband of this visitation, she described a man who looked like an angel of God. 

Angels in the Bible aren’t the cute chubby cherubs depicted in Renaissance art. Nor are they the effeminate, feathery beings portrayed in much modern art. Whenever they appear, humans tremble in fear before them. When Samson’s mother describes this messenger, she adds a different twist that most translations gloss over. Eugene Peterson’s ‘The Message’ captures the essence of her words with startling clarity: “He looked like...terror laced with glory.” 

I have often thought that with all the blessings of the Incarnation of Christ, it has had the unfortunate side effect of bringing God so near and accessible that many Christians have lost any sense of transcendence and majesty. Jesus is often described as some sort of divine buddy, but rarely as the risen and glorified Christ. I wonder what it would be like if in a prayer meeting or worship service, God met us as ‘terror laced with glory?” Would our prayers change? Would our worship remain casual? Would we go to our homes like someone who has avoided a serious accident by a hair’s breadth, amazed that we have been spared God’s wrath and judgment, overwhelmed by his majesty? Do we even want to encounter God like this?

These words have haunted me all day. The terror of Good Friday is near; the glory of Easter follows close behind. May we not meet an emasculated Jesus, but our Savior and Risen Lord, Terror and Glory personified.