Sermon for October 28th, 2018

Romans 11:33-36

33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Soli Dei Gloria

An atheist was rowing his boat across Loch Ness in Scotland one day, when suddenly the Loch Ness monster rose up out of the water and attacked the man, grabbing him from his boat. He panicked and shouted "God help me!" and suddenly, the monster and everything around him just froze. A voice from the heavens boomed "You say you don't believe in me, but now you're asking for my help?" The atheist looked up and said, "Well, ten seconds ago I didn't believe in the Loch Ness Monster either."

Soli Dei Gloria. Glory to God alone. Or, in some alternate Latin versions, for the glory of God alone. Or glory to the only God. There's actually quite a scholarly debate about that, which unfortunately we don't have time to delve into today. Regardless, this is the last of the five pillars, the five great "solas" of the Reformation -- and it's the one that all the others lead up to: Scripture, faith, grace, and Christ all ultimately point us to God and to God's glory.

Like the other Solas we have considered this month, this one evolved from a disagreement (or perhaps a misunderstanding) between the 16th century Reformers and the medieval Catholic church, one that still persists today, even though it shouldn't. Growing up in a Protestant church, I was always taught that the difference between Catholics and Protestants was that THEY worshiped the Virgin Mary or worshiped the saints but that WE worshiped God alone.

To be clear, the official teaching of the Roman Catholic church has always been that Glory, or worship, belongs to God alone. In the 13th century, Catholic theologians even came up with three separate categories--latria, dulia, and hyperdulia--to explain the difference. Latria is the Latin term for worship that is given to God alone. Dulia is the Latin term for reverence or esteem given to the saints and those who serve as role models in faith.

Ironically, that's exactly what WE do on days like today when we recognize and celebrate Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox. We don't worship them, but we acknowledge their importance to our heritage and our faith.

The third category, hyperdulia (or hyper-reverence), was created specifically for Mary the mother of Jesus, in recognition of the fact that she holds a special place in our story, and even the scriptures single her out as one to be blessed by all generations. Blessed, not worshiped.

This is, and always has been, the official teaching of the Catholic Church.

Johan Sebastian Bach and Handel - SDG

What was this doctrine to Paul in the Scripture?

What was this doctrine to the Reformers? -Glory to God alone, not the saints or Mary -Westminster Catechism chief end of man (glorify + enjoy) -Bethlehem Church: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in God.

What is it to us today? -Not saints, but other things we give glory to that ultimately disappoint us: Celebrity worship (athletes, actors and politicians); Family worship; Worship of possessions;

-Psalm 19:1-4 ??

Jonah's question: What is God? -apophatic tradition (what is God NOT?) -Anselm -Reza Aslan -New God argument (Lincoln)

What is Glory? (Latin Gloria, through gnoria/gnosis, knowledge, recognition)