My Blog

Tag: Glory

  • Soli Deo Gloria

     

    I’ve been thinking about glory. Where does it come from? Who is entitled to it? Where does glory fit into the Christian faith and life?

    Perhaps you’ve heard it said, “There’s no telling what can be accomplished if doesn’t matter who gets the glory.” It’s an important proverb for any work group, family, or organization where teamwork and collaboration are important.

    I’ll go you one better: “There’s no telling what can be accomplished if God gets the glory.” The emphasis in my version of the proverb is not only upon selflessness and teamwork. The emphasis is on giving God the credit for what we accomplish.

    The concept of glorifying God is ancient. The Bible is full of examples. So are the writings of theologians, artists, and mystics through the ages. Here are a few examples:

    The sun shall no longer be
       your light by day,
    nor for brightness shall the moon
       give light to you by night;
    but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
       and your God will be your glory. – Isaiah 60:19

    Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
    but to your Name give glory;
        because of your love and because of your faithfulness.  – Psalm 115:1

    Jesus said, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

    St. Paul said, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” – I Corinthians 10:31

    It’s really a fairly simple yet profound concept. Human beings were created in the image of God to be the crowning glory of God’s creation. The glory, therefore, belongs to God. It is our privilege and purpose to glorify God and, when possible, to inspire others to do so as well. Glorifying God is our mission, our delight, and our ultimate purpose. Our aim is to do everything for God's glory to the exclusion of our own self-glorification and pride. Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory and not their own.

    St. Irenaeus of Lyon said, “The glory of God is a fully alive human being.”

    The Westminster Catechism says it this way, “The chief end of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy God for ever.”

    Musicians such as Bach and Handel dedicated their music by writing Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone) on their manuscripts.

    After writing to the Galatian Christians about his life and witness, St. Paul concludes with, “And they glorified God because of me” (Galatians 1:24). Everybody needs a pat on the back from time to time. It is good to affirm and recognize others in our lives. But the highest compliment we can pay others is to let them know their life has inspired us to give glory to God.

    Soli Deo Gloria.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Blue Small

     

     

     

    P.S. Here is Patrick Doyle's setting of that first verse of Psalm 115, composed for the movie "Henry V." The Latin Non Nobis Domine = Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your Name give glory.

     

  • Holy Week: A Time to Remember Who and Whose We Are

    In Baptism, we are incorporated into the Paschal Mystery. That is, we are incorporated into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His life is our life. His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection. It is for this reason that Christians observe Holy Week every year. It is a commemoration intended to put us in touch with that life which the world can neither give nor take away. It is a time to look at the Paschal Mystery and to recover our true identity, our authentic self, in him.

    Five hundred years before Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would be a king. Since the time of the Exile, no Jewish ruler had borne the title of king. “Look, your king is coming to you. Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion” (Zech. 9:9). The time was just right and the people were happy that day to acknowledge it.

    They wished to crown him their king. In their enthusiasm, they missed the paradox. They saw the glory but overlooked the shadow. But Jesus was conscious of both.

    He knew who he was so the acclamations of the crowd did not impress him. He saw that their palm branches cast the shadow of a cross. He sensed that the kingly crown they were offering to him that day would become a crown of thorns by the end of the week. Jesus knew that the identity the world offered was not a secure identity, not a legitimate identity, and certainly not a dependable identity. No, for Jesus, the only true identity is consciousness of who we are in the eyes of our Creator.

    To the disciples, on the next weekend, it must have looked like the world’s biggest failure, a cruel joke. Imagine being sucked in to a group like “the Twelve.” To them “the Way” must have appeared more like a primrose path. Because they were still so dependent upon the things of the world for their sense of identity, they had to be the most embarrassed people around Jerusalem.

    Then came Easter. Out of the tomb came the Risen Messiah with his identity still intact. “He is risen” is shorthand for Jesus message of resurrection, “Behold, I have overcome the world. Behold, I died and I am alive. Behold, who you are need never again depend upon who you know, what you wear, where you live, what you do, how much you possess, or even what people say about you. Because I live, you will live also. You will experience new life in me and you will be able to face the popularity contest the world is running with confidence that you don’t really have to enter it in order to find out who you are. Here is my crown. It is yours! Take it! And believe me when I tell you that this crown of glory, which is both mine and yours, will never fade away.”

    Who and whose we truly are – that’s what Holy Week and Easter are all about.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

     

  • More or Less Important

     

    Gay and I have come to another time of transition in our journey. Calvary Episcopal Church in Ashland, Kentucky has called a new rector.  The time has come for us to leave Calvary and move to another place of ministry.  Those who have known me for a while can appreciate the irony in this.

    I was trained in a communion where clergy traditionally "itinerate," then became a priest in the Episcopal Church where the norm is for clergy to be "settled."  In the one, clergy are appointed for one year at a time and expect to move on short notice.  In the other, clergy are called to a place of ministry and tend to expect to remain settled there for years. It is ironic that I am now engaged in an itinerant ministry in a Church of settled clergy.  My job is to move from place to place on a somewhat frequent basis, helping congregations manage transitions between settled rectors.

    These times are bittersweet.  We share our lives with people for a short while, and then we go.  I won't say we go "our separate ways."  For to say that would be to ascribe to our individual journies more significance than to The Journey on which we travel together in the Communion of Saints.  We form relationships and it is not normal for those relationships to be discarded just because our corporate life takes us to another geographical location.  There are boundaries that must be set in place when clergy leave a place.  But those boundaries do not mean we do not care nor that we cannot remain in touch with those whom we have grown to love as we have shared in Christ's mission.

    My priestly duties come to a conclusion in this community and soon will begin anew in another community.  The new rector will be leaving her priestly duties in one community and begin them anew in this one.

    In truth, these experiences are not unique to interim ministry; they just happen more frequently for us.  When this time comes, I always think of something that I learned early in my vocational life as I was preparing to be licensed to preach.  During the course of study, I had to answer a series of questions for each unit.  In one unit, the question was, "In what way was John the Baptist the precursor to Jesus Christ?"  I didn't even know what a "precursor" was!  A visit to the dictionary told me that a precursor is "a person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner."  The role of John the Baptist was to go before Jesus to prepare the way for him and his ministry, which was very different from that of John.

    The heart of my answer to the question then and now is found In the third chapter of John (Jn. 3:22-30), when John's disciples come to him with concern about Jesus, who now appeared to be in competition with John.  John's response to them was, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30).

    This is not exactly "Lame Duck Theology."  There is still transition work to be done.  It is healthy ministry.  The time comes when one moves on and another arrives to lead God's people into a new era of mission and ministry.  What John did for Jesus, we do for those who come after us.  Each builds upon whatever has gone before.  Each steps into a future where we must have confidence that God will meet us there to lead, guide, and direct.

    It is time for me to become less important at Calvary and for the new rector, The Reverend Antoinette "TJ" Azar to become more important.  I am quite proud of the devoted work of the nominating committee and vestry in calling her as the new leader of this parish.  I predict that their ministry together will be fruitful in many ways – new ways, powerful ways, transforming ways!

    In a few days, it will be time for me to announce where I am going next.  In that community, a priest is saying farewell to people he has loved and cared for.  In this community, a priest is on the way to a community that is opening its arms to welcome her.  It's the way things work in this Church – and most churches for that matter – and in transitional ministry.  God be with all of us in this and every transition so that our work will be done to God's glory and not our own.  For it is God who is constant in this ever-changing ministry.

    There is no limit to what we might accomplish if it is always God who gets the credit!

    Ron Short Sig Blue