PASTORAL MEDITATION by Rev. Thomas Hawkins
| THE GLORY OF GOD IS A PERSON FULLY ALIVE Jan and I spent most of our recent vacation in the French city of Lyon. Founded in 43 BCE as the capital of Roman Gaul, it was one of the earliest centers of Christianity in western Europe. Traders and merchants from Smyrna and other cities in Asia Minor settled in Lyon and brought their Christianity with them during the late first and early second century. We know this date because a 2nd-century CE preserved by the 4th-century church historian Eusebius describes how in 177 the church suffered severe persecution under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Following this persecution, an early missionary and theologian named Irenaeus arrived in Lyon and became bishop of Lyon. His book Against the Heresies remains a valuable resource for church historians and theologians. In it he discusses many of the 2nd century’s theological controversies and articulates a vision of Christian faith that he claimed he learned from Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna who claimed his teachings were personally given to him by John the Evangelist, the apostle credited with writing the fourth gospel. One particular sentence from Irenaeus’ Against the Heresies is still widely quoted: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and human life consists in beholding God.” Even if you have no interest in some obscure 2nd-century bishop, this sentence written 1,800 years ago ought to inspire reflection. What does it mean for us to be “fully alive?” And how can “being fully alive” depend upon our willingness or capacity to “behold God?” Lots of ink has been spilled over this sentence across the centuries. In recent years, we’ve read Irenaeus’ sentence through the lens of our contemporary culture that interprets aliveness as being happy and self-satisfied with “doing our own thing.” To be fully alive is to have a triumphant adrenaline rush over our latest achievement. Clearly this is not what Irenaeus meant by “being fully alive,” however. The clue to Irenaeus’ meaning is his linking of “being fully human” with “beholding God.” Anglican spiritual writer Maggie Ross observes that in the Bible “behold is a word that alerts us to pause, however briefly, to be vigilant, because something new, something startling, is about to be revealed.” To behold is to wake up. As Ephesians 5:14 puts it, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” To behold is to pause and notice God at work in each day’s smallest, most ordinary happenings or encounters and thus illumine for us how God’s glory is all around us. The word “Behold!” occurs more than 1,500 times in the Bible. Gabriel says to Mary, “Behold! I bring you news of great joy.” John the Baptizer tells his disciples, “Behold! The lamb of God.” The prophet Isaiah announces to weary exiles, “Behold, God is doing a new thing.” A life that glorifies God begins with our “beholding.” According to Franciscan priest Richard Rohr, beholding happens when we stop trying to ‘hold’ and allow ourselves to ‘be held’ by something beyond ourselves. We are completely enchanted by something outside and beyond ourselves… it becomes an epiphany and the walls of your world begin to expand.” Or as poet William Cowper puts it in his 18th-century hymn: Sometimes a light surprises us, which is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings. Yesterday I walked out onto our driveway and just beyond the garage door I saw a single leaf lying where the wind had blown it free from a nearby maple tree. Once green, it was now a brilliant red and veined with gold. Soon, I knew, its colors would fade and the wind would blow it away. Resting there on an asphalt driveway made of crushed stone and bitumen, this solitary leaf startled me into beholding the promise of beauty that can be found amid even dark moments and changing times. In that leaf, God was pleading with me to “behold” the wonderful works of the Lord (Job 37:14) so that I might live more fully not just in that moment but in every moment of the day. “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and human life consists in beholding God.” I invite us to take time to pause and be attentive to where God’s constant beauty, grace, and mercy are showing up more clearly for us. As we learn to release ourselves from the tyranny of self-absorption, our awareness begins to expand. We notice more frequently where and how God is showing up in our lives, and therefore how God wants us to show up in and for the world. After all, if the Good Book tells us nearly 1,500 times to “behold” and pay attention to how there is glory all around us, then it’s more than a casual suggestion on how we are to go through our days and years. May God be with you always and in all ways, Pastor Thomas |