(A) 19 August
It is very hard to see real glory; when we think that glory is about making a splash, creating some publicity, and promoting self-achievement, and popularity,
we miss the real thing because we borrow our standards and values from people who have mixed glory up with publicity – people like pro athletes and entertainers, hard-charging winners in politics and business, occupants of named chairs in universities and the like.
Some people think that there is glory in being lethal (as in combat), or sexist, or profane, or being ‘influencers’ – for many, glory is reputation, built on competition and publicity and peer review by people just as messed up as we are.
The Bible is our teacher because it finds glory somewhere else and usually in places where we are not looking for it; and interestingly, this is real glory in the eyes of God.
Just a side-line in this discussion:
One godly believer has stated that when a preacher thinks he is a great preacher, then to him and others, God is not great, for someone has forgotten that it is God who is the real preacher. and the glory belongs to him alone.
Likewise, when a church leader declares that “this is my church, and I will not allow anyone to undermine it”, he forgets that the church belongs to God, and it is God who would build the church that even the gates of hell cannot destroy it. Jesus himself had declared that we should not call anyone ‘lord’ or ‘master’, for there is truly only one Master (Jesus himself), implying that we follow and obey him exclusively, and not pretentious leaders who are basically saved sinners.
Hudson Taylor, the pioneer missionary to China, was an outstanding committed Christian who endured much hardship in his desire to reach China for Christ. He sacrificed a great deal – he dressed like a Chinese in Chinese clothes with pigtails; he endured the loss of some of his children in his ministry, but there is one incident he shared that made a great impression. Hudson Taylor was very sick at one time, such that he had to lie down and not able to ‘move’ for quite a while; during this period, he was rather concerned for the ministry, wondering what will happen to it, when the Lord God impressed upon him that the ministry is God’s ministry and the glory is God’s glory -not the glory of Hudson Taylor.
One such place we do not look for real glory is in John 12. The Son of Man will die and fall into the earth in an event so devastating that it will seem to turn creation back to chaos, but Jesus says that this is the hour that the Son of Man will be glorified (v.23). The disciples would see the Romans taking his dignity in a public spectacle meant to intimidate anybody with an eye to see or an ear to hear to tremble at state-sponsored terrorisml.How can this hour be the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified? Being glorified on a cross? Glory in the cross of Jesus sounds almost grotesque to many; but the Gospel wants us to find glory in this disaster; the Gospel finds glory in places where we are not looking for it.
Glory is everywhere in the Gospel and it has nothing to do with competition or making a splash. In John 13, the same Jesus who knew he was going to die, did something his disciples talked about for years. Jesus took off his robe, tied a towel around himself, poured water into a basin, and bent over the feet of his disciples and washed them, even he did it for Judas Iscariot as well. He also handed Judas bread – feeding the traitor.
“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him” (12:31) – this statement was made after Judas walked out into the darkness. Should we find glory in the washing of the feet and the feeding of the bread?
This mysterious glory shines forth also from Jesus and his prayer in John 17.
Jesus prays for his disciples; he thinks of them, even of the next generation of disciples. “Protect them”, he prays; sanctify them, unite them, fill them with joy – let your love be in them and I in them.
In the washing of the feet, we find glory because it is so much like Good to clean people up and cause them to flourish. Has not God always humbled himself to serve usl even when our sin has led us into terrible trouble?
The feeding of Judas – we find glory here because it is so much like God to feed enemies and cause them to flourish even while He oppose their evil
The Spirit of God tells us the real glory is in the blood, the cross, the water in the basin and the bread given to even His enemy, and maybe that is a truth about God the Holy Trinity that we can take in our hearts just like Moses, coming down from the mountain with our faces shining from God’s love. The glory on Moses’ face disappeared eventually; the glory on Jesus’ face persists eternally!
(B) 21 August
We have shared previously that the world sees glory as related to reputation built on competition and publicity; but the Bible clearly taught that real glory has nothing to do with competition or making a splash. Glory is found in doing what God desires – when God condescends himself in Christ to bring salvation to those who are undeserving, those who are his enemies – we see glory in the Cross, for we see Love, grace, and mercy manifested in all its glory. We see glory when Christ humbled himself to serve us; we see it when we see God ‘cleaning up and serving’ people to cause them to flourish; we see glory in God loving his enemies and seeking their good, although he opposes their evil. Yes , indeed, when God so loves the world that he gives his only beloved begotten son – that is glory in all its splendour; when the Son undertook to take the place of sinners and to receive the wrath of God on their behalf, that is glory in all its sacrificial love – the glory is in it because God’s love is all over it.
To go to a cross for somebody, your love would have to be fierce. To go to a cross you would have to be terrifying in the strength of your passion for sinners.
“God so loves the world” is a cry from the depths – the humiliating death of Jesus Christ was actually a triumph of self-giving love – that is why it brings glory to God.
The point is that God’s splendour becomes clearer whenever God or the Son powerfully spends himself in order to cause others to flourish – here is the power and the glory! The only competition in glory of this kind is to outdo one another in love. So, if we seek true glory, then we find our flourishing only in causing others to flourish. This is eternal life; to receive this wisdom from God and from Jesus, whom God has sent. How astonishing it is to know that when we help others to thrive, when we encourage them, strengthen them, liberate them, keep our promises to them – how astonishing it is to know that when we do these things, we are behaving like God! It is no wonder that the two great commandments given by Jesus are the very commandments, when obeyed, lead us to be like Jesus, who loves his father with all his being and who loves people fiercely with sacrificial love and grace, upon grace. That is the path to true and real glory!
(C) 21 August
A practical example of one who sought God’s glory is Nehemiah in the OT. Nehemiah had a passion for God’s glory; and in seeking God’s glory, he was seeing and seeking the real and true glory for himself, without even realising it.
Notice that Nehemiah was very concerned for the welfare and security of God’s people. When he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, although he was miles away then, serving as the cup-bearer of the king, his heart was burdened for God and His people; he sought to flourish God’s people.
In his role as a cup-bearer, it was a comfortable position and ‘job’. He could have just prayed for Jerusalem, but he took the ‘risk’ to ask the king’s permission to repair the walls in Jerusalem, and this he did prayerfully.
Do we have the same burden of concern and distress when we contemplate the broken-down state of God’s church? Are we willing to learn to pray for the struggling communities of God’s people as Nehemiah prayed, and to accept any change of circumstances and any risk involved in rendering the needed service, just as Nehemiah did?
Nehemiah tackled the task of restoring Jerusalem with single-minded wholehearted enthusiasm. He focused his goals, planned thoroughly for their accomplishment, worked hard for long hours, dealt patiently and wisely with each problem as it arose, resisted distraction, and refused to be discouraged at any stage. He took his calling seriously and fulfilled it gloriously and in this he is a model to all who serve in God’s church.
Are we proceeding as he proceeded, putting God first, others second, and ourselves last as we seek to fulfil our call to ministry? Nehemiah was prepared to put his life on the line. Do we act in a disinterested way, not seeking ease or personal advantage but simply making it our business to love and to serve our Lord by loving and serving our neighbour, leaving it to the Lord to look after us as we concentrate on the tasks he has given us?
And when God is pleased to use us as a means of good for his people, shall we with Nehemiah give him the glory and the praise for what has happened and decline to take the credit for ourselves? Shall we humbly acknowledge the gracious hand of our God upon us, and the gracious kindness of our God in using us, rather than conceitedly supposing that the result is due to our own skills, talents, wisdom, gifts, and experience?