Glory

I'm preaching this weekend on God's glory. The main question that comes out of looking at God's glory is how do I bring glory to God. I've been giving this some thought for several years. In some ways, this question is answered by many that to give God glory I have to achieve something great. After all, greatness= glory. This is true in some ways. God's greatness is demonstrated in his glory. They are definitely linked. The glory of God is the weightiness of God's greatness. It is the magnitude of his being. It is the splendor of his love. It is the demonstration of his holiness. In the OT it is something that literally shows up: Ex 33, Is 6. This is true (in some ways) in the NT as well as in Matt 17.

However, in the NT something strange happens with the concept of glory. John 1:14 says, "The Word (the Son) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." This is remarkable. The glory of God is God in his finest, when he is surrounded by the heavenly chorus shouting "Hosanna in the highest....Holy is the Lord...The earth is full of his glory...Hallelujah..." And yet, John says that he, in eyewitness, language has seen, himself, the glory of God. The OT describes the glory in cloud like fashion. Yet John says, he has seen it! How has he seen it? The Word made his dwelling among us. He saw it in the life of Jesus. In the ordinary. He saw it in the flesh and blood of a person- in Jesus Christ, his friend. He saw the greatness of God expressed in a carpenter, who wandered around the countryside teaching and preaching. He saw the glory of God in the death of Jesus and in the resurrection. Jesus didn't walk around in a halo, but in Jesus is the image of the invisible God. In Jesus, is the true image of God's glory. In Jesus, is the image of what it means to glorify God- to humble yourself, even to the point of death...that God might rise you up. Humility leads to exaltation.

This example of what it means to glorify God is contrary to our thought that for me to glorify God means that I have to be some Superbowl champion. My wealth is not the glory God seeks. My victory is not the glory God seeks. My abilities are not the glory God seeks. Humility in the image of Jesus is the glory God seeks.

It reminds me of the story of Jim Ryun, one of my heroes. Ryun was the first high schooler to run under 4:00 min in the mile. He held the world record at 3:51 and was a three time Olympian. Ryun ran in the '64 Tokyo Games as an 18 year old. Then at age 22 he ran in Mexoco City in '68 and because of a sickness and lack of altitude training he got second. He gave up running and moved to CA, where through some friends at a Bible Study gave his heart to the Lord. He started running again because of his new found faith. He was going to work his way back into the Olympics so he could use his gifts in glory of God. He would run after that elusive gold medal and in his victory glorify God. However, he never really got the chance. In the prelims, he was tripped with an obvious foul by an unknown runner. He fell pretty early in the race, never able to make up the ground. Even though, he was the world record holder, he was not reinstated to the next round (not even the finals!). He walked away completely dejected. He was running now because of his faith. But he failed in bringing glory to God.

But we remember that it was in the humility of Christ that John saw God's glory. It was in the defeat that God came and really changed Ryun's life that he could see his own self-worth in the love of his Savior, not in his ability to accomplish. So, we ask the question what does it mean to glorify God? It means we follow the path of our Savior. Humility before exaltation. I'm going to accept what comes my way because I see a bigger picture than myself. I'm going to base my life on God's work in me, not on my ability to bring God glory. I'm going to choose the life of humility, the life of generosity, the life of the cross. And in this God is supremely glorified.