For Sunday, June 1, 2014 – John 17:1-11
The Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1647 states succinctly that our “chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy God forever.” With everything else going on in our lives, so many people and activities vying for our attention and energy, where does “glorifying and enjoying God” fit in? What does it mean, anyway, to “glorify” God? Some say it is honoring God during times of prayer, and is shown when we kneel or prostrate ourselves or lift our hands in praise. Others say to glorify God is to verbalize our love and gratitude, to “bear witness” to the place of grace in our lives. Still others argue that glorifying God is not about outward display at all, but is an inner attitude of quiet humility, living in a way that wordlessly affirms that God is God and we, on the other hand, are not.
In today’s scripture, Jesus says to God, “The hour has come; glorify your son so that the son may glorify you.” And then he tells us what he means by the word glorify: “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.”
For Jesus, and thus for those who strive to follow him, to glorify God comes down to this: to faithfully finish whatever God gives us to do. To face with courage all the moments of our lives—challenging and joyful, tedious and fearful and glad—without running away when things get tough, is to glorify God. It is to live like Jesus, with open hands and undefended hearts, trusting and forgiving, following the trail of service not success. To glorify God is to step up to our responsibility in God’s continuing creation, to lift up our hearts to the Lord by lifting up those who are down, by making room for whoever has been left out. It is to thank God for our place and our part in the unfolding story, however humble, however public. It is to notice God’s fingerprints all over the place, and to know ourselves as fully human, one family in God. It is to finish what we have been given to do.
