St. Ignatius was the third
bishop at Antioch in Syria which was for a
time the hub of the Church after it moved forth from Jerusalem. He was born around 35 AD and tradition has it
that he was one of the children whom Jesus called to himself and blessed as a
lesson of humility to his disciples. Ignatius
knew Peter and was discipled by the Apostle John. He was arrested in Antioch around 107 AD and
taken to Rome where he was martyred in 108
AD. His traveling companions along the
way were the leopards who finally mauled him to death in a public spectacle
there in Rome.
On the way to Rome Ignatius
wrote seven letters, one being to his friend Polycarp contains his advice on
how Polycarp should go about his work as bishop in Smyrna. This letter is the last words of one early
church leader to another, actually one best friend to another and therefore it communicates
things most important in church leadership and in life. Ignatius writes:
"Having obtained good
proof that your mind is fixed in God as upon an immovable rock, I loudly
glorify his name that I have been thought worthy to behold your blameless face,
which may I ever enjoy in God! I beg
you, by the grace with which you are clothed, to press forward in your course,
and to exhort all that they may be saved.
Maintain your position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit. Have a regard to preserve unity, than which
nothing is better. Bear with all, even
as the Lord does with you. Support all
in love, as also you do. Give yourself
to prayer without ceasing. Implore
additional understanding to which you already have. Be watchful, possessing a sleepless
spirit. Speak to each one separately, as
God enables you. Bear the infirmities of
all, as being a perfect athlete in the Christian life, even as does the Lord of
all. Where the labour is great, the gain
is all the more."
So what’s Ignatius
saying. First, he notes that Polycarp is
clothed in grace, that there is a quality in his demeanour which manifests the favour
and benevolence of God towards humanity.
The Spirit of the Lord was noticeably upon Polycarp in the conduct of
his life. Therefore, he should keep the
course, keep moving forward in growth in Christ and living the Christian life
and ministering (even if it leads to martyrdom) all the while begging for more
wisdom, more understanding of Jesus and the Christ-like nature to add to what
he already has.
Moreover, since the grace of
God is evident upon Polycarp he should therefore exhort everyone with the knowledge
of Jesus’ lordship that they may be, not might be, may be saved. In the early church they believed that the
simple proclaiming of the Gospel had actual saving effect on a person. Proclaiming the Gospel to be heard was an act
of the saving Lordship of Jesus Christ upon another. Proclaiming to others that God the Father in
his love for his creation by means of the incarnation, death, and resurrection
of God the Son as Jesus the Christ has in the power of God the Holy Spirit
defeated sin and death and all evil powers is saving to person. Jesus is the Lord who saves and redeems us;
simply proclaiming this Good News has saving effect on a person.
So, applying this to us, do
we really get it that God’s grace is evident upon us who are Jesus’ disciples? Do we get that? I suspect we don’t and that’s why we are so
shy about making the saving proclamation of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Truly, there is real saving power in the
Gospel; life giving power to save us from the disease of sin and its
consequence death; thus, healing power, transforming power. The Gospel is not simply an invitation to
believe religious stuff. Jesus is Lord
and he has saved his creation from sin and death and throw the power of evil in
there too. This is reality since the God
the Father raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit which he
freely shares with us. This is the new
creation which the Holy Spirit is bringing about. Since we have been saved, we must therefore live
our outward lives worthy of and exhibiting of the grace God has so lavishly
poured upon us and we must pay particular attention to maintaining our
spiritual lives – our relationship to the Father through and with Jesus the Son
in the Holy Spirit. Treating others
graciously and attending to our spiritual lives are two of the most important
things in life for us according to Ignatius.
The most important thing
Ignatius wants Polycarp to get is to above all work to preserve unity or union
in the church. He says “than which there
is nothing better”. Unity, a church’s communion
in Christ is the most important thing for a congregation and its leaders to be
on about. I have a few years of
ministerial experience behind me and I can attest that getting “church people”
to see beyond their own opinions, their own personal beliefs, beyond the ends
of their own noses to seeing Jesus is a near exercise in futility and I say
that realizing how difficult it is for Christ Jesus to get me to see past my
own opinions, beliefs, and pride. Unity
in Christ, the minister who comes to a congregation in these days of declining
and dying churches saying that unity is more important than getting people in
the doors is most likely on a path to martyrdom carried out by that
congregation. Ignatius here realizes
that not everybody is on the same page at the same time if ever when it comes
to unity in the church. Therefore, bearing
with one another, being patient with one another, putting the person before the
problem is the way of the Christian. Moreover,
Ignatius says to support all in love, get involved in each others’ lives
and be supportive to each other. We are
all sick in the head and sick in the heart with respect to our relationship to
God. Sin is fundamentally a relational
sickness, a disease in our relationship with God and others not simply a moral
problem or that we do bad things and deserve to be punished. So we must as Ignatius says bear one another’s
infirmities, one another’s sin sick minds and mindedness of not being focused
on Christ Jesus. Ignatius also
encourages us to speak to each other individually for it is in loving and
supportive listening in Christ’s name that God enables truthful and wise speaking. This is particularly true in the midst of
interpersonal conflict.
Ignatius then instructs us to
pray without ceasing. The capacity to
bear with all and to be supportive to all arises from prayer. The intentional effort to pray without
ceasing is the context in which the Holy Spirit works to heal and retrain our
mindedness away from envy and selfish ambition – the two things that James says
are at the heart of disunity in the church, and not only in the church but also
in our families, in our friendships, truly in every area of our lives. A large part of the work of prayer is simply
acknowledging your self being in the presence of God, feeling what you feel,
becoming aware of your worrisome and loathsome patterns of thought and being
open to hearing from the Lord what your character defects are which he would
like to graciously heal. Much of prayer
is just lifting our stuff up to the Lord and saying “I can’t change me, Lord. You
change me”. The healing sometimes comes
immediately. Usually, it takes time –
months, years – but it comes and in such a way as you know it was Jesus who did
it.
To close, this advice from
Ignatius to Polycarp points us towards doing what James calls “deeds done in the humility
that comes from wisdom”. If we are
honest with ourselves and each other we will recognize that nearly everything
we do at home, at work, at leisure,...everything is driven by envy and selfish
ambition. Taking Ignatius’ advice to
Polycarp we will find “the wisdom that comes from heaven which is first
of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good
fruit, impartial and sincere.” Jesus
will make us to be “peacemakers who sow in peace” who “raise a harvest
of righteousness”. Amen.
