The year was AD 379 during the Easter season. A mob broke into a church, attacked the congregation, wounded the preacher and killed a bishop. No, they were not terrorists. They were followers of Arius, who had previously served the church as priest and opposed any notion of a fully divine Christ. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) was the preacher wounded in the attack. He was about to baptize new converts in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While referencing our triune God in today’s church sounds conventional, to the followers of Arius, baptizing people in the name of three divine “persons” was tantamount to blasphemy and must be vigorously opposed. Many of us are oblivious to the intense struggle the early church endured in refining core beliefs about our three-in-one God. Much of this clarifying work was the lasting contribution of Gregory of Nazianzus. Church history honors him as the “Trinitarian Theologian.” His articulation and defense of the Trinity shape our Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed. Gregory writes of the Trinity, “I cannot think of the One without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the Three; nor can I discern the Three without being straightway carried back to the One.”
I am struck by his candor in praying during a time of sickness and his desire for sleep to be permeated with God’s presence:
Gregory of Nazianzus
Christ, give me strength; your servant is not well. The tongue that praised you is made silent,
Struck dumb by the pain of sickness.
I cannot bear to sing your praises,
O, make me well again, make me whole.
That I may again proclaim your greatness,
Do not forsake me, I beseech you.
Let me return to your service.
Lord, as I read the Psalms, let me hear you singing,
As I read your words, let me hear you speaking,
And as I seek to put your precepts into practice,
let my heart be filled with joy.
While I sleep, O Lord,
let my heart not cease to worship you,
let my sleep be permeated with your presence,
while creation keeps watch,
singing psalms with the angels,
and taking up my soul into its paean of praise.
Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.