Trust in God

Often we will gloss over large swaths of human history because the complex details of various movements require too much attention to the minutia. Invariably this appears to be the case when we talk about how Christianity came to be the imperial religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine. Once he came to power Christianity swept the globe without another religion existing until modern day, right? Not exactly.

The Fourth Century was a free-for-all. Perhaps a wrestling cage match might be the most appropriate analogy for that time period. On one side there were Arians who believed that Jesus the Christ was created by the Father and subordinate to him. On another side were the Athanasians who believed that the Christ was completely God in the same way that the Father is God. At the same time that these two sides were going at it there were also other beliefs namely paganism that captivated some. Throughout the 300s these sides struggled against one another creating a complex view of religion.

Into this conflict a man named Gregory was born in the town of Nazianzus. That is the only time I will refer to that place because honestly it is too difficult for this novice Greek scholar to pronounce. Various relatives of Constantine reigned after he died when Gregory was only six years old. Some were Arians, while others were Athanasians, and then there was Julian the Apostate who was a pagan. Gregory grew up in this pluralistic world, but his father who was an Athansian bishop sent him off to school in Athens with another famous student, Basil the Great. Well, he was not yet the great.

After school Basil went on to become the Archbishop of Caesarea, while Gregory went home to help out his father fight off some Arians. Basil soon appointed his friend to a post as bishop of Sasima, which sat in an unhealthy community that was viciously fighting over whether the Christ was God or subordinate to God. Gregory hated the post and thought Sasima was not even part of civilization and he even felt like he was flung to the dogs like a bone. This ministry tested everything about Gregory including his friendship with Basil. Eventually Gregory had a major breakdown and retired from his ministry.

Sometimes we think that the stories of our saints, those men and women throughout the ages who have clearly shown to us the love and grace of God by living out the Gospel of Christ in their lives, sometimes we believe that they are infallible. At times we mistakenly believe that saints are not really people, or they are not people like me or you, but that is simply not the case. Gregory perfectly exemplifies the imperfection of a spiritual journey, a walk with Christ, the struggle that is following after Jesus. Some will say that God does not give you more than you can handle, but that is not the case. Sometimes God does, and you may end up like Gregory who needed some time and space to recover.

After the death of an Arian emperor named Valens, Gregory was asked to go to Constantinople, which was far more the center of the world in those days than Rome was. For thirty years the place had been an Arian stronghold. Perhaps Gregory was chosen because if he failed it would not have been that big of a deal. He had nothing to lose. It was already an Arian city, he had already failed, and so in that moment Gregory instead of relying upon his own strength trusted in God.

Gregory preached a series of five sermons on the Trinity and the divine nature of Christ. Many people came to hear him preach, and the city was converted to the Athanasian point of view. Gregory soon became bishop of Constantinople and helped to confirm at the Council of Constantinople what had been started at the Council of Nicea. His greatest contribution came only after he failed. Soon after the Council of Constantinople being sick of the ecclesiastical life, he retired.

We may think that being a saint means being perfect; however Gregory proves that wrong. Sometimes we must fail and fail mightily. Only then do we recognize that we must trust in God fully.