PAUL HIEBERT
A TRIBUTE
I see him, standing at the podium,
Composed, with no flamboyance,
With not the slightest trace
Of pretence or of confidence
In himself or any externality.
He was in touch with Infinity
I perceive, and then discern
A mind and heart that is dependent,
Not primarily on scholarship as such,
Rather a trust, a child-like wonderment,
Leaning on his Saviour Absolute,
He was sublimely resolute
He invited revelation
To descend into erudition,
Dignity and humility blended
In a wonderful coalition,
An embodiment of what he believed,
The messenger was the message beautifully achieved
I was one of thousands,
A beneficiary of his giftings
Attendance in his classes
Was an immersion so uplifting,
A redolence of heavenly worth
He brought it down to earth
Thank you, Paul, for being who you were.
In these twenty years since graduation
Your insights, foresights and tuition
Bringing with them transformation
Have drawn me closer to Jesus
And will go on doing so, posthumous
You live on.
Yes, in Heaven it is true,
But also in minds whose strings
Like an instrument plucked by a maestro
Quiver with awakenings,
The anointed fingering of your scholarship
Displays the Spirit’s workmanship
In you the person was the gift
From Christ the ascended Head;
Your classroom contributions
Nutrients, from which we fed,
Always showing implications
For cross-cultural communication
The human designed the microchip
For immense capacity,
Yet God has fabricated human nature
For an eternal destiny.
Humbling yourself like your Master, Paul,
God’s micro-processor to teach us all
Just like your esteemed namesake
You too dismissed all fame,
“I do not deserve to be called an apostle”,
Were his words, but also
went on to claim,
“By the grace of God I am what I am”
His glory was in God’s Lamb
But now you have done the ‘
To receive “your allotted inheritance”[1]
All the ‘summa cum laudes’
that we give to you,
You will give to Jesus as your remittance
His is the Name that exceeds all lyrics
His is the fame beyond all panegyrics
So thank you, Paul, for gracing us all
We are the better for your commitment
To Jesus our Lord whom you loved so dearly
And from whom you received your anointment.
Your wisdom and knowledge with that of all sages
Will be part of the blessing of the Age of all ages.
Paul E. Grant
March 2007
Published in the special issue “A
Memoriam of Paul G. Hiebert”
www.globalmissiology.org