Gospel for May 26, 2024 Trinity Sunday

Detail from a stained glass by Harry Stammers installed in 1961 in the Blacader chapel of St Mungo’s Cathedral, Glasgow.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 3:1-17
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

As with so many passages in Scripture, this passage is multi-layered.  There is the drama of the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus; then there is the life-changing teaching that Jesus delivers about the New Birth; there is his first reference in John’s Gospel to his own cross; and there is the concise summary of the entire Gospel in John 3:16.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. That would suggest that this distinguished Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin is aware that tongues would wag, and that it might be damaging to his career if he were seen publicly with this controversial rabbi.

Despite the compliments that Nicodemus lavishes on Jesus, Jesus cuts to the chase:

Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.

What ensues is a kind of debate between Jesus and Nicodemus — with Jesus making it very clear that the only way to enter into God’s future is through a clean break with the past:

Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom!  That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Is Nicodemus truly slow of understanding, or is it really more a matter of reluctance to experience this life-giving change, a change that would alter everything in his life?  Only the Spirit — the pneuma, the breath or the wind of God — can give birth to the new life necessary to enter into God’s presence.

Jesus then contrasts his own authority with the lack of Nicodemus’ lack of understanding:

Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?  Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

Jesus clearly establishes that his own authority is indeed divine:

No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

And Jesus makes it quite clear that his mission on earth is not merely to teach, but to die.  Using a kind of midrashic and allegorical style of biblical interpretation common to Jewish culture, he cites the account of Moses and the poisonous serpents that wreaked havoc in the camp of the Israelites in Numbers 21:8-9.  Moses was instructed by the Lord to make a bronze image of a serpent on a staff and to lift it up — whoever gazed at the image was healed.  Jesus is making the analogy that he himself will be lifted up on the cross:

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Then comes the passage that theologians have called “the Gospel in miniature.” This is a complete summary of the message of the New Testament in one sentence:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

This verse identifies the Source of Love (the Father); the agent of that Love (the Son); the object of Love (the world); the means of receiving that Love (faith in the Son and his work); and the consequence of that Love (eternal life).

And this positive statement is clarified by a negative:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The positive statement clearly states what the love of God has done, in John 3:16. The negative statement clearly states what the love of God does not intend to do, i.e., condemn the world (John 3:17).

APPLY:  

For our purposes this week, as we celebrate Trinity Sunday, we have to narrow our scope a little.  The focus here is on what God does in order to save the world. Every aspect of God’s nature is manifest in this passage — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The ultimate goal is that we might have eternal life.  The means by which this happens is the new birth, which is actuated by faith.

What is fascinating is that when Jesus begins to explain this process to Nicodemus he doesn’t begin with God the Father, or even with his own earthly ministry.  He begins by describing the work of the Holy Spirit!

It is the Holy Spirit that breathes new life into the believer, and gives the believer new birth.  Isn’t this really true in our own experience?  We may go to church all of our lives, read the Bible from cover to cover, serve on church committees, sing in the choir, even be an ordained minister — and yet, until the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, it is all an abstract, dead letter.  We too must be born of the Spirit.

But Jesus continues by explaining his own purpose in this salvation-drama — that he hasn’t merely come to teach truths, but to die and live the truth.  His whole life, death and resurrection is his message.  And he is not only the Messiah, he is the Son of Man, and God’s one and only Son. As Son of Man, he is fully human; and as God’s one and only Son, he is fully divine.  Jesus is the “God-Man” the Incarnate Word, who reveals the true nature of the Father’s love.  The Holy Spirit brings us to faith specifically in Christ who is the Mediator between God and humanity.

And it is God’s love for all the world that has motivated him to send Jesus into the world. The very world that he has created he will also redeem.

So, Jesus has given us the Trinity in these seventeen verses — but counter-intuitively he begins with the Holy Spirit, then describes his own ministry, and then and only then in John 3:16 summarizes the Grand Plan behind it all:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

RESPOND: 

I’m not sure which concerns me the most — that many professed Christians today have so little regard for the doctrine of the Trinity; or that so few professed Christians know what it means to be born of the Spirit.

Perhaps our indifference to the Triune nature of God has led to an impoverished and anemic experience of God; which would explain why the new birth isn’t being taught or experienced in so many churches.

God the Spirit bears witness to us about God the Son, which brings us to faith in him; and when we have faith, then we have eternal life.  And it is then, to quote Paul , that we have a new relationship with God the Father.  Then:

 we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:15-16).

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I marvel at your cosmic, grand plan to save the world, including me! That you love the world so much that you have come to earth in the Son to teach, to die, to rise from the dead.  That your Spirit has come to breathe new life into me, to give me new birth, and to give me saving faith. Thank you for this life!  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
“Sancta Trinitas” by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for May 26, 2024 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 8:12-17
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage explores the dynamic nature of God in relationship with human beings.

Paul begins with a reminder of human nature — that:

For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

This conflict between flesh and Spirit requires some unpacking.

The flesh is the corrupt and corruptible aspect of human character.  Paul is not a dualist who believes that the material world is by nature evil and the spiritual realm alone is good. Rather, the flesh is the craving, selfish heart turned in upon itself.  Just a few sentences prior to our passage, Paul writes that:

 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:5-6).

So what he’s exploring here is how the Spirit moves the believer from death to life; from slaves of their fleshly nature to children of God.  The answer, he believes, is to:

 put to death the deeds of the body.

The dilemma is that the sinner cannot do that for him/herself.  The execution of sin can only be accomplished vicariously through Christ:

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:2-4).

And how do human beings appropriate what God has done for them by Christ’s vicarious death on their behalf?  This is where the entire dynamic nature of God is revealed in relationship within God and with human beings.

God’s Spirit testifies with the spirits of those who have been adopted by God for the sake of his Son, and the Spirit declares that they are no longer slaves of sin and death, but now are children of God.  Now these children of God can also declare that God is their Father — their Abba.  Some scholars believe that this Aramaic word is intended to express an intimacy between Father and child, like the child calling God “Daddy!”

So, once these children of God are “adopted” into the family of God, they now enjoy all of the privileges of an heir.  In fact, they are co-heirs with Christ:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.

APPLY:  

These few verses pack a huge wallop!  They tell us about our status as children of God and much, much more — that God is for us in ways that we can’t even begin to comprehend.

What becomes increasingly clear is that the doctrine of the Trinity is far more than a theological construct, or an abstract notion.  The Triune God certainly exists within a unity that is experienced as diversity, One God in Three Persons.  But it is also very true that each Person of the Triune God is dynamically involved in the salvation and restoration not only of human beings but of creation itself!

God the Father sends forth his only begotten Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, as the perfect Man who lives the perfect, sin-free life. This God-Man condescends to our level as humbly as is possible — being made man, and even becoming sin on the cross for our sake (2 Corinthians 5:21); and then re-ascends to the very highest place, even at the right hand of the Father.  And because he has identified with our fleshly nature, he has restored God’s image in us and raised us up with him.  We are adopted as his own brothers and sisters, and therefore become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. 

That means that whatever Christ inherits, we inherit.  This is also illustrated in Ephesians 2:4-7:

But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

In other words, whatever Christ inherits we inherit — eternal life, a throne alongside him, and the incomparable riches of grace!  Incredible!

And how is all of this activated?  Obviously, we are taught deeply by Paul, again and again:

for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).

But we know this because of the Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Trinity:

• The Holy Spirit puts to death the sinful nature in us, which we experience through repentance.
• The Holy Spirit breathes the gift of faith.
• The Holy Spirit enables us to be adopted as children of God.
• The Holy Spirit whispers in our spirits that we are children of God and are made bold enough to cry out “Abba, Father.”

The one thing that may give us pause is that one phrase included in this passage:

if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.

We certainly like the first part!  But the second part, about sharing in his sufferings?  Ouch.  Not so much.

Maybe Dietrich Bonhoeffer can help us understand this a little better:

To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ . . . The cross means sharing the suffering of Christ to the last and to the fullest. Only a man (or woman) totally committed to discipleship can experience the meaning of the cross. . . Jesus says that every Christian has his (or her) own cross waiting for him, a cross destined and appointed by God. Each must endure his allotted share of suffering and rejection. But each has a different share: some God deems worthy of the highest form of suffering, and gives them the grace of martyrdom, while others he does not allow to be tempted above what they are able to bear.   But it is one and the same cross in every case (The Cost of Discipleship, pp. 78,79).

When we identify so fully with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord by placing our faith in him completely, then we vicariously suffer with him and are raised with him.  As Paul says in Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

And only God can accomplish that in us!

RESPOND: 

Years ago, I happened to preach on this doctrine that all Christians are adopted into the family of God because of our faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the only “natural” child of the Father, based on our understanding of the Trinity.  He is the “only begotten Son of the Father.”

But because of what he has done in his life, death and resurrection, Jesus has introduced us to the Father as his adopted brothers and sisters.  Whatever he gets from the Father, we also will get, because the Father shows no partiality between his children.

After I had finished the sermon, and said the benediction, a woman who was visiting the church that Sunday made a bee-line to me.  At first I thought I was in trouble.  But she told me that she was visiting with a family member, and she had her two adopted daughters with her.

These girls, as adopted children sometimes do, had been going through an identity crisis.  They wondered about their biological parents, and why they hadn’t been kept by them.  And somehow the sermon had spoken right to their feelings.

Some years later, I came across a testimonial from a retired pastor who said that he and his wife had a few kids of their own by birth, and a few by adoption, “but we can’t remember which is which.”

Father, I thank you that I have been adopted into your holy family for the sake of Jesus your Son.  For all that he has endured for me in order to accomplish this, I am truly humbled and amazed; empower me, through your Holy Spirit, to live as your child in this world.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
“Hold me Daddy” by Matthew Miller is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
Matthew Miller says this about his pencil drawing “Hold me Daddy”:
“This picture was inspired by a little girl being held by her dad in front of me at church. She just looked so content and safe in her daddy's arms that began thinking of my heavenly Father.”

Psalm Reading for May 26, 2024 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 29
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is a Psalm of praise that covers God’s creative work — from the realm of the angels, to the skies, to the seas, the forests and deserts, and even the temple.  That is an ambitious scope, and somehow the Psalmist achieves it in just eleven verses!

The Psalm begins with a kind of “call to worship,” summoning the sons of the mighty (i.e., angels) to:

 ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary reminds us that to ascribe is to attribute, assign, impute or credit some quality, cause or authorship to someone.  So the primary task of the angels here is to worship the Creator of all that exists.

The sheer poetry of this passage inspires worship of the Lord, whose very voice is heard thundering over the waters, breaking the cedars of Lebanon, shaking the desert.  When the Lord speaks, all creation leaps and quakes in response!

The imagery is striking. It evokes the power of tornadic intensity:

Yahweh’s voice breaks the cedars.
Yes, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

These and other images present the picture of Yahweh as Lord over all creation — from the surging waters of the seas to the forests whirling in the mighty wind.  And there is the contrast between Yahweh’s tenderness on the one hand, and his power on the other:

Yahweh’s voice makes the deer calve,
and strips the forests bare.

Then there is the line:

    In his temple everything says, “Glory!”

Is the temple that the psalmist describes here nature and the world itself, or is this reference to the temple in Jerusalem?  And if it is the temple in Jerusalem, it evokes in my mind a congregation gathered in the temple as though they are cringing and hiding from the terrifying voice of the Lord.  The cry “Glory!” seems almost an involuntary cry from the depths of the communal soul of the people, as well as a thunderous shout of acclamation and praise.

Finally, the Psalmist describes Yahweh as King:

enthroned at the Flood.
Yes, Yahweh sits as King forever.

However, for all the terrifying power of God, the Psalmist acknowledges the Lord’s merciful regard for his people:

Yahweh will give strength to his people.
Yahweh will bless his people with peace.

The great and awesome God can also be tender and generous with his people.

APPLY:  

There are times that our worship may become narcissistic and self-absorbed.  At those times we think only about what God can do for me, and all of his benefits for me. 

This Psalm doesn’t leave that open to us.  We are reminded of the power and might of God.  We worship God for God’s sake, not for our own.  The gifts of strength and peace that God gives to his people are almost an afterthought — but only when we put them in perspective with all of the characteristics of an awesome God.

RESPOND: 

There are times in my own life that worship transcends what happens in church on Sunday.  Sometimes, when I’m on a hike and the sun is shimmering on the lake, or the wind is causing the tree limbs in the forest to whirl, or even simply watching the setting sun, I find myself declaring, “Glory!”

We must gather “in the temple” with the people of God to worship; but even nature itself can be a call to worship!

Lord, how often have I heard your voice in the howling wind, and in the lightning strikes seen your power!  I hesitate to ascribe the devastation of tornadoes and storms to your will, but I know that you have created all of the conditions in our world that have such mighty power in them.  Thank you for your strength and your peace.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

“Psalm 29-2” by Dr. Johnson Cherian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for May 26, 2024 Trinity Sunday

Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord, God of Hosts! Heaven and earth are full of your glory!

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 6:1-8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

God’s call to Isaiah was dramatic.  It happened at a dramatic time in history, in a magnificent place, and through a powerful vision.

The year that King Uzziah died may have merely been a point of reference, a way of informing the reader about chronology. Although exact Biblical dates are somewhat disputed by scholars it was likely the year 740 B.C. that Uzziah died. (Uzziah reigned for 52 years as king of Judah, during a very prosperous time.  When Uzziah developed leprosy around 751 B.C., his son Jotham ruled as regent until his father’s death.)

However, the announcement of the timing may also be a way of letting us know that this is a critical time in the history of Israel and Judah.

On the other hand, when Isaiah notes that his call occurs in the year of Uzziah’s death, he is likely telegraphing the message that this is a critical time in the history of Israel and Judah. Soon after Uzziah’s death, Jerusalem is besieged by the kings of Damascus and Israel.  And in 721 B.C., Assyria conquers the Northern Kingdom of Israel and begins to menace the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  Isaiah’s prophetic career begins in a tough time for the people of God.

The place that this vision is revealed is within the temple itself, presumably during worship. While it is useless for us to speculate about what causes Isaiah to see this vision, or whether anyone else saw it, it is a powerful moment.

This is what is known as a Theophany, which essentially means “God shows up.”  And how!  Isaiah doesn’t describe the Lord — only the backdrop and the beings that surround him.  His robe fills the temple, and the two angels (Seraphim — which is translated the burning ones) observed the propriety of worship with their six wings — although they each flew with two of the wings, two sets of wings were employed in averting their gaze from God, and avoiding any defilement of his holiness. It is not seemly for any creature to gaze upon the glory of God!

They proclaim in their chant:

 Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies!
The whole earth is full of his glory!

And the whole temple is shaken to the foundations, as the smoke of the incense filled the temple.

When sinful humans are confronted with the holiness of God there is only one appropriate response — conviction of sin and repentance.  Isaiah is overwhelmed:

Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”

Sinful man can do nothing to purge away his own sin — only God can do that.  The seraphim purifies Isaiah’s lips with a live coal from the altar, signifying that the prophet’s lips are now cleansed so that he may be a vessel for God’s message. The declaration of the seraphim confirms this:

Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven.

And then the Lord himself speaks:

Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

Strange, isn’t it, that the Lord speaks so generally — as though Isaiah is one of many who might respond to his call. It is not specifically addressed to anyone, but the one who will answer becomes clear.

Isaiah, having been purged, and hearing the voice of God, can only volunteer freely, without even knowing what he will be asked to do:

Here I am. Send me!

APPLY:  

Where has the sense of the holiness of God gone?  How casually do we name God in our prayers, invoke him in our ball games, demand of him that he answer our requests!  Where has our vision of God’s transcendence gone?

It seems that when someone encounters God, I mean really encounters God, the first thing that they become aware of is God’s holiness and power and transcendence.  And no matter how well ‘put together’ we might be, however successful, however decent and moral, we see ourselves in God’s light as if for the first time, and we confess with Isaiah:

 Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!

If there is not that recognition of the gulf that exists between God and humanity, I would question whether someone has really been in the presence of God at all.

And then there is the sense that only at God’s initiative can we be cleansed from our sin — not by self-improvement programs, or better education, or forty days of spiritual discipline — good as those things all are!  Only the fire of God can purify us!

And when the call comes, it does come to all who have been purified.  The question is, who will answer that call?  The one who steps forward and says:

Here I am. Send me!

RESPOND: 

It is not lost on me that this reading is selected for Trinity Sunday.  I just feel inadequate to even begin to explore the mystery of the Trinity, when so many who are more holy and more erudite than I have tried and confessed their own inadequacy.

I can point to the Triune declaration of the Seraphim:

Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies!
The whole earth is full of his glory!

I can point out that when the Lord speaks, he speaks first in the first-person singular — “Whom shall I send? And then in the first-person plural — And who will go for us?”  Could this be a plural that reminds us that God is One in Three Persons? Is it possible that this is comparable to other passages from Scripture when God speaks of himself in the third person plural?

 Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Genesis 1:26).

I tend to think so.

I can say that for me this is a deeply personal passage.  On December 21, 1974, I too experienced a vision of God while I was gazing out over the San Bernardino Valley in California, and knew that God was looking back at me.  And then I knew that not only is God real, but that I now had a purpose — to tell others that God is real and therefore life has meaning.

After this moment of “epiphany,” I went back to my room and read Isaiah 6.  Although my own comparison to the prophet Isaiah is like comparing a gnat to an eagle, I identified so vividly with his experience.  I felt as though I too had seen the Lord high and lifted up.  My life would never be the same.

And what else could I do but echo Isaiah’s response:

Here I am. Send me!

Your holiness surpasses my meager ability to describe! And yet you have cleansed me of sin through your Son, and called me and empowered me to serve you through your Holy Spirit.  Forgive me for those times when I have failed you, and empower me to go where you send me.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"Milky Way / Via Láctea" by Chaval Brasil is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license.

Gospel for June 4, 2023 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 28:16-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is the final resurrection appearance of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.  As with John’s Gospel, Jesus meets the eleven remaining disciples in Galilee — in this case at a mountain.

Some might point out that in Luke’s Gospel Jesus meets the disciples for the last time at the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem.  Some scholars argue that each Gospel must be read as a self-contained work, with its own theme and perspective.  However, I don’t find it difficult to harmonize the four accounts of the Gospels — a forty-day period of resurrection appearances leaves ample opportunities for travel (Acts 1:3) — to Emmaus, as well as to Galilee and back to Jerusalem again.

Matthew’s Gospel does not describe the departure of Jesus, although these are the last words Jesus speaks.

There are parallels between the valedictory words of Jesus in Matthew and in the other Gospels — and there are differences.

Interestingly, the mixture of faith and doubt persists, as it does in some of the other Gospels:

 When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted.

When Jesus appears in the Upper Room in Luke’s Gospel, he says to the disciples:

Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have (Luke 24:38-39).

It seems that even at this point seeing wasn’t believing!  Even at this moment faith was a subjective response to an objective reality.

Jesus’ final words to the disciples in Matthew’s Gospel are known as the Great Commission: 

All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.  Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

There are several layers to this Great Commission.

First, Jesus establishes his authority in heaven and on earth.  There is a paradox here — Jesus had only recently been crucified.  His death by the will of the priests and at the hands of Roman soldiers was their assertion of his weakness and powerlessness.  However, his resurrection from the dead bears witness to his power and authority even over the ultimate enemy — death.  His authority includes every possible realm — heaven and earth.  As Paul writes:

[God] raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.  He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:20-23).

Second, Jesus gives the disciples their charge — to make disciples of all nations.  As in Acts, Jesus is making clear their missionary imperative:

You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Third, Jesus gives them direction on how they are to make disciples — baptizing and teaching  all that he has commanded.  This includes the initiation into faith through baptism, as well as nurture and growth as disciples within the community of faith.

Fourth, Jesus provides the classic Trinitarian baptismal formula:

in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Although he doesn’t offer a doctrinal definition of the Trinity, it is clear that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are representative of One God in Three Persons.  This is suggested by his statement that they are to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The name in this context implies Godhead, as when they are taught to pray:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy (Matthew 6:9).

And also when Jesus teaches them:

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them (Matthew 18:20).

Fifth, Jesus assures them of his continued presence, and his ultimate return at the end of the age when he will bring the kingdom:

Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

It might be said that he continues to be with them through the presence of the Holy Spirit,  but he is making the same claims made throughout the New Testament — that God will not leave his church, and that Christ will return.

APPLY:  

This Great Commission is a synopsis of what the church needs even today for the purpose of making disciples.

• We have no authority of our own. Our power and authority all derive from the authority of Jesus.  Therefore we are able to witness boldly in the name of the risen Christ, who rules over heaven and earth.
• We are to go to all nations. Ours is a global mandate, that includes all nations, races, ethnic groups, tribes and languages around the world.
• We are to initiate disciples into the church through baptism in the name of The Trinity.
• We are to teach all that Jesus has commanded. This applies not only to what Jesus has said in the Gospel of Matthew, but the entire Bible.  We are reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew:
  Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17).

This applies to our reading of the Old Testament.  And Jesus also tells us that:

the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you (John 14:26).

This includes the apostolic teaching that comes to be known as the New Testament.

We are reminded that we are not alone as we live our lives and bear witness to Christ, for he is with us always.

And we have the promise of his eventual return, and the consummation of all things in the kingdom of God. History is going somewhere!

RESPOND: 

Those who work with corporations and non-profit organizations have been made aware of the importance of mission statements.  Article after article in the field of strategic planning and management tout the importance of crafting just the right mission statement.

They agree that a good mission statement provides identity, purpose, focus, and even a sense of structure for an effective organization.

One credit card company says that they:

have a mission to be the world’s most respected service brand. To do this we have established a culture that supports our team members, so they can provide exceptional service to our customers.

A tea company boasts that it:

seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages. We strive to grow our business with the same honesty and integrity we use to craft our products, with sustainability and great taste for all.

I personally love the mission statement of the early Methodists, although they wouldn’t have called it a mission statement:

God’s design in raising up the Preachers called Methodists [was]….to reform the nation, particularly the Church; and to spread scriptural holiness over the land.
[Minutes of Several Conversations Between The Rev. Mr. Wesley and Others; From the Year 1744, to the Year 1789.]

However, for authority, purpose and promise, nothing can beat the Great Commission itself as the mission statement for Christians and the church:

All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.  Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Our Lord, you have come to us with your grace so that we may share that grace with others.  You have called us to be disciples so that we may disciple others.  Thank you for your promise to be with us in this mission, until you return.  Amen.

PHOTOS:
"The Great Commission" by Chris Hsia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for June 4, 2023 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Corinthians 13:11-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

These brief verses are Paul’s closing valediction to the church at Corinth in this second epistle.  Oddly, the lectionary editors didn’t include the final verse of this letter, although it seems the verse most appropriate to the Feast of the Trinity in the liturgical year.   I have chosen to include verse 14 as well, for reasons that I hope will be apparent.

Paul encourages the church with a series of exhortations.  Although he has at times been critical of some of the behavior in the church that has come to his attention, he nevertheless calls them brothers.  He urges them to rejoice.  Joy and rejoicing are among Paul’s most frequently mentioned emotions in the epistle, despite the sufferings and persecutions to which he and the church are often subjected.  This injunction to rejoice is also a very common greeting, like the common phrase peace be with you. 

He then gives a series of positive commands, that end with an assurance:

Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Without delving too deeply into the etymology of each word chosen here, there is some question about the literal translation of these words — perfected can be translated restored; comforted as admonished.  The bottom line is, Paul is admonishing and encouraging them to greater aspiration.  And he also exhorts them to unity (be of the same mind) and peace with one another in the community of faith.

The result of their spiritual aspiration is the presence of the God of love and peace in their midst.

Paul reinforces his exhortation that they be united by encouraging them to:

 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Though Christians in most western cultures might find this a bit disconcerting, we are reminded that the people of Paul’s time were far more emotionally and physically demonstrative.  For example, prayer was expressed by lifting holy hands (1 Timothy 2:8).  The expression of holy affection with a kiss was considered perfectly appropriate.

Paul also reminds the Corinthians that they are part of a larger Christian movement:

 All the saints greet you.

Paul is likely writing this portion of 2 Corinthians while on his third missionary journey, perhaps as he is in Macedonia or Asia Minor on his way back to Jerusalem.  Paul has been planting churches all the way through Asia Minor, Macedonia and Achaia.  He is consciously reminding the Corinthians that they are part of something bigger than themselves.

Finally, he concludes with the words that seem most relevant to us on Trinity Sunday:

 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.

The grace of Jesus is revealed in his life, death and resurrection as the source of salvation; the love of God the Father is expressed in and through his Son, and in the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit unites the community of faith in fellowship through the new birth (John 3:5), baptism (1 Corinthians 12:13), the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4), and the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

APPLY:

As the Apostle Paul closes his series of letters to the church at Corinth, he emphasizes relationship.  This is especially poignant because he has been very up front about the conflicts that exist within the church, and the conflicts that many of the Corinthians have with Paul himself.  He is aware that he has been criticized, and has been compelled to establish his own credentials.

Still, in these verses he calls the Corinthians his brothers.   He encourages them to be of the same mind, and live in peace — even urging them to:

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

This is an important message for the contemporary church.  Christianity today is a large portion of the global human population — about 2.2 billion, which is roughly a third of the total human population in the world.  We are divided into various “tribes” within this Christian family — Orthodox, Coptic, Roman Catholic, and a wide variety of Protestant denominations.

And yet, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and all part of the communion of saints. 

What, then, is required to be one family in Christ?

• To be of the same mind suggests that we are agreed on the essential doctrines of the faith.
• We are to live in peace, just as we do with family members who may have strong opinions that differ from our own.
• Ultimately, we must all acknowledge that only God knows the real truth. His is archetypal (the original truth) ours is always ektypal (derivative and provisional). 
• However, if we continue to rejoice, seek the perfection of holiness, are comforted, seek to be of the same mind, and live in peace with one another, this is the kind of life that God blesses:
   the God of love and peace will be with you.

RESPOND: 

When my wife was a new Christian, she was still a normal teenage girl.  She jokes that her favorite verse in the Bible was:

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

She especially liked the verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:26:

Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

Of course, I am at great pains to explain to her that this was all part of the culture of Paul’s time — kissing as an expression of innocent affection was very common.  When Paul bid the elders of Ephesus farewell for the last time at Miletus:

They all wept a lot, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all because of the word which he had spoken, that they should see his face no more (Acts 20:37-38).

Paul repeats his encouragement to greet one another with a kiss four times (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26).  Even the Apostle Peter gets in on the act!

Greet one another with a kiss of love (1 Peter 5:14).

My intention is not simply to be silly.  Even if our culture isn’t nearly as demonstrative and expressive as the early Christians, we are to remember that we are brothers and sisters — we are the family of God!

Lord, your inner relationship as One God in Three Persons gives us a hint that you are in relationship within yourself.  May we be in relationship with you, and with one another as your family, and live in peace with one another. Amen.

PHOTOS:
“Grace Began with Love” by gbatumbya is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for June 4, 2023 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 8 is the classic expression of the majesty of God. In just nine brief verses, David’s Psalm surveys the sovereignty of God over heaven and earth, contrasts the seeming insignificance of humanity to the vast heavens, and then firmly establishes the unique relationship of human beings with God.

The Psalm is addressed to the Sovereign God, as a Psalm of praise:

Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth,
who has set your glory above the heavens!

And then, there is a twist in the plot, so to speak.  Instead of describing the mountains or the oceans, the Psalmist speaks of the praises of the tiny and the most vulnerable creatures on earth:

From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,
because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

There is a paradox here — that the babbling of infants becomes a kind of fortress against malefactors!  The God who created heavens and earth and all that is in them values those things that seem so insignificant. Innocence defeats evil!

We can’t help but think of Mary’s Song in Luke’s Gospel:

He has put down princes from their thrones.
And has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things.
He has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52-53).

There is a kind of inversion that recurs in the Scripture, where the small and insignificant are exalted, and the big and powerful are diminished.  We see this again in these next wonderful verses of the Psalm:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
 what is man, that you think of him?
What is the son of man, that you care for him?

Here, David is appropriately aware of human insignificance in contrast to the cosmos that stretches out on a starry night.  He asks the right question — how can God possibly even notice me in comparison to the vastness of the heavens?

And yet, as it is for the babes and infants, and the lowly and hungry, we might say the world is turned right-side up:

For you have made him a little lower than God,
and crowned him with glory and honor.

We are reminded of creation theology, which makes clear what the relationship is between God and humanity, and between humanity and creation:

You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
You have put all things under his feet:
All sheep and cattle,
yes, and the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

This echoes the creation theology of Genesis 1:26.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Human beings are subordinate to God, but are nonetheless just below God in the hierarchy of beings.  And with this exalted position comes great responsibility for all creatures.

Kings in ancient times placed their images in the lands over which they had dominion.  In a similar way, human beings are the living images who represent God’s dominion over the world, and act as stewards of it.

The Psalm ends with a refrain of the first verse, as David seems filled with wonder for what God is and what he has done for humanity:

Yahweh, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

APPLY:  

When we turn our attention to the heavens, two things seem to be impossible.

First, it seems impossible for us to conclude that the cosmos came into existence by accident.  There  is mystery and wonder when we consider the origin story of the universe. But to conclude that all has come into being by random accident seems to require more faith than admitting that there was a creating mind behind it all.  And of course, from the Biblical perspective, that creating mind is God.

Second, it is impossible to look at the moon and the stars and not conclude that we are microscopic in comparison, especially as we have learned about the vast distances of space.

And yet. And yet.  And yet! We are created in the very image of God — which means that at our best, when we are living lives of love, reason, and justice, we are God’s representatives in the world.

The notion of the image of God was that humans were to be God’s ambassadors.  This is why we are given rule over creation, because we are to be stewards of creation.  Our dominance over creation is not given so that we might exploit it, but so that we may care for it responsibly.

RESPOND: 

This Psalm provides a balance for me in my self-image.  On the one hand, I am keenly aware of how insignificant I can feel in the cosmos, and in the human world of celebrity and historical events.

I am reminded of a story about President Teddy Roosevelt.  He owned an estate called Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York. As a man with deep passion for hunting, the outdoors, and nature in general, this was a favorite retreat for him.

One of the things he loved to do was to go outside on a starry evening with a friend and look up at the skies, identify the constellations, and speculate about the vast distances in the universe.  And then, when they had gazed awhile and grew silent with awe, he would say, “Well, I think we’re small enough now.  Let’s go inside.”

I always remember this tale when my wife and I go outside and look at the moon and the stars.  If Teddy Roosevelt, that larger-than-life hunter, writer, and statesman could recognize how small he was when looking at the stars, how small do I feel?

On the other hand, this Psalm reminds me of God’s regard for me, far above what I deserve.

I am reminded of Hamlet’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!
[The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, scene ii, lines 303-307]

This is an important balance to maintain — we are rightly humble in our relationship with God, but we are made bold by his grace that has created us in his own image and has saved us from the sin that damaged that image.

Our Lord, your creation leaves me speechless with awe, and I become aware of how tiny a part of it all I really am.  But then you remind me that you care enough for me to become a human being and die for me! That is truly awesome!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:

"Psalm 8:3-4 What is man that you are mindful of him?" by Unlocking the Bible is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for June 4, 2023 Trinity Sunday

And God said… LET THERE BE LIGHT!

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 1:1-2:4
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

This week’s lectionary readings focus on Trinity Sunday in the Church year.

OBSERVE:

This passage for Trinity Sunday is the beginning of the origin story for the entire Bible.  All of the ingredients for all life and existence are introduced here.  But the central character that is introduced is God himself:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

As someone has said, anyone who has trouble with the premise of the first sentence of the Bible, telling us that God has created the heavens and the earth, is going to have trouble with the entire book.

For those looking for evidence of the Trinity in the Old Testament, they need look no farther than Genesis 1 for the first hint.  The first word used for God is the Hebrew word Elohim.  The word El is the root of the word for God; but Elohim is a plural word.  In the Hebrew Bible, the most common grammatical use of Elohim for God is singular.  We might say, it is a singular plural.  An analogy might be when we describe a forest of trees — it is one forest made up of many trees.

So, when Elohim says in verse 26:

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness….

He may not simply be speaking in the so called “royal we;” he may actually be speaking as One God in Three Persons, relating within himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This premise is reinforced by these words:

Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

This is a description of the chaos and formlessness that existed before God’s first act of creation.  But God’s Spirit is present as an agent of creation from before the very beginning.

Then there is the act of creation itself.  God speaks, and light comes into existence.  It may be a far-fetched speculation, but we are reminded of John’s Prologue, when he says:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made (John 1:1-3).

The Word (Greek Logos) is the very mind of God — and in John’s Gospel the Second Person of the Trinity.  The three persons of the Trinity are all represented — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the singular plural Elohim.  One God in three persons.

In his act of creation, God not only creates existence and matter, but also time itself.  By creating finite beings, matter itself becomes a kind of created “clock” by which time may be measured.  Each act of creation is done in a day. 

In his Systematic Theology Trilogy, Thomas Oden writes of God’s providence in creation, and speaks of four classes of creaturely beings in an ascending scale (from The Living God, p. 288):

• Lifeless matter (inanimate creaturely beings)
• Living plants (living, but immobile, vegetable beings)
• Animals (living mobile beings lacking human rationality)
• Humans (living, rational, accountable, self-determining moral agents)

This ascending scale does seem to reflect the order of creation in Genesis 1:

• Light, sky, waters, earth all fall under the category of “lifeless matter” that provide the stage and foundation for all that follows. All of this happens from day one to day three.  The sun, moon and stars also fall into this category, but they aren’t mentioned until the fourth day.
• Grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth are created on the third day — they are the “living plants” that will make animal and human life possible.
• Animals of all kinds — sea creatures and birds, livestock and creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind, moving, swarming and abounding — were created on the fifth day.
• And the piece de resistance, God’s ultimate act of creation, was human beings — God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

This does seem to be a kind of “hierarchy,” or what the ancients might have called a great chain of being. 

And it is clear that all of this creation, from the inert and impersonal matter from which the earth and waters and skies are made, to the most sentient and personal human beings, are all declared to be good by God.  Moreover, when God completes his creative work, he announces it is very good. 

Once this work is completed, God rests from his work following the sixth day.  The seventh day is blessed as holy, and will become a sabbath day of rest for the people of Israel.  This will become a mandate in the fourth commandment given to Moses on Sinai:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy (Exodus 20:8,11).

APPLY:  

This passage is a theological statement, not a scientific treatise.  It tells about the nature of God as Creator, and his goodwill toward all creation.  And there are multiple layers in this theological statement.

First, all creation is very good.  This is a rebuke to philosophical and religious doctrine that suggests that the material world is corrupt and evil, and that only the “spiritual” is desirable.  That worldview represents a kind of dualism that rejects the material world.  The Biblical worldview embraces both spirit and matter.  John’s Gospel reaffirms this when the Word who is God and who has created all things, actually becomes flesh!

The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Second, this description of the creation makes it clear that there is One God — Elohim (the proper name “Yahweh” — I Am — is introduced in Genesis 2:4).  God is the creator of all things.  God’s nature is in contrast to both polytheism and pantheism.

Polytheists tended to look upon certain creatures as gods and goddesses — for example, the Egyptians worshiped Ra as the sun god.  Sin was the moon goddess of Mesopotamia.  Genesis 1 makes clear that though the sun rules the day and the moon rules the night they are created objects that provide light — they are not deities.  Elohim alone is creator and ultimate ruler over all creation.

And this passage also makes it clear that God is creator of the world — the world and all that is in it is not itself imbued with divinity.  God is distinct from his creation in the way that an artist is distinct from her painting.  Although her creativity and brush strokes reflect her character, there is a distinction between artist and art.  God’s character is reflected in creation, but nature is not God.

Third, human beings are the apex of God’s creation.  God makes that very clear:

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

There are several applications of this imago Dei: 

• Genesis doesn’t carefully define what it means for us to be made in the likeness of God. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that we literally look like God!  Rather, we can deduce that our character and nature — the capacity for reason, for love, for creativity, for freedom of the will — reflect God’s image.
• One role for human beings includes dominion over all the creatures. This is to be as God’s representatives, and implies stewardship of the earth’s resources, not mere exploitation.   As God has dominion over us and cares for us, so we are to have dominion over and care for all living things and the planet.
• To be created in God’s image is inclusive of both men and women. God’s nature transcends gender, although we are taught in the New Testament to call upon him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Nevertheless, there are aspects of God’s character that we might traditionally describe as masculine or feminine.  The point is both genders reflect God’s image — and God’s nature and character reflect characteristics that might be thought of as masculine and feminine.
• Just as all living things have been commanded to be fruitful and multiply, so are human beings. Human sexuality and procreation are hardwired into human nature by God.

Fourth, and finally, the rhythms of work and rest are built into creation.  God worked and rested, and commands us to do the same.

RESPOND: 

Genesis is among the most majestic and powerful passages in all of Judeo-Christian Scripture — and it is also among the most controversial.

Creation takes place when Elohim speaks the word let there be.  In contrast, most scientists say that the whole universe began with a tiny, compacted particle of matter known as a singularity that suddenly and brilliantly began to expand in what they call the Big Bang. 

Creation of the earth and its creatures takes place in six days. In contrast scientists say that the universe is 13.8 billion years old, and the earth, though younger, is 4.5 billion years old.

Light, sky, waters, earth, vegetation, sun and moon and stars, animals and human beings all are created whole, it seems, in one moment.  Most scientists today argue that the development from inert material to life and on toward complex organisms and sentience evolved over hundreds of millions of years.

The sincere Christian who also wishes to respect the claims of scientific research can be very confused.  We remember that Copernicus and Galileo were persecuted by the Church because they followed their scientific research, which led to different conclusions than what the Church was then teaching.

For perspective, we need to remember a few things.  First, all truth is God’s truth.  And God has provided our senses and our brains so that we may use reason, as well as his own special revelation in sacred history and Scripture.  It seems impossible for these to contradict one another.

My own view is that the Bible is not a scientific treatise.  It teaches me what I need to know for relationship with God and for salvation through revelation.  Science teaches me about God’s physical world as experienced through reason, which is another of God’s gifts.

One way of putting it is to use the old questions posed by journalists, researchers and police investigators — Who, What, Why, How, Where, When.  It seems to me that the Bible answers two of these questions — Who and Why — in a way that science simply can’t.  Scientists don’t pretend to be theologians.  Scientists deal in empirical facts.  But the Scriptures reveal Who (God), and Why (because he is good and his lovingkindness endures forever).  Science can answer What, How, Where, and When.  But they don’t pretend to answer Who and Why.

Frankly, I can see a correlation between the so-called Big Bang and the instant of creation when God spoke:

Let there be light.

And my own “traditional” and “orthodox” faith in the Scriptures doesn’t preclude me from accepting the possibility that the stages of creation depicted in Genesis 1 correlate with some form of the theory of evolution.  God created all life — how God creates is in his power.

And finally, I don’t have difficulty understanding that the days referred to in Genesis 1 aren’t necessarily solar days of 24 hours.  Twenty-four hours is the length of a day on Earth, measuring the length of time it requires for Earth to rotate completely on its axis.  By comparison, a day on the planet Venus is 5,832 hours!

I would argue that because God transcends time, all time is relative to him. After all, God’s relation to the universe and to time is not limited to planet Earth. This is suggested by Scripture:

But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8).

We may not be able to calculate exactly how much time the day in Genesis 1 measures — or even whether it is intended to be of the same length in each case.  After all, if we wish to be literal, light was created on day one — the sun wasn’t created until day four in this narrative!  Hypothetically, a day in cosmic time might have spanned millions or even billions of years!

A little levity might be needed to lighten this very serious subject.   A man is talking to God, and asks:  “God, how long is a million years to you?”  God answers, “About a minute.” So the man pushes on: “God, how much is a million dollars to you?” God says: “About a penny.”  So the man seizes the opportunity:  “God, may I have one of your pennies?” And God replies with a smile: “Sure, in a minute.”

Lord, you are creator of all things.  And you make all things good. Help us to be good stewards of your creation, as you bring time and history to its blessed consummation in your kingdom.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Creation” by Jeff Simms is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for June 12, 2022 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
John 16:12-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Jesus continues to explore the unique relationship within the Trinity, focusing more closely on the work of the Spirit of truth.

In the verses prior to our passage for this week, Jesus has explained why his departure is a good thing for the disciples.  If he departs, he will send the Holy Spirit, the Counselor:

When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;  about sin, because they don’t believe in me;  about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more;  about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged (John 16:8-11).

Jesus has revealed many truths to the disciples, but he is aware that they aren’t ready for all the truth that is to be revealed.  They can’t bear them now.  But the Holy Spirit will also reveal truths that come directly from the Father and the Son.

Note that the Spirit will not speak on his own initiative.  None of his teachings will contradict what Jesus has revealed.

What the Father has also belongs to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit speaks for both the Father and the Son, and glorifies the Son.  So there is a kind of interweaving network of relationship within the Trinity.

APPLY:  

When we try to speak or write about the Trinity, it is a little like trying to photograph a starry sky.  You can only focus on one small section of the sky at one time.  And so it is with the Trinity.

Here, all that we focus on is the role of the Holy Spirit as the ongoing communicator for God.  The Holy Spirit knows the mind of the Father and the Son because he is one with them — Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God.  And yet because the Holy Spirit is a distinct Person, the Holy Spirit has a different role.

And yes, when we start to speak about the Trinity, we do begin to find ourselves unable to articulate it all clearly. As when we stare at the vast skies at night, with no light pollution, we are reduced to silence by it all.

We can know what the Holy Spirit reveals to us; but we may also find ourselves frequently in awed silence at what remains a mystery.

RESPOND: 

Nothing humbles me more when I speak of theology than trying to understand and explain the Triune nature of God.  So many modern Christians fall unwittingly into ways of talking about the Trinity that were declared heretical long ago in the church. I call that “accidental heresy.”

I do believe that there are some truths that the Holy Spirit has definitely revealed to us, as Jesus says:

when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.

I feel pretty certain that the entire New Testament can be explained as the truth that the Holy Spirit would come to reveal, particularly when we remember that nothing was written down by the apostles until at least twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost.

I certainly believe that the Holy Spirit was at work inspiring the writers of the New Testament from 50 A.D. to 100 A.D.  And I would like to believe that the Holy Spirit continued to work in the life of the church through the councils and the synods later, and in the church even today — provided we understand that the Holy Spirit doesn’t contradict previously revealed truth in the Scriptures.

But I still have to admit that I feel like a child when it comes to understanding the Trinity.  Perhaps Psalm 131 says it best for me:

Yahweh, my heart isn’t haughty, nor my eyes lofty;
nor do I concern myself with great matters,
or things too wonderful for me.
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with his mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me (Psalm 131:1-2, World English Bible).

Our Lord, I don’t need to know everything; I know that I can’t know everything; what I need to know is what you need me to know about you and how you save and sanctify me, and how your love and light penetrate this present darkness.  Guide me into your truth. Amen.

PHOTOS:
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Epistle for June 12, 2022 Trinity Sunday

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 5:1-5
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Apostle Paul explores some of the positive consequences of being justified by faith.

As the old saying goes, “when you see a ‘therefore’ in Paul’s epistles, ask yourself, ‘what is it there for.'”

So, if we back up a little and scan the first four chapters of Romans, we see that Paul has very systematically explained his doctrine of justification by faith.

Briefly summarized, what he has taught is that no one, Jew or Gentile, can be saved by works of the law, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  God’s answer to human sin is to send his Son to pay the full penalty of the consequences of sin through his death on the cross.  So, through faith in Christ, those who believe are made righteous as a gift of grace for Christ’s sake.

What then is the consequence of faith in Christ?  Here is one:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we  boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

In other words, those who have trusted in Christ enjoy peace with God because they no longer need fear the consequences of sin— death and the wrath of God.

Not only do those who trust in Christ not need to fear death, but they also have the hope of sharing the glory of God! 

Paul continues with even better news:

And not only that, but we  also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Note that Paul doesn’t promise that there will be no suffering when one is justified by faith.  Rather, suffering can be a part of the process that God uses to enable the believer to grow in Christian maturity.

We can certainly see this truth, realized in Paul’s own life. He records his own sufferings as an apostle — he has been flogged, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, in danger, hardship, imprisoned (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).  And he even speaks of a personal affliction, which remains a mystery to modern scholars.  He asked God three times to remove this thorn in the flesh. 

God did answer Paul’s prayer, in this way:

he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power  is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Clearly, for Paul, justifying faith brings peace with God and hope for sharing in the glory of God, but also enables the believer to endure and even grow and triumph as the result of sufferings.  This therapeutic process, that leads from suffering to endurance, which produces character, finally is manifested in hope.

And the Holy Spirit is described at work in this whole process:

because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

This love of God, like peace with God, is also a fruit of justification by faith.

APPLY:  

The three persons of the Triune God are all represented in the work of justification by faith.  Faith in Christ brings justification and reconciliation with God the Father; and the Holy Spirit is at work applying God’s grace in all aspects of the believer’s life.

The practical application of the doctrine of justification by faith means that we are now at peace with God, and we share in the glory of Christ.

But what may be of inestimable comfort to those who suffer is the process that transforms suffering into hope.

Perhaps an analogy from athletics, or music, or any discipline that requires some form of sacrifice might be helpful.  A certain amount of suffering is necessary in order for the athlete, or the musician, to master a discipline — running, lifting weights, practicing scales, etc.  And the more “suffering” the athlete or musician experiences, the more they increase their physical or mental endurance.

Suffering and endurance produces experiences that build character.  Character is what remains when an individual has experienced stress and difficulty, and has emerged stronger and wiser.  A kind of “baptism by fire” like that which tempers steel.

And the character that has been produced by suffering has very likely taught the individual that hope overcomes even the toughest situations.  Paul certainly experienced hope in the midst of terrible suffering.

And we have the assurance that in the midst of all that we experience in the Christian life:

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Whatever we may experience, God’s love will sustain us.

RESPOND: 

I must confess that I have not suffered much in comparison to many others.  I am generally not discriminated against because of my faith — certainly not in the way many Christians are in the Third World.

Physically, I have enjoyed pretty good health.  As a pastor, I have ministered to people who suffered profoundly because of illness or tragedy.

But experience teaches me that none of us will get through this life without some suffering.  I’ve certainly experienced temporary suffering, and grief because of lost loved ones.

I remember going through a tough time a few years ago when someone quoted the atheist existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche:

“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.”

Of course that’s true — but I can answer that this truth is Biblical truth:

suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

And that is God’s promise!

Our Lord, I thank you that my trust in you results in peace, and glory; and that even my suffering may be sanctified so that you produce endurance, character and hope in my life. Please pour out your love in my life so that it may truly overflow to others.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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