Holy Trinity

 

"Batter my heart three-person God"
--John Donne, "Meditation 14"

Preaching on theological-theme-Sundays is particularly challenging because it invites abstraction and can quickly turn into a lecture; even in a seminary, seminary professors want to hear a homily and not a lecture at Mass.

The Holy Trinity is difficult because the official declaration of God's identity as "three persons one God" seems to run contrary to our understanding of what it means to be a person.  For many, such language brings up popular images of "multiple personalities" in a single person suffering from a mental disorder.  There is a quotation from the spiritual masterpiece The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis that gives us a great place to start:

"What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed, it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it." Book 1, Chapter 1

The first thing we should recognize is that any theological understanding finds its ultimate meaning in the goal of all Christian life: to allow God to transform us daily into becoming more the Christ that has dwelled in us since baptism. With that in mind (and heart), let's consider today's readings, how the blessed Trinity is revealed in them, and the implications for our life in Christ.

One of the essential characteristics of the Trinity is relationship, and God's "aseity", or uncreated, perfectly actualized being. Wow, that sounded like the beginnings of a seminary essay!  Scripture implies not only God's uncreated nature, it also gives us an experience of God as moving away from self into humanity in the form of revelations (the Prophets) and redemptive action (Jesus as Christ), and acting within human nature in such a way to recognize in oneself, and one's neighbor, the Divine.  This three-part structure: God-self, God-revelation, God-within humanity becomes the basis to reflect our experience of God's relationship to humanity.

Deuteronomy speaks of God's existence in both heaven and earth, acting in both revelation and redemption.

...fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on the earth below, and that there is no other . . . . that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have a long life on the land . . . ."

In Paul's letter to the Romans, he explicitly writes of God in terms of Father, Spirit and of being "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ"
The text takes an interesting turn, then, and suggests that this relationship is only fully recognized (The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit) "if only we suffer with him".  Paul is suggesting that we will be led by the Spirit into the sufferings of Christ to enter into the glory of the Father.  How often do we regard God as aloof and incapable of suffering because of the attribution of "perfect".  Something perfect does not suffer, but God as the Christ did suffer (contrary to the rather insipid claim of the Gnostics) and does suffer.  The reason God suffers, for Paul, is clear: we are all God's children.  God suffers because of His great love of his creation and his perfect love expressed in our free will to walk away from our inheritance like a petulant child walks away from Disneyland to play in the backyard on a dry, brown lawn with broken toys in the summer heat to spite his parents.

In Matthew's gospel, the Trinity is explicit in the triadic baptismal formula with the promise that the role of the disciple is to teach the world "all that I have commanded you".  If you remember three weeks ago, Jesus commands his disciples: "love one another".  The mission, then, of both the Church and the individual, is one of "going out" into the world, as Christ and the Father "went out" of themselves---God in creation, revelation, and redemption, Christ in perfect obedience to the Father. This centrifugal force of the Spirit, though, is only possible as a fruit of loving one another--the centripetal force of the inwardness of God's presence within us and Christ's presence in the community of the faithful.  What draws us together, leads us to the mission.

The mission will "batter" us, to quote the epigraph from Donne, but we live because we are embraced by God's Spirit in following the battered Christ resurrected.  Donne's pleading seems masochistic until one realizes that to join in this family of God's children, the way of life and glory is also the way of suffering and death for love of the other, embodying the practice of the Trinity.  Who could ever understand such love?

Pentecost

 

The Language of the Holy Spirit

". . . they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language."

The first action at Pentecost had to do with the paradox of a single group of men from a particular region speaking so that others who spoke many other languages heard them in their own language.  Perhaps the message was one of universal salvation.  Scripture simply says the Spirit ". . . enabled them to proclaim. . . .  the mighty acts of God." What could be mightier than the gathering of all nations to the loving call of God?

Too often the call one hears in one's own language can lead one to assume God's call is exclusive to him or herself; that the others couldn't have got it right because God is speaking so personally to me! But the language of the Holy Spirit which is heard in all languages is the language of the Cross and the Empty Tomb.  The language of the Holy Spirit is loving sacrifice and triumph over death.

The Spirit's long embrace of love is "as a flame of fire".  This simile suggests it is a passionate, dynamic and living presence.  Candles, "eternal flames" of remembrance, the sanctuary lamp, all mirror this reality of a living, present God.  Each of us, born like an unlit candle, becomes a light with God's touch at baptism and is the sustaining presence that burns brightly in dark places where light is sorely needed.  As Jesus proclaimed "I am the light of the world"(John. 8:12), so too we are called to live as "Children of the light"(Ephesians 5:8-19). This light, as St. Paul reminds us takes the form of the many and various gifts of the Holy Spirit; yet, 

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.(1Cor.12:12-13)

And in "this one body" we work out our salvation light's gift of God.  Too often diversity is looked upon with suspicion by the institutional church and among Christian denominations.  Instead of looking at one another with a sense of mystery and awe at the diverse workings of the Holy Spirit, we assume error because of the difference.  Very often this difference is mistaken for a lack of unity; what, in fact, it is is a lack of uniformity.  What living system exhibits uniformity?  When, then, is a "difference error"?  The Spirit is also our teacher and what is not of God will always manifest itself as a force pulling people away from the peace, love, and hope of Christ.  St. Paul writing to the Galatians (Gal.5:22) declares: "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness,s and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.”  

 In 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13, after discussing the “many gifts, one Spirit,”  Paul writes elegantly of the primacy of love as evidence of the Spirit’s presence:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.


Love is the language of the Holy Spirit and the sure sign of God’s dwelling and the source of our comfort, instruction, healing light, and salvation. 

The Ascension

 

Now What?

Ascension has all the makings of a story’s end.  Jesus, who has been crucified, and now resurrected, is once again with his disciples teaching them to anticipate the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Then in a moment of great transcendent glory, departs “lifted up into the clouds”.  We have been following the story since Christmas and Jesus’ birth. Now it is only fitting that as we watch him ascend, there is a feeling of completion; the drama will certainly end with the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

In truth, the story continues; the kingdom has arrived (Jesus is eating with his disciples as evidence of the arrival of the kingdom in Mark’s gospel, but is not adequately translated according to a prominent biblical scholar). The story continues, though, to the Eschaton and the righteous judgment of humanity and the end of earthly history.

The ascension completes the human ministry cycle of Jesus but begins the reign of Christ within the Church. The Kingdom is more than a representation of Christ to humanity, it continues as God’s presence among us. For Christians, the Holy Spirit gives us communion with God the Father and Son, we now “abide” with God. For non-believers, we become more than simply messengers of a doctrine, we have the potential to be Christ’s presence.

The liturgical cycle reflects this well. Most of our time is spent after Pentecost. This is the time to compare our lives with the life of Christ and his ministry.  In the Advent-Christmas cycle, we revisit God’s incredible love for humanity and the birth of Jesus. Then, in the Lent-Easter cycle, we celebrate the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection, ascension, and the spark of the Holy Spirit which sets the Earth ablaze with God’s Kingdom once again. The final chapter has not been written, and there is much work yet to be done.

The Sxith Sunday of Easter

 Radicalized Christianity 

A few years ago, a Coptic Christian began attending the local Lutheran Church but made it a point to introduce himself to me as our worship service was ritually more familiar to him. He told me of the many persecutions Christians were receiving at the hands of Muslims in Cairo and throughout the region. He had lost friends, been discriminated against, and was lucky enough to escape the rising violence for himself and his family. The violence and persecution had left him bitter and very much concerned that Islam in the United States posed a threat, and if allowed to establish itself would eventually dominate the country and subjugate everyone to Islamic law. He wanted to know if I would let my parish know about this danger.  Needless to say, it was a difficult thing to hear, and I didn’t want to encourage his fear though it was perfectly understandable given his experience in Egypt. Although I didn’t try to persuade him that his fears were not founded. I doubted Islamic law would replace the Constitution anytime soon, but I wanted to allow him to share his fears and pray with him. 

How would I confront such hostility to my faith? So many Christians are being martyred for their faith in the Middle East and the brutality of religious hatred deeply offends me, especially when groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda and others misrepresent Islam to garner political power.  What can we as Christians do?  What countless others before us have done:  listen to the words of Christ:

 “...love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

It is love that brings us into communion with God; specifically, it is a love that goes beyond “love one another”….it is Jesus’ “love one another as I have loved you”.  The “as I have loved you” is the love of enemy. This love is the grace-filled response of Christ to those who hated him, to those whose weakened faith caused them to flee at the hour of his passion.

Does that mean we simply respond passively in the face of hostile injustice? By no means! The love of Christ is a love of action that makes us face our enemies without any weapons of harm, but weapons of conviction and faith to penetrate even the darkest of hearts. We act as witnesses to the truth in refusing to be controlled by the hate that fuels our enemies. There are many such examples in our history. In recent times, there is the witness of Maximillian Kolbe, OFM, Conv. who stood up to the Nazi by offering to take the place of one who was to be executed. They accepted his offer. Another modern example occurred on the night of 26–27 March 1996, when seven monks from the monastery Notre-Dame de l'Atlas of Tibhirine in Algeria, belonging to the Roman Catholic Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, were kidnapped during the Algerian Civil War and executed. They had received many death threats but did not abandon their monastery, which was a vital part of the local Muslim community that ministered to the health and well-being of hundreds through a clinic and food distribution. They turned no one away. Their refusal to leave was an act of profound faith that embodied in action Jesus’ command to love. 

While it is unlikely we would have to face such hostility or threat, we can easily begin the practice of loving those who hate us. There is no shortage of those who have contempt for religion these days. What we must witness to is the power such love brings in our mission to make the Good News good news.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

“Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit”

Eight times in today’s Gospel Jesus admonishes his disciples to “remain” in him. The Greek verb suggests making a permanent home, not a camp. Ironic, if you consider Jesus is preparing for his Ascension, but perhaps not. Each of us “remains” with Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

It is rather an unusual way to think about our relationship with God—Father, Son, Holy Spirit...that we are asked to stay rather than asking God to remain; our perception is often that God might leave given enough cause, but this is not the case.

The dwelling of the Spirit is a permanent fixture from our baptism. We can thwart the influence of the Spirit through sin, but the Spirit never departs and is infinitely patient.

We are given the image of Jesus as the vine and ourselves as the Church, the branches that are prepared to bear fruit. But, like the fruit, it is only viable in its attachment to the branch, and the branch’s attachment to the vine. So too, we must remain attached to Christ through the Spirit and dwell with God in order for our lives to realize the potential with which we have been gifted at baptism. We are a people of varied fruits of the Spirit in service of Christ’s mission. As St. Paul reminds us in Ephesians Chapter 4,

 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Paul uses the body and its parts to suggest the need for unity, Just as Jesus’ metaphor of the vine and branches suggest a crucial interdependence. And that is what the Church is—a community of faith animated collectively by its members remaining (and often struggling to remain) in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

In 1 John, we are reminded that our obedience to Christ comes in the form of following the two cardinal commandments of Jesus: that “we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.”  Believing “in” the name is Jesus is “remaining”, being sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit as our condition for bearing fruit. Being part of the Church as the body of Christ, we need to remember that our fruit is not the product of our own efforts but the will of God. Our “fruitiness” is the outgrowth of our relationship with Christ both in and through the community of the Church. There are no ears walking down the street or grapes growing apart from the branch.