The Spirit is Future Present – 22 May 2016 – Holy Trinity

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity gives us not only the workings of the Holy Three but a powerful inner-reliance within them that forms an image of community. All of this can sound either too practical (they each have a job) or too complicated (three is one?).

God the Creator can be too distant (the Watchmaker god who gets the ball rolling and then departs) or too comfortable (there’s not much that is controversial in acknowledging the universe must have a Source).

God the Spirit can be too easily manipulated (we can say God “told me” through the working of the Spirit what I wanted to hear) or so ever-present and pervasive that it loses the particularity of emanating from God the Son (i.e., the Spirit is in every faith).

God the Face––in Christ Jesus––of Creator/Spirit can be either too neatly drawn (Jesus’ sense of what is right and just is in line with mine) or too scary (he’s asking me to grow and change so that I embrace a larger world than I want).  

Preachers might summon the language of mystery today so that what seems to be too difficult to talk about (lest it become boringly understandable or ungraspably academic) becomes absolutely necessary to faith.

The Church and the lectionary give us this day every year to sum up, as it were, ways to think about our confession of faith: I believe in the God the Father… Son… and Holy Spirit. This is a great opportunity to get down to it!

John 16:12-15

Most significantly, we hear from Jesus’ farewell speech to the disciples, promising that a “Spirit of truth” will come to guide the disciples into the future.

Why did Jesus think his followers needed this kind of divine presence? Why not simply tell them: “You have my words, my sacramental body and blood, you have me with you always.” . . .  Even the two-voice God language is too complex for most of us, since God as a (single) “higher power” is what really matters. Why were Jesus' words and sacramental presence not enough of God for the church to hang onto?

Here's a revealing analogy. A contemporary religious community founded about forty years ago by a revered teacher faced this problem. He was their leader, teacher, saint. So they recorded ten thousand hours of his teachings, and after his death kept his living quarters unchanged as a shrine. When new members joined, they were escorted to the room, and could listen to the tapes. Why bother with the Spirit, if the original founder can still be available in this way? . . . .

One answer might be: geographical, physical mobility in one case, but not the other. The [contemporary religious] community stayed in Philadelphia, the house and room providing immediate access to the past when the leader lived there. By contrast, the earliest Christians were forced to flee; they scattered and moved around and most of them lost that immediate link with the literal places where Jesus had been. Of course, a homeless founder helped this dynamic: there was no “Jesus’ own bedroom” to show new converts! But a more significant aspect is that the Spirit, already has a direct connection to the future. . . prevent[ing] the community from only remembering, preserving, returning to a glorified sacred past. The Spirit promises a future with its own worth, its own challenges and novelties. Yet the promise is also that this future will not be Jesus-less, nor disconnected intrinsically from the mighty events recorded in the gospel. The Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus and the Father, and shares this with those to come. . . .

Did Christians begin and remain a kind of “Jesus cult” in just this sense, fixated on one individual founder? In a way, yes. But the Spirit's role is to keep them and us from getting stuck in this past. We have no forced choice between past and future. Someone in the Community of the Beloved Disciple must have grumbled, “Jesus wouldn't have wanted us to move to Ephesus,” but someone else could always invoke the Spirit's guidance. The test isn't “Would Jesus have wanted this?” but “Is the Spirit guiding us here? Does God have a future for us in Ephesus, revealed through the Spirit?” No search of the sayings could answer that. – Lucy Bregman

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Let the poetry of this passage, rich in concrete touchstones (water, mountains, earth, heavens, skies, sea…), expand the image of what undergirds all of creation by naming it Wisdom. Before all that ever was, Wisdom was born––another name for the One God.

Romans 5:1-5

The litany of Paul’s list of character traits that build upon one another becomes a kind of ladder to greater and greater capacities that strengthen us in this life of struggle. Paul’s words encourage us to look at the gifts that accrue to those who suffer: endurance, character, hope, and finally the experience that “does not disappoint us” which is joy.

Joy comes from participating in the life of the Trinity, the life of the world. Early theologians spoke of the Trinity being like a fountain with love spilling over from Father to Son to Spirit. Here’s another possibility for that fountain:

Imagine a “Trinity fountain” in which the. . . water moves from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the Spirit—but mysteriously reciprocally returns to the Father from the Son, and to the Son from the Spirit, and from the Spirit to the Father. . . a perfect, tri-personal relationship of love communication and covenant faithfulness. . . – Michael A. Van Horn

This is a description of perichoresis, a dance of the Three, to which we are all invited.

Lucy Bregman, professor of religion at Temple University, Philadelphia, has published several books on death and dying and, most recently, The Ecology of Spirituality: Practice and Virtues in a Post-Religious Age (Baylor Univ. Pr.).

Michael A. Van Horn was, at the time of this contribution to Homily Service, assistant professor of theology at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, and a pastor within the Evangelical Covenant tradition.

  

Homily Service 40, no. 7 (2007): 3-14.

Flesh and Blood Faith – 16 August 2015 – Lectionary 20/ Proper 15

Are Christians cannibals? The image of eating flesh and blood – so grotesque and graphic in today’s Gospel speech – needs some explanation. Preachers with visitors who are curious about the church but reluctant to dive into a community that is, as so many say, “organized,” might be the most in need of learning how to hear this speech from Jesus. What is John trying to convey about Jesus here?

It is tempting to talk about the Eucharist, the meal of bread and wine, the body and blood of our Lord on this day. In 2009 in Homily Service, however, David Tripp expressed an even broader and deeper meaning than the Eucharist itself. Read on.

John 6:51-58

The passages from John for the next two Sundays share a common context. After Jesus has declared his unity with the Father in the giving of life (ch 5), and has fed the starving crowd in close association with the Passover, after which some of his followers have in error sought to make him a political figure (ch 6:1–21), Jesus challenges the hearers to seek the true life-giving bread from heaven, which transcends the bread of the desert Passover, and to receive the universal mercy that Jesus offers in obedience to his Father (6:22–40). Now (6:41–71), Jesus declares himself to be, in person, the bread of life: the one who chews. . . Jesus' flesh and drinks his blood will abide in Jesus, and Jesus in that person, and thus that person will have life, because Jesus has life from the living Father. . . .

John's time-line differs from that of the three other gospels, and appears to be John's way of interpreting the priorities of Jesus' ministry, rather than simple chronology. Thus the cleansing of the temple comes near the start of the story, and the theme of feeding on Jesus is another early theme, suggesting that Jesus' cleansing power and his nourishing are found in his entire life and acts, not simply in Holy Week and Maundy Thursday. Such power and feeding are to be throughout the believer's relationships, not only in sacramental moments.

The key word in John 6 may be abide (v 56): the image is of a continuing, developing and consistent relationship. Throughout this entire part of the Fourth Gospel, the priority of the Father's sovereign grace is emphasized. The relationship between Jesus and the Father is the basis of the relationship that becomes possible between believers and Jesus.

– David Tripp

Proverbs 9:1-6

Eating together is a hallmark of wanting to move closer in communion. In her invitation, Wisdom includes anyone who desires to enter into the mystery at the heart of life more deeply. By eating of her food and drink, all people may come to a more profound understanding of Wisdom, which, so the author says elsewhere, is the first step toward knowledge of God. In the invitation, Wisdom speaks a great truth. We must make wisdom and knowledge and understanding of God as fully a part of us as the food we eat and the wine we drink. It seems like such a human thing to do; it is also the divine thing to do. – Mary Katharine Deeley

Ephesians 5:15-20

“Be careful how you live… be filled with the Spirit…” A strong link exists between this admonition to the church and Jesus’ statements found in John’s Gospel about abiding in him.

Paul's version of “Carpe Diem” is not about winning medals or trophies or living the exuberance of youth and all its adventures. It is about getting drunk on the Holy Spirit in such a way that it results in singing and playing with all the heart for God. It is about allowing ourselves to be so filled with knowledge and wisdom in the ways of God that we cannot help but live lives that are grace-filled and joyful. – Mary Katharine Deeley

Where and how is the Holy Spirit engaging and filling the life of the congregation you serve?

David Tripp, a United Methodist minister, served Salem United Methodist Church in Indiana, served in the British Methodist ministry for twenty-eight years, and wrote in liturgics and related subjects.

Mary Katharine Deeley is the director of Christ the Teacher Institute of the Sheil Catholic Center, the Roman Catholic campus ministry at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. She is the author of many books, a frequent speaker on diverse topics, and a pastoral advisor.

Homily Service 39, no. 9 (2009): 27-33.

Like a Mustard Seed, Yeast, and a Pearl – 27 July 2014 – Lectionary 17

The Reign of God, Dominion of Heaven, basileia tou theou, Kingdom of God––all refer to a coveted, hoped-for realm in which the small become monumentous, what is truly precious is valued above all, where bounty is expected, and wisdom rules. In keeping with the Wheat and Weeds of last week’s Gospel, the theme of good and evil comes to us again so that we can ponder it in Solomon’s, in Paul’s, and in Jesus’ words.

1 Kings 3:5-12

 Solomon has come to the throne at a young age, in a rather messy succession. Apparently overwhelmed by the prospect of his now dawning reign, he seeks out the holy place at Gibeon, where he spends the night hoping for a dream. God appears and invites dialogue. Solomon immediately grounds himself in the covenant with his father, David. Then, rather than seeking his own way or gain, he asks for the wisdom to lead God’s people. While his plea is not overtly full of praise, it is open to the future of the kingdom God has created, and this pleases the LORD. Solomon has a dream and wishes to lead the people well, into God’s future

For the courage to ask for wisdom and the wisdom to withstand the onslaughts of daily life, we heed Paul’s assurance that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:26-39

Paul is not supplying a holy means of saying “everything will work out” or “it’s not that bad.” We need to remember that Paul’s assertion is rooted in the cross, the ultimate suffering, that somehow finds redemption in God’s gracious power to bring something out of nothingness. We move into the future with our eyes wide open to the suffering and pain, but strengthened by the power of God witnessed in the cross and resurrection. David Bartlett says that in this passage “Paul emphasizes both what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ, what Christ does for us now, and what we can hope for in light of Christ’s love.” (See Bartlett’s Romans [Nashville: WJK Press, 1995], 79.) We don’t just conquer, we don’t just survive, we indeed are secure in Christ. No one, nothing, not even our own selves can separate us from God’s love and God’s future.

While we cannot see the Dominion of Heaven, we glimpse its healing power even in its strangeness. That God’s word assures of the strength of what is small to make miraculous changes in our world ought to give us courage to face each new day and take risks, casting our nets wide again and again.

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 

 The parable of the net parallels some of the message of the parable of the wheat and weeds. Yet, directed at the disciples, it is oriented to mission. These disciples, led by the four fishermen, are to cast their nets wide and deep for all kinds of fish. Their mission is inclusive, as is Matthew overall, of the outcast and marginal, gentile and Jew. Note that the angels will do the sorting. This is a solid message in an age where the church often is more concerned with judgment than spreading good news, than casting the net as wide as possible.

–– The Rev. Timothy V. Olson, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Ankeny, Iowa

Yes, the angels will do the sorting in the end, but in this life we are called to hear the truth that we have been given the gifts and vocation to discern our courses and that we are not alone. God’s power reigns in our midst like yeast, a pearl, and a tiny seed.

Homily Service 38, no. 8 (24 July 5005): 35-45