12 Therefore,
brothers and sisters, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful
nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the
sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds
of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of
God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make
you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received
brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry,
""Abba," Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies
with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children,
then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in
his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The
above constitutes the Epistle reading for this Sunday, Trinity Sunday. My hunch
is that it was chosen due to the fact that upon close inspection we find all
three Persons of the Trinity: The Father
(vs 15), the Son [Christ] (vs 17) and the Spirit (vs 14 etc.).
I
have always found the preaching task of Trinity Sunday to be somewhat
difficult. As a "topic," the point seems to be purely dogmatic. We
set a Sunday aside on the church year to celebrate the fact that we have not
devolved into ancient heresy; we are [still] Trinitarian in our faith and
faith-life. Which is to say, we still believe in the "God-ness" of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; we still believe in the distinction of the
Persons... they haven't been confused... but we also, with our Jewish ancestors
of the faith, retain belief in the "oneness" of God. All of this as
per the Athanasian Creed. That's nice... but it's sorta hard to preach. It
becomes even more difficult to preach when one attempts to take one (or more)
of the readings--each of which have their own context already--and form-fit
them into proof texts for the "Trinity theme" of the day.
Of
the 3 readings, I find myself most drawn to Romans 8. Anytime we approach a
text from Paul, I'm convinced that it is extremely important that we keep
Paul's main agenda constantly in mind. Paul's main agenda was to
construct a united messianic community of Jews + Gentiles around the atoning
sacrifice and resurrected life of the Messiah (Jesus of Nazareth). Faithful
living, hence, is "Jewish" in that it worships the one true God as
revealed to the Patriarchs and Prophets; it is also "Jewish" because
it is life in the Messiah. Furthermore, it is "Jewish" in that the
ethical morality of this one true God is considered the standard. However, this
life in Paul's community(ies) of faith is also "Gentile." This is
most precisely seen by the fact that the "badge" of membership in the
community is FAITH [in the Messiah] and the presence of the Holy Spirit
[individually and communally]. This is radically different in two ways: (1) marks of ethnicity such as circumcision
and ceremonial/dietary restrictions etc. no longer have their former meaning
and are not required; and (2) there is no male/female distinction in one's
standing before God (Gal 3:28)--FAITH and the SPIRIT being given equally and
without distinction to both men and women.
In
that sense, a NEW AGE has dawned; a NEW CREATION has occurred. Paul's "new
creation" lingo is so often limited to a personal encounter/change. Taking
nothing away from that concept, it is important to remember that there is also
a corporate work of new creation. The New People Of God, Jew & Gentile
alike, united in faith around God's Messiah.
In
his letters, Paul the Jewish Pharisee/Rabbi continues to use the old(er) Jewish
stories and metaphors because some of his hearers are of course Jewish, but
also because those of Gentile persuasion, with coaching, can come to see and
appreciate a universal application from those stories/metaphors. Hence, one
need not be of Jewish descent in order to appreciate the language of
bondage/slavery from vs 15 and reflect on the Egyptian slavery experience of
the Jewish narrative. Paul is also using the typical rabbinic method of
discussing his topic in "two ways" lingo. There is a way of life and
a way of death; there is a way of freedom and a way of bondage; there is a way
of slavery and a way of adoption-to-sonhood. There is the life of being heirs
with Christ and the life of nothingness.
What
I find fascinating in this passage is that for Paul the opposite of
"adoption" isn't "abandonment"....a word we might have
chosen; it is, rather, slavery. Wanting nothing to do with God and His family;
choosing a life apart from God; living outside of God's grace is not,
therefore, a neutral decision. It's slavery. This concept is full of irony and
continues to tap into the story of the Israelites of old, who.... whenever
faith was required.... immediately pined away for the "good old days"
of their life of Egyptian servitude. Life in the Spirit requires faith, but in
Paul's terminology, this is the life of adoption; the life of being joint heirs
with Christ.
If
there's a final Trinitarian angle here, it is probably to mention that God is
not Holy Trinity in abstract; God is not just a clump of complex deity. ALL OF
GOD'S BEING--Father, Son and Holy Spirit long to be in relationship with us His
adopted children!
Cheers,
No comments:
Post a Comment