I remember coming out of seminary and thinking about a few things. I know that sounds funny. You’re probably thinking, duh, you should be thinking. Over the years since I graduated from seminary, I’ve actually read the Bible more than I did while in seminary. Let me refine that. It’s not that I didn’t read the Bible during seminary but Bible reading in seminary, for me, was an academic exercise. I was studying the Bible, not absorbing it, not digging in, not spending a lot of time meditating on the whole of Holy Scripture.
I came out of seminary understanding what hermeneutics was and being able to tear verses apart word by word…and missing the forest for the trees. I fear that scholasticism has not done us any favors in Christianity, at least not in a tangible, lived reality kind of way. I’ve said this a lot recently, but I feel like modern Christianity is much less biblical and holistic in its approach than our forebears. Rather, modern Christianity is a direct product (I believe) of a rationalism that has emerged since the Enlightenment. Let me dial this in a little. I want to specifically talk about salvation. I’m going to critique the position that I once held. I was taught and came to learn that salvation was, largely, a forensic thing. Let me explain what I mean by that. The picture of salvation that was painted for me was that of a courtroom where God was the judge and I was the defendant. Evidence was presented in this heavenly courtroom of my sinfulness. All my past misdeeds were trotted out and placed on gruesome display for all to be shocked at the hideous filthiness of my actions. In the closing arguments, the prosecutor (who signified Christ) would stand up and say to the Judge, “He is guilty. But don’t punish him. Punish me. I have taken his punishment.” He atoned for my sin. Sound familiar? Or another picture painted for me was that, because of my sin, a debt was owed to God as the Judge. It was a debt that I could not possibly pay. There was such a stark difference between the holiness demanded by God and my sinfulness that I would never be able to pay that debt. So, Christ paid my debt. He propitiated on my behalf. Sound familiar? Our sins have been forgiven. After all, the Apostle Paul tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). If we have been forgiven by our faith in Christ, we get to go to heaven when we die. Sound familiar? By the way, all those things are true. Our sins have been atoned for. Yes. Our debt has been paid. Yes. Our sins have been forgiven. Yes. When we die, if we have been forgiven and our faith placed in Christ, we get to go to heaven. Well…sort of. All those things are true. Look deeper. I want to suggest to you that our view (mostly Protestant and most modern Catholics) of salvation is so shallow, narrow and truncated that we have failed to grasp what is going on when we say salvation. I want to suggest to you that a patristic and biblical view is much more than merely forensic justification. Go back to the beginning. In the beginning, God created the human race. Life as we know it began in the Garden with a man and a woman joined to their Creator and each other in an intimate union and perfect harmony. They were living in a state of perfection, unashamed to be who God made them to be, walking in the cool of evening in fellowship with their Maker. All their needs supplied. All was as it should have been. Then they sinned. The union was broken. Then God made a covenant with Abram. Let’s think for a second about what a covenant is. A covenant is a union of two parties for a specific purpose. Look at Genesis 12, 15 and 17. Look at the language used there, specifically in Genesis 17. God makes a promise to Abraham. He says that He will be God to Abraham and his offspring. Abraham, in return, was to be faithful to God. Notice that it is God who initiates, and Abraham is to be faithful in response. Faithful. Over and over throughout the Old Testament, the reason that God gives for punishing His people is unfaithfulness. Some examples: Psalm 78:10-11, 40-42, 56-57, 59-62 (the psalmist says God left where He dwelt among His people, which we will come back to) 2 Kings 17:7-8 Jeremiah 32:30 The book of Amos The book of Hosea (we’ll come back to this one as well) Joel 2:12-14 Isaiah 5:1-7 Jeremiah 3:14 Ezekiel 16 The covenantal language used here, and the violation thereof are indicative of infidelity. In fact, pretty much the entire book of the prophet Hosea is an object lesson of the infidelity of God’s people. There is really graphic language used in Hosea. The Hebrew root ‘zanah’ is used 14 times in Hosea and has strong sexual undertones. It means “to commit fornication, to be a harlot.” This is how God viewed the idolatry of His people; as marital infidelity. God, who had condescended to His people to dwell among them (Lev. 26:12, Exodus 25:8), Who had made an intimate covenant with His people to stand forever, had “wedded” Himself to a people who were unfaithful. God was faithful, His people were not. It is in this context that we turn now to the New Testament. Repeatedly, Christ calls people to, yes repent, but also to be in relationship with Him. He says, for example, in John 14, that He will “take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.” He says, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.“ We will make our home with him. Intimate language of union. St. Paul picks up on this intimate language. He uses, for example, the words “in Christ” or “in Him” repeatedly. In the New Testament, this phrase is used 70 times. St. Paul links the marriage of a man and woman with the love of Christ and His Church on more than one occasion, clearly picking up on this intimate covenantal/union understanding of how God loves His people. At the end of our corpus of Holy Scripture, the vision of St. John paints another picture for us. He paints a picture of a banquet, the great marriage supper of the Lamb where the Bridegroom and His Bride are joined together in perfect union again. This, brothers and sisters, is salvation. We are joined in intimate union with Christ, the God-man, the Second Person of the Trinity. This is the restoration of the people of God to the union of the covenant He has promised. Yes, our sins are forgiven, propitiated, expiated and all those other fancy theological words. All those are true. But the ultimate joy and aim of salvation is the restoration of the union of God with His greatest creation, the human race. Those who are in Christ as part of the Bride, His Church, will know this renewed intimacy. Just as the Holy Trinity exists in perfect union, so the Bride is drawn into perfect union with her Bridegroom. Oh, what joy! What manner of love has been bestowed on us! Let us, like the Apostle Paul, cry out, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Glory to Jesus Christ!
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There’s a thing about mysteries. People love a good mystery. It’s kind of like hanging out with children all the time. So many things are a mystery to them, but they are intent on figuring it out. Humans have this condition, I think. We are obsessed with figuring things out. Sometimes I think that’s probably good. Sometimes, however, that’s not good.
For example, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to learn all we can about genetics. However, I do think it’s a bad thing when we start playing around with genetic coding and things like that in an effort to make a “perfect” person. When we start messin’ with things that shouldn’t be messed with, it almost invariably leads to abuse. There are some doctrines of the Church that are like that. For example, I don’t understand how it works that Christ is actually present in the Eucharist; body, soul and divinity. I know that is taking place at the Eucharist but I’m not really sure I can define that. Honestly, I’m not sure we should try. Attempts at describing the Holy Trinity are like that. Try and explain the Holy Trinity to your 4-year-old. It’s almost impossible to explain to anyone, no matter their age, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. You start talking about three Persons in One nature, One essence and people’s eyes start crossing and heads get scratched. I’m not sure I can explain it very well, especially to my 4-year-old. Be that as it may, here we are. The Sunday of the Holy Trinity. A day in which a lot of priests, pastors, deacons and bishops are probably going to try and explain what the Bible and Holy Tradition teach us about the Trinity. I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to talk about the mystery of God. Our readings for today, Epistle: Romans 11:33-36 Gospel: Matthew 28:18-20 On the surface we look at these texts and think they have nothing to do with one another. But, consider what feast we are celebrating. This is the feast of the Holy Trinity, or Trinity Sunday. So, it makes sense when we read these together in that light. Our collect for today sets the tone for us as well, “O almighty and everlasting God, who hast granted to Thy servants, in confessing the true Faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of Majesty to adore the Unity: we beseech Thee, that by steadfastness in the same Faith, we may ever be defended against all adversities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.” The true Faith is the one that acknowledges the glory of the eternal Trinity and embraces the mystery of It. There is a reason that God is mysterious. There is a reason that we are to embrace the mystery of the divine Person who is the Holy Trinity. As Deuteronomy 29:29 reminds us, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” The secret things belong to the Lord our God. God is mysterious. He is holy. That word gets thrown around a lot but most don’t really know what it means. It means that He is set apart in His nature. He is other. He is so other than us that we cannot comprehend Him. And yet, He is knowable. He wants to be known. Even in His set apart nature, in His otherness, His holiness, He is knowable and wants to be known. And how, we may ask, is the unknown One known? He is known in the Son. In the Son, we see God as He is, yet clothed in humanity, having become human. One of us. Can you imagine?! Brothers and sisters, take some time to wrap your minds around the reality of the mystery of the Incarnation. In His inscrutable ways, God is so tied to His creation, so committed to His love for humanity that He has taken upon Himself our humanity. Oh, what humility! Oh, what glory! Oh, what mystery! Oh, what love! Oh, what sacrifice! To begin to meditate on and delve into the depths of the mystery of the Incarnation will blow your mind and open your heart. Look at what the sainted Apostle tells us in verse 36 of our Epistle reading, “For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory forever. Amen.” Of Him, by Him and in Him are all things. His is all the glory. That is how Jesus is able to say (in our Gospel text), “All power is given me in heaven and in earth.” After the disciples had seen Him risen, they would finally believe that all power was His. So too would they now fully believe His promises. And so, they believe Him when He says that He is sending the Paraclete, the Spirit, when He leaves. Of the Spirit, by the Spirit and in the Spirit, they and we can know the Son and the Father intimately. Because that animating and life-giving Spirit lives in us! This is why St. Paul can exclaim, “O the depths of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and recompense be made him? For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory forever. Amen.” On this Trinity Sunday, brothers and sisters, let us embrace the profound mystery of the holiness and goodness of God. He loves us so much that He has Himself taken on flesh in the Son, our Lord Jesus. And He has promised and delivered on His promise of salvation. He has given Himself in and by the Spirit to His people and His Church until that day when our faith will be sight and we shall see Him as He is. Give thanks and praise to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for His great love and mercy! He has taken on our flesh; He has defeated the power of sin and death! He has given us new life on the Cross! He has given us the hope of the resurrection! And He has put in us, the Church, His life-giving Spirit! Glory to God! |
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