Trinity - a different perspective

 The Trinity is a dogma that is forged in the fires of controversy. It is not formulated in language that is consistent with the modern world and is an examination of or rather an attempt at explaining something in a language that is redolent of medieval world views and Greek philosophy. Yet it is a founding principle upon which the Christian faith stands which has not been changed nor truly examined other than to try and explain it in modernistic terms. Perhaps that is too unkind, yet if we think about the theological investigations and verbiage around the topic most of it is constrained by the very thought of what is being discussed, the Trinitarian formulation, and not by going back to first principles. It has perhaps become a silo within which the Christian faith survives but also prevents that same faith from thriving within a more natural state.

The concept of a Trinity is a hard concept for other monotheistic religions to conceive and thus they turn round to suggest that it is not one God but three that are worshipped. In some respects this is not particularly surprising when you see different styles of worship and theology displayed by the Christian faith. For some there is an emphasis on the patrilineal Father figure; for others there is an emphasis on Jesus, not Christ, but Jesus so that they become almost Jesusians as opposed to Christians. Of course we must not neglect the Spirit and so for others the Spirit is dominant. If we begin to put all of these together we may be able to retrieve the original thought of Trinity. It is truly pointless struggling with analogies to attempt an explanation so let's delve into mathematics not as an analogy but rather to see the truth behind one God. For in truth one cannot stand on its own mathematically but rather must be one of several others and is thus only one when in relation with another. This can be seen when we truly relate to the interlinkage between three or more.

Is Trinity only singularity?

If, we look carefully at our Hebraic roots buried in the Bible we can see that there is a discrepancy regarding singularity of worship of a sole God. Rather, it is a God that is worshipped over other Gods that is accepted and promoted, whilst acknowledging the presence of other Gods (Ps. 82). Strict monotheism becomes a feature of the faith journey only after the exilic period. Our inheritance of which moves towards the strict dichotism we have in the modern era that it has to be the right or the left, Good or Evil, etc.  This leaves no space for both / and. Early Christian life was filled with difference in understanding prior to the imposition of ordered thought. In grappling with this early difference in God - thinking, Tertullian and others out of Africa formulated our Trinitarian aspected God-talk, which has perhaps ultimately limited our growth into and understanding of God for whose likeness we were given in creation. An understanding which some suggest has been uplifted from the sagacity of African thought in the communal spaces of I am because you are and you are because I am. This is the language of many Indigenous groups throughout the world suggesting a relationship between the community and the individual. So can we retain an understanding of God that is uniquely part of us (God Immanuel) (Rom 8.12-17) and yet is so far beyond our understanding that we struggle to define and describe. Did the originators of the formulation believe it would be the only means of God-talk or did they expect it to evolve as our thought and world views evolved?

In this world we are surrounded by networks of relational activity that connect us to the past, present and future of those close and far away. We do not live in singularity but in multiplicity. God's presence springs up not in familial lineage down the years but more like an out of control rhizome of connectivity that springs up where the gardener (our dogma, formulas and neat garden solutions) least expects. Setting our thoughts, bodies and communities afire with difference and change that inspires. Others suggest that we begin to re-read our faith journey and re-interpret our understandings on the backs of twisting elastic threads, not singularities of particulate material, that cause paradoxical jumps and communications across vast unsupported space. A more elastic understanding that inhabits God's freedom in the world not containing but releasing and opening our hearts to those around us.

Are we dry bones or those that are living in fear?

 Bones and skeletons are obviously without life of any sort other than perhaps some patches of dry DNA and any other living organism that is using them for homes They tend to portray, obviously, an absence of living, of water but over and above that their very nature suggests a dryness and brittleness that is easy to break apart. Some bones are indeed brittle and easy to break and yet others are substantial enough to be able to give some one a hard knock should one so wish. Ezekiel is placed in a valley with innumerable dry bones from which God asks him to create life through the Spirit, which indeed he does (Ez. 37.1-14). In this passage God creates from a few bare bones, pardon the pun, life that is powered by God's breath as the first life was powered by God's breath a reminder that we are all made as a result of God's breath of life.

Bare bones to life eternal

The 'church' as we know it has metamorphed from the bare bones of a few disciples hiding themselves away in a room in Jerusalem (Acts 2 and onwards) in to what it appears as an institution today. Like any living creature it has evolved through the ages changing and morphing from the original, perhaps, idyllic conceptions of humanity as a community to the extensive and often empiric organisation that it is today. As we read the beginning of that journey and dare I say not really the beginning of the church but of a community that bore witness to the gifts of God obtainable through grace and faith borne on the breath of God's Spirit, we are reminded that it is God's Spirit that motivates and changes the lives of those with faith. It is not a programmed beginning but rather the breath of God's Spirit in the community that brings about the change.

Both of these passages tell of great change in how we perceive God's presence and work. From Ezekiel's vision of dried bones to the growth of community out of fear and perhaps some reluctance to step out into the world. Change wrought by the passage of the Spirit in the lives of those that God guides and directs. A Spirit that is called a Spirit of truth by Christ (John 16.13). A truth which creates community out of nothing but dry bones in the desert and from a few huddled in fear. A truth which bleeds into society and shames those that would deny the basic justice of human love. For the community that is grown from the dryness of despair and fear is a community that is bound by the truth of good news proclaimed in the love of the other.

We unfortunately are not as open to change as those who were at the beginning. It is out of their fear and despair that a new way of life came about not out of our current place in society that of complacency. We are quite content with what society delivers for us and are de-sensitised to the cruelties of the world as we see them nightly on our newscasts or in our papers or on the internet. We do not understand the despair that face so many when we have the comforts of our own homes and friends around us who are not suffering. We fail those who are less fortunate from ourselves as we do not see their plight but rather jeer on the side-lines much as those that jeered at the first disciples as they proclaimed a new understanding in the community. It is not that we do not understand, it is not that we do not see but rather we do not open ourselves to the call of the Spirit into the world. If we look around the world it is only a very few that actually proclaim God's love in the midst of despair. In celebrating Pentecost we must celebrate the Spirit of truth and love in our lives that calls us to give up our fears so that we can so God's love to the world.

Is ascension solely the prerogative of Christ?

 Christ ascends into the heavens at the end of the Gospel and in Acts. Two very different stories both ending with Christ ascending. How do we relate to this ascension knowing as we do that there is little way up there that we can point to as being heaven? In Ephesians the writer talks about Christ being set above everything (Eph. 1:21) perhaps a style of thinking that leads us towards seeing a person or somebody so far above us that he/they rule everything. A concept of a world view that is plagued by emperors and empires, kings and kingdoms, etc. Yet if we examine the Gospel we do not see anything about lordship but rather about love and understanding which has more akin to a certain amount of equal integration as opposed to lordship. In this case is ascension as simple as it is made out o be or is there something deeper to take away for us today.

It would be perhaps of use to think about ascending and what that means for us. Do or can we, at some stage, come to a time when we too can ascend? If we were to think in Buddhist terms perhaps we would be thinking of the concept of samsara or enlightenment, an understanding that is beyond us but is attainable with a lot of hard work. Or is ascension only the preserve of the Christ and if so what does it imply for our daily lives? In the modern genres of fiction and fantasy there are a number of what are known as cultivation progression series were the proponent of the story struggles through innumerable challenges and slowly becomes better as time progresses until they ascend to towards godhood or perfection. In the end Christ comes close to God or rather sits at God's right hand following the struggles of life which sort of fits the progression novels' premise as the proponent struggles to become as close to perfection as possible.

So for us perhaps the question that should arise is: what is our end goal here? What do we see for ourselves as being the epitome of the Christian journey and the end point, be it at the end of our lives or during our lifetime? Christ shows us the way, Christ dies for us showing us the way, Christ lives again to show us the way, Christ ascends to show us the way towards God. As followers of Christ I would suggest that we are doing a poor job as we appear not to have got beyond trying to follow the way as Christ showed us in his life let alone the love that was demonstrated as he died. Christ's way is the way of change of ourselves from selfishness to selflessness. It is not an easy road to travel as it means consistent sacrifice of ones self for the good of the other. It means ascending beyond the pettiness that is in built in our reactions within our ordinary lives. Christ's life, death and rising again tell us in the reality of the world we need to live and die before we can attain new life. These things must occur before we can even think of ascending beyond that which we believe is normal and finding ourselves close to God or rather finding ourselves as Christ to those around us.

Are we ready to follow the ascended Christ?

We are so scared of death in the current age that we forget the reality that death is a part of life. This then holds us back from becoming aware of how important death is to our lives. However we feel about the characters of the Lion King perhaps the most important understanding is the circle of life. Change in our circumstances implies the death of something as we have to change to grow in faith, in life, in our own understanding of our circumstances. Christ shows us the way through death into newness of life but beyond that he also shows that in accepting these things we grow so much more as we grow and come closer to God's presence. However, it all starts from within ourselves as we accept the challenge of changing towards being more Christlike and for some this will mean dying to our present and rising to the glory of God's presence.

Say Hello and form community

 We honour it every week in our traditional and non-traditional services; we acknowledge it, we affirm it, we say that this is what we do, but do we actually manifest this commandment to love in the world? I reckon that if every Christian actually did undertake the words of Christ in John 15.17 (to love one another) the world would be a different place. This is fully at the heart of the Gospel and yet for all we proclaim it we do not and I repeat, we do not obey this one commandment that follows from the love of God. I can already hear every Christian that reads this saying "But we do". Yes, we love those in our 'clique' but I am saying no we do not, at least not with the intent that the commandment has. How do I know this because of the state the world. It is in fact irrespective of what faith anyone holds, as there is a consistency of thought throughout every faith that the world would be better if we got over ourselves and loved each other.  This does not happen and I do not have to go through reams of examples to show the bigotry of the world and its people whether it is Australia, UK or USA it is all the same.

Why? It is perhaps simply the fact that we are to involved with our selves and our own needs that we are unconcerned about the needs of others. We only wish to be associated with those we can get on with rather than those we cannot. Once we start this we begin to create our own little enclaves and cliques of those who belong and those who do not. In a way that division starts even with the writer of 1 John as  the lines of acceptance are drawn in the sand (1 John 5.12). Once we begin we cannot and dare not stop creating the divisions that we are comfortable with, within the societies that we belong to because if we do we begin to fulfil the commandment given to us which takes work. Once we have the society we want than all others are non-members and are to be shunned as they are not us. The wall has been formed and it becomes increasingly impossible to breach the barrier and reach the individual, group, society on the other side.

We are called from our baptism to form community and to enable others to come to God through Christ. However, we begin to baulk at this because it means that we actually have to do so much. We immediately take it that it is an onerous and thankless task, so we designated a person who can do it for us. They will present ways to do this and direct us so that our ability to undertake that which we need to do is enabled. We follow the directions encoded on the box, just like an instant meal  If it brings success then we will continue and re-iterate the process irrespective what else is going on around us. Perhaps we can put a programme in for young people, perhaps we can undertake home groups, perhaps we can prepare to undertake some form of outreach service and bring "GOD" into it. We need to manage the situation so that we can deliver God's love or so it would seem. A really good programme or mission is all that is required and if it is managed properly then we will have people pouring in the doors, a full church.  Great ideas and great things to undertake but is that what Christ set his disciples to do? Did he send them out to gather the crowds so that they could become part of the "Church" or did he send them out to bring God closer to the people so that they would realise that God was with them and a part of them? That God's love was manifest in their love of the other and not just the comfortable community that they belonged to.

At the end of the day does it really matter if the "Church" grows, (sacrilege) that really is not what God is about. Surely our job, or rather our calling as this is what it should be (a significant difference), is to live as Christ and bring God close to those who are unable to come close to God. It is God's love that matters not whether the Church grows. As someone else has said the Church exists to glorify God after that, whether it grows or not is up to God. Our "job" is to follow Christ in the costly calling of God's love not to ensure that the numbers in the pew are increasing, that is nowhere near the top of the list of commandments, in fact I cannot recall its presence in the scriptures.  What is clearly enunciated, is to love God and love our neighbour and the first thing to be done there is to break down the walls that have arisen around our own enclaves, to open the doors to all so that we can share God's love with all.  How do we do that? Well if we are not doing it at present perhaps now is the time to start by saying "Hello", "Ciao!", "Kaya", "Jingari" and any other number of greetings to those you do not know as you walk the malls and streets of your everyday life.

Hello, Ciao!, Kaya, Jingeri, Salut or whatever you want to break the divisions between our cultures

The pliability of love

  'I am the vine' so says Christ in one of his famous quotes from John's gospel (15:1). Not only is Christ saying this but he is also saying 'God the vine' as 'I am' in Jewish literature sources is tantamount to the name of God. So, in a twisted manner Christ is proclaiming himself God but also asserting that the twisted vines that produce grapes are part and parcel of God. Yet, the analogous writing of John goes even further in stating that we are to be embedded in the vine as branches that source their nutrients and growth potential from the root stock of the vine. So, Christ is the vine, excluding the branches as it is we who are the branches in some cases grafted on, we would assume that the vine is more than just a woody growth.

We must make some valid assumptions at this point or else the analogy will not hold together. The first one is that our concept of God / Christ as the main stem of the vine means that this is composed of love. In other words it is not a rigid structure but rather something that is fluid and ever changing. If we think in terms of rigidity then we become bogged down in human concepts and an inability to become one with God. The second assumption is that all parts of the total plant are bound together by this same structure and it is through this that the Spirit flows to the outer extremities so that we become productive and produce the grape of peace and compassion in our lives to serve as sustenance to the world. If we are happy with this then we can proceed to acknowledge our usefulness to the world.

The interesting thing about these assumptions is that it suggests that our preconceptions of community as a rigid structure must fall away. If we are to be intimately involved with God we must allow for flexibility in our response. The love of God is not a rigid characteristic but rather is more pliable, the moment we become rigid we are likely to fracture from the source. Our broken branches pile up around us and eventually burn as suggested by Christ (Jn. 15:6). It is because we have withered or rather not allowed love to flow into our selves and become rigid in our outlook. The harmony of creation and created things shows us the harmony of God. The interconnectivity of all things demonstrates to us the interconnectivity of God. Thus, the vine shows the interconnectivity of all things when they are harmonised to the fundamentality of God as love. This love that we refer to as God contains all forms of love within it and cannot be described in any one way except perhaps to suggest that love viewed in this way is something that does not induce harm, hatred, disconnection or any other form of violence that disconnects a person from love itself.

It is the pliable growth that bears fruit not the woody growth that is eventually pruned away

The writer of the letter 1 John suggests that the epitome of love is self sacrifice as seen in Christ's immolation on the cross (1 Jn. 4:9). This is a love that transcends the other and is able to sacrifice ourselves and our ideals to attain the peace which comes in the presence of God. This is what we require in our lives, a sense of the ability to give up all but at the same time to gain all. We tend not to consider compromise or the giving up of a position as something that is strong or the way to obtain what we are after. Usually, if we do not create the circumstances for our win we resort to violence in order to overthrow the alternative. Yet, more often then not it is in the surrendering of an ideal that creates the situation in which both sides of conflict find a win-win solution to the underlying issue. Like Philip (Acts 8:26-ff) we are sent into situations which we might find impossible but it is with the pliability of love that we overcome our difficulties to find a way to obtain our goals. 

It is not by rigid precepts that we are able to minister to the people around us but rather by the flexible understanding that love covers many things and can be viewed from a wide number of places. It is often only when the hard exterior that becomes woody and with less pliability associated with a living plant or vine that pruning and desiccation set in. The pliability of the living vine allows it to wind its way around many different situations and when it becomes hard and woody it is often pruned away to allow for fresh growth. In our own communities we also become hard and brittle unable to twist and turn to find the way forward. In modern times, we can see the resistance of some parts of the church to such change. They may appear at first glance hardy but in time they always wither and do not produce sweet fruit but that which is sour. Let our efforts be more pliable in the face of change and our new reality so that we bear good sweet fruit rather than the bitter dregs of sour wine.

Programmed love or a love that never ends

 The Church has become inundated with a number of proposals as to what and how to "grow" and become relevant in society. Denominations are feeling the pinch with lowered numbers of those attending and in mainline denominations are burdened with requirements from "head office" to fulfil. Those who come to church feel burdened with the need to fulfil requirements of the "church" and then find time for the shared gospel. Perhaps the only time of solace is worship and we don't want any of that loud bangy music or a sermon that is so high powered that we do not understand half the words. We feel badgered but do not want to give up our place in the faith community's worship, We feel we don't want to contribute realistically to anything going on but rather will attend some event put on for us or the community. We appear to want to programme our faith lives as if they were computer chips rather than human beings filled with love.

So do we manage this or do we move out into mission or do we just allow the Spirit to move as it will? The literature and perhaps many of those in authority would have us believe that we must either manage our way out or go on a missional undertaking as that is the Gospel. "Prove" to our communities that we are relevant to their needs and bring the Gospel into their hearts and minds, but what is the Gospel, what do we have to "sell" that we can become more efficient like a business? At the end of the day perhaps we need to see the Gospel as an initiative that cannot be managed, be hyperactively managed or even be relevant to the local community. Huh! What a shocking thing to say for surely that is the purpose that we are asked to do in the sending out into the world? No, the heart and soul of Christ's message is in the passages from John (10.11-18), 1 John (3.16-24) and perhaps in action (Acts 4.5-12). All of these passages speak about acting and living in love, love of neighbour, love of God.  The mission of the Church is to behave in the manner that Christ behaved and by doing so spread the initiative of the Gospel, the good news, of how to live in love.

Do we programme our love like a computer chip or do we let love grow?

We have forgotten in the institutionalisation of the religious / faith journey that Christ interacted as another human being among human beings. He did not set up programs, schedules, etc for his disciples. He did not expect his followers to become followers of programs and schedules, mission undertakings to solve the problems of the world / country / community. Christ sent his disciples out into the world to bring the experience of love into the lives of others and in so doing bring them closer to God. We shepherd people through the example of our lives when those lives are consumed by love, not by money, not by comsumerisation, not by missional programmes or managed undertakings that make us more efficient. Perhaps we need to re-think how we let others know what it means to be Christian by extending our love into their hearts and minds.

Yes, we need to be part of our community to support each other and to operate as a Christian community within the community in which we live. Yes, we need to offer ourselves up as living sacrifices to enable others to find God and if this means that we attend meetings and plan goals and enable the faith community to work at showing God to the world then so be it. BUT this is not the end it is the means, it is not the purpose it is a way forward. We need to be flexible to be able to walk with people and not do for people, to show love and empathy not turn away in rejection. Even when we are tired and feel drained it is our continued outpouring of love that reaps the rewards of God's presence in our lives. If we are to withdraw to re-charge then we must come out of that withdrawal to reengage and form the bonds of love that are commanded of us by Christ.

Doubt that leads to fear

 Last week I talked about doubt. Among other things it is a source in our lives for the questioning of faith that we all need to have in our search for God's presence in our hearts. Just as with many things though doubt is two sided and last week I briefly spoke about the danger of self doubt. This week gives us the opportunity to look at the darker side of doubt and where that might lead. All of the Gospel stories of the resurrection contain elements of doubt that are handled in various ways. Last week, we heard John's story and this week it is the turn of Luke. In Luke's handling of doubt it is important to understand that Christ appears to criticise the presence of doubt in the disciples (Lk. 24:38b). Why, if we need doubt does Christ then criticise this feeling in the disciples?

Doubt if not allowed to move towards the positive need to query and investigate will descend into the festering hole of fear. Unless, hope is present as we quest for answers then the answers we seek will be obscured by our fear, which is enabled by doubt. Fear leads us towards the darker recesses of our humanness and encourages us to create our own answers that lead to depravity and a denial of our neighbours. It is our fear that drives the divide between those who our different as we fear that the difference may overwhelm us and make us also different. Science fiction, just like any other genre of fictive writing, can nudge our understanding of this phenomena if we allow it. In a series, by  author Michael Anderle, a very different world to our present one is described. However, what is clear in this particular series is the exaggeration that comes with fear of the other and how humanity can be driven clearly away from the love of neighbour. The fear that is present is driven by doubt and is clearly exploited by the books antagonists to rule over the population. In some respects these last few years have also shown how easy it is to manipulate a populace using the tools of doubt and fear.

Fear builds walls when we succumb to doubt 

Christ challenges the doubt that the disciples feel in Luke's gospel to move them away from the fear that underlies their doubt. In all the Gospels that fear is prevalent and is overcome with the coming of the risen Christ. Yet, the harbinger of fear, doubt, is also present and in later years rears its head in many ways but can be seen most clearly in the removal of women from the leadership and power positions within the growing community. This is in reality just a symptom as underlying the symptom is the actual problem that of power and authority to influence others. Christ influences others in such a manner that their natural tendencies are overwhelmed, so that they come to understand love and the need to integrate power and authority within the community. This naturally means that all may share in the boundless love that comes from Christ. But what happens when we give in to our doubt and allow our fear to dominate. Then we set our hearts on the world as John states in his letter (1 Jn 2:15). In doing so we submit to our fears and turn away from that which calls for courage and questioning to find the way forward in faith.

Our natural tendency has always been to be ruled by our fears and thus succumb to doubt rather than be challenged to change by our doubt. In our fear we grab for what is available to us and more often then not that means grabbing and holding on to what the world gives to us. In doing so we are tantalised by the promise of more and more and thus forget that we travel with companions. In forgetting those that are around us we forget to give love and see those around us solely as means to attain our goals and our needs. So as to overcome our fears by ridding ourselves of that which challenges us. This is what the world asks of us; that we remove all obstacles and difference from our path to power and authority, no matter how small or great that is. Christ calls us not to succumb to the world but to cast aside our fears and allow our doubts to fuel our faith. It is only through the love that God displays that we are able to reach out over that which divides to ensure that we form the family of God in the community. Once we can let go of the fears that our doubt allows to grow, fears that are only fears of ostracisation as opposed to the inclusion that comes with love.