Trinity XVII Fr. Forrest Burgett
Trinity Anglican Church Given: 10/16/11
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all.”
Our Epistle today contains only two sentences; but they are incredibly loaded with meaning. The first is an exhortation to promote the unity of the Church. The second, I chose for our text today because it tells us why we should be promoting the unity of the Church. Paul has already provided a comprehensive doctrine of God’s ultimate purpose in creation. He explained the high standards required of those who would live a Christian life. He explained that to be one with God, we must be one with each other. Now he starts telling us how to practice what we preach.
Paul begins by admitting that he is the prisoner of the Lord. That does not mean that he is a physical prisoner. He has free-will as does every other person created in God’s image. He means that after recounting God’s purpose in creation, he is logically held prisoner to those high standards required to be a follower of Jesus. He begins with a request to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” He is asking us to remember God’s purpose and the high standards we accepted when we became followers of Christ. He reminds us to walk with all lowliness and meekness, and with patience. He encourages us to “forebear one another in love as we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” What does Paul mean by “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”? It is an Old Testament creed in New Testament language. In the Old Testament, we repeatedly find, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” Every Jew and every early Christian recited this creed to unity. “The unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” is simply a New Testament version of the same creed.
The second statement tells us why we should be promoting the unity of the Church. It contains the word “one” seven times, each time attached to a noun: body – Spirit – hope – Lord – faith – baptism – and God. The minimal requirement for being a Christian is to worship the same God and confess Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit is “one” and equally available at a Roman Mass, a Greek Orthodox Eucharist, an unadorned Calvinist meetinghouse, or in the silence of a Quaker assembly. However, as much as we believe in the one body of Christ, we live in a world that emphasizes and promotes individualism.
We must avoid putting too much emphasis on “my body”, or this congregation or the combined congregations of the diocese, the national church, or the international communion. We must look at “one body” as God intended and as Jesus taught. The one body is the Church of which Jesus Christ is the head. St. Paul is reminding us that we are all just part of that one body. The other unities, one hope, one Lord, one faith and one Spirit all take precedence over the oneness of earthly bodies.
We were not the first to pursue denominational Christianity. Many of Paul’s Epistles chastise the Church for such divisions. Baptism has been a dividing factor among Christians since the beginning. Remember the division of the Corinthian Church based wholly on who was baptized by whom? If that had continued, we could have been called Paulites and Cephasites and Matthewites and Bartholomewites. I grew up in a small town that bragged about having the “world’s largest, free, outdoor, concrete, municipally-owned swimming pool.” If we left out “free,” “outdoor,” “concrete,” or “municipally-owned;” we could no longer claim to be the “world’s largest”. Still, we proudly quoted it at every opportunity. It was a good example of how we tend to emphasize our corporate uniqueness. And yet, because there is one God and Father of all, and Christ one Lord, there can be only one people of God. There can be only one body and one Spirit.
The last phrase of our text is a problem for some folks. “One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all.” A Jew or Muslim would shudder at the idea of God being “in us.” What do we mean when we say that God is in us? It is easy to see how our parents are “in us.” We are their seed and bear their genes to other generations. By the same token, we are the creation of God and we are to bear his Spirit to other generations. We regard ourselves as God’s creatures until we are baptized and then we are His children in an adoptive sense. If we are his children, we must contain his Spirit and we must spread that Spirit throughout this physical world.
Other monotheistic religions may have a problem with the concept of God being above all, through all and in all. But it is a proper Christian statement and part of our Trinitarian teaching. To say that God the Father is “above all” is obvious to all but the most obstinate atheist. God, the uncreated being, is above all his creation. Any theological study will lead to the same conclusion. When we say God is above all, we are affirming that He is the creator of all we know. Even if his transcendence is beyond all understanding, we know He is “out there.” He is not out of touch. We have contact with Him through the Spirit and the Son. If we are “out of touch,” it is by our choice.
So if God the Father is “above all”; who is “through all”? I
t is God the Spirit who is, “through all.” The Holy Spirit, or Paraclete, or Holy Comforter permeates every aspect of our lives. It is the point at which our physical existence is affected by the Spirit of God. It is part and parcel of literally every thing we are and do and think and feel.
In like manner, it is God the Son who is “in all.” God the Son is the incarnate person of our triune God. God the Son is our only provable experience of God on Earth. We desire to keep in such communion with Christ that he may be said to dwell in our hearts as we are said to be “in him”. This communion with Christ allows our hearts and bodies and minds to be one with Christ at all times. If we are to have power to comprehend the full scope of God’s purpose, we need two things. We need the inward strengthening which the Holy Spirit imparts through all of us. And we need the uninterrupted communion with our Lord which keeps us in him and He in us.
We now have a theological frame in which to view our text. “There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” We find unity in God and truth, and we find duality involving God and man. On our side is one body, one hope, one faith, one baptism. They are ours - yet they are gifts from God and emphasize the oneness of our individual callings.
On God’s side we find, one Spirit, one Lord Jesus Christ, one God and Father of us all. This does not reduce the divinity of God the Son or God the Holy Ghost. It states what the New Testament teaches about order and function in the Godhead. It is clearly stated in each of our creeds. The Father is recognized by Church and Scripture as the Fount or Source of Godhood. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Spirit is eternally proceeding from them both - and with them equally to be worshipped and glorified.
You may remember the Shield of the Trinity displayed on our old parish directory. It’s the symbol of the Godhead and at the same time, our soundest explanation. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. The Father is not the Son - nor is He the Spirit. The Son is not the Father or the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father or the Son. Each is himself and neither of the others, yet the Three are One.
“There is one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Plainly Paul is speaking of the Father, yet he’s ascribing to him the attributes of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is to keep us from compressing God in our own minds in such a way as to say the Father is no more than Transcendent, the Son no more than Incarnate, the Spirit no more than Immanent. God is Three and God is One. Each participates in the life and work of the other two: each is the Subject, Object and Power of Love - which is to say each is Lover, Beloved, and Love.
The result adds joy and strength to our request for “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” God is above all and through all and in us all. He sustains, he guides and is forever the object of our worship. “Let us bless the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost: Let us praise him, and magnify him for ever.”
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. (1 Chronicles, xxix. 1.)