The Third Person
When I was a youth I wondered why the Apostle's creed gave so little time to the third article of the creed, "I believe in the Holy Spirit". We spent a lot of time on the Son, and somewhat more on the Father. Why so little on the Holy Spirit? I learned in my theological education that the third article of the Creed is the whole last paragraph, and not so neglected after all... "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting" is the work of the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. The holy Church, the communion with those Christians who are now with us, and those who have gone before us, the forgiveness of sins, the life giving resurrection of the body in the last day, and life eternal, are works of the Holy Spirit within the triune Godhead.
We are the church. We are a community of flesh and blood that is called by God to do his work in the world as the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is God's life within us and among us, breathed into us by the Father and the Son. The biggest problem I have with that idea is that the church is so sinful and fails often. Of course, when I feel that way about the church, I forget that, I too, fail and sin often. We have this sort of Gnostic heresy as Christians generally, and Protestants particularly, that somehow being a body of flesh is bad. The only hope we have is to survive in this world, keep the faith, and wait for a better world as spirits in heaven. There are several problems with this idea. Note how much human flesh is important in the creed. We say that the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, was "born of the Virgin Mary". That shook many people who heard the original message of the church, in the words of the Nicene Creed; Christ was "incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary". It was a scandal to many that God would come in human flesh, and incarnate means just that, of a human mother. Human flesh was honored to have God incarnate as one of us. Life in this world is not seen as bad, but a gift from God. Further, Jesus was bodily raised. A lot of people when I was in seminary felt that it was more intellectually pleasing and more scientifically plausible to say Jesus was spiritually raised and not bodily raised. Well, the Gospels go to great lengths to deny Jesus is a ghost, a spirit without body, and affirm he was raised and ascended in a human body, albeit glorified. Also, from a scientific point of view there is no more absolute scientific evidence for a ghost than a dead person rising from the grave. It is not anymore intellectually honest to believe in one form or the other. Jesus is raised in the flesh. Without that, the Gospel is out the window. Also, the Creed says we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Note that, while we may be spirits sustained by God's power and in his presence after death, that is not the final and perfect form of humanity. Rising as human flesh at the last day is our final state.
I also questioned why Jesus' teachings were not emphasized as important in the Creed, as if they did not matter. What I learned also applies to the shorter articles concerning the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Creed put emphasis on the areas of controversy, and Jesus' coming in the flesh and dying like all humans were areas of controversy. Jesus’ teachings, the Father creating the world, and the Holy Spirit sustaining it were not areas of controversy. So, it is assumed that the work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Father and the Son, and to empower us to live and obey the will of God, as Jesus revealed it. Without the Spirit, scripture says, we cannot even say "Jesus is Lord", our saving confession.
What does all this heavy theology mean? First, God affirms our life in the world and in our own humanity. This life is not "hell" while we wait in this supposedly "horrible" world for a better heaven. In fact, God has given us life physically and spiritually as a gift. God has chosen to become flesh in Jesus Christ to be like us, so that we may grow into what God wants us to be. We have not yet fully become what God intends for us, but that does not mean God cannot use us in this world. In fact, life is so good that, in the resurrection, Jesus extended its bounds for eternity. Yes, we fail. Yes we are sinful. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God raises us up again, and again. Far from saying "this world is not my home" and perhaps "this body is not me". We are saying this life in the world, with all our sinfulness and failures, and with all the pains we suffer, is good and we have a mission here and now. As Pentecost comes again, when we mark the Holy Spirit being breathed on the Church, let us rejoice in the gift of life and resurrection power given us by the Source of life itself. This is a life that will one day transform this world. THAT is Good News!
In The Spirit's Love and Power,
Jim
When I was a youth I wondered why the Apostle's creed gave so little time to the third article of the creed, "I believe in the Holy Spirit". We spent a lot of time on the Son, and somewhat more on the Father. Why so little on the Holy Spirit? I learned in my theological education that the third article of the Creed is the whole last paragraph, and not so neglected after all... "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting" is the work of the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. The holy Church, the communion with those Christians who are now with us, and those who have gone before us, the forgiveness of sins, the life giving resurrection of the body in the last day, and life eternal, are works of the Holy Spirit within the triune Godhead.
We are the church. We are a community of flesh and blood that is called by God to do his work in the world as the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is God's life within us and among us, breathed into us by the Father and the Son. The biggest problem I have with that idea is that the church is so sinful and fails often. Of course, when I feel that way about the church, I forget that, I too, fail and sin often. We have this sort of Gnostic heresy as Christians generally, and Protestants particularly, that somehow being a body of flesh is bad. The only hope we have is to survive in this world, keep the faith, and wait for a better world as spirits in heaven. There are several problems with this idea. Note how much human flesh is important in the creed. We say that the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, was "born of the Virgin Mary". That shook many people who heard the original message of the church, in the words of the Nicene Creed; Christ was "incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary". It was a scandal to many that God would come in human flesh, and incarnate means just that, of a human mother. Human flesh was honored to have God incarnate as one of us. Life in this world is not seen as bad, but a gift from God. Further, Jesus was bodily raised. A lot of people when I was in seminary felt that it was more intellectually pleasing and more scientifically plausible to say Jesus was spiritually raised and not bodily raised. Well, the Gospels go to great lengths to deny Jesus is a ghost, a spirit without body, and affirm he was raised and ascended in a human body, albeit glorified. Also, from a scientific point of view there is no more absolute scientific evidence for a ghost than a dead person rising from the grave. It is not anymore intellectually honest to believe in one form or the other. Jesus is raised in the flesh. Without that, the Gospel is out the window. Also, the Creed says we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Note that, while we may be spirits sustained by God's power and in his presence after death, that is not the final and perfect form of humanity. Rising as human flesh at the last day is our final state.
I also questioned why Jesus' teachings were not emphasized as important in the Creed, as if they did not matter. What I learned also applies to the shorter articles concerning the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Creed put emphasis on the areas of controversy, and Jesus' coming in the flesh and dying like all humans were areas of controversy. Jesus’ teachings, the Father creating the world, and the Holy Spirit sustaining it were not areas of controversy. So, it is assumed that the work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Father and the Son, and to empower us to live and obey the will of God, as Jesus revealed it. Without the Spirit, scripture says, we cannot even say "Jesus is Lord", our saving confession.
What does all this heavy theology mean? First, God affirms our life in the world and in our own humanity. This life is not "hell" while we wait in this supposedly "horrible" world for a better heaven. In fact, God has given us life physically and spiritually as a gift. God has chosen to become flesh in Jesus Christ to be like us, so that we may grow into what God wants us to be. We have not yet fully become what God intends for us, but that does not mean God cannot use us in this world. In fact, life is so good that, in the resurrection, Jesus extended its bounds for eternity. Yes, we fail. Yes we are sinful. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God raises us up again, and again. Far from saying "this world is not my home" and perhaps "this body is not me". We are saying this life in the world, with all our sinfulness and failures, and with all the pains we suffer, is good and we have a mission here and now. As Pentecost comes again, when we mark the Holy Spirit being breathed on the Church, let us rejoice in the gift of life and resurrection power given us by the Source of life itself. This is a life that will one day transform this world. THAT is Good News!
In The Spirit's Love and Power,
Jim
posted by Theoblogger at
3:49 PM
