ROMANS 8:1-11 | GREATER THAN, LESSER THAN, EQUAL TO

GREATER THAN, LESSER THAN, EQUAL TO

ROMANS 8:1-11

JULY 16, 2017

FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF SUNDAYS, I HAVE BEEN PREACHING SERMONS WITH ARITHMETICAL TITLES.  THIS MORNING’S MY FAVORITE BECAUSE OF ITS SIMPLICITY.

GREATER THAN, LESSER THAN, EQUAL TO WAS ALWAYS SO SIMPLE BECAUSE THE LARGER END ALWAYS POINTED TOWARD THE BIGGER NUMBER, THE SMALLER END TOWARD THE SMALLER NUMBER, AND WHAT COULD BE MORE EQUAL THAN TWO PARALLEL LINES OF EQUAL LENGTH?!

NOW, I REALIZE THAT’S MATH ON THE LEVEL OF, SAY, THE SMALLER HAND ON THE CLOCK POINTING TO THE HOUR, AND THE LONGER HAND POINTING TO THE MINUTE, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO MATH, I LIKE TO KEEP THINGS SIMPLE.

WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE I SHARED AN APARTMENT WITH THREE OTHER GUYS – TWO OF THEM WERE ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS, AND THE THIRD WAS A GEOLOGIST, AND THEY COULD RUN CIRCLES AROUND ME WHEN IT CAME TO COMPLICATED MATH PROBLEMS.

BUT WHEN IT CAME TIME TO SPLIT UP THE BILLS, QUICKLY ADD UP A COLUMN OF NUMBERS, OR FIGURE OUT A TIP, I ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE THE “GO-TO GUY” (PROBABLY BECAUSE SIMPLE MATH WAS FAR BELOW THEIR INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES TO BE BOTHERED WITH).

ANYWAY, WHEN IT COMES TO MATH, I LIKE THE KISS PRINCIPLE – KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID…

WHICH IS WHY – WHEN IT COMES THE TRINITY – ONE GOD/THREE PERSONS, FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, I LIKE TO KEEP IT SIMPLE.

OUR PASSAGE FOR THIS MORNING IS ONE OF THE FEW PLACES IN SCRIPTURE WHERE ALL THREE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY ARE MENTIONED AT THE SAME TIME.  (WHICH IS PROBABLY WHERE THE EARLY CHURCH CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF THE TRINITY IN THE FIRST PLACE.)

AND AS MUCH AS OUR PASSAGE FOR THIS MORNING IS ABOUT HUMAN SIN, AND THE LAW, AND BEING DEAD IN OUR SINS, BUT ALIVE IN CHRIST;

IT IS ALSO ABOUT THE SON, SENT BY THE FATHER, WHO, THROUGH THE CONTINUING PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT, IS ACTIVE IN US, AND IN THE WORLD.

AS STRANGE AS IT MAY SEEM – THESE TWO THINGS – OUR BEING DEAD IN SIN, AND CAPTIVES TO THE LAW, YET FREE IN CHRIST; AND THE TRINITY OF GOD; GO TOGETHER, AS WE WILL SEE, HOPEFULLY, IN OUR SERMON THIS MORNING.

WHEN IT COMES TO TALKING ABOUT THE TRINITY, WE USUALLY GO ONE OF TWO DIRECTIONS: WE EITHER TALK ABOUT IN THE ABSTRACT – THEOLOGIANS HAVE WRITTEN THOUSANDS OF BOOKS OVER HUNDREDS OF YEARS TRYING TO EXPLAIN IT;

OR, WE’VE TRIED TO KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID; WE DUMB IT DOWN TO TERMS WE CAN GRASP, EXPLAIN, AND GET OUR HEADS AROUND.

FATHER – CREATOR;

SON – SAVIOR;

SPIRIT – SUSTAINER.

EVEN OUR TERMS FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT ARE ATTEMPTS TO QUANTIFY AND QUALIFY GOD IN WAYS TO WHICH WE CAN RELATE.

MORE SIMPLY, WE COMPARE GOD IN THREE PERSONS TO SOMETHING THAT IS ONE THING, IN THREE DIFFERENT STATES: WATER, FOR INSTANCE:

FATHER – WATER;

SON – ICE;

SPIRIT – STEAM.

OR, FINALLY, WE TRY TO RETAIN SOMETHING OF THE ABSTRACT, AS WELL AS THE MORE PRACTICAL, AND USE SOMETHING LIKE:

THE FATHER – A NOUN – A PERSON, PLACE, OR THING;

THE SON – A PRONOUN – A MORE PERSONAL TYPE OF NOUN;

THE SPIRIT – A VERB – CONNOTING ACTION, MOVEMENT, ACTIVITY.

ALL OF THIS IS TRYING TO GET AT THE ONE GOD IN THREE PERSONS, AND IT RELATES TO OUR ARITHMETICAL FORMULA FOR THIS MORNING OF HOW IT IS THAT GOD IS:

GREATER THAN, LESSER THAN, AND EQUAL TO, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

I KNOW I GO TO THIS WELL FAR TOO OFTEN FOR INSPIRATION, BUT MY BUDDY FREDERICK BUECHNER, DOES AS GOOD A JOB WITH THE TRINITY AS THE MOST LEARNED OF THEOLOGIANS.

IN SOMETHING HE WROTE A WAYS BACK, BUT I JUST SAW AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME… (I KNOW THAT’S AN OXYMORON, OF SORTS) BUT, DOES THAT EVER HAPPEN TO YOU?

YOU READ SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ MANY TIMES BEFORE, SCRIPTURE IN PARTICULAR, BUT THEN YOU SEE SOMETHING NEW IN IT LIKE YOU ARE READING IT FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

I BELIEVE THAT’S THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, EVEN WHEN WHAT WE’RE READING ISN’T NECESSARILY SCRIPTURE.

ANYWAY, WHAT BUECHNER SAYS IS THIS:

“FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT MEANS THAT THE MYSTERY BEYOND US, THE MYSTERY AMONG US, AND THE MYSTERY WITHIN US, ARE ALL THE SAME MYSTERY.”

[LET THAT SOAK IN FOR A MOMENT.]

“THUS, THE TRINITY IS A WAY TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT US AND THE WAY WE EXPERIENCE GOD.”

WHAT BUECHNER DOES PRESERVES THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY, BY HIS USE OF THAT VERY WORD.  “MYSTERY BEYOND, MYSTERY AMONG, MYSTERY WITHIN…”

WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, GIVING US AS GOOD AN EXPLANATION OF HOW WE EXPERIENCE GOD – BEYOND (THE FATHER), AMONG (THE SON), AND WITHIN (THE SPIRIT) AS WE WILL EVER FIND.

BUT WE MUST DEAL WITH THE OTHER HALF OF OUR EQUATION FOR THIS MORNING; THE OTHER PART PAUL TALKS ABOUT IN OUR PASSAGE FROM ROMANS TODAY.

WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE TRINITY WE HAVE USUALLY FOCUSED ON, AND LIMITED OURSELVES TO, TALKING ABOUT WHO GOD IS, TRYING TO DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN, AND UNDERSTAND GOD IN THREE PERSONS;

BUT BUECHNER INVITES US TO CONSIDER THE OTHER HALF OF THE EQUATION:

WHAT DOES THE TRINITY HAVE TO DO WITH US?  WITH WHO WE ARE, AND HOW WE UNDERSTAND OURSELVES, IN RELATIONSHIP TO GOD.

GOD BEYOND US, GOD AMONG US, GOD WITHIN US.

IS THIS NOT, HOW WE TEND TO EXPERIENCE GOD, HOW WE UNDERSTAND GOD?

THE GOD BEYOND US – PERHAPS AS WE CONTEMPLATE THE VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE; OR OFFER UP PRAYERS; OR SPECULATE ON THE GRAND DESIGN OF THINGS; OR WHEN WE NEED AN ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, ALL LOVING GOD…

THE GOD BEYOND US – BIGGER, BETTER, MORE POWERFUL, MORE KNOWING, SOMETHING OTHER THAN OURSELVES IN CONTROL OF THINGS, OF THE WORLD, OF US AND OUR LIVES.

THE GOD AMONG US – “WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS;” “AND HE WALKS WITH ME, AND HE TALKS WITH ME, AND HE AND HE TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN;”

OR MAYBE THE GOD AMONG US ARE THOSE TIMES WHEN WE CATCH GLIMPSES AND GLANCES OF GOD AT WORK IN THE WORLD, IN OTHERS, IN THE EVENTS OF LIFE ITSELF;

THE GOD AMONG US IS THE GOD WITH US; THE INCARNATION OF GOD AS ONE OF US; THE COMFORT OF KNOWING GOD KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE US, BECAUSE HE WAS ONE OF US;

OR GOD AMONG US AS THE COLLECTIVE POWER OF BELIEVERS DOING GREAT THINGS, HELPING OTHERS, REPRESENTING THE KINGDOM TO OTHERS; WHAT WE CALL OURSELVES – THE BODY OF CHRIST.

AND THEN, THERE IS GOD WITHIN US: THAT STILL SMALL VOICE OF CONSCIENCE; THAT INTIMATE CONNECTION WE FEEL WITH GOD, HAVING BEEN CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE;

THE GOD WITHIN US – OUR SPIRITS IN TUNE WITH THE SPIRIT; THOSE MOMENTS OF TENDERNESS, JOY, HAPPINESS THAT COME FROM SOMEWHERE DEEP WITHIN;

BUT ALSO, THOSE MOMENTS OF SADNESS, SUFFERING, AND EXCRUCIATING PAIN, WHEN WE SENSE, NO MATTER HOW SAD OR BAD THINGS GET, WE KNOW WE ARE NOT ALONE.

THE MYSTERY OF GOD BEYOND, THE GOD AMONG, THE GOD WITHIN IS WHAT IT MEANS FOR US TO EXPERIENCE THE TRINITY FIRST HAND;

AND THAT IS MUCH BETTER THAN ANY ATTEMPT ON OUR PART TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND, DEFINE, OR EXPLAIN IT.

AND AS SOON AS BUECHNER BEGINS TO GET TOO MYSTERIOUS ABOUT THE TRINITY, IF THAT’S POSSIBLE, HE DOES AS WE’VE ALWAYS DONE, AND OFFERS US A MORE TANGIBLE, READILY AVAILABLE, EXPLANATION:

“TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR,” HE SAYS.  “WHAT DO YOU SEE?”

“THERE IS:

1. THE INTERIOR LIFE KNOWN ONLY TO YOU AND THOSE TO WHOM YOU

CHOOSE TO COMMUNICATE IT; (THE FATHER)

1. THERE IS THE VISIBLE FACE, WHICH IN SOME MEASURE, REFLECTS THE INNER

LIFE; (THE SON)

1. THERE IS THE INVISIBLE POWER YOU HAVE IN ORDER TO COMMUNICATE THAT INTERIOR LIFE IN SUCH A WAY THAT OTHERS DO NOT MERELY KNOW IT, BUT KNOW IT IN THE SENSE OF IT BECOMING A PART OF WHO THEY ARE; (THE SPIRIT)

YET, WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT IN THE MIRROR IS CLEARLY, INDIVISIBLY THE ONE AND ONLY YOU.”

IN SOME WAYS, THAT MEANS, GOD AND US, WE BOTH HAVE A GREATER THAN, LESSER THAN, EQUAL TO VALUE TO US.  NOT THAT WE ARE EQUAL WITH GOD…

WHILE THE THREE MYSTERIES OF GOD – BEYOND, AMONG, WITHIN, ARE AT ONCE, GREATER THAN, LESSER THAN, AND EQUAL TO, ARE TRUE FOR GOD.

THE SAME IS TRUE FOR US:

• THE SELF WE CHOOSE TO REVEAL TO OTHERS;
• THE SELF OTHERS SEE US TO BE;
• AND THE SELF WE SHARE WITH OTHERS, THAT MAKES US A PART OF THEM, AND THEM A PART OF US;

THE INDIVISIBLY ONE AND ONLY US!

PERHAPS, UNDERSTANDING THIS ABOUT GOD, AND NOW, ABOUT OURSELVES, AND TO SOME DEGREE OR ANOTHER, ABOUT OTHERS, IS NOT ONLY THE KEY TO TRULY UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY;

BUT TO UNDERSTANDING LIFE AS WE KNOW IT.

IS THIS WHY JESUS TENDS TO DESCRIBE THIS SORT OF UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AND SELF, AS FAR MORE FREEING, MORE RIGHTEOUS, MORE JOYFUL, THAN A LIFE LIVED IN SIN?  A LIFE LIVED ACCORDING TO THE FLESH?

OR EVEN ONE LIVED BY LAW AND ORDER?  – A FIRM SET OF DO’S AND DON’TS – AND ALWAYS WATCHING OVER OUR SHOULDER, FEARFUL THAT THE GOD OF WRATH WILL SMITE US!

MAYBE, THIS IS WHY JESUS WAS SO INTENT, SO OFTEN, SO MANY TIMES, ABOUT KEEPING THOSE THREE THINGS IN BALANCE; GOD, US, AND OTHERS;

AND WHY THEY WERE NOT ONLY THE SUBJECT OF MUCH OF HIS TEACHING, PREACHING, PARABLES, AND MIRACLES;

BUT WHY, HE SAYS, THESE ARE THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS (THREE, REALLY):

LOVE GOD;

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, AS YOURSELF.

NOW THAT’S A “TRINITY” WE CAN GET ON BOARD WITH: GOD, US, OTHERS.

TO LOVE GOD, IS TO FIND A WAY TO LOVE OTHERS AND OURSELVES.

AND TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, IS ALSO TO LOVE YOURSELF AS YOU LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.

IF WE DO NEITHER – IF WE DON’T LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR, CHANCES ARE, DEEP DOWN, WE DON’T THINK MUCH OF OURSELVES;

AND IF, DEEP DOWN, WE DON’T THINK MUCH OF OURSELVES, CHANCES ARE WE AREN’T GOING TO BE VERY LOVING TOWARD OUR NEIGHBOR EITHER.

WHAT JESUS SEEMS TO BE SAYING IS THAT THEY ARE ALL ROLLED UP TOGETHER, INCLUDING THE PART ABOUT LOVING GOD;

AND TO DO ONE, OR TO NOT DO ONE, LIKELY MEANS WE ARE, OR WE AREN’T, VERY GOOD AT DOING ANY OF THE OTHERS.

WHICH IS, PERHAPS, JESUS’ WAY OF SAYING, THAT WHILE WE MAY SPEND AN AWFUL LOT OF TIME JUDGING GOD, JUDGING OTHERS, AND JUDGING OURSELVES ON THE GREATER THAN, LESSER THAN, EQUAL TO SCALE;

WE MIGHT BE BETTER OFF APPLYING A DIFFERENT SORT OF EQUATION:

A + B = C;

LOVING GOD + LOVING NEIGHBOR = LOVING OURSELVES; AND ALL THE OTHER PERMUTATIONS OF THAT EQUATION; LOVING SELF + LOVING OTHERS = LOVING GOD; AND LOVING GOD + LOVING OURSELVES = LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR.

A MYSTERY BEYOND.

A MYSTERY AMONG.

A MYSTERY WITHIN.