One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Commentary
Christians are "stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). One of those mysteries is the self-revealed identity of God as Trinity. Christians themselves have had to struggle to understand what the Trinity means. The history of church theology is rife with heated conversations plumbing the depths of human insight on this subject. From Irenaeus in the second century to Augustine in the fifth century, the church forged basic formulas and commentaries that have since then shaped Christian thought on the matter. (It was in 381 at the council of Constantinople that the Trinitarian formula of the one God existing co-equally in three Persons was first formally adopted. All three of the Ecumenical Creeds -- Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian -- express this.) The Trinity has been a stumbling block for non-Christian faith systems to grasp what Christians in fact believe, let alone become convinced that Christianity contains the essential wisdom that perceives God's disclosure in the world.
The danger in the culture of the West, of which we are the heirs, is that there is an unholy trinity that strives to usurp the affections of the would-be faithful. Power, possession, and pleasure lure the hearts of all who search for God down deadly, blind alleys. Momentary satisfactions replace the deeper contentment in the truth. The eyes of our heart are not enlightened by an enduring relationship with the God who is; rather, the eyes of our heart are merely delighted by passing fancies that fail to fill the empty hole that is left by squandered efforts.
The texts assigned for this festival day celebrating the Trinity invite us to explore more deeply the nature of God's self-revelation, so that we may better understand the God who is and may better give an account of the gift of faith that is within us.
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Proverbs is typical of the wisdom genre that comprises a portion of the Old Testament literature. It does not rank equally with the Law and the prophets, or even the histories; but, it is valued nevertheless. It makes clear repeatedly that wisdom is to be found in the fear of the Lord. It describes the ways of the righteous and it gives practical insights on daily living and relationships. Truth be told, Proverbs 8:1-21 would have been a better pericope for this Sunday. But, since it has not been assigned as such, attention will be paid to those verses that have been assigned. Let the preacher be encouraged to explore verses 5-21 for added insights and images that can be used effectively in drawing out more fully the content of this discussion.
Just as Mexico markets itself in attractive ads in the first person ("I am ancient... I have many stories to tell"), the writer of Proverbs knows how to grab our attention, even when talking about something as ethereal as wisdom. Wisdom is personified as one standing by the gate, calling out to those who pass by, getting them to turn their heads and take heed to what is being said. Interestingly, wisdom, a word of the feminine gender, is described as being created by God (8:22), being brought forth (8:24) at the beginning of the generating acts of God. Wisdom is not God, but is beside God, like a master workman or as a little child (8:30). Wisdom neither stands as God nor in the place of God but before him (8:30), expressing mirth in the acts of God manifested throughout the creation (8:31). With this in mind, it makes no sense at all to elevate Wisdom (Sophia) to the role of recipient of our prayers or adoration, as some contemporary worship planners do.
Wisdom is part of the created order. Just like the sculpted body points to the heavenly Sculptor and just like the painted sunset points to the heavenly Artist, so too does wisdom point to the One who does all things well. The litany of creation is Wisdom's affirmation of the thoroughness of God's design (for example, 8:29) and a way to give glory to God, the originator of it all. This is part of Job's wisdom insight, that all things belong to God and are held in his hand (Job 1:21). Therefore, come what may, glory and honor are to be given to God. This is an expression of "the fear of the Lord" and finds its proper posture kneeling in ashes on a dung heap, repenting.
Since Wisdom is part of the established order, it is an immanent expression of God the Father, creator of heaven and earth. Paul appeals to this aspect of God's self-disclosure in Romans 1:20-21 and again in Acts 17:22-28. So does Peter in Acts 10:34-35. What can be known of God is by necessity accessible to humanity in terms of awareness; the experience of God in the world makes sense to the other experiences of human existence. Proverbs 8:17 comments on this, giving positive encouragement to those who diligently seek the Lord: Lover and Beloved will be united; seeker and the sought will be brought together.
This having been said, it must be admitted that sin clouds our understanding and even our ability to receive the truth; so, more of God's activity in self-disclosure needs to be forthcoming. It is not that there is something faulty with God's efforts to make himself known to us and beloved by us; it is that the fulness of God begs further expression; and this, in fact, proves itself capable of penetrating the barriers that sin erects between us and God.
Romans 5:1-5
Don't miss the mighty "therefore" (5:1) that Paul uses to make a bridge between what he has already spelled out (especially in Romans 3:21--4:25) and what is to follow (especially Romans 5-8)! This is important, because there is a decision that has to be made in how one preaches this text. Is it proclamation or invitation? It all depends on what ancient manuscripts you accept as most authoritative. Arguments can be made on both sides in terms of the number of supporting manuscripts and in terms of the precedence of alternative traditions. However, when one looks at the context and the entire theology of Paul, the weight of the argument shifts to accepting in 5:1 (over the alternative reading), as presented in the Nestle-Aland and also Westcott-Hort text.
The key rests in the conjunction "therefore," as well as in the construction of (functioning like a gerund in English, "being justified"). Paul has made the case so far in his letter that justification is a gift of God's grace through the work of Jesus on the cross (Romans 3:21-26). Therefore, "we have peace with God" (5:1). This is declaratory; it is not an invitation into what might be. If Paul wrote this letter as e-mail, he would have CAPITALIZED everything to emphasize his point! (Note: not in anger, but in joy, as he soon states!) Paul is proclaiming a new state of affairs, described in the present tense. It is a fait accompli, accented by his use of the perfect form of the verb "have" (5:2).
Paul acknowledges the work of Jesus as establishing the ground on which the believer can gracefully stand. He then applies the wisdom of faith to the hard realities of the believer's life, characterized by suffering. Suffering bears fruit: endurance, character, and hope (5:3-4). These are blessings from God (the Father), which reward the faithful witness who suffers for the name of Jesus. The practical result is a hope that does not disappoint, because it is confirmed by the Holy Spirit, which is present as a gift from God. This hope sets one's vision on the glory of God which is coming and will be shared with the believers in Jesus. It is not unlike the marathon runner who visualizes the tape at the finish line, an image that keeps drawing the runner step by step closer to the desired goal of finishing the race as the victor.
Using the Trinitarian formula, one could express the message of this passage in this way: the believer's relationship with God the heavenly Father is now one of peace because of the justifying work of Jesus on the cross, a work imparted by the Holy Spirit, giving one strength and confidence for all circumstances in life.
John 16:12-15
Nestled in the midst of Jesus' farewell to his disciples (John 16 and 17) after the Passover supper on Thursday night of Holy Week, Jesus speaks of the dynamic expression of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As the Son, he announces that he is heir to all that is the Father's. He also states that the Holy Spirit will take what is the Son's and declare it to the disciples. Through Jesus, the disciples will experience the fulness of God: himself as the Son, the Father who sent him, and the Holy Spirit who will be sent by him.
Jesus is the essential revelation of God, but he is not the complete revelation of God. Remember, he admitted that he did not know the hour of the Day of the Lord (Mark 13:32); nor, was he able to impart to the disciples all that he wanted to. It would be necessary for the Holy Spirit to come to continue the self-revelation of God and lead those who believe into fuller communion with God, their creator and redeemer and sanctifier.
The Holy Spirit has a specific function in the divine economy. He is to apply the truth of Jesus to the lives of the disciples and all those who would come after them in faith. The Holy Spirit would specifically be about the business of giving witness to Jesus. "He will glorify me" (16:14). There certainly are many truths in the world worth knowing, just as there are many aspects of wisdom that the human mind is capable of grasping. But, the truth that the Holy Spirit is concerned with, just as the wisdom that biblical Wisdom is concerned with, is that which relates particularly to the Godhead and one's relationship to God in living faith.
These few verses in John's Gospel are similar to other texts in the New Testament that are rendered with a Trinitarian formulation. Look, for example, at Matthew 28:19, John 16:1-11, Acts 1:1-5, Ephesians 1:3-14, Colossians 1:1-8, and 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10. The scripture writers knew that to speak about the fulness of God, they would have to speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Anything short of that would diminish our experience and understanding of the one God, who reveals himself in these dynamic co-eternal and co-equal Persons.
Application
Whether American politics can rise above its ground level of power pragmatism remains to be seen. Perhaps it never can, but hope rests eternal with every new election and the rising of a new generation into the fray. Of late, it cannot be said that we have leaders who exemplify wisdom and character in their statesmanship. Maybe such qualities are recognized only in retrospect and are granted only by a narrowed focus of memory. It remains true, however, that there is a general ground swell calling for rising above trivial pursuits of partisan politics and attaining to what would truly be advantageous for the common good of the many. For this to occur, wisdom will need to be sought after. It will be found ultimately and truly in God and it will be received by men and women only as a gift from God.
If wisdom stands at the gate and calls out for adherents, then those who would be blessed by her instruction would best be found in petition on their knees. As wisdom herself acknowledges the greatness of God and rejoices before God, then those who would be wise must learn the humility of receiving wisdom as a gift from God. To prepare with humility, one can engage the discipline of prayer and the focus on the other (as Dietrich Bonhoeffer taught us). For wisdom of which the Bible speaks does not serve self-aggrandizement, but rather the lifting up and the building up of the other. Here the true intentionality of politics finds its expression. Here the Christian can heartily engage in the business of politics on every level -- in the neighborhood, at school, within city management, for county and state and national government, and as an international advocate on issues that eventually affect all of us. In our ever-shrinking and more complex world, wisdom is a gift to be sought for the well-being of the community, more so than for individual decisions pertaining to one's own life exclusively (if even this were possible!). As one former president said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." And as our current president has said, "I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort."
God the Father, as creator, is the source of this wisdom and the One to whom such petitions are directed. When we pray in the Lord's Prayer to our heavenly Father, we ask that his will be done on earth as in heaven. This will of God is the wisdom for which we seek. To perceive God's will in any situation will give wisdom for one's response and consequential decisions and actions.
When Jesus was asked in John 6:28, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" he could just as easily have been asked about doing the will of God or living according to the wisdom of God. The response would have been the same at any rate: believe in the Lord Jesus, whom the Father has sent into the world (John 6:29). This is the central affirmation that has drawn Roman Catholics and Lutherans around the world together in new ways recently, manifested by the signing of the Document on the Doctrine of Justification (in the fall of 1999) and celebrated together by Catholic and Lutheran siblings in Christ around the world.
How comforting a word to hear that peace is already the character of our relationship with God because of the work already accomplished by Jesus on the cross. It is "a done deal"! Now, we can simply rest in it and cease our striving to earn God's favor. We already are standing in the grace of God; this is the ground of our hope, our confidence about the future quality of our existence, whether delimited by time or by eternity.
This allows us, with Paul, to view the up-side of suffering. It becomes the opportunity to develop and manifest endurance and character and hope, giving glory to Jesus -- the one who suffered the most for us. It would be helpful here to read the sequence of Paul's writing not in a linear fashion, but in a circular one. There is a dynamic relationship between suffering, endurance, character, and hope. It is not so much that one leads reasonably and sequentially into the others. There is a creative tension between all of these qualities of Christian life that feed into and feed off from the others. It has been said, "Sports does not build character; it reveals it." In one sense that is true; but in another sense it is true that sports builds the character it longs to show. So too, suffering can at times produce endurance, which in turn builds character, which is fertile ground for hope; but, it is also true that the confidence of hope generates and strengthens a new character that enables one to endure the harshest of realities. If one can picture such a "wheel of fortune," the cross of Christ would be its axle.
The Christian can have the confidence that God is faithful in the self-revelation of the divine economy. What is the Father's belongs to the Son which in turn is passed on by the Holy Spirit to those who believe. Unlike the telephone relay game which ends up with a message that is totally foreign to the original, what the Holy Spirit imparts to longing hearts is the essential truth that arises from the very heart of the Father and is passed to the Son. This is why Jesus can refer to "the Spirit of truth" (16:13) and Paul can pray that the disciples receive "a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him" (Ephesians 1:17).
Christians are encouraged to pray daily to be led by the Holy Spirit. Our confidence, based upon the promises of scripture, is that the Holy Spirit is working to bring us into the full knowledge of the truth (see Ephesians 1:17-18). This truth is more than wisdom; it is more than information about Jesus; it is more than the perception of where the Holy Spirit is indeed working. It is a truth that centers itself in a living, growing relationship between the believer and Jesus the Messiah. It is a truth that blossoms into "the fear of the Lord" (Proverbs 9:10), inspired by the work of the Holy Spirit who unwraps, like a gift, a fuller experience of God in the world, including one's own individual life.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
It seems strange that this is the Old Testament text assigned for Trinity Sunday. Perhaps the assignment is due to the fact that Jesus, in the Fourth Gospel, takes over many of the traditional roles of Old Testament Wisdom (see Raymond Brown's commentary on John). Or it may be, on the basis of the Gospel Lesson in John 16:12-15, that some identify the Old Testament figure of Wisdom with the Spirit of Jesus, given to the church after his ascension. Worst of all are those attempts to make the figure of Wisdom into a hypostasis or personification of God, as a fourth member added to the Trinity or as a personification of the one God-in-three-persons, although such efforts are found among us. Whatever the approach used, it seems doubtful that many preachers will choose to preach on this text, because it is a very difficult passage, and even the translation of verses 22-24a and 32 is disputed.
What is certain is that preachers should not interpret the passage simply from our modern definitions of "wisdom," moralistically urging their congregations to be wise in all things. Rather preachers have an opportunity with this text to clarify Wisdom theology in the Old Testament, in response to the pagan movement in some church circles that worships a goddess whom they call Sophia (the Greek word for wisdom). In the Presbyterian Church (USA), for example, there is a small group of radical feminists who name themselves "Voices of Sophia," and who direct their worship to a pagan goddess named "Sophia." Such a group was born in the earlier Re-imagining Conference, when a radical group of females set about to "re-imagine" the figure of God in their own female image.
Traditionally in the Old Testament, Wisdom theology is a theology of creation, which holds that when God created the world of nature and human beings, he set within them both customary "orders" or actions. Wisdom, then, is gained by observing those "orders" through careful notice and learning, and living according to them. One who learns such wisdom is wise and gains a good life. One who does not is a fool and earns destruction and death. Thus, such wisdom was available to all who would learn it, and such a traditional point of view is represented, for the most part, in the sayings found in Proverbs 10-30. In addition, such wisdom teaching was common throughout the ancient Near East and in Egypt.
In Proverbs 1-9, however, Wisdom is personified as a female figure, speaking directly to human beings, and that personification reaches its definitive definition in our text for the morning. Here Wisdom describes her beginning and her function. She says that she was the first act of God's creation, before anything else was made. She was present with the Creator before earth and seas and skies were formed. She was cherished by God, like a "darling child" or "beside him, like a master workman" -- the translation of verse 30 is disputed. God delighted in her, and she delighted in God's works and the human beings whom he was creating (vv. 30b-31) -- all very poetic language.
Who is this personified figure? The poetic description in the text seems very strange to us and outside of anything we know.
First, let it be said with certainty that personified Wisdom is not divine -- not a hypostasis, representative, or figurative name for God. She is created or "brought forth" (again, a disputed translation) by the Lord himself, and so has creaturely status like everything else in the cosmos (v. 22). She therefore is not to be worshiped as a substitute for God, not even because she is described in the female terms so dear to the radical feminists. Such worship can only be considered to be idolatry of a pagan goddess.
Rather, judging from the background of Egyptian wisdom influence and from the way Wisdom theology is developed in later books, such as the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon, this personified figure of Wisdom in our text should probably be understood as God's master plan for his creation. When the Lord sets out to make the cosmos and all that is in it, he does not proceed just haphazardly. His creation is not a matter of "try this -- try that -- see what works -- discard what doesn't -- arrive at what seems practical." No. God has a plan in mind -- a blueprint, as it were -- to develop a world and all that is in it, a master working design, by which creation will stand forth and proceed in its growth and development. (We could even say that any process of evolution that we can observe is not devoid of God's work, but part of his overall design.) God's plan is "very good" (cf. Genesis 1:31), and he delights in it, just as our text says that the plan, personified, delights in the design being formed.
To my way of thinking, the poetic description gives us a marvelous portrayal. There is the Lord God Most High, thinking through his design for the cosmos, bending over his planning board, chuckling to himself as he works out every careful detail -- getting a kick out of every new feature he adds. Lovingly he sketches out the circle of the heavens and the shape of the earth beneath. Delightedly he plans the seas and all those myriad creatures swimming in it. In overflowing goodness he visualizes every plant and every animal and insect. To decorate the skies, he sketches every bird with its color and song and illumines everything with sun and moon and stars. And in the greatest flourish, he sets the planets whirling and the depths and dark holes of space moving endlessly. And yes, with the greatest love he plans for human beings, and painstakingly arranges for you and me to be born and grow and love him in this particular time and place. It's all so carefully designed, and lovingly set forth. And God smiles to himself and says, "Behold, it is very good!" Surely the Psalmist's praise is our proper reaction to it all: "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all" (Psalm 104:24).
Surely, too, good Christians, our true wisdom lies in the wisdom of the Lord God and in preserving and prospering the wonders of this world and the lives that he has given us. We could talk about the stewardship we must have for the world of nature and the wondrous creation God has made. Or we could expound on the necessity of preserving and protecting every God-given human life. Above all, we could see that there is laid upon us the necessity of loving as God has loved, when out of the depths of his infinitely loving heart, he said, "Let it be!" and it came to pass. However we want to enlarge on this text, praise is our proper stance. "Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Hallelujah!" (Psalm 150:6).
The danger in the culture of the West, of which we are the heirs, is that there is an unholy trinity that strives to usurp the affections of the would-be faithful. Power, possession, and pleasure lure the hearts of all who search for God down deadly, blind alleys. Momentary satisfactions replace the deeper contentment in the truth. The eyes of our heart are not enlightened by an enduring relationship with the God who is; rather, the eyes of our heart are merely delighted by passing fancies that fail to fill the empty hole that is left by squandered efforts.
The texts assigned for this festival day celebrating the Trinity invite us to explore more deeply the nature of God's self-revelation, so that we may better understand the God who is and may better give an account of the gift of faith that is within us.
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Proverbs is typical of the wisdom genre that comprises a portion of the Old Testament literature. It does not rank equally with the Law and the prophets, or even the histories; but, it is valued nevertheless. It makes clear repeatedly that wisdom is to be found in the fear of the Lord. It describes the ways of the righteous and it gives practical insights on daily living and relationships. Truth be told, Proverbs 8:1-21 would have been a better pericope for this Sunday. But, since it has not been assigned as such, attention will be paid to those verses that have been assigned. Let the preacher be encouraged to explore verses 5-21 for added insights and images that can be used effectively in drawing out more fully the content of this discussion.
Just as Mexico markets itself in attractive ads in the first person ("I am ancient... I have many stories to tell"), the writer of Proverbs knows how to grab our attention, even when talking about something as ethereal as wisdom. Wisdom is personified as one standing by the gate, calling out to those who pass by, getting them to turn their heads and take heed to what is being said. Interestingly, wisdom, a word of the feminine gender, is described as being created by God (8:22), being brought forth (8:24) at the beginning of the generating acts of God. Wisdom is not God, but is beside God, like a master workman or as a little child (8:30). Wisdom neither stands as God nor in the place of God but before him (8:30), expressing mirth in the acts of God manifested throughout the creation (8:31). With this in mind, it makes no sense at all to elevate Wisdom (Sophia) to the role of recipient of our prayers or adoration, as some contemporary worship planners do.
Wisdom is part of the created order. Just like the sculpted body points to the heavenly Sculptor and just like the painted sunset points to the heavenly Artist, so too does wisdom point to the One who does all things well. The litany of creation is Wisdom's affirmation of the thoroughness of God's design (for example, 8:29) and a way to give glory to God, the originator of it all. This is part of Job's wisdom insight, that all things belong to God and are held in his hand (Job 1:21). Therefore, come what may, glory and honor are to be given to God. This is an expression of "the fear of the Lord" and finds its proper posture kneeling in ashes on a dung heap, repenting.
Since Wisdom is part of the established order, it is an immanent expression of God the Father, creator of heaven and earth. Paul appeals to this aspect of God's self-disclosure in Romans 1:20-21 and again in Acts 17:22-28. So does Peter in Acts 10:34-35. What can be known of God is by necessity accessible to humanity in terms of awareness; the experience of God in the world makes sense to the other experiences of human existence. Proverbs 8:17 comments on this, giving positive encouragement to those who diligently seek the Lord: Lover and Beloved will be united; seeker and the sought will be brought together.
This having been said, it must be admitted that sin clouds our understanding and even our ability to receive the truth; so, more of God's activity in self-disclosure needs to be forthcoming. It is not that there is something faulty with God's efforts to make himself known to us and beloved by us; it is that the fulness of God begs further expression; and this, in fact, proves itself capable of penetrating the barriers that sin erects between us and God.
Romans 5:1-5
Don't miss the mighty "therefore" (5:1) that Paul uses to make a bridge between what he has already spelled out (especially in Romans 3:21--4:25) and what is to follow (especially Romans 5-8)! This is important, because there is a decision that has to be made in how one preaches this text. Is it proclamation or invitation? It all depends on what ancient manuscripts you accept as most authoritative. Arguments can be made on both sides in terms of the number of supporting manuscripts and in terms of the precedence of alternative traditions. However, when one looks at the context and the entire theology of Paul, the weight of the argument shifts to accepting in 5:1 (over the alternative reading), as presented in the Nestle-Aland and also Westcott-Hort text.
The key rests in the conjunction "therefore," as well as in the construction of (functioning like a gerund in English, "being justified"). Paul has made the case so far in his letter that justification is a gift of God's grace through the work of Jesus on the cross (Romans 3:21-26). Therefore, "we have peace with God" (5:1). This is declaratory; it is not an invitation into what might be. If Paul wrote this letter as e-mail, he would have CAPITALIZED everything to emphasize his point! (Note: not in anger, but in joy, as he soon states!) Paul is proclaiming a new state of affairs, described in the present tense. It is a fait accompli, accented by his use of the perfect form of the verb "have" (5:2).
Paul acknowledges the work of Jesus as establishing the ground on which the believer can gracefully stand. He then applies the wisdom of faith to the hard realities of the believer's life, characterized by suffering. Suffering bears fruit: endurance, character, and hope (5:3-4). These are blessings from God (the Father), which reward the faithful witness who suffers for the name of Jesus. The practical result is a hope that does not disappoint, because it is confirmed by the Holy Spirit, which is present as a gift from God. This hope sets one's vision on the glory of God which is coming and will be shared with the believers in Jesus. It is not unlike the marathon runner who visualizes the tape at the finish line, an image that keeps drawing the runner step by step closer to the desired goal of finishing the race as the victor.
Using the Trinitarian formula, one could express the message of this passage in this way: the believer's relationship with God the heavenly Father is now one of peace because of the justifying work of Jesus on the cross, a work imparted by the Holy Spirit, giving one strength and confidence for all circumstances in life.
John 16:12-15
Nestled in the midst of Jesus' farewell to his disciples (John 16 and 17) after the Passover supper on Thursday night of Holy Week, Jesus speaks of the dynamic expression of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As the Son, he announces that he is heir to all that is the Father's. He also states that the Holy Spirit will take what is the Son's and declare it to the disciples. Through Jesus, the disciples will experience the fulness of God: himself as the Son, the Father who sent him, and the Holy Spirit who will be sent by him.
Jesus is the essential revelation of God, but he is not the complete revelation of God. Remember, he admitted that he did not know the hour of the Day of the Lord (Mark 13:32); nor, was he able to impart to the disciples all that he wanted to. It would be necessary for the Holy Spirit to come to continue the self-revelation of God and lead those who believe into fuller communion with God, their creator and redeemer and sanctifier.
The Holy Spirit has a specific function in the divine economy. He is to apply the truth of Jesus to the lives of the disciples and all those who would come after them in faith. The Holy Spirit would specifically be about the business of giving witness to Jesus. "He will glorify me" (16:14). There certainly are many truths in the world worth knowing, just as there are many aspects of wisdom that the human mind is capable of grasping. But, the truth that the Holy Spirit is concerned with, just as the wisdom that biblical Wisdom is concerned with, is that which relates particularly to the Godhead and one's relationship to God in living faith.
These few verses in John's Gospel are similar to other texts in the New Testament that are rendered with a Trinitarian formulation. Look, for example, at Matthew 28:19, John 16:1-11, Acts 1:1-5, Ephesians 1:3-14, Colossians 1:1-8, and 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10. The scripture writers knew that to speak about the fulness of God, they would have to speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Anything short of that would diminish our experience and understanding of the one God, who reveals himself in these dynamic co-eternal and co-equal Persons.
Application
Whether American politics can rise above its ground level of power pragmatism remains to be seen. Perhaps it never can, but hope rests eternal with every new election and the rising of a new generation into the fray. Of late, it cannot be said that we have leaders who exemplify wisdom and character in their statesmanship. Maybe such qualities are recognized only in retrospect and are granted only by a narrowed focus of memory. It remains true, however, that there is a general ground swell calling for rising above trivial pursuits of partisan politics and attaining to what would truly be advantageous for the common good of the many. For this to occur, wisdom will need to be sought after. It will be found ultimately and truly in God and it will be received by men and women only as a gift from God.
If wisdom stands at the gate and calls out for adherents, then those who would be blessed by her instruction would best be found in petition on their knees. As wisdom herself acknowledges the greatness of God and rejoices before God, then those who would be wise must learn the humility of receiving wisdom as a gift from God. To prepare with humility, one can engage the discipline of prayer and the focus on the other (as Dietrich Bonhoeffer taught us). For wisdom of which the Bible speaks does not serve self-aggrandizement, but rather the lifting up and the building up of the other. Here the true intentionality of politics finds its expression. Here the Christian can heartily engage in the business of politics on every level -- in the neighborhood, at school, within city management, for county and state and national government, and as an international advocate on issues that eventually affect all of us. In our ever-shrinking and more complex world, wisdom is a gift to be sought for the well-being of the community, more so than for individual decisions pertaining to one's own life exclusively (if even this were possible!). As one former president said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." And as our current president has said, "I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort."
God the Father, as creator, is the source of this wisdom and the One to whom such petitions are directed. When we pray in the Lord's Prayer to our heavenly Father, we ask that his will be done on earth as in heaven. This will of God is the wisdom for which we seek. To perceive God's will in any situation will give wisdom for one's response and consequential decisions and actions.
When Jesus was asked in John 6:28, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" he could just as easily have been asked about doing the will of God or living according to the wisdom of God. The response would have been the same at any rate: believe in the Lord Jesus, whom the Father has sent into the world (John 6:29). This is the central affirmation that has drawn Roman Catholics and Lutherans around the world together in new ways recently, manifested by the signing of the Document on the Doctrine of Justification (in the fall of 1999) and celebrated together by Catholic and Lutheran siblings in Christ around the world.
How comforting a word to hear that peace is already the character of our relationship with God because of the work already accomplished by Jesus on the cross. It is "a done deal"! Now, we can simply rest in it and cease our striving to earn God's favor. We already are standing in the grace of God; this is the ground of our hope, our confidence about the future quality of our existence, whether delimited by time or by eternity.
This allows us, with Paul, to view the up-side of suffering. It becomes the opportunity to develop and manifest endurance and character and hope, giving glory to Jesus -- the one who suffered the most for us. It would be helpful here to read the sequence of Paul's writing not in a linear fashion, but in a circular one. There is a dynamic relationship between suffering, endurance, character, and hope. It is not so much that one leads reasonably and sequentially into the others. There is a creative tension between all of these qualities of Christian life that feed into and feed off from the others. It has been said, "Sports does not build character; it reveals it." In one sense that is true; but in another sense it is true that sports builds the character it longs to show. So too, suffering can at times produce endurance, which in turn builds character, which is fertile ground for hope; but, it is also true that the confidence of hope generates and strengthens a new character that enables one to endure the harshest of realities. If one can picture such a "wheel of fortune," the cross of Christ would be its axle.
The Christian can have the confidence that God is faithful in the self-revelation of the divine economy. What is the Father's belongs to the Son which in turn is passed on by the Holy Spirit to those who believe. Unlike the telephone relay game which ends up with a message that is totally foreign to the original, what the Holy Spirit imparts to longing hearts is the essential truth that arises from the very heart of the Father and is passed to the Son. This is why Jesus can refer to "the Spirit of truth" (16:13) and Paul can pray that the disciples receive "a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him" (Ephesians 1:17).
Christians are encouraged to pray daily to be led by the Holy Spirit. Our confidence, based upon the promises of scripture, is that the Holy Spirit is working to bring us into the full knowledge of the truth (see Ephesians 1:17-18). This truth is more than wisdom; it is more than information about Jesus; it is more than the perception of where the Holy Spirit is indeed working. It is a truth that centers itself in a living, growing relationship between the believer and Jesus the Messiah. It is a truth that blossoms into "the fear of the Lord" (Proverbs 9:10), inspired by the work of the Holy Spirit who unwraps, like a gift, a fuller experience of God in the world, including one's own individual life.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
It seems strange that this is the Old Testament text assigned for Trinity Sunday. Perhaps the assignment is due to the fact that Jesus, in the Fourth Gospel, takes over many of the traditional roles of Old Testament Wisdom (see Raymond Brown's commentary on John). Or it may be, on the basis of the Gospel Lesson in John 16:12-15, that some identify the Old Testament figure of Wisdom with the Spirit of Jesus, given to the church after his ascension. Worst of all are those attempts to make the figure of Wisdom into a hypostasis or personification of God, as a fourth member added to the Trinity or as a personification of the one God-in-three-persons, although such efforts are found among us. Whatever the approach used, it seems doubtful that many preachers will choose to preach on this text, because it is a very difficult passage, and even the translation of verses 22-24a and 32 is disputed.
What is certain is that preachers should not interpret the passage simply from our modern definitions of "wisdom," moralistically urging their congregations to be wise in all things. Rather preachers have an opportunity with this text to clarify Wisdom theology in the Old Testament, in response to the pagan movement in some church circles that worships a goddess whom they call Sophia (the Greek word for wisdom). In the Presbyterian Church (USA), for example, there is a small group of radical feminists who name themselves "Voices of Sophia," and who direct their worship to a pagan goddess named "Sophia." Such a group was born in the earlier Re-imagining Conference, when a radical group of females set about to "re-imagine" the figure of God in their own female image.
Traditionally in the Old Testament, Wisdom theology is a theology of creation, which holds that when God created the world of nature and human beings, he set within them both customary "orders" or actions. Wisdom, then, is gained by observing those "orders" through careful notice and learning, and living according to them. One who learns such wisdom is wise and gains a good life. One who does not is a fool and earns destruction and death. Thus, such wisdom was available to all who would learn it, and such a traditional point of view is represented, for the most part, in the sayings found in Proverbs 10-30. In addition, such wisdom teaching was common throughout the ancient Near East and in Egypt.
In Proverbs 1-9, however, Wisdom is personified as a female figure, speaking directly to human beings, and that personification reaches its definitive definition in our text for the morning. Here Wisdom describes her beginning and her function. She says that she was the first act of God's creation, before anything else was made. She was present with the Creator before earth and seas and skies were formed. She was cherished by God, like a "darling child" or "beside him, like a master workman" -- the translation of verse 30 is disputed. God delighted in her, and she delighted in God's works and the human beings whom he was creating (vv. 30b-31) -- all very poetic language.
Who is this personified figure? The poetic description in the text seems very strange to us and outside of anything we know.
First, let it be said with certainty that personified Wisdom is not divine -- not a hypostasis, representative, or figurative name for God. She is created or "brought forth" (again, a disputed translation) by the Lord himself, and so has creaturely status like everything else in the cosmos (v. 22). She therefore is not to be worshiped as a substitute for God, not even because she is described in the female terms so dear to the radical feminists. Such worship can only be considered to be idolatry of a pagan goddess.
Rather, judging from the background of Egyptian wisdom influence and from the way Wisdom theology is developed in later books, such as the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon, this personified figure of Wisdom in our text should probably be understood as God's master plan for his creation. When the Lord sets out to make the cosmos and all that is in it, he does not proceed just haphazardly. His creation is not a matter of "try this -- try that -- see what works -- discard what doesn't -- arrive at what seems practical." No. God has a plan in mind -- a blueprint, as it were -- to develop a world and all that is in it, a master working design, by which creation will stand forth and proceed in its growth and development. (We could even say that any process of evolution that we can observe is not devoid of God's work, but part of his overall design.) God's plan is "very good" (cf. Genesis 1:31), and he delights in it, just as our text says that the plan, personified, delights in the design being formed.
To my way of thinking, the poetic description gives us a marvelous portrayal. There is the Lord God Most High, thinking through his design for the cosmos, bending over his planning board, chuckling to himself as he works out every careful detail -- getting a kick out of every new feature he adds. Lovingly he sketches out the circle of the heavens and the shape of the earth beneath. Delightedly he plans the seas and all those myriad creatures swimming in it. In overflowing goodness he visualizes every plant and every animal and insect. To decorate the skies, he sketches every bird with its color and song and illumines everything with sun and moon and stars. And in the greatest flourish, he sets the planets whirling and the depths and dark holes of space moving endlessly. And yes, with the greatest love he plans for human beings, and painstakingly arranges for you and me to be born and grow and love him in this particular time and place. It's all so carefully designed, and lovingly set forth. And God smiles to himself and says, "Behold, it is very good!" Surely the Psalmist's praise is our proper reaction to it all: "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all" (Psalm 104:24).
Surely, too, good Christians, our true wisdom lies in the wisdom of the Lord God and in preserving and prospering the wonders of this world and the lives that he has given us. We could talk about the stewardship we must have for the world of nature and the wondrous creation God has made. Or we could expound on the necessity of preserving and protecting every God-given human life. Above all, we could see that there is laid upon us the necessity of loving as God has loved, when out of the depths of his infinitely loving heart, he said, "Let it be!" and it came to pass. However we want to enlarge on this text, praise is our proper stance. "Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Hallelujah!" (Psalm 150:6).
