John 14:8-17, 25-27

John 14:8-17, 25-27 (NRSV)

        ⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

        ¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷ This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

                ²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

John 14:8-14, a segment that began in verse 1, has the theme of Jesus as the way to the Father for those who believe in him. John 14:8-11 become a commentary on the relation of Jesus to the Father. ⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Philip is requesting a vision. Again, Philip is not getting the spiritual level at which Jesus is speaking. Our desire clear and certain knowledge is admirable. We want to get important things right. Often, that means analyzing all the evidence careful and coming to conclusions. Science, mathematics, and technology often encourage us to move this direction. Yet, another way we have that helps us to gain clarity is as we share our stories with each other. We invite others into our lives, and become part of their lives, as we give a narration of the events in our lives that tie our lives together in a way that makes sense in our minds as well as to others. Our stories reveal the nature of our commitments and the values we hold dear. Philip has an admirable desire for clarity. ⁹ Jesus said to him, with obvious disappointment, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Luther will make the point that the Trinitarian God is revealed in Jesus Christ. Implied here is a connection of the Father and Son to the distinction of the hidden and the revealed God. Yet, the point is not that the Father is the hidden God and incarnate Son the revealed God. In the event of revelation, the hidden God is revealed as the Father of Jesus Christ. The unity of the hidden and revealed God is manifest in the unity of the Father and the Son. If for Luther the unity of the hidden and revealed God will be definitively manifest only in the light of eschatological glory, this means that the unity of the Trinitarian God is still engaged in the process of history. The Trinitarian distinctions of the Father, Son, and Spirit are not hidden. The divine reality discloses itself in the event of revelation. What is hidden is the unity of the divine essence in these distinctions. [1] How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? The question implies a desire for a vision. If we are not sure how to describe God, we look to Jesus. One way we can reflect upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in that he is the story God tells humanity concerning what God is like. God discloses the heart of God to us. If we are open to the story, and discover ourselves in it, we discover the heart of God. ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Word and work complement each other. These “works” probably include the “signs” Jesus has done throughout the first half of the gospel, beginning at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) and continuing through the raising of Lazarus (11:1-44). On some level, the disciples and all who saw Jesus should have believed based on these signs (2:11; 12:37). The importance of the “works of God” has been defined before in John’s gospel, however. Jesus proclaims, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (6:29). "Works" refer to all the acts of his ministry, the purpose of which is always to make known the power and character of God.^[2] He is the true Son - the Child of the Heavenly Father. He and the Father share an essence, an access to power, and a relationship that allow the full exercise of that power. The terms Father and Son in John are such that the content of the one presupposes the other, and there follows the declaration that from knowledge of the content of the one there can be knowledge of the content of the other. In John, one is form while the other is content.[3] The believer can have confidence in the providence of God because our creator is also a gracious Father to the children of God. In this verse, we can see that the Christian belief in providence sees the Father, and therefore God over us, and therefore the Lord of the world process. Revelation discloses the will that rules the history of created being. In addition to this most unique and overt naming of Christ's divine power, John also relates unique teachings of Christ, unparalleled in the other gospels, which make clear his plan for the disciples and for the faithful who will come after them. If the question of Philip implies the desire for a vision, Jesus' answer is that now that he is here, Jesus is the only vision they need.[4] ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, emphasizing the relationship between Jesus and the Father and exhorting the disciples to believe; but if you do not believe the Father within Jesus does the works that Jesus does, then believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in me because of the works themselves. 

John 14: 12-14 have the theme of the power of belief in Jesus. Here is encouragement and affirmation that the works the disciples would see in the generation after Jesus were still valid and part of his ministry. ¹² Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. The disciples can wield the same authority, do the same actions and even greater acts, if they will only believe that they, too, share this familial bond with God through Christ. Christ is “coming again” in the mighty works in the disciples. The miracles of Jesus were signs of the revelation and salvation he brings.  The works of the disciples continue this ministry.[5] When the disciples share in Jesus' works, they share in the ministry of Jesus in revealing of God to the world. Through faith, the individual is united to Jesus and the Father, and thus share in their power. ¹³ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. The Spirit makes it possible to pray to the Father “in the name of Jesus,” to which Jesus promises a hearing. The promise that Jesus will do whatever is requested is coming in the last discourse. Undoubtedly, similarities with Synoptics suggest they are independent sayings of similar meaning.  Making requests "in Jesus' name" suggests a request relevant to the Christian life. It suggests restriction, such asking in concert with others and in God's will, considering experience. Jesus' repeated promise that he will answer the believers' prayers makes clear that JESUS acts in and through the disciples and their works. All of this suggests that their works are, in reality, the works of Jesus- and by extension the works of God the Father. [6]

These are puzzling words. Could it be that one reason our faith feels so weak is that it never gets off the couch? Could it be that the very reason we feel so ill equipped to face life's obstacles is that we have only attempted to avoid them? Could it be that the very means of strengthening faith is jumping at opportunities that will test it? Let the fruit of the Spirit flow through us. Look them up in Galatians 5. Let the spiritual gifts find development in us. Look them up in I Corinthians 12-14. We may need to take the difficult step of reconciliation with a friend, co-worker, or family member. We may need to heed the call to serve on persons on the fringes of society. We may need to take difficult steps in managing the financial concerns of the household. We may need to stop making excuses for where we are now in our lives and make tough decisions that enlarge and expand our faith.

John 14:15-17, in a segment that extends to verse 21, has the theme of Jesus promising to his disciples the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus is the advocate, the one who prays for us, the one who counsels and directs us. To live in obedience is to have a way of life lived in loving union with him. Jesus is not physically present to continue leading the church. That is why another counselor and guide is part of the Christian community, namely, the Holy Spirit. The world is still strange and puzzling place, for humanity has yet to fulfill the intent God has for it. God does not leave us without a family, united by Christ and the Spirit, to nurture us along the way. This community and this Spirit help us to make the world the home God intended it to be. Our fears inhibit us from moving toward the best God has for us. Yet, this community can experience peace beyond what the world experiences, for Christ and the Spirit unite the community to the future God intends for humanity. 

¹⁵ “If you love me (ἀγαπᾶτέ), you will keep my commandments. Jesus is asserting his rights to have them love him and obey him, even as does the Lord in the Old Testament. While love is important throughout the New Testament, only in John do we find the object of love to be Jesus. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate (Παράκλητον, advocate, intercessor, counselor, protector, and supporter), to be with you forever. The material difference between the types of statement regarding the giving of the Spirit is not great. In each case both Father and Son work together in sending the Spirit, whether it is that the Father sends the Spirit at the request and in the name of the Son or that the risen Lord pours out the Spirit whom he has received from the Father. Regardless, the purpose of the sending is to continue the work of revealing Jesus. The Spirit glorifies Jesus as the Son of the Father by teaching us to recognize the revelation of the Father in the words and work of Jesus.[7] There is a close parallel between the work of the Spirit and that of Jesus. This word refers to a calling, summoning, inviting, demanding, admonishing, and encouraging, an address that both corrects and comforts. The Spirit will be for the community and individual Christian the great Paraclete. It describes the Spirit as the mediator, advocate, and spokesperson of Jesus Christ to the community of believers. The Spirit speaks both of Christ and for Christ, as the representative of the cause of Christ, seeking to make the cause of the community and the individual to become the cause of Christ. The Spirit sees to it that neither individual followers nor the community forgets Christ.[8] John distinguishes more sharply than does Paul the Son and Spirit. Here, the Spirit is the “other Advocate” whom the Father will send in the name of Jesus.[9] ¹⁷ This is the Spirit of truth (Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας), whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. The Spirit gives instruction to Christians in a way that never becomes identical with their own spirits. The Holy Spirit is superior to us as believers. As our teacher and leader, the Spirit is in us, but in a way that the Spirit remains Lord of our lives. The entire notion of Paraclete in this passage is relevant to this discussion. Note the difference in the notion here of “the Spirit of truth.” God is establishing and executing the divine claim to lordship over us by this immediate presence.[10] You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. Here, the Spirit is not present to believers in the way God will give the Spirit later.[11]  In this passage, we see that the Holy Spirit is present to the church through the glorifying of Jesus Christ as the one whom the Father sent. This passage suggests an immediacy of individuals to Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit brings.[12] The people who have his commandments and keep them are those who love him. The Father will love those who love Jesus. Further, Jesus will love them and reveal himself to them.

Unless the eye catch fire,

The God will not be seen.

 

Unless the ear catch fire

The God will not be heard.

 

Unless the tongue catch fire

 The God will not be named.

 

Unless the heart catch fire,

The God will not be loved.

 

Unless the mind catch fire,

 The God will not be known.[13]

 

World history, having attained its goal in Christ and in his death, cannot continue as though nothing had happened. His community is now present in the world as witnesses to Christ. Yet, God does not leave them to their own devices. They cannot be without Christ in the world.[14]

Jesus presents the Father. In a world that is still a stranger to what God intends for it, followers of Jesus are to present Jesus to the world. The Spirit will be the one present to help followers of Jesus fulfill their calling.

His name is Homer Sewell, but total strangers tend to call him “Abe.” One look at the man and you know exactly why: Homer Sewell bears a spooky resemblance to Abraham Lincoln. This all started about 30 years ago in Orlando, Florida, when Sewell grew a beard and schoolchildren suddenly began to call him “Abe.” He completed the effect by adding a black suit and stovepipe hat, and developed a show called Abe Lincoln’s America. Sewell has now made over 2,400 appearances as the 16th president, performing for more than two million people. “As soon as I get my suit on and my hat,” he explains, “I become Abraham Lincoln.” Sewell is a dead ringer for Honest Abe, even without makeup, and you have to admire his attention to detail. The car he drives is a ... Lincoln, of course. The Association of Lincoln Presenters presented Sewell with the “Lincoln of the Year” award in April of 1999.

In the gospel of John, Jesus is laying the foundation for an “Association of Jesus Presenters.” Jesus knows that his death is coming, and he is preparing his disciples for the period that lies ahead, when he is not going to be physically with them. “Very truly, I tell you,” Jesus assures them, “the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). He promises his followers that he will do whatever they ask in his name, and then he goes on to predict that God will send them the Holy Spirit, to be with them forever (vv. 13-17). 
            Jesus invites the disciples to be Jesus Presenters — people who carry forward the words and works of Jesus Christ and offer his grace and truth to the world. Like members of the Lincoln Presenters, their mission is to educate and inspire, and to present the powerful insights and actions of their leader to the world. Disciples are to represent Jesus, so that when people see them at work, everyone will know that they are Christians.

The coming of the Holy Spirit should remind us that claiming to be followers of the historical Jesus is one thing but allowing the Spirit of the risen Christ to dwell fully in us is another. One can confine the former simply to knowing a lot about Jesus, while the latter involves representing Jesus and acting every day on his behalf according to his model of life and faith. Granted, Christians often obscure Jesus rather than present Jesus. Yet, their calling, vocation, and mission, based upon the model offered by Jesus, is to show God to the world. Fortunately, we do not function alone or in isolation. We have an association of Jesus Presenters we call the church.

The theme of John 14:25-27 are the final thoughts of Jesus before his departure. 

In John 14: 25-26, we find the theme of the sending of the Paraclete to teach. We find an unhappy reminder. The time of Jesus with his disciples is running out, preparing the way for another reference to the Paraclete. Now, the focus is the function of the Paraclete as teacher. The significance of this passage is that it shows that the Spirit continues the reconciling work of Jesus in the world. In fact, the Spirit brings to completion the reconciling work of the Son.^[15] 25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate (Παράκλητος), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, as prayer is in the name of Jesus, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. This passage speaks of a sending by the Father in the name and at the request of the Son. For J. Zizioulas, this passage is basic to an understanding of the work of the Spirit in the Eucharist, especially to grasping it as “remembrance” in the context of the invocation or calling down of the Holy Spirit.^[16] The use of the personal pronoun, “him” suggests that for John, the Spirit was more than a tendency or influence. Further, the fact that the Holy Spirit will teach them everything means that the Paraclete will enable the disciples to see the full meaning of the words of Jesus. The Father will send the Spirit in the name of Jesus. Now Jesus mentions for a second time the imminent arrival of another who will be "Advocate," "Helper," even "Counselor" to the disciples once Jesus himself has returned to the Father. The Paraclete will teach, completing the mission of Jesus. The Paraclete will enable the disciples to see the deepest meaning of the words of Jesus. One should understand the "everything" this Holy Spirit will teach as "everything you need to know about what I have said." Jesus also reveals just how this Holy Spirit "teaches" - by making his disciples remember all that Jesus had already taught them. Jesus assures the disciples that the Father will send another personality, the Paraclete, Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name to teach them and remind them of what Jesus has taught them. The relations described between Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit suggests a unified purpose and coordinated effort. The words of the Father are those of Jesus, and the Spirit will in turn teach these words. In the gospel writer's perspective, the goal of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is to build the community of faith, and to sustain them in their belief. Their activities of sending, coming, and going work is to establish that community and to build up its belief. The promise of the Spirit's presence is a promise that the presence of the Spirit will sustain the community in the instruction of Jesus' words. The revelation of God in Christ goes on. Indeed, seeing this takes special eyes, the eyes of a believer. Such revelation conditions all our thinking. Through this happening, we apprehend who we are, what we suffer, what we are doing, and what our potentialities are. Revelation moves us beyond arbitrary and dumb fact. It becomes relatable, intelligible, and eloquent fact through the event of revelation.[17] This posture of belief is what John holds out for the community at the close of the unit. Jesus, according to John, has told these things to his disciples so that when these events do transpire, John's community will remember Jesus' words and come to believe. Indeed, John issues this goal of belief toward the end of the gospel in John 20:31 as the book's entire purpose. Belief in Jesus encourages the gospel writer's readers, both ancient and contemporary, that we will find our secure dwelling as the church, and that in this we will abide together in God. The Spirit is the Spirit of truth, for the Spirit does not direct people to the Spirit but to the Son. Distinct from the Father and the Son, the Spirit belongs to both.^[18]Teaching and reminding are aspects of the same function of the Holy Spirit (Bultmann). Carl Ludwig Nitzsch uses this verse as a basis for his new definition of revelation that gave direction to the age that followed. He differentiated the external and public revelation of God from the inner and private revelation that the biblical authors received, and which one might more properly call inspiration. He equated the content of revelation with moral religion. He distinguished the historical form of revelation from the matter of revelation. He thought of his view of revelation superior to the notion of identifying revelation with the writings of biblical authors, which could fall to the ground if they were in error at a single point.^[19] However, as in verse 16, this passage is not materially different from other forms of the statement. In each case, both Father and Son work together in sending the Spirit, even if the text refers to the risen Lord as sending the Spirit. The purpose of the sending by the Son is to continue the work of Jesus in revelation.^[20] In this passage, the emphasis is on the spontaneous coming and working of the Spirit.^[21] The sending of the Spirit by the Father “in the name of Jesus” is a thought consistent with the notion of prayer “in the name of Jesus.”^[22] The Spirit of Christ reminds Christians of Jesus.^[23]  The Spirit works as the basis of our lives, enabling us to do anything we ought to do, go anywhere we ought to go and be anything we ought to be.[24] We rightly pray for the Spirit to descend into our hearts, enlightening the dark corners of our minds, and scattering the cheerful beams of light the Spirit wants to bring.[25] ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. We find the parting gift of peace. “Peace” is a departing “shalom” to the disciples, but not just a thoughtless salutation. Jesus offers the gift of salvation. “Peace,” along with “grace,” became part of the traditional greeting from one Christian to another, as we can see in Romans 1:7 and I Corinthians 1:3. Despite frequent usage, it retained its religious meaning, as we can see in Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts.” Twice in this farewell discourse, in 14:27 and 16:33, Jesus focuses on the parting gift of peace.  Jesus offers peace, while the tribulation of the world stands waiting.  What is this "peace" that Jesus mentions?  It describes, rather, a special and desirous gift from God. The Gospel of John equates the term variously with "light," "life," "joy" and "truth." Peace is a positive, active presence.  Peace is a gift selected to salvation. All the benefits the believer receives because of the saving gift of Jesus Christ are components of this peace. Receiving Jesus' peace is personally receiving God's gift of salvation. There is some grammatical debate over how one should understand the second line of verse 27. It is not clear whether Jesus' subject is the peace - "not like the peace the world gives, do I give to you," or the act of giving - "such giving is not the kind of giving exhibited by the world." The gospel writer may have intended some ambiguity here, for theologically it is evident that this author would declare that both statements are true. The "peace" this world holds out is a false peace, based on the momentary success of one force (person, country, ideals, status) over another. Since the world never fully holds such a peace, true peace is not something the world gives. Any "giving" gesture made by the world is empty of content and promise. In any case, when we accept the fact that everything that the Spirit can make everything that happens to us useful for our spiritual growth, we will have arrive at the type of peace Jesus promises.[26] We start maturing emotionally and spiritually when we take responsibility for our feelings, actions, and style of life. We have responsibility for outgrowing the various psychic damages we received in life and accept our dignity as human beings who choose a satisfying style of life.[27]

In verse 27, part of a segment that extends to verse 29, the theme is the departure of Jesus. Because the disciples are to receive Jesus' own peace, Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. Thus, Jesus stresses that their love is possessive instead of generous. In going to the Father, he accomplishes the purpose of his life. Any human love that fails to recognize this is not real love. Implicitly, he connects faith and love closely.  The kind of troubled heart to which Jesus refers involves worry, fear, anxiety, or stress. It can feel like loss of hope, a lack of faith, a panic attack, or the pangs of uncertainty. Of course, Jesus is preparing them for his physical absence. They have troubled hearts due to the spiritual battle that John often portrays between Spirit and flesh, light and darkness, sight, and blindness, and even life and death. Jesus has told them about betrayal, departure, and denial. With these words, he wants to strengthen their faith. The intimate relationship of the Son and Spirit with the disciple is to result in a peace that will keep them from having troubled hearts.

Jesus is the advocate, the one who prays for us, the one who counsels and directs us. To live in obedience is to have a way of life lived in loving union with him. Jesus is not physically present to continue leading the church. That is why another counselor and guide is part of the Christian community, namely, the Holy Spirit. The world is still strange and puzzling place, for humanity has yet to fulfill the intent God has for it. God does not leave us without a family, united by Christ and the Spirit, to nurture us along the way. This community and this Spirit help us to make the world the home God intended it to be. Our fears inhibit us from moving toward the best God has for us. Yet, this community can experience peace beyond what the world experiences, for Christ and the Spirit unite the community to the future God intends for humanity.

---

[1] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 1, 340)

[2] (C.K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John, 2nd ed. [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978], 460).

[3] Barth, (Church Dogmatics, I.1 [5.4] 176)

[4] Barth, (Church Dogmatics., III.3 [48.2], 29)

[5] Dodd (The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, 1940, p 395)

[6] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 204)

[7] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 5)

[8] Barth (Church Dogmatics IV.2 [64.4] 326)

[9] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 1, 270)

[10] Barth (Church Dogmatics, I.1 [12.1] 454)

[11] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 1, 267)

[12] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 134)

[13]  --Attributed to Enlightenment poet William Blake.

[14] Barth (Church Dogmatics, IV.2 [64.4] 326)

[15] Pannenberg (Systmatic Theology, Volume 2, 450-454)

[16] (“ L’Eucharistie: quelques Aspects bibliques,” in L’Eucharistie, 1970, p. 13-74)

[17] H. Richard Niebuhr, The Meaning of Revelation, New York: Macmillan, 1941, p. 36

[18] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 1, 315)

[19] (De revelation religionis externa eademque publica prolusiones academicae, 1808, 5)

[20] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 5)

[21] (ibid., 15)

[22] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 3, 204.

[23] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 3, 275, 307.

[24] E. Stanley Jones.

[25] O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there thy cheerful beams. --Saint Augustine.

[26] M. Scott Peck, Further Along the Road Less Traveled (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993

[27] Sam Keen, quoted by John Shea in Stories of God (Chicago: The Thomas More Press, 1978), 122.

Romans 8:14-17

Romans 8:14-17 (NRSV)

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Paul will bring the role of Father, Son, and Spirit into a unique discussion of the life of the children of God. He will focus upon relationship. It may well be that is the best way for us to discuss the Christian view of God as Trinity. We adopt our favorite position of prayer. We are trying to get in touch with God. We also know that that God within us is prompting us to pray. We also know that we know God through Jesus of Nazareth. This Jesus is also the risen Christ who is with us and helping us to pray. This three-fold life of God is part of the life of the prayer of the Christian.[1] Thus, all appearances to the contrary, God is one. The mystery beyond us, the mystery among us, and the mystery within us unite as one mystery. We have an interior life known to us and those to whom we choose to reveal that interior life. We could call this the Father. We also have a face that reflects this interior life. We could call this the Son. We also have an invisible power to communicate who we are with others. We could call this the Spirit. Yet, people experience us as one.[2] In a sense, the Trinity is a dynamic community defined by love. To see one is to see all. To dance with one is to dance with all. Adoption into the family of God includes the invitation into the divine circle of love.[3] Defining the Trinity may be beyond human capacity. However, relationships, as mysterious as they are, are so much a part of who we are. We are social creatures. It may well be that the best way to understand the Trinity is through relationship. This teaching of the church is precious. God (as Father) reveals who God is (in Jesus Christ), and becomes the life-giving presence of God in the world and in our lives (the Spirit).

In 8:14-17, the distinction between those who "live according to the flesh" and those who live "by the Spirit" becomes even more graphic. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Paul encourages those whom the Spirit has freed to participate in the life of the Spirit. The believer continues to struggle in this age with the ancient problem of the flesh. The flesh is weak. It exerts its power over humanity by introducing a form of bondage to it. The weakness of the flesh shows itself in enticing humanity away from the life-giving Spirit. It shows weakness in its reliance upon finitude and the self. The flesh represents the totality of our life decisions to rely upon the isolated self. Yet, the life in the Spirit Paul is discussing in Chapter 8 offers a new possibility. Recalling Genesis 2, Paul reminds us that the Spirit of God gave life to a lump of clay. Paul himself could refer to his own physical disability as a sign of the weakness of the flesh. Life lived passionately within this weakness is life under the shadow of death. The edifice of human life, defined by the weakness of the flesh, is questionable. Living within the weakness of the flesh is still a possibility for those in Christ and in the Spirit. Yet, to do so is a form of slavery when living in the freedom of the Spirit is also a possibility.[4] Paul affirms that the Spirit will lead believers personally without extinguishing their unique personality. The Spirit will lead them to a life that finds fulfillment and completion that involves freedom, faith, and love.[5] Such leadership is like that of a pilot guiding the ship.[6] Thus, the Spirit is not a blind force. Paul has experienced this personal leadership of the Spirit. Paul is reminding us that the real human struggle is between spirit and flesh. Sin is a malevolent force working against the good of the individual. Struggles against sin will not succeed without divine help. For that reason, Paul will speak of human weakness more than of human sinfulness.^[7]

¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. Paul will use the contrast between being a slave and being part of a family. As believers, the Spirit adopts us into the family of God. The Spirit is the seal and guarantee of participation in the family of God. One has authentic freedom in this family.[8]  The idea of adoption has in the background the notion of the chosen quality of Israel and the Jewish people. Paul reaffirms this chosen status of the people of God, but focuses upon the Spirit as the active agent who brings this special place in the heart of God into effect.[9] Contrary to contemporary understandings about the way families form, in antiquity the birth of a child to a husband and wife was not enough to ensure the infant the care and protection of the family. To bring a child fully into the family, the father needed to accept the infant, invariably in a ritually determined manner. For instance, the Jewish rite of circumcision brought the boy into the family of Israel. Absent such a decision on the part of the father, a child would not have a family and the parents would leave the child outside to starve.^[10] This sense of family formation is what appeals to Paul. Adoption into the family of God provides Christians with the strength to overcome the weakness of life in the flesh. The divinity of the emperor became a political and cultural matter around 40 AD, adopting the successor as a son in a futile attempt to secure political stability. ^[11] For Paul, divine adoption meant divine protection. The adoption becomes a reality in the life of the believer through the experience of the Spirit. For the Romans, war established divinity. The Old Testament has a few references to the king of Israel as the son of God (II Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7; 89:26 ff.), but both the Old Testament and later texts extend the category to include the whole of Israel, the righteous and martyrs as sons of God.^[12] Peace flowed from justice and righteousness rather than war.[13] The authentic freedom we find in the Spirit is by the one who grants this freedom by not only liberating us from fixation on our own ego and lifting us above our own finitude. The Spirit becomes lastingly ours as the Spirit gives us a share in the sonship of Jesus Christ. “Spirit of adoption” refers to the Spirit as the seal and guarantee as well as a partial realization of the new status.  Animated by God’s Spirit, Christians cannot have an attitude of slavery, for the Spirit sets one free.  Christians have thereby won out over the anxiety of death and the fear of slavery.  Adoption is the special status of Christians before God.[14]

A sign of this adoption is that we can refer to God in the same way Jesus did. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” Jesus called him Abba,[15] Father, and we can do so as well. Children are in intimate communion with the loving parent. Paul appropriately focuses on the communicative power of the gift of the Spirit. When we cry “Abba! Father!” this is the passionate cry of the child of God. It is also a most intimate designation of God – “daddy!” It is the designation that Jesus used, when in agony in Gethsemane, he prayed, “Abba, Father, with you all things are possible; remove this cup from me” (Mk 14:36). The cry “Abba, Father!” is probably that liturgical form that the early Christian community used in its prayers when it gathered. The community prays “Our Father in Heaven” (Mt 6:9b) in the Lord’s Prayer, and thus cries “Abba! Father!” How does the child communicate intimately with the parent? The child speaks through the language that the parent has taught. How do we, as beloved children of God, communicate with God? The Spirit helps us to communicate. What is prayer but communication with God? The free life of the children of God is the work of the Spirit sent into their hearts. Crying Abba means they are not slaves, but children, living before and with their Father. If being "in the spirit" makes us adopted children of God, we are also fully brothers and sisters with Christ.[16] ¹⁶ It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. If so, as part of the Body of Christ, as one “in Christ,” one has this personal experience of the Spirit. Such experience has an emotional quality, a form of ecstasy, illumination, inspiration, or intuition. Paul will part company with those who seem to suggest a purely intellectual faith. The Spirit integrates emotion, reason, and will. The Spirit transplants the Christian into a sphere of behavior one characterize as freedom of the children of God. In that sense, the Spirit becomes a personal center of action residing outside the individual. The Christian lives outside the self as weakened by the flesh and thus lives in the power of the resurrected Jesus and in the Spirit. The Spirit living within believers has its basis in believers having the ground or foundation of their lives outside the weakness of self and flesh and therefore in the Spirit.[17] Of course, as I John 4:1 reminds us, this personal experience of the Spirit does not absolve us from testing the spirits.

Paul is envisioning a struggle. The struggle unites humanity with the rest of creation. Yet, the struggle is no longer an indication of futility. Because of Jesus Christ, the struggle has meaning and significance. Thus, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. As children of God who participate in Christ, believers share in the destiny of Jesus as defined by his cross and resurrection. The struggle is a sure sign that something new is happening. Paul is careful to add that the hope of destiny with Christ comes at the cost of identifying with the Christ who suffered: if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Paul makes it clear that believers suffer with Christ. How does this happen? For many believers, we prayerfully reflect upon the cross, its suffering, pain, and judgment, recognizing that one innocent man died for us, who are weak and guilty. For some followers of Jesus, the suffering extends to receiving persecution from the hands of governments who fear followers of Jesus. Further, each of us has our pain to bear simply because we lead a human life. If we love God, aware only of the roughness of the divine hand, we have indeed gone deeper in our walk with God. Such personal pain and affliction is a reminder of the sufferings of the present time. While this life may bear a hint of eternity, it always remains debatable and ambiguous.[18] Paul makes clear that salvation in Christ means undoing the work of Adam, restoring humanity to the purpose of God. What God has in view, beginning with the call of Abraham, is the reversal of the fall of Adam and of its consequences. The analysis of the human condition as in Adam that began in 1:18 has its culmination in the restoration of humanity as children of God. Redemption is the completion of creation, and humanity is part of that creation. We see our present suffering in the shadow of the Day of Jesus Christ. The time in which we live and suffer is the present time. The future will reveal the glory or beauty of the end of humanity. In this sense, Christianity is “thoroughgoing eschatology,” as redemption remains a hope. The believer will live by this hope. We must desire nothing higher or better than hope.[19]

This passage has an influence upon how Christians view God and upon how Christians view their life with God. I would like to discuss both.

This passage is influential in the formation of the doctrine of the Trinity. Paul is not beginning a metaphysical discussion of the Trinity with his readers. In this chapter, Paul refers to Christ as the Son (verse 3). Christians live their lives by and through the Spirit (of Christ, God, Holy Spirit). Abba, Father, has adopted us into the family of God as children. Paul is opening a discussion of the Christian experience of God. The intent is to not to create an unsolvable puzzle, but to bring clarity.

As more Muslims come to the United States, the Trinity is the primary teaching of the church against which the Koran argues. It repeatedly says, “God does not have a Son.” In fact, in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim dialogues in which I have participated, this is one place where Jews and Muslim unite against Christians. The charge against Christians is polytheism. As I had occasion, I shared with them that you have shown is that you have not taken the time to understand what Christians believe concerning God or how they actually experience God on the other.

Here is why you should care. We baptize “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We affirm the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, both of which have their basis in the Trinity. When we serve Holy Communion, the prayer of Great Thanksgiving begins with the Father as creator, the Son as redeemer, and ends with the Holy Spirit as the giver of life. Now, Christians do not teach about God the way they do because they have a fascination with the number three. You see, Christians affirm the oneness of God. Yet, because of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, and because of the gift of the promise of the Father, Holy Spirit, Christians also affirm the loving fellowship that the one God experiences as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We do not know God as written in a Law. We do not know God as written in Arabic because that is the language of God. Christians make the paradoxical claim that universal truth has appeared at a particular point in history, in a Jewish man, Jesus of Nazareth. Christians pay attention to the way God was present in Jesus of Nazareth to shape their view of God and to understand the ways of God in the world. In particular, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth confirms, for Christians, that Jesus is whom the New Testament claims he is – the Son of God, in relationship with the Father, creator of all and the God of Israel, and in relationship with the life-giving Spirit. Further, the loving fellowship of the Triune God overflows in creation and in the invitation to human beings to join in their loving fellowship.

We affirm great things about Jesus so regularly that we forget how extraordinary they are. A new group, all Jews, gathered in the name of Jesus, not because he was an effective political leader, a persuasive teacher, or a military leader, but because they experienced him as the source of a life that transforms human life. He was Messiah, Lord, and Son of God. As such, the church invites people to live their lives centered in serving Jesus Christ. Such a center will transform and enrich the way people serve the plan of God for the salvation of the world.

Many have tried over the centuries to explain a concept that the Bible itself does not define clearly. After all, the word trinity does not even appear in the biblical text. You may have learned such analogies in Sunday school. The Trinity is like water — H2O — which can be a gas, a solid or a liquid but is still and always H2O at a molecular level, or the egg with its yolk, white and shell, or the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government, or they learn St. Patrick’s cloverleaf metaphor. You can probably think of a lot more of these, all trying to explain the concept of how one entity can also be three. 

The mathematical approach is also attractive, the equilateral triangle being the most popular math symbol for the Trinity.

All these metaphors and explanations, though, fall short. Despite our best efforts at explaining the Trinity, a full understanding seems to elude even those of us who have been lifelong churchgoers. Church history itself reveals an eclectic and often violent debate over the metaphysics of the whole thing.

However, here is a thought. Trying to offer definitions of God may be the problem in our understanding of the Trinity, rather than offering the possibility of a solution. Trying to use definitive terms to describe God is a bit like nailing Jell-O to a tree — eventually the thing falls apart.

I want to explore with you another approach that recognizes the power of relationships. Think of the most loving relationships you have in your life. Please, define it precisely for me, right now. Think of the most joyful experience you have ever had. Define it precisely for me now. In fact, reflect upon the most meaningful, life-changing experience you have had in your life. Please, define it precisely for me. My point, of course is that you probably cannot. God created us in the image of God.  Such experiences bring us to the limits of human language. What I am suggesting is that God is more like that.

Paul sees God at work in a uniquely relational way, both within God’s own nature and with humans. Paul shifts the language to relationships. The Father adopts those who live by the Spirit as children of God and makes them co-heirs with Christ. They actualize their glory or beauty through suffering.

John of Damascus, one of the early church fathers who lived during the late seventh and early eighth centuries, avoided the normal definitions and calculated reasoning about the Trinity and came up with a different term for the oneness and threeness of God — perichoresis, which loosely translated from Greek means “circle dance.” In other words, we understand the Trinity as a circle — a dynamic community defined by love. To see one is to see all — to dance with one is to dance with all, where the divine realm invites us into the circle and into a love relationship where we see God face to face, as children hold hands and dance with loving parents.

The truth is that we will probably never understand the Trinity by trying to define it. Even Paul, one of the most prolific writers and theologians of his day, refuses to become too precise. The only way we will really “get” the Trinity is to join the circle and live into that relationship.

This teaching has become increasingly precious to me. If God is, it makes sense that God would reveal whom God (Jesus) and that God, creator of life, would be the life-giving presence in the world and in your life (Spirit).

I care about this teaching of the church. It reflects upon the teaching of Paul. I think Paul is suggesting that if we accept the invitation to join the loving relationship that defines Father, Son, and Spirit, it will make all the difference.

This passage influences how Christians view their life with God. They are children of God. They are heirs with Christ. Yes, we are heirs to the beauty and glory that awaits us. I could think of many treasures of the church. Rembrandt did a painting called, “The Prodigal Son.” Another painting is St. Joseph the Carpenter. Yet, you do not have to go to the Louvre, the richest of museums, to see them. You do not need to visit the State Hermitage to view the greatest art treasures in the history of the church. If we want to see the church's greatest art treasures, we need to look all around us. We need to open our eyes to the acts of service, the acts of grace, and the acts of compassion going on all around us by heirs of Christ. Jesus said it:

"I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; I needed clothes, and you clothed me"?

The Spirit may well have inspired Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Rouault. Paul lets us know that the Spirit is at work within us.

God sent Jesus to be born in you. In the words of onetime Methodist, Vincent van Gogh, "Christ is more of an artist than the artists; he works in the living spirit and the living flesh; he makes men instead of statues." God is calling the church to be the greatest art treasure. God is calling Christians to be the church's greatest art treasure. In the words of Ephesians 2:10, "For you are God's workmanship" (NIV). In other words, "You are God's masterpiece." Alternatively, as some translations render it, "You are God's poem" and others, "You are God's handiwork," which really means, "You are God's artwork."

You are God’s work of art. I encourage you to reflect upon your story. You as a work of art are still in process, on the way to the destiny appointed by God and revealed in Christ.

"He's quite a piece of work." Yet, God says precisely that of you and of me. The Spirit at work in us says that we are indeed a piece of work, God's work. You, me and those around us are works in progress that God is creating for his glory. Let us recognize the genius of the Holy Spirit in each of us and be open to the brush strokes of the Spirit in our daily lives.

In Manhattan, Woody Allen says to Mariel Hemingway, "You're God's answer to Job. You would've ended all argument between them. He would've pointed to you and said, 'I do a lot of terrible things, but I can also make one of these.' And then Job would've said, 'Eh, okay. You win.'"

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[1] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. “An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God — that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying — the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on — the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. The whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary act of prayer.”

[2] Frederick Buechner, This is from Wishful Thinking. “The much-maligned doctrine of the Trinity is an assertion that, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, there is only one God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit mean that the mystery beyond us, the mystery among us and the mystery within us are all the same mystery ...  “If the idea of God as both Three and One seems farfetched and obfuscating, look in the mirror someday. There is (a) the interior life known only to yourself and those you choose to communicate it to (the Father). There is (b) the visible face, which in some measure reflects that inner life (the Son). And there is (c) the invisible power you have which enables you to communicate that interior life in such a way that others do not merely know about it, but know it in the sense of its becoming part of who they are (the Holy Spirit). Yet what you are looking at in the mirror is clearly and indivisibly the one and only you.”

[3] John of Damascus, one of the early church fathers who lived during the late seventh and early eighth centuries, avoided the normal definitions and calculated reasoning about the Trinity and came up with a different term for the oneness and threeness of God — perichoresis, which loosely translated from Greek means “circle dance.” In other words, we understand the Trinity as a circle — a dynamic community defined by love. To see one is to see all — to dance with one is to dance with all, where the divine realm invites us into the circle and into a love relationship where we see God face to face, as children hold hands and dance with loving parents.

[4] Barth, Romans, 291-95.

[5] Pannenberg, Jesus God and Man, 176-77, Systematic Theology, Volume II, 316.

[6] Chrysostom, homily on Romans.

[7] (Krister Stendahl, Paul Among Jews and Gentiles [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976], 40-52).

[8] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume III, 130.

[9] Barth, Romans, 298.

[10] (Pamela Eisenbaum, “A remedy for having been born of Woman: Jews, Gentiles and Genealogy in Romans,” Journal of Biblical Literature, 123/4 (2004), 671-702).

[11] (John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan Reed, In Search of Paul: How Jesus’ Apostle Opposed Rome’s Empire with God’s Kingdom [New York: Harper Collins, 2004], 135-152). Further, coins from this period bore the likeness of Caesar Augustus with the inscription “son of a divinity,” referring to his adoption by Julius Caesar. The development of an imperial theology of the divinity of the emperor continued. In A.D. 40, the Emperor Caligula proposed erecting a statue of himself in the Temple in Jerusalem. At the same time, in an often futile attempt to secure political stability, the emperors adopted as sons those they wished to succeed them.

[12] (James D. G. Dunn Christology in the Making: A New Testament Inquiry into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 14-16).

[13] Isaiah 11, for instance, opens with a description of the just king, one who “with righteousness ... shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4,). Jesus proclaims this messianic agenda at Nazareth (Luke 4:17 ff.). He takes on the prophetic charge “to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, when debts are forgiven, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2).

[14] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume III, 130.

[15] The Aramaic cry abba as used by Jesus in the moment of his supreme earthly confidence in God, was a cry cherished in prayer by early Christians in memory of Jesus himself.  Many NT interpreters regard the Aramaic abba as an instance of ipsissima vox Iesu.  Such a mode of address for God, abba, is unattested in the OT.  The cry "Abba! Father" -- which newly adopted sons and daughters may now legitimately call out -- itself demonstrates the closeness of a believer's relationship to God. The Aramaic "Abba" was, of course, Jesus' own favorite divine address. Paul's letter reveals that early Christians had quickly taken to using this address as well.

[16] Barth, Church Dogmatics, II.2 [37.3], 604.

[17] Pannenberg, Jesus God and Man, 177.

[18] Barth, Romans, 301.

[19] Barth, Romans, 302-314.