Holy Trinity: June 3, 2007.Proverbs Proverbs, book of the Bible. It is a collection of sayings, many of them moral maxims, in no special order. The teaching is of a practical nature; it does not dwell on the salvation-historical traditions of Israel, but is individual and universal based on the 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 8 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15 First Reading In Proverbs 8, Woman Wisdom invites all who are foolish to come to her and learn truth. Through the chapter as a whole, she makes the case that it is advantageous to follow in her way. From a utilitarian perspective her advice is beneficial, assisting those with power to exercise it well. But even more, what she teaches is desirable and good. It conveys the inner benefit of happiness. Within this context, Woman Wisdom speaks of her divine origin. She comes from God and truly stands apart from the rest of the created order. The knowledge she gives, then, is of profound and eternal value. The lectionary lec·tion·ar·y n. pl. lec·tion·ar·ies A book or list of lections to be read at church services during the year. [Medieval Latin l focuses on the verses that describe Wisdom's unique status (8:22-31). The language is ambiguous about the relationship between God and Wisdom. Verse 22 speaks of Wisdom as "created at the beginning of God's work," although the verb verb, part of speech typically used to indicate an action. English verbs are inflected for person, number, tense and partially for mood; compound verbs formed with auxiliaries (e.g., be, can, have, do, will) provide a distinction of voice. translated as "created" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII ASCII or American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a set of codes used to represent letters, numbers, a few symbols, and control characters. Originally designed for teletype operations, it has found wide application in computers. ]) might be better rendered as "gotten" or "acquired." Verses 24 and 25 speak of Wisdom as being "brought forth." The verb [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] means to writhe in travail TRAVAIL. The act of child-bearing. 2. A woman is said to be in her travail from the time the pains of child-bearing commence until her delivery. 5 Pick. 63; 6 Greenl. R. 460. 3. or to give birth. While being cautious about pressing poetic language to say more than it intends, if Wisdom is "born of God" she may be thought of as an aspect of God's own life. The imagery of the natural world--mountains and hills, earth and fields--reminds the reader of the creation account in Genesis 1. Wisdom existed "before the beginning of the earth," before all God made. Wisdom enjoys the status of priority over every created thing. The reader may also be reminded of the Logos hymn in John 1. Wisdom, not unlike the Word, was with God as everything was made. In Romans 5, Paul celebrates the peace that is God's gift through Christ. God has acted to provide right relationship to all who trust God's promises. To receive such a gift gives one a sense of sureness about his or her standing in life, which is cause for boasting. But Paul's truly surprising conclusion is that, with this gift of peace, we may even boast in our sufferings. Paul denies that the afflictions of life are meaningless for those who live in right relationship with God. The believer's experience of suffering is a matter of sharing with Jesus, which may lead to becoming more like Jesus. Suffering makes one stronger, effecting real change in one's character and nurturing hope within, so that one may see demonstrable de·mon·stra·ble adj. 1. Capable of being demonstrated or proved: demonstrable truths. 2. Obvious or apparent: demonstrable lies. signs of God's love working to renew one's life. In John 16, Jesus prepares his disciples as best he can for what is to come. He will be taken from them and will return to the Father. In his place he will send the Spirit of truth. The role of the Spirit, also referred to as the Advocate (Paraclete may also be translated as Helper or Comforter) is described in a variety of ways in this Final Discourse. A crucial element of the Spirit's mission is to remind the disciples of all that Jesus has said and done while he was with them. In today's reading, it may seem as if the Spirit will provide new revelations of "the things that are to come," a truth that goes beyond what the disciples are able to bear now. More likely, though, the Spirit will support and equip e·quip tr.v. e·quipped, e·quip·ping, e·quips 1. a. To supply with necessities such as tools or provisions. b. the disciples by helping them see where Jesus' teaching will lead them through each new challenge and for every new generation. Pastoral Reflection In the readings for this festival day celebrating the Holy Trinity, there are some anticipations of Trinitarian language. Woman Wisdom seems to share some significant qualities with the Johannine concept of the preexistent pre·ex·ist or pre-ex·ist v. pre·ex·ist·ed, pre·ex·ist·ing, pre·ex·ists v.tr. To exist before (something); precede: Dinosaurs preexisted humans. v.intr. Logos. Paul speaks of the justifying work of God in Christ and how God now pours out love through the Holy Spirit. John indicates that the gift of God and the work of Christ and the activity of the Spirit are all intertwined. The focus in these readings, though, is not on the being of God. Rather, each passage in its own way is about the experience of being recipients of God's mission to save. The doctrine of the Trinity gives expression to the church's awareness of having been caught up into God's great work of love to save and renew God's creation. Proverbs 8 presents the reader with two different glimpses of God's outreaching love. In verses 22-31, God's love is expressed in delighting to create the entire world with wisdom. Wisdom rejoices in the goodness of God's work. In the wider context of the chapter, God reaches out to a foolish humanity in the persona persona /per·so·na/ (per-so´nah) [L.] in jungian psychology, the personality mask or facade presented by a person to the outside world, as opposed to the anima, the inner being. per·so·na n. of Woman Wisdom, calling us to order our lives according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the divine wisdom. The invitation from Woman Wisdom is a sign of God's continuing love and delight in human beings. This divine delight finally leads to the Incarnation incarnation, the assumption of human form by a god, an idea common in religion. In early times the idea was expressed in the belief that certain living men, often kings or priests, were divine incarnations. and to the most surprising revelation of divine wisdom. In wisdom God embraces suffering and death in order to set us free and give us life. The John 16 reading most directly addresses the concerns of mission. As Jesus prepares to complete his work and return to God, he tells his followers followers see dairy herd. how he will support them in their work. Having assured them that he will not leave them alone (14:18), Jesus promises to send the Spirit of truth. The mission of God is not being dropped into their hands. Rather, they have been caught up into God's work, which God will now accomplish through the Spirit. The disciples in their time, as we in ours, can count on receiving guidance from the Spirit, who will assist us in appropriating the message and wisdom of Jesus for meeting the challenges of being God's people in the world. The mission of God is revealed most mysteriously in the experience of suffering. God's good work, given in love, is to set us free from bondage BONDAGE. Slavery. and to bless bless tr.v. blessed or blest , bless·ing, bless·es 1. To make holy by religious rite; sanctify. 2. To make the sign of the cross over so as to sanctify. 3. To invoke divine favor upon. us with life. At times, though, we will receive these gifts of freedom and life within the confines con·fine v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines v.tr. 1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. See Synonyms at limit. of suffering and death. When this happens, Paul encourages us to boast in our sufferings. See what great love God shows for us? It is true that not every kind of suffering is the same. It is equally true that it is dangerous to make judgments about the meaning of other people's suffering. But there may be a painful time in the preacher's own life that he or she can look back to and describe how God's Spirit was at work in and through that experience to give strength to endure. Having endured, perhaps it is now possible for the preacher to see that he or she has grown in character. And perhaps from that experience he or she will continue to draw strength, since it has helped nurture NURTURE. The act of taking care of children and educating them: the right to the nurture of children generally belongs to the father till the child shall arrive at the age of fourteen years, and not longer. Till then, he is guardian by nurture. Co. Litt. 38 b. a sense of hope that God will never abandon God's beloved. Remembering those dark days, perhaps the preacher has come to a greater awareness of God's great love because the Holy Spirit has been working in his or her life to give freedom and life. AJC AJC Atlanta Journal & Constitution AJC American Jewish Committee AJC Arabian Jockey Club AJC American Jewish Congress AJC Australian Jockey Club (Sydney, Australia) AJC Anderson Junior College (Singapore) |
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