Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

And now for something completely different

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Acts 2:32-33
Peter reminds the crowd of David's prophecy and says, "God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth, as you see and hear."

Peter is edging toward the idea that Jesus is God. When he considers the way Jesus talked about himself and the miracle of his resurrection, that's the first thing. And now there is something else, something new, something even more personal for Peter.

The tongues of fire. The fire in his belly, which he knew only as anger and adrenalin, has been transformed into words and deeds that drive out demons and draw multitudes of people to God. Peter recognizes that transformation and calls it God. Jesus. God. Holy Spirit. God.

Then it's a relatively small step to the idea of Trinity. One in three. Three in one. This isn't your normal Greek logic (A=A, If A=A then A cannot be B, A cannot be both A and B at the same time). Logic catches itself on this new space-age fabric.

The Father is the Father, but the Father is also the Son, and in fact, he is the Father and the Son at the same time, which relationship is, in fact, the Holy Spirit. (Richard Rohr, The Naked Now, p. 149-150)

As someone said to me the other day, "Oh, a Richard Rohr quote. Let me prepare myself." (I admit to being caught up in his thinking sometimes. Of course I think that's a good thing.) But here Rohr is simply describing the Trinity as it is described by traditional Christian doctrine. And in the face of his bold words, I realize I can't think about the Trinity the way I usually think about things.

So this trinity idea requires me to suspend my usual logic. But that's not all bad. In fact, this can be "an entranceway into a very different way of knowing altogether" (Rohr, p. 151).

This new kind of knowing embraces paradox and tension in the arms of something new. This new way reduces my dependency on either-or conclusions; for example, am I right, or are you? Should justice prevail, or should mercy? Am I free or dependent? And of course, is Jesus man, or God?

This new way of thinking presents me with a third alternative. Both-and. It might sound simple, but just try it for a few days. I remember Tevye's agonized monologue about his daughter's fiancee in Fiddler on the Roof: "He loves her, it's a new style ... on the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren't they? ... on the other hand ... on the other hand ...

Tevye knew only that he needed to come to an either-or conclusion. He couldn't go both directions at once. But either way, he was going to cause havoc and destruction in his family and/or his community. Could he have found a third alternative?

Peter is edging toward new alternatives in his relationship with God. He is doing less "thinking" as defined by logic, and more "be-ing" as it is defined by Jesus.

Be Here Now. This is Jesus' alternative to judging others or yourself. It is Jesus' replacement for worrying. He lets me think differently. Be. Here. Now.

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. What is another word for three-in-one? I think, Lord God, of the Hebrew word "ruah". When I say it, my mind moves out of the way just a little bit and I feel the rush of your wind inside me. Whoosh. Ruah. Come, Holy Spirit.

Devotions Archive

And now for something completely different

Sunday, May 8, 2011