“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptising in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “
A little later Jack Heywood is going to join the number of the baptised . What is true for him is also true for us. Two things need to be expanded on then – the nature of Baptism, and the Holy Trinity – all in about 5 minutes which is what I call “value for money”.
The very easiest and most poignant way of understanding baptism for me is in understanding it in terms of “belonging”. The formula in Matthew that says baptise “in the name of” signifies “with reference to” and implies a new sense of belonging.
Of course Jack has two loving parents and in the first instance and in the normal sense and understanding he “belongs” to them and his wider family structure but in baptism we affirm that Jack actually also has a prior mystical sense of belonging, as we all do, that beyond family ties he ultimately belongs to God. In baptism the person him/her self or those on their behalf are confessing that Jack belongs to God, and that God loves him just like his parents do. It is because we share God as our parent that we can call each other brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God – nothing less than children of God.
So baptism is about affirming our belonging to God, but what kind of God do we belong to?
The formula we use is Father, Son and Holy Spirit – The Holy Trinity. This is traditionally where people start to unravel and preachers come a cropper – and for good reason – because the first thing we must realise is that we cannot ever fully describe God. He is ultimately beyond description and every image and description is just an approximation to the truth of God. What the formula Father Son and Holy Spirit describes is three different ways in which Christian people have experienced God.
First things first. God is ONE. We do not believe in three gods. This is affirmed by Jews, Muslims and Christians, whatever else we Christians go on to say how we have experienced God
Let’s take “Father” first. It is an image which is always going to be lacking because God is neither male nor female. “Father” symbolises the indescribable source of ALL THAT IS. The father has no source, He just is.
It is the Father to whom we pray.
Jesus prayed to the Father.
He instructed us to pray to “Our Father”. The Eucharistic prayer every Sunday is a prayer “to the Father”, in the name of the son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is directed to the Father –The One God – the sourceless source of everything that is. The “I AM” – Yahweh -meaning simply pure existence.
The second person of the Trinity is the Son. In John’s famous prologue in Chapter 1 of his gospel the second person of the Trinity is called Logos – which means both “word” and “wisdom”. God’s creative power and a revelation of his nature. This is another aspect of God. Wisdom was very important to the Jews. Wisdom literature is an important part of the Hebrew Bible. Wisdom is divine. Wisdom was with God and helped in the creation of all things. Wisdom was female - It is the wisdom of God that Christians believe was fully revealed in the life of Jesus. Because Jesus was a man, we say Father, “Son” and Holy Spirit but I believe it would be just as legitimate to talk of Father, “Mother” and Holy Spirit because wisdom was traditionally thought of as female – though there are obviously many people who would disagree with me on that one!
We have the sourceless source, wisdom and so the third aspect of God that Christians have experienced God is as the Holy Spirit – another aspect of God. How do we experience the Spirit?
The Spirit is that which animates, which is dynamic, which guides, and befriends and teaches – that which adds colour to all life – a binding energy that convicts us of our essential unity with all things. That which gives and sustains life. It is a common saying – but which is true - that when looking at a person who has died – they are said to no longer really be there. The Spirit, which animated that life has gone. The Spirit is “Life” in all its colour, joy and diversity.
We belong to God – that is the nature of our Baptism and this God to whom we belong is God the indescribable source of all things, whose nature is the love and wisdom that underpins all creation, and the pure dynamism, joy and creativity of life – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptising in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “
A little later Jack Heywood is going to join the number of the baptised . What is true for him is also true for us. Two things need to be expanded on then – the nature of Baptism, and the Holy Trinity – all in about 5 minutes which is what I call “value for money”.
The very easiest and most poignant way of understanding baptism for me is in understanding it in terms of “belonging”. The formula in Matthew that says baptise “in the name of” signifies “with reference to” and implies a new sense of belonging.
Of course Jack has two loving parents and in the first instance and in the normal sense and understanding he “belongs” to them and his wider family structure but in baptism we affirm that Jack actually also has a prior mystical sense of belonging, as we all do, that beyond family ties he ultimately belongs to God. In baptism the person him/her self or those on their behalf are confessing that Jack belongs to God, and that God loves him just like his parents do. It is because we share God as our parent that we can call each other brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God – nothing less than children of God.
So baptism is about affirming our belonging to God, but what kind of God do we belong to?
The formula we use is Father, Son and Holy Spirit – The Holy Trinity. This is traditionally where people start to unravel and preachers come a cropper – and for good reason – because the first thing we must realise is that we cannot ever fully describe God. He is ultimately beyond description and every image and description is just an approximation to the truth of God. What the formula Father Son and Holy Spirit describes is three different ways in which Christian people have experienced God.
First things first. God is ONE. We do not believe in three gods. This is affirmed by Jews, Muslims and Christians, whatever else we Christians go on to say how we have experienced God
Let’s take “Father” first. It is an image which is always going to be lacking because God is neither male nor female. “Father” symbolises the indescribable source of ALL THAT IS. The father has no source, He just is.
It is the Father to whom we pray.
Jesus prayed to the Father.
He instructed us to pray to “Our Father”. The Eucharistic prayer every Sunday is a prayer “to the Father”, in the name of the son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is directed to the Father –The One God – the sourceless source of everything that is. The “I AM” – Yahweh -meaning simply pure existence.
The second person of the Trinity is the Son. In John’s famous prologue in Chapter 1 of his gospel the second person of the Trinity is called Logos – which means both “word” and “wisdom”. God’s creative power and a revelation of his nature. This is another aspect of God. Wisdom was very important to the Jews. Wisdom literature is an important part of the Hebrew Bible. Wisdom is divine. Wisdom was with God and helped in the creation of all things. Wisdom was female - It is the wisdom of God that Christians believe was fully revealed in the life of Jesus. Because Jesus was a man, we say Father, “Son” and Holy Spirit but I believe it would be just as legitimate to talk of Father, “Mother” and Holy Spirit because wisdom was traditionally thought of as female – though there are obviously many people who would disagree with me on that one!
We have the sourceless source, wisdom and so the third aspect of God that Christians have experienced God is as the Holy Spirit – another aspect of God. How do we experience the Spirit?
The Spirit is that which animates, which is dynamic, which guides, and befriends and teaches – that which adds colour to all life – a binding energy that convicts us of our essential unity with all things. That which gives and sustains life. It is a common saying – but which is true - that when looking at a person who has died – they are said to no longer really be there. The Spirit, which animated that life has gone. The Spirit is “Life” in all its colour, joy and diversity.
We belong to God – that is the nature of our Baptism and this God to whom we belong is God the indescribable source of all things, whose nature is the love and wisdom that underpins all creation, and the pure dynamism, joy and creativity of life – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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