tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2460256030106063126.post-73480310805603050912008-05-13T20:04:00.001-04:002008-05-13T20:05:24.028-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">LECTIONARY DISCUSSION GROUP </div><div style="text-align: center;">Week of Sunday, May 18, 2008, Trinity Sunday, Year A </div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div>Genesis 1:1-2:4a In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth." And it was so. God made the two great lights-- the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night-- and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. Matthew 28:16-20 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." THEOLOGICAL TIDBITS: This passage from Genesis was a favorite of St. Augustine of Hippo, who wrote extensively about them in his book On The Trinity. He found in it a number of symbols: - First, God the Father is the “creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.” - Second, Jesus is frequently identified with light—“light from light, true God from true God,” but it is important also to remember that he was “begotten, not made.” Darkness is merely the absence of light, not a force unto itself; thus, light preexisted. This was Christ at the beginning of the world. An interesting side note here is that this led many Greek Christians to confuse Jesus with Apollo, the god of light. Our portraits of Jesus with flowing straight hair and blue eyes are pictures of Apollo, not Jesus. We’re all idolaters, more or less, and not just in this way. - Third, the Holy Spirit is shown in the image of the “wind blowing on the deep.” The Holy Spirit also was active in the creation. - Augustine also emphasized the fact that humanity was created in the image of God—or, in Latin, the imago Dei. He thus compared the Trinity to the human memory, understanding, and will, just as God has the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. - The modern theologian Reinhold Niebuhr similarly emphasized the imago Dei, but he also emphasized man’s fallenness. He especially emphasized that being in the image of God gave us a radical freedom, but that fallenness made all our dreams of perfection elusive and ultimately illusions. However, he also emphasized that this cannot form an excuse not to work to improve the world. It is an excuse, however, not to get caught in using immoral means to reach supposedly ideal or “moral” ends. This passage from Matthew contains Jesus’ commissioning of the Apostles and all the disciples. But what did he really mean? Surely baptism is a sacrament, but it is also a symbol. - Baptizing someone puts a definite duty on the evangelizer. Even if a priest does the baptizing, it is the duty of the Christians around that person to help him or her grow in the faith. Even more so, it is the duty of a Christian to help all those who are baptized in ways more general—food, clothing, comfort in their suffering. This leads directly into the best method of evangelism: love. Give to all more than they ask for, and they will follow you to Christ. As one ancient said, “those Christians—how they love one another!” - Similarly, what duties does it put on the person coming to Christianity? Surely, to learn, to grow, and to show others the way.Lectionary Bible Studyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707771987937857835noreply@blogger.com