A DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT by Pastor Phil
May God the Father bless me.
May God the Son protect me.
May the power of the Holy Spirit enlighten me, and forgive all my sins.
Amen.
Does the trinity have much meaning to you?
The trinity is impossible to fully explain in limited human terms, but maybe that’s the point. If God were small enough to fully understand and explain, He would not be big enough to be our almighty Savior.
Just because we cannot fully explain the trinity does not mean it is irrelevant. The trinity has significant meaning for how we live our lives in ways that reflect our triune God. The trinity means that God in His essence is relationship. We say that God IS love, but love does not exist without relationship. God is love because God is trinity.
Since God is relational in His very being, the implication is that relationship is at the center of living a life that reflects God.
We can see this in Creation. In creating Adam and Eve, God created us for relationship. We also see this in the Fall. What was broken by sin is the relationship. Adam immediately blames Eve, they both cover up, and their one son kills the other. We see it in Jesus’ teaching “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). We see this in the description of the church as one body with many parts (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4). I could go on and on.
So, when our adversary, Satan, wants to hinder the work of God in the world, as well as here at PGCC, he goes after relationships.
I have been distressed to watch how relationships, even within the church, have frayed. Republicans are good, Democrats are bad or Democrats are good, Republicans are bad. The vaccinated versus the antivaxers. I could go on and on. We think and speak in “us” against “them” language. We use positive labels for ourselves and disparaging labels for everyone who disagrees with our views. PLEASE STOP IT!
And have you noticed how easily others have taken offense at you over something trivial? It happens to me several times a month and it’s emotionally exhausting. What I don’t notice is how I take offense at someone over something trivial. I notice I’m offended, what I don’t notice is how trivial the offense is. I make it out to be a big deal. I need to STOP IT. WE need to STOP IT. PLEASE
Within our church people will have differing opinions on politics and policy. We will have different tastes in music, clothing styles, and food (I don’t like coffee, watermelon or anything that comes out of the water). We will be unintentionally offended by others. We will unintentionally offend others. (If you’re being intentional, we need to have a different conversation.) Let us not let these differences and offenses divide us, cause us to grumble and complain, or leave us with ill will towards others. If we do, the work of God is hindered and Satan cackles.
God is a trinity, a relationship of love. We reflect God, and are lights to the world, when we love others, show them love, and treat them with love rather than label them, be offended by them, and treat them as adversaries.
More important than our politics, more important than our viewpoints, more important than our preferences is our testimony to the world of the Father’s love, the Son’s salvation, and the Spirit’s transforming presence.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.”
May it be so. Amen
