Welcome to week two of our sermon
series “Theology 101”, where we are trying to learn more about God. Last
week we talked about the trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. We talked about how each person of the trinity is fully God, and
yet it takes all of them together to be fully God. God in three persons,
as the hymn goes, and yet there is only one God.
This week, we’re going to look at
one of the persons of God, God the Father. As we do, let’s talk about a
couple of the problems inherent in using that term.
One of them is that saying “God the
Father” implies that God is male. And we know that God is not male.
God is not female, either. God has what have traditionally been
considered male characteristics, and God has what have traditionally been
considered female characteristics. God is both, and God is neither.
God is beyond gender.
Another problem inherent in using
the term “God the Father” is that some people’s fathers are not all that good.
Some people have fathers who did not or still don’t treat them well.
Some people have fathers who deliberately made themselves absent, for
whatever reason. If the idea of a father does not bring to mind good
things or good feelings for us, then referring to God as a father may not make
us think very well of God.
So why do we use the term
“God the Father”? Well, for one thing, Jesus used that term. Not
just once in a while, either. Jesus referred to “God the Father” a lot.
The gospels record Jesus using the term “God the Father” over one hundred
seventy-five times. He taught the disciples to refer to “God the Father”,
too. So that’s one reason we refer to God as the Father--because Jesus
taught us to.
And in saying “God the Father”, we
refer to God as a father far greater than any earthly father ever has been or
ever could be. No matter how we may think of our own fathers, they are
still human beings, with faults and weakness and shortcomings. Those of
you who are fathers probably are painfully aware of just how many faults and
weaknesses and shortcomings you have as a father. But God the Father is
far greater and wiser and more loving and more caring than any earthly father
ever could be. Even if our thoughts of our own father are good, God is
better. And if our thoughts of our own father are not so good, just know
that God the Father is good. The best. God the Father is everything
a father should be and more.
And there really is no other term we
can use that describes this person of the trinity any better. “God the
parent” sounds rather impersonal and formal. “God the mother” would
probably not be any less accurate, but it would not be any more accurate,
either. But if it helps you to think that way, there’s nothing really
wrong with it. Sometimes “God the Creator” is used, but while God
certainly is the creator that’s really not getting across the same idea as
saying God the Father, is it? Other terms are sometimes proposed, but
they never really quite get the idea across, either. So, I am going to
continue to use “God the Father”, and I hope anyone for whom that might be a
stumbling block will understand my reasons for using that term to refer to this
person of the trinity.
Having said all that, though, we’re
still not really any closer to understanding just who God the Father is and
what God the Father’s role is in the trinity. So let’s talk about that.
As we said last week, when we talk
about these things, remember that there is no such thing as “the answer”.
What I’m going to tell you is things that I’ve read or heard that make
sense to me. They may or may not be right. God does not really
explain to us how the trinity works. If some of this does not make sense
to you, or if you disagree with it, that’s fine. You may be right.
God the Father is sometimes referred
to as the first person of the trinity. Understand, though, that this does
not necessarily mean that the Father is greater than the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Again, the Father is fully God, the Son is fully God, and the
Holy Spirit is fully God. One is not greater than the others, and all are
necessary for God to be fully God.
While the Father is not greater than
the others, there does seem to be some sense in which the Father seems to be
first among equals. Jesus says repeatedly that he was sent by the Father
and that the words he says come from the Father. Jesus also refers to the
Holy Spirit as being sent by the Father.
Now, we don’t think that means that the Father can boss the others
around or that the Father forces the Son or the Holy Spirit to do things
against their will. Again, because God is one, that would make no sense.
It would mean that God is fighting against God or acting against God.
It seems logical that the persons of the trinity act in consensus and
unity, that there’s no such thing as dissension within the trinity. It
does not seem likely that the trinity takes a vote and that it could come out
two to one.
But while the trinity acts in consensus and unity, there does seem
to be some order to the trinity. Each of
the persons of the trinity seems to have a specific role to play. It’s
been said that there may be a sense in which the Father operates as the
“Chairman of the Board”, so to speak. The chairman of a board may appear
to have more power than the other members of the board, but the chairman only
has that power as long as the other members of the board agree to give that
power to the chairman. So, in one sense the chairman has more power than
the rest of the board, but in another sense the chairman really does not.
Thus, we can say that the Father “sends” the Son and the Holy Spirit,
using the Father’s apparent power, but in fact all of the trinity is still acting in unity and
harmony.
It appears that perhaps the Father is in charge of overall
planning. For instance, when the Son came to earth to save us from our
sins, we’re told that this was done to fulfill the Father’s plan. And
yet, this was not solely the Father’s plan. The Son and the Holy Spirit
are equal partners in the plan and have their roles to play both in forming the
plan and in fulfilling the plan. Again, the persons of the trinity act in
unity and harmony, with each playing a specific role.
The creation of the world appears to work the same way.
Creation appears to have been done by God the Father, but at the same
time, we’re told that the Son was with the Father at the creation, and that it
was through the Son that all things were made. We’re not told exactly
what the Holy Spirit’s role in creation was, but we can be confident that the
Holy Spirit had some role.
The reason this is so hard for us as humans to understand is that
there’s really no good analogy to it in human understanding or experience.
Human beings are not particularly known for our ability to act in unity
and harmony. If you don’t believe me, just turn on the news some night.
Or, just log into facebook sometime. Whether we’re talking about
the world situation, the national situation, or just our individual human relationships,
we seem to have constant debate and argument and turmoil. The idea of
three persons making joint decisions in unity and harmony with no one person
having more power or authority than any of the others, with no one person
having to give in to preserve the peace, with all of the persons acting out of
love for the good of everyone, does not really compute very well for us.
But it should. Because that’s the way it’s really supposed
to be. That’s how all of us should be. It’s especially how all of
us as Christians should be. We should work together. We should not
act out of power just because we can. We should not have to give in or be
afraid to give our opinion just to keep the peace, either. We should all
be able to work together in unity and harmony for the good of the church and
for the good of everyone.
And sometimes, we do. But a lot of times we don’t. And
don’t get me wrong, this is not me standing up here criticizing everyone else.
I’m as guilty of this as anyone, probably more guilty of it than some.
I’m human, you’re human, we’re all human. And we all make mistakes,
and we all want to give our opinions, and we all want to have our way.
That does not make us bad people. It makes us people. It
makes us human beings.
And God understands that. Whether we’re talking about God
the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit, God understands that.
And you and I understand it, too, at least to a certain extent. We
understand that we are human, and that others are human, and that human persons
are never going to be able to act in the kind of unity and harmony that the
persons of God act.
But that should still be our goal. In everything we do, that
should be our goal. It should be our goal in everything we do as a
church. It should be our goal in all of our relationships with others.
And it should be our goal in our relationship with God.
So the next time we pray, let’s pray about that. Let’s pray
that God will help us act in unity and harmony with God. And let’s pray
that God will help us act in unity and harmony with each other, too.
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