The Body of Christ, Part Two

      Before examining the ministry areas of the body of Christ, we will look at this expression called,  participation. We need to unpack some of the terms that are germane to this paper. Participation of the Father, Son and Spirit are described by Fiddes as perichoresis. Even though St. Augustine in the 4th century, wrote of the "mutual interpenetration and interdwelling" of the triune nature of God, it was Pseudo-Cyril, who first coined this term.[1]  But it was John of Damascus, an eastern theologian that advanced its description. John described the action of perichoresis (Greek) or circumincession (Latin) as agreeing with the Nicene Creed where the Father, Son and, added later, Holy Spirit are one ousia or one essence. This to John naturally leads to the perichoresis, as they are all one essence.[2]  Paul Fiddes continues this tradition by unpacking further the application of this meaning to the church eternal, here on earth. Fiddes says "according to the workings of the trinity, God the father with Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit working together in oneness to create not just the earth but the salvation offered it and the life we have together in the perichoretic dance."[3] This dance according to Fiddes is not about the movers but about the movement.[4]  Thus we see in the body of Christ that two or more participants can occupy the same "social spaces" in this interpenetration or perichoresis of love. Thus imitating on earth and in the community of Christians the very act and semblance of the triune nature of God. Countering Kant's criticism of the trinity as nothing practical, Boff, in his book Trinity and Society, says it is the "prototype of human community dreamed of by those who wish to improve society" the "model for any just, egalitarian ... social organization." Further he says, "each person receives everything from the other and at the same time gives everything to the others."[5]  All though he does not take the implication and application to where Fiddes does he points to the communal aspect of God with man.

            The idea that the participation, the interpenetration, the "social spaces" of the Christian community is a reflection of God himself is seen clearly in 1 John 4:7. Here John points out that the love that is shared between members of the community is the point at which we come to know God and are "born of God". Is this the same as being one with God?

               =Agaphtoi√, a˙gapwÇmen a˙llhvlouß,

                  o{ti hJ a˙ga◊ph e∆k tou: qeou: e∆stin,

         kai… paÇß oJ a˙gapwÇn e∆k tou: qeou: gege√nnhtai

                  kai… ginw◊skei to;n qeovn.[6]

            Certainly the author (here taken to be John) is saying that to know God one has to love. This love has to have an object as it target. If the loving is the knowing then Fiddes is correct in saying it is in these "social spaces" that God happens. The word for 'knowing" ginosko is a deeper knowing than an intellectual understanding. It is the same word used by the Septuagint (LXX) for when Adam knew Eve in sexual relationship (Genesis 4:1). This is in every way an interpenetration of knowing. The interrelatedness of this love (perichoresis) is not necessarily about the movers but the movement. This equates fully, not only to John's works, but also in Paul's description of how the body moves and grows. We see in Ephesians 4:16,

            e∆x ou| paÇn to; swÇma sunarmologouvmenon kai… sumbibazovmenon

       dia˝ pa◊shß aÓfh:ß th:ß e∆picorhgi√aß kat= e∆ne√rgeian e∆n 

       me√trw/ eÔno;ß eÔka◊stou me√rouß th;n au[xhsin tou: sw◊matoß

       poieiætai ei∆ß oi∆kodomh;n eÔautou: e∆n a˙ga◊ph≥

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[1] Fiddes, 71.

[2] Rev. Angus Stewart, John of Damascus and the Perichoresis; Covenant Protestant Reformed Church, (Balleymena, Northern Ireland) http://www.cprf.co.uk/articles/covenant4.htm.

[3]  Fiddes, 72

[4]  Ibid. 72

[5] Leonardo Boff, Trinity and Society, (Maryknoll, N.Y., Orbis Publishers, 1988) 146-47.

[6] Greek New Testament , American Bible Socieity.

Lonely run after Him.

      Carl Sagan in all his learning never came to the point where he knew God. He knew about Him. He saw his works and wonders, but was never smart enough to connect the dots. That is a shame. He had a brilliant mind, maybe too brilliant.
When he worked with NASA in 1990 the voyager 1 was on its way out of our galaxy. It was reaching the end of our radio control of its movements. Soon it would be gone from our reach. As one of its last acts Carl had NASA turn its cameras back toward earth and take a picture. The result was the amazing "Pale Blue Dot".  You have probably seen it. Sagan took a pen and wrote some thoughts about that picture that I would like to share with you.
    Looking at this tiny blue dot in a "great cosmic arena", this blue earth surrounded by a seemingly infinity of stars, he said;
"Look ...at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us.  On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and  explorer, every teacher of morals, and every corrupt politician, every superstar and supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
     To Carl this was a lonely, speck of dust. To him we were by ourselves. He looked at the picture and felt lonely, small, insignificant.
     I had just the opposite affect to the picture and to the prose. I looked at the dust and thought of the human condition and felt the wonder of God. The song How Great is Our God...Sing with me How Great is Our God and all will see how great, how great is our God,  comes to my mind. That the creator of this vast, seemingly infinite universe knows me is miraculous! He knows my name! He talks with me. He leads me. He cares about me. He sent his son into this small world to redeem me. Little ole me. Less that a dot on that piece of dust. Wow! Talk about Horton hears a who! God hears me! John 3:16 means soooooo much more now. He came to Earth. He became one of us. Why? So that I could live with Him forever! The answer to Carl's loneliness is found in that photograph. Unfortunately he was too blind to see it. He came away thinking how poor and lonely he was, instead of seeing how important, rich and loved his was. The thing that escapes me, is how people can look at life and come up with Carl's conclusion. There is only one possibility. These people never met the Creator. Studied about him. Gazed at his handiwork through telescopes and microscopes, but never came to know him. He remained the "stranger of Galilee".  As far as I know Carl died in his loneliness. That is a shame. I feel in a way kindred with Carl. I went through a period where I was very lonely, but I found God and His love.
      In a This Week,  Volume XI, John Stevens writes about the lonely times that people have and what to do about them.  I think of the last few lines of Stevens' This Week when we are talking about Carl and others who feel lonely. He said;"Growth brings many lonely adjustments, but you must remember that the problem is not your environment. With God, the problem is what you are becoming. Everything that He does has one purpose: to bring you into sonship. On your part, all that you have to do is to seek the Lord with all your heart. Are you lonely? Then run after Him! Reach up to Him! You will find Him on the higher level which He has prepared for you." That is the answer, if we are lonely turn to God and His love. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do that, it just takes a lonely heart.