Romans 5:1-5
"Trinity" - Year C
Character, coming to know who we are, is a doorway to hope. This hope frees us from the usual constraints that would keep us from turning tomorrow into today. At its best, suffering strips away the patina of the past to reveal that it is no place to stop for long. This long-armed past snakes its tentacles into the present and claims that what now is is the culmination of all that has been and is just fine the way it is. The suffering caused by this limitation finally acts as a refiner's fire and we can see that its power is nothing as compared to following Prometheus and capturing tomorrow's gift for present purposes. A liver versus fire, now hope can be more clearly seen, character revealed.
Whether in a broad and pleasant place or having lost all in a tornado — character shines through; hope does not disappoint; love remains possible. There is no qualifier for these, no "let us". There is only a deep and abiding peace when we honor the past by leaving it behind in anticipation of "the best is yet to come".
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/05/romans-81-5.html
"We boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God." Think theosis, sanctification, perfection.
Here is a summary of The New Creation: The Wesleyan Distinctive [MISSING URL] by Theodore Runyon
1. The perfection of God's love is, I believe, the most viable starting point of any reinterpretation of the doctrine of Christian perfection today. This guards against the preoccupation with self that has hobbled some past interpretations. And it keeps us constantly open to the only source of genuine sanctification, the love and grace of our Creator-Redeemer.
2. The "renewal of the image of God" was for Wesley a favorite way of characterizing sanctification, and lends itself to describing both the individual and social dimensions important to Wesley. Humanity renewed in the image not only becomes a new creation, it reflects into the world the perfect love which it receives.
3. The renewal of the image also does justice to the relation between justification, as Christ's work for us , and sanctification, as the Spirit's work in us. Both undergird this renewal and make it possible.
4. The renewal of the image also helps us to explain how sanctification is a process that begins with the renewal in regeneration but continues toward fullness of perfection, with ever-increasing possibilities of reflecting the perfection of divine love, driving out sin, and renewing the creature and the world.
Therefore, the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification is worth retrieving and rethinking, not for the glory of the Wesleyans, but for the contribution it can make to ecumenical theology and to the life of the church today.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/june2004.html
I needed this lection to have been my point of reflection yesterday. I was not able to boast in my suffering and all that follows that and leads to recognizing - G*O*D's love having been already poured into my heart.
I was not very loving until my beloved reminded me about my not connecting my love to a very stressful day with a person from the next congregation where I will again be an Intentional Interim. They sent me a most unhelpful email with an attachment that got into a loop and kept coming and coming - roughly 30 times - same unhelpful message using religious language to trap me into their particular take on the situation which they have played a major part in worsening.
Finally I had my web provider block their address. For all I know that same message is still trying to get through to me.
This suffering was not something I boasted in, but bewailed. What have I gotten myself into even before I get there?!?
It seems this is one of those learnings that needs to be continually relearned.
How is your boasting - - - - bewailing ratio doing? Who reminds you that you are already loved and are capable of exhibiting that, even in the midst of suffering?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/june2004.html
Paul has here an interesting progression that begins with suffering and ends with G*D's love. I'm sure there is good legal reasoning in the context of the times of its writing for moving in this direction, but it feels odd.
If we begin with a completed state of action (we are justified), how do we then enter into a series that seems to begin with the incomplete. Suffering qua suffering doesn't have much going for it. Suffering needs something else to complete itself - endurance. This goes up some ladder to character, to hope, and to G*D's love. It is almost as if one needs to be sure to suffer in order to be able to move toward G*D's love.
If we are going to build on the completedness of justification, it would seem to be stronger to begin with the completed assurance of G*D's love that has already been poured into our hearts (might that be all hearts as part of a universal salvation). Then, growing from G*D's love we will be open to hope in every situation. This hope becomes our basic character allowing us to endure every disappointment and crucifixion, even suffering, with a hope built on the surety of G*D's love already and ever present. G*D's love results in a sense of wholeness in every other part of our lives.
It's a little thing, but sequence can be of the utmost importance and this is a significant sequence to see which way around works for you and yours.
- - -
wisdom spirituality calls experience
wonder of life
in all its complexity
to dance and live fully in this world
to choose life in all its abundance
trusting God's grace and wisdom
embrace life in its many dimensions
joy and sorrow
peace and conflict
living and dying
commit
grow seeds
in every encounter
[Note: this is a reformatted comment found on the Process and Faith website.]
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html
Perhaps a strange pick for Trinity Sunday - Jesus is a gateway to G*D. Any gateway to G*D might be considered a Jesus figure, a part of the Trinity, since it is a bit loose here.
Through Jesus we have access to a hope of sharing G*D's glory, being with G*D, being G*D. Still just a hope, though. We might have arrived at this hope through the standard process of suffering --> endurance --> character --> hope. Here we doubled our chances by using Jesus' gateway access and our own suffering --> hope process.
Hope means we are very close, but not there.
The second, optional part of this pericope gets into that whole blood atonement we are so loathe to embrace. So we will stick here to note that Hope is actually a very good place to be. There is yet a way to go, a journey is still alive, goals have not been reached, love continues to be poured forth, a jolly-good spirit continues to play.
While we are yet in hope our weakness means less and less.
While we are yet in hope our weakness means more and more.
While we are yet in hope our weakness ceases to be the issue.
While we are yet in hope our weakness is what it is.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/05/romans-51-5-6-11.html