A homily by Fr.
Gene Tucker, given at St.
John’s Church, Centralia, Illinois on Sunday, May 26, 2013.
A GIFT IN TWO PARTS, REFLECTING THE GIVER”
Let’s suppose we’ve just been given a gift-wrapped box, containing a precious gift. As we open the box, we realize that the gift inside comes in two parts. Along with the item in the box (feel free to use your imagination here…pick something you’d really like to have, something you’d value highly), there is a beautifully hand-engraved note that says, “This gift comes in two parts. You will receive the second part of it shortly.”
Now, as we
think about this illustration, there are several points we might notice about
the process of the receiving this gift:
·
The gift will tell us something about the
giver. For example, is the giver
thoughtful, keeping the recipient’s interests in mind?
·
The gift will tell us something about the
relationship between the giver and the recipient. Is the relationship one of friendship, and is
that friendship of the deep and long-lasting variety, or is the relationship more
on the casual side of things? Is the
relationship some sort of a love relationship, say between parent and child or
between grandparent and child? Or is the
relationship a romantic one?
·
The gift, given in two parts, points back to the
giver, and forward to the second part of the gift that will complete/complement
the first part of the gift. That second
part of the gift will also reflect on the first part of the gift, and on the
giver, as well.
Now, if we keep this image in mind, we have a good way to approach the mystery of God’s nature as it exists in the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Perhaps an
explanation is in order.
The first
part of the gift is like the giving of Jesus Christ, who was sent by God the
Father. The gift of Jesus Christ tells
us a lot about the nature of God the Father.
The gift of Jesus Christ also tells us a lot about our relationship with
the Father, through the gift of the Son.
And the second part of the gift, which completes the gift, is the giving
of the Holy Spirit, whose coming we commemorated just last Sunday, on the Feast
of Pentecost.
Looking at
the criteria we’ve outlined in the bullet points above, let’s apply these three
aspects of the gifts and the giver to our relationship to God:
The gift of Jesus Christ tells us a lot about God the Father. Jesus reveals a great deal of the Father’s nature in statements that we find in the Gospel according to John. Some examples will illustrate the point: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own will, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and show him all that he himself is doing.” (5:19 -20) “Philip said to Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (14: 8 – 11)
The gift of Jesus Christ tells us a lot about our relationship to God the Father. God’s express purpose in sending Jesus Christ to take on our humanity is to demonstrate God’s love for all humankind. Jesus puts that reality this way: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16–17)
The second part of the gift, the giving of the Holy Spirit, completes the giving of the Son: The coming of the Holy Spirit enables Christian believers to fully grasp the truth of Jesus’ words and actions. The Lord states this aspect of the giving of the Holy Spirit this way: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:12–15)
For
theologians will be quick to tell us that it is the coming of Jesus Christ, His
works, miracles, teaching, manner of life, suffering, death, resurrection and
ascension that caused new light to shine into the minds and hearts of God’s
people, prompting them to look backward through the lens of Jesus Christ at God
the Father. The experience of Jesus
Christ sheds important light on the Father. And then, God’s people looked forward to the
events that attended the coming of the Holy Spirit to understand the Spirit’s
role and relationship to the Son and to the Father.
For the
mysterious, wonderful and loving God that we love and serve is One God in Three
Persons, the undivided Trinity: Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
Thanks be
to God!
AMEN.
