God Language

Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15  from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16  I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17  and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18  I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20  Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

This passage deserves to be read slowly and thoughtfully, savouring the richness of the language and receiving the benediction of the words. Perhaps you might read this aloud, pausing to reflect and allow the words to sink into your thinking.

As we read this we also discover how its author, St. Paul, struggles to speak about God:     I bow my knees before the Father.... strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,  and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.... to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God... him who by the power at work within us ...to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus... This is rich Trinitarian language that overlaps the various ways we use ‘God-language’.  Ultimately, we are reminded that our ‘God-language” is always inadequate to capture a Divine Being who is beyond our imagining.

The language of Trinity reminds us that God is more than we can conceive. Those who wage war in the name of God, and those who export terror in God’s cause, and those who condemn homosexual and lesbian people in the name of God, and those who claim God’s sanction for their wealth and privilege ......in fact all of us need to discover that God is bigger than our understanding of Divinity.   

Song:

How big is God how big and wide his vast domain
To try to tell these lips can only start
He's big enough to rule this mighty universe
Yet small enough to live within my heart

Ray Price Lyrics

Trinity Sunday

30 The Triune God

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 190.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.