Sunday, April 03, 2011

God with us, for us, in us

Today's sermon from our rector had a memorable little coda I hadn't heard before (actually, I think it may have appeared in his prayer after the sermon).

Christmas: God with us.
Easter: God for us.
Pentecost: God in us.

By byron smith at 9:18 pm

Topics: , ,

3 comments:

J said...

God...in us?

Speak for yrself, blokey

April 04, 2011 2:24 am
byron smith said...

I assume you're familiar with the narrative of Pentecost in Acts 2? The disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit, a greater "baptism" promised by John the baptiser (Luke 3.16) and which precipitates the church's mission "from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1.8). Not long after this, the Apostle Paul is quite happy to speak of the Holy Spirit (sometimes "the Spirit of Christ") dwelling "in" the disciples.

Whatever you may think of these accounts, summarising traditional Christian teaching about the significance of Pentecost as "God in us" is not particularly controversial. This ought not to be confused with the claim that "we are God", which is made by some.

April 04, 2011 10:00 am
byron smith said...

A friend who wishes to remain anonymous suggested "Ascension: God before us".

April 07, 2011 12:43 am

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