Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now and every shall be, world without end.As I said in an earlier post, I have a couple problems with it. I come from a non-Trinitarian background, which we called Oneness. This is no longer an issue for me but I still do not embrace the Trinity. This is actually an easy fix for me by praying “to the Holy, that is Creating me, Redeeming me and Sustaining me.”
What I have continued to ponder is “Glory.” At first I was uncomfortable offering Glory to God. I feel like we are more partners and I’m not convinced God wants glorification from me. However, this suggests I believe God is a person like me, which I don’t.
So, what is God and what does God want from me? If I haven’t already cited Micah 6:8 before, “God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does God require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
To begin with, “God” sounds so person-like… and masculine. Why don’t we just call God what Moses called God? I am that I am. The One that is. We—at least I—tend to think referring to God as the Holy, the Divine, etc. sounds so New Age-y but how much more New Age-sounding can you get than “I am that I am.” God, on the other hand seems so much more defined and knowable. That’s that problem. We think we have it all figured out when we really don’t.
I believe the Holy is that which has been drawing us closer into the Holy since humankind began encountering God. I don’t think God ever changes, but as humanity gets closer and closer, what we know of the Holy changes.
I think I’m deciding this Holy that draws us closer in does deserve glory. This experience I feel coming into the Holy from afar deserves glory. Glory be to the Holy that is Creating me, Redeeming me, and Sustaining me. Glory!
Forgive me, but I couldn't find your previous post on the Trinity (Maybe you could add a "search" function on your sidebar?) so I'm a little off from your message regarding Glory :)
ReplyDeleteI too come from a background that, while not strictly un-Trinitarian, has the seeds of skepticism built into it. From the non-denomination Christian Church/Church of Christ perspective, the church should be restored in the image of the earliest church. Hence the maxim "No creed but Christ." The earliest church had no fully-developed concept of the Trinity for centuries, so obviously it isn't essential to true Christian community, right?
I have since changed my tune a bit, having "fallen" into the liturgical church and becoming active in an Episcopal parish. Now I see the doctrine of the Trinity more like what it is...a mysteriously useful way that the church learned to speak about and live in God. Here's a sermon I gave last Trinity Sunday...I wonder if it will be of use to you. Grace and peace!
http://charismanglican.com/2010/05/29/dancing-with-the-trinity-a-trinity-sunday-homily/
Charismanglican, I will work on creating a search function but the post I was referring to was the first Gloria Patri post. I didn't go into great detail about my non-Trinitarian background but perhaps I should.
ReplyDeleteMy congregation/minister does not observe Trinity Sunday. At the liberal campus ministry I attended right after I left Pentecostalism when the minister preached a Trinity sermon on Trinity Sunday I reminded him that Pentecostals don't believe in the Trinity. He responded that he looked at the congregation that morning and saw a non-Trinitarian Pentecostal, a Jew, a Buddhist, and an agnostic, none of whom believed in the Trinity, so he decided he would preach whatever the hell he wanted. I liked that religious variation.
My congregation is much less liturgical than your Episcopalian experience. At times, I wish I had a more liturgical option.
Thanks for the sermon. I will check it out.
Sam