St. Bartholomew's Church

In mid-chapter, N.T. Wright asks, “What does it mean, theologically to stare into the sun?“ (138). From the start of this chapter, I felt like I was staring into the sun and the Son—all at the same time. My heart felt it, but I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the idea so that I could even begin to write about it.

For me, the Triune God is like (yet so much more complex than) one of those TV infomercials. We’ve all seen them—the ones for the knives that cut through cans, or the face cream that erases wrinkles or the sham-wow. You think you’re getting a pretty good deal and then the voice on the TV says, “But, wait, that’s not all.…”

First, as the Father God, he created us. Next He offers us salvation and redemption through the Son, Jesus Christ. But wait, that is not all! He then provides us with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to live in relationship with Him and each other as His heirs. (Galatians 4:4-7)

It is this indwelling of the Spirit within our lives that then equips us “to reflect the image of God into the world” (140). And it is in our projection and reflection of God that we are able to provide the overlap that Wright references—“the overlap, between heaven and earth” (132). But, I’m probably getting ahead of myself.

Wright starts out chapter ten with insight into the Spirit’s work in our lives. The Spirit calls us to holiness (131) and to fulfill the Law (131). And it is in living this way that we are able to be “points of intersection...between heaven and earth” (132). In fact, “what ought to be normal Christianity is actually all about finding out how to sustain this kind of life and even grow in it” (132). What a relief! I don’t have to manufacture or even buoy my faith on my own! God has provided us with His Spirit as our comforter and refresher.

But wait, that is not all....

The Sprit’s power is evident and accessible in “the word” and wisdom. “The word” is probably my favorite component—I just love the simplicity of how it operates. Wright explains that,

When you announce the good news that the risen Jesus is Lord, that very word is the word of God, a carrier or agent of God’s Spirit, a means by which, as Isaiah had predicted, new life from God’s dimension comes to bring new creation within ours (Isaiah 40:8; 55:10-13) (134).

Our responsibility is merely to speak the truth of God’s existence and the power of the Holy Spirit is present. I just think that is too cool! And wisdom. God knew we would need His wisdom “in order to live a fully, genuinely human life” (135). Therefore he made it available to us through his Spirit. “The implication is clear: that the story of the church, led and energized by the power of the Spirit, is the story of Jesus continuing to do and to teach—through his Spirit-led people” (135).

After explaining what the Spirit wants for our lives and how it empowers us, Wright details how the Spirit can provide us with the answers we seek—answers about beauty, relationship, spirituality and justice.

Specific to Christian spirituality, he writes that it “combines a sense of the awe and majesty of God with a sense of his intimate presence” (137). And our spirituality “normally involves a measure of suffering” (137). The first concept is great, but I honestly have to say that the second part is less appealing. Nonetheless, the suffering part makes sense. As Christ’s believers we are called to follow “rules of the new world rather than the old one, and the old one won’t like it” (137). But, we should take heart because “it is precisely when we are suffering that we can most confidently expect the Spirit to be with us” (138).

So as Wright closes chapter ten, we’re once again staring into the Son and His many facets. Collectively this Trinity is the “one who satisfies” (138). From the beginning God has desired to live in relationship with us, and it is within the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we have an example of how to live with Him and each other. “One way of understanding the Spirit is to see the Spirit as the personal love which the Father has for the Son and the Son for the Father” (139). Wright has just given the “How” of the Christian life and then he provides us in conclusion with the “Why.” The reason for this Christian life is “all because of Jesus” and “it is through Jesus that we are summoned to become more truly human, to reflect the image of God into the world” (140).

As I close out my own ramblings on chapter ten, I find the best encouragement and comfort in “the word” and the wisdom always found there. I pray you do too!

Romans 8:26-27 says:

The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.