Year B, Holy Trinity, Friday

Inspired by Romans 8:9-11

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”  Romans 8:11

Throughout history people have struggled to understand our relationship with the Divine.  Some have believed that we ourselves are divine; others have believed that we are nothing but crude matter, and that anything or anyone divine must avoid us for fear of being contaminated by our filthy base elements.  Both understandings have influenced various cultures’ worldviews, with either the individual being elevated as all-important and all of creation there to cater to the individual’s pleasure, or the individual being considered no better than the animals, and freedom from this profane creation as the only hope of ever even glimpsing the divine.

Even today it isn’t very difficult to find people who live according to one or the other of these two beliefs.  Yet the truth is far more nuanced.

We are creatures, formed by God along with the rest of creation.  But unlike the rest of creation, we were formed in God’s own image, and he breathed his Spirit into us and gave us life.  We have his Spirit dwelling in us now.  This does not make us equal to God, or divine in our own right, but it does suggest that the Divine One was not afraid of being contaminated by our filthy base elements.  Quite the contrary, not only did God create us in his image and give us his breath of life, but he also took on flesh of his own, and was born human as Jesus.  Jesus lived as a creature, suffered as a creature, and died as a creature, but that was not the end of the story.  For God also raised Jesus from the dead, conquering death for all creation and promising new life to his children.

We are not divine.  But the Spirit of the Divine One dwells in us, and gives us life, body and soul.  We are creatures, but we are beloved creatures, beloved enough to have the Spirit of God with us and in us at all times as we live in this good creation.

Let us pray.  God of life, you created the world and called it good.  Help us to understand our proper place in your creation, that we may be good stewards of your good earth and all those who call it home.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.