Sunday 22 May 2016

Psalm: Psalm 8

Background

Today is Trinity Sunday and our passage speaks of therelationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This passage is partof Jesus' farewell words and prayers to his disciples. He warnsthem of his imminent departure and promises them the presence andguidance of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus does not burden his disciples with a lot of information ora rule book - rather he promises them that the Spirit will leadthem into truth. The Spirit will speak what it will hear andannounce to the disciples what is to come. This can so easily soundlike a 'carte blanche' for future disciples to claim almostanything as being warranted by the Spirit and verse 13, taken inisolation, may seem to invite such deviance. However, if we look atthe whole passage we see interdependence between Father, Son andHoly Spirit. John sees both Jesus and the Spirit as envoys, sent bythe Father. John's Gospel envisages a 'trinity of consistency'.

One of the tasks for disciples down the ages is to engage andhelp others to engage in discerning the truth, discerning the voiceof the Spirit amid the competing claims within the Church and thewider community.

To Ponder

• Are you ready to recognise that the full truth about Jesus andabout God's will for the world still lies before us? How might thischange your way of interacting with Christians of other traditions,or indeed, people of other faiths?

• In our own situation how might you act to open up conversationsbetween people of different traditions for mutualenlightenment?

• These days many people are of the opinion that there is yourtruth and my truth - equally valid. How do you react to this in thelight of what this passage says about "all the truth'?