Quotations to Think About #1
“Faith is not, however, merely the “flight of the lonely” (Plotonius).
Because the Christian God is not a lonely God, but rather a communion of three persons, faith leads human beings into the divine communio. One cannot, however, have a self-enclosed communion with the triune God – a “foursome” as it were – for the Christian God is not a private deity. Communion with this God is at once also communion with others who have entrusted themselves in faith to the same God. Hence one and the same act of faith places a person into a new relationship both with God and with all others who stand in communion with God”– Miroslav Volf, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (Eerdmans:1998): 173.
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If we are people of faith and in communion with God, we are naturally drawn to others. The very idea of walking alone with God really doesn’t make sense. Though we are in desperate need of alone time with our Creator, a true faith never can stay in a private closet. As Volf points out, God isn’t a private deity.And so there are THE OTHERS. These have taken their stand and have divine communion with our Father in heaven. They didn’t ask us for an access pass. They went to Jesus in faith empowered by His Spirit. They may have had a million squabbles with us over practically everything in our lives or we may never have acknowledged them and yet the reality remains. We don’t walk alone into God’s presence.
The Hebrew writer puts it well when he describes Mount Zion– the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22-24). All who are gathered around are there because of Jesus and it is important for us to not refuse Him. That naturally leads to us 1) to love each other as brothers, 2) to entertain strangers, 3) to remember those in prison, 4) to honor marriage, and 5) to be free from possessions as people full of contentment (Hebrews 13:1-6). — JF
