Village Shepherd

There's been a reworking on television recently of the old series, The Invisible Man. In the original, the Invisible Man was swathed in bandages, and I can still remember from my childhood the shock when the bandages were gradually unwrapped from the head downwards, only to reveal that there was nothing and no-one underneath.

But that would hardly shock today's audiences, who are much more likely to laugh at the naivety of the original version. Needless to say, the new version is much more sophisticated. For a start it's in colour rather than monchrome, which gives it much more depth and reality, and it's computer enhanced.

Instead of being laboriously wrapped in bandages, when he's about to become invisible, the Invisible Man appears to be covered with shimmering mercury. Then when the quicksilver shivers and disappears, we're apparently left with nothing. But of course, the Invisible Man is there all the time, using his invisibility to bring criminals to justice and to fight crime.

So you see, despite the changing technical effects, the story hasn't changed at all. It's still the old story of good versus evil, and after plenty of difficulties and breathtaking moments, even in this new version, good always wins.

Although the allegory can't be taken too far, there's something spiritual about the story. There's that invisible presence, always around at exactly the right time to help out the good guys and hinder the bad guys, just as the Holy Spirit is always available for us, to help us on our way.

In some ways, the Holy Spirit unites God the Father and God the Son - Jesus - since the Holy Spirit is the spirit of both. The Holy Spirit is the God within us who prays through us, speaks to us, guides us, and is always there for us.

As St. Paul said in today's reading from Romans, we're at peace with God because of Jesus. We are brought into God's presence and made right - clean and fit enough to hold up our heads in his presence - not through anything we do ourselves, not by our own goodness or good works, but simply by believing in Jesus and trusting him. We don't even have to have a huge amount of belief or trust, because our being in God's presence doesn't depend on us, it depends on Jesus. Faith about the size of a mustard seed will do.

St. Paul's shorthand for all of this is "justification by faith", and it's a theme he turns to again and again in his letters. But "justification" is a word that's taken on quite a different meaning over the years. For St. Paul it simply meant being made right with God, but today it has overtones of trying to prove something is true, especially if it isn't!

The government "justifies" increases in taxes, by telling us all the wonderful things those taxes will achieve, and how we can't possibly manage without an increase. A child arriving late at school will attempt to justify himself with a well thought out excuse. And I suspect we often try to justify ourselves before God by apologising to God for our sins and making sure God knows it wasn't really our fault.

But all that is unnecessary, because we're already justified with God, made right with him. Through accepting crucifixion with all its terrors and all its agony, Jesus has overcome the darkness of evil. Through accepting crucifixion, Jesus has faced that inner darkness from which most of us shrink, and overcome it. Through accepting crucifixion, Jesus has experienced even alienation from God ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). All of this means that even though we still sin, even though we may still have pockets of evil within us, Jesus has made us OK with God.

It doesn't mean we never sin again, or that there is no evil anywhere near us. But it does mean that the Holy Spirit within us works away at that sin and evil, gradually filling our inner being with light. And that happens without our knowledge. Once we've accepted Jesus, once we believe and trust in him, the Holy Spirit within us quietly works away on our behalf. And meanwhile, we're OK with God because of Jesus, and able to communicate with him and hear him through the God within, the Holy Spirit.

The early Church had such a difficult time trying to articulate the relationship between God the Creator, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, that it took them more than 300 years to get it right. During those 300 years all sorts of heresies were rife, but the end result of the arguments and strife was the Nicene Creed which we still recite at most services today as a statement of our faith.

The Creed isn't easy, and some people have quite a lot of difficulty with some of the ideas expressed in it. But then, the doctrine of the Trinity has never been easy! The doctrine of the Trinity speaks of a God which is three separate persons, each complete in their own right and each of which is fully God. But at the same time, there is only one God.

It's not that God works in any one particular mode at any one time - that's a heresy! God is always and ceaselessly three in relationship with each other, but at the same time, one. The only way I can even begin to grasp that sort of mystery is to turn back to my Invisible Man, and remember how much better it looks in colour than in monochrome. Perhaps the doctrine of the Trinity is a technicolour way of thinking about God rather than a monochrome way.

And the doctrine of the Trinity being so difficult to grasp reminds me that God is far and away beyond my understanding. When I'm tempted to reduce God to my level and keep God in my back pocket, I think again about the doctrine of the Trinity, and realize that God is a mystery I'm never meant to understand in its entirety.

An even bigger mystery is that such an awesome and huge and glorious and mysterious God should ever bother with a mere human being like me. But God not only bothers with every individual human being, but loves every individual human being as well.

And so I thank God for his Being, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.