Nougat 7

Although we have a few chronicled cases of the Trinity manifestation in the Gospels, the person of God’s Spirit is not very frequently found in the epistles. Especially in relationship to God and Jesus. Was what the Corinthians had done against Paul so egregious? Or was he teaching them about the interconnected nature of the Trinity? Who knows? Let’s chew on that as we take in today’s Holy Nougat

“The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the love of God and the fellowship of the Ruach ha-Kodesh be with you all. Amen.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭13:13‬ ‭TLV‬‬

May the Spirit of YHWH – God Who was, is and will always be – grant you all togetherness. That is essentially what Paul offers the Corinthians in the last segment of this blessing. Having offered Grace (forgiveness undeserved) and Love (boundless and central); the offer of Eternal Togetherness is the icing on the cake of Blessings.

Fellowship of course, is more than just being together. Rooted in the ‘mystical’ phrase koinonia, fellowship involves the processes of sharing/mutuality, caring, communality and common commitment to the Faith through prayer and time together for God’s glory. And since koinonia is about our common participation, EVERY one involved should benefit. After the Pentecost-al experience, we find the older disciples (apostles) being intentional about strengthening the spiritual and social growth of the nascent church (see Acts 2:42).

There is a sense in which the gathering together for weekly worship is an act of intentional fellowshipping as practiced in the early church. It is not just about the time in the Word however, it also includes the greetings, the moments of sharing (a meal, conversation, small group or one-on-one prayer) that create community. So let’s not get too critical of this much-needed ministry. For many, this is what Covid-19 denied us – the opportunity to be in intentional ‘face to face’ fellowship when restrictions were placed on the number of persons gathering in any space. Several pastors noted that this affected their membership and also the giving of the membership.

In Ephesians 4, Paul invites the church to strengthen their fellowship and to achieve maturity as a team through humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance and an INTENTIONALITY to remain United by God’s Spirit of Peace which binds them together (Ephesians 4:1-3). The qualities work well on their own, and may realize some degree of fellowship – hence Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions etc – but to some degree, when those are existing outside of God’s Spirit, they are merely social graces. Desired, but not quite the same as the Fruit of God’s Spirit and not realizing the Fellowship we ought to seek. What (ought to) makes the difference between gathered believers and a service club/organization is the Spirit of our eternal God. the Spirit Who knows all things, is very aware of our beginnings and already is at our ending. The Spirit Who intercedes for us individually and collectively, Who brings us into ALL Truth – God’s own Truth.

One can only imagine that if the Corinthian church had been enticed by teachers who did not see the Gospel in the way that Paul did, that there would be some hints of fracture within the fellowship. When there are disputes, it is hard to avoid taking sides.

But

the Holy Spirit is the glue that would restore them back to unity. Both in regard to the Truth, and in bringing the fractious segments of the church to mutual growth and relationship.

We find then that Paul’s invitation for the presence of God’s Spirit to remain with the Corinthian Church was most fitting. For in the aftermath of the schism, they would ALL need to seek refuge in the eternal arms of God, through the wind of God’s Spirit.

Just like us.

Whether we are separated by Covid-19 protocols, or by ir/reconcilable differences, we need God’s eternal presence with us to keep us going and growing Together. By God’s Spirit.

And so for us all I pray that the Grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (that restores us by Faith), the Love of God (that centres us and gives us Peace) and the Fellowship of God’s Spirit (that unites us in the midst of differences, difficulties and even Codi-19) rest, remain and abide with each of us this day and for all our tomorrows, through our every situation.

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May all we seek be found in Christ