The Trinity and Our Unity
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Paul gives this Trinitarian blessing over the Corinthian church as he closes his second letter to them because he knows their attempt to live as a united body of believers will not be achieved by sheer will power. They will need God to work among them!
And this is true of all churches—including Emmaus. How do I know? Because you have a bunch of people put together from different backgrounds, traditions, preferences, and cultures; and you mix that with the differences in their income, style, interests, goals, political affiliations, personality types, and life stages; and underneath all of that each and every one of us is a sinner. Mix all of that together and you get—a group of people that at times will have to work through some things!
You see, the work of our Triune God begins at conversation, but it does not stop there.
The grace of Christ rebukes our self-centeredness. It slows down our rush to judgment against each other. It leaves absolutely no room in us to assume the worst of our brothers and sisters.
The love of God convicts us of our desire to see others fail. It pushes us to confront our jealousy of others. It stirs joy in us when we see our brothers and sisters rejoicing, while at the same time allowing us to feel the weight others are experience so we can mourn with them. The love of God leads us to grieve when we see our brothers and sisters in sin but it also strengthens us to pursue them and call them back to Christ.
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are God’s children—that we are all siblings. It tears down the walls we put up to isolate ourselves. It attacks our prejudices. The fellowship of the Spirit unites us in peace. It condemns our attempts to have cliques among body. It causes gossip and slander to taste bitter in our mouths and experience the sweetness of encouragement and speech that builds up.
This verse is how we end our church covenant because everything in our covenant with one another is built on the foundation that “we need God.” Without Him, it doesn’t matter what commitment we make to one another. Apart from the work of our Triune God we will fail to show grace to one another. We won’t know what it is like to love one another. And we will fail to find anything that unites us in fellowship with one another.
As we press on family, may we pursue grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit.