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What's In a Name? Part 4
To date: Elohim (Hebrew) = Theos (Greek) = God Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (Hebrew) = I Am Who I Am Ehyeh, meaning "I am," represented by the derivation YHWH YHWH, given vowels = YaHWeH = Yahweh (pronounced YaaWay) The name of God is Yahweh, I am who I am. Davar (Hebrew) = Logos (Greek) = Word Word = The revelation, mediating principle, the perfect revelation of God’s self in the flesh = Jesus The Word is Jesus; Jesus is the Word. God became flesh out of love for us, in order to extend intimacy to us through God’s relationship in the flesh. The intimacy that God has shared with us as name and Trinity is consummated in our flesh as we imitate God’s self. When this truth is truly embraced, new life is given to all things in us. The understanding of Trinity as the basis of a life of faith illuminates as it self-explains. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31, Matthew 22:39) and we hear through the Love of God, we can only interpret it as: “Love your neighbor as BEING yourself.” The other person is not other than you in essence. Now as we have embraced–and struggled a bit–with the relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as Trinity, we return to our exploration of God’s names and titles. El-Shaddai is most often translated “God Almighty.” In Hebrew, “El” means “God” and “Shaddai” is interpreted to mean “almighty.” Other translations include “all-sufficient One,” or “Over-powerer,” or even “the God who is more than enough.” In all instances the term is understood to indicate God as absolute with absolute authority. El-Shaddai appears only seven times in the Bible, five times in Genesis, once in Exodus, and once in Ezekiel. In Genesis 17:1 God approaches Abram, saying, “I am God Almighty [El-Shaddai]; walk before me and be blameless.” In 35:11a, God said to him, “I am God Almighty” [El-Shaddai]; be fruitful and increase in number.” In 28:3, Issac calls to Jacob, saying, “May God Almighty [El-Shaddai] bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.” In 43:14 Israel spoke to Judah, saying, “And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” In 48:3 “Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty [El-Shadai] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me.” Later in the Book of Exodus (6:3) just before God reveals God’s name (Yahweh) to Moses, God self-identifies as El-Shaddai, saying, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them.” And, lastly, in the Book of Ezekiel (10:5): “The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty [El-Shaddia] when he speaks.” In these few passages, God is setting the bar, making the statement of who and what God is. There is no room left for supposition, no need to wonder; God has proclaimed God’s self as the one mighty over all. Praying using El-Shaddai to address God is a powerful and comforting expression of trust and relinquishment. So often in life we feel that we are being overpowered. We battle with many sins day in day out, failing and struggling, feeling overwhelmed and alone. Praying to El-Shaddai, we proclaim–even as we cry out to God–that Yahweh is the Almighty, the God above all and the God whose Almighty hand can and will hold and protect us. We are not overpowered by sin or the tumult of this world, because the God to whom we turn is the Over-powerer. Our pain and suffering cannot defeat us as God has claimed us as his own and will overpower all that afflicts or confronts us. May El-Shaddai be your strength and protector, Fr. Bill+
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Dear Creator Family,
Thank you all so much for the kind messages and prayers. When I tested positive for COVID two Saturdays ago, I was anticipating the worst. Many of you know that the first time I had COVID it was a near hospitalization event. I was hopeful by Monday night that this time around was not going to be as bad and, thanks be to God, it wasn’t. Still, it was a slow and uncomfortable week in isolation at home. So when I tested again last Saturday night, I was shocked when the result was positive. Much thanks go to Jay Lee and Lynn Michaux who conducted Morning Prayer services our last two Sundays. Lay persons who are called to lead Morning Prayer are a true blessing as their ministry makes it possible for us to gather when I am unable or away. Attending the beautiful service of Morning Prayer is a privilege we don’t get very often. When we do celebrate Morning Prayer, we are seated and speaking along with the Apostles, the Church Father, the desert solitaries, and the entire corpus of our monastic brethren. The hours of the church were set at the times when, alone or together, everyone prayed. These hours were separated into eight events,
While our monastic tradition kept the The Liturgy of the Hours or The Divine Office or Breviary intact, there grew an abbreviated schedule for ease of use. The second hour--Lauds, was named after the Laudate Psalms. Laudate, from the Latin laudare, means “to praise” and is repeated over and over in Psalms 148, 149, and 150. These Psalms were to be read at each service, as Lauds' focus is on praising God at the start of the day. The morning was and is a special event through which we are reminded of Jesus' resurrection as the Light of the World. Lauds, or Morning Prayer, is an ancient practice in general and a regularized liturgical event. The earliest evidence of Lauds appears in the second and third centuries in the Canons of Hippolytus and in writings by St. Cyprian and the Apostolic Fathers. Descriptions during the fourth and fifth centuries appear in writings by Ss. John Cassian, Melania the Younger, Hilary of Poitiers, Eusebius, and John Chrysostom. During the 6th century St. Benedict of Nursia gave a detailed description of Lauds in his Rule. Throughout the centuries, the church has incorporated Morning Prayer as a standard practice as a corporate liturgy and encouraged it as a private practice. Historically, Morning Prayer was vital in bridging the gap when, for whatever reason, a Priest was not available to conduct the Holy Eucharist. The Colonial church relied on Morning Prayer after the Revolutionary War as many of the Anglican Priests remained loyal to Britain and had returned to England. The church in Virginia became so devoted to Morning Prayer that it remained the primary Sunday service long after the return of Priests. Our ability to celebrate Morning Prayer links us through time to the earliest church and broadens our experience and understanding of Praise. It was a joy for me to participate in Church these last two Sundays through ZOOM, and I pray that your praise lifted you to Christ in his Resurrection. Laudare, Fr. Bill+ What's in a Name Part 3
I was asked this week to take a bit more time explaining the relationship of Father and Son. I have revised and extended the “at a glance” section from last week to include the Father. I will also include the Holy Spirit in this section next week after a deeper explanation in this post. Elohim (Hebrew) = Theos (Greek) = God (English) Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (Hebrew) = I Am Who I Am Ehyeh, meaning "I am" represented by the derivation YHWH YHWH, given vowels = YaHWeH = Yahweh (pronounced YaaWay) The name of God is Yahweh, I am who I am. Yahweh is Trinity–that is, Yahweh–God, is made up of three distinct persons. We refer to one of these persons as… Ktistes (Koine Greek) = Creator (English) Creator = the first Person of the Trinity Yahweh is Trinity. Yahweh is made up of three distinct persons. We refer to one of these persons as… Davar (Hebrew) = Logos (Greek) = Word (English) Word = The second Person of the Trinity Incarnation is the assumption of flesh and blood (being human) by Yahweh the Word. The Word became flesh and in the flesh the Word was named Jesus. When the second Person of the Trinity, the Word, became flesh, the first Person of the Trinity became Father. Creator = Father Creator and Word = Father and Son It is important to remember that while we are talking about God, we are unable to fully comprehend the Godhead. Still, it is very important to have a working knowledge of the Trinity (the Christian proclamation of God) in order to live and share our faith. Too often Christians reduce our faith to a form of, “Jesus is God and he died for our sins.” I have been in conversations where the sharing of the Trinitarian God was omitted or even rejected as too complicated and unimportant. This could not be further from the truth! Our understanding of the Trinity comes from God’s revelation of self to us. We know that since God revealed God’s self to us in this way, even as God revealed God’s self to us by name (Yahweh), then it is very important. Though we don't fully understand the Trinity, we are already living the witness of the Trinity in our prayers. When we pray to God, we are praying to all three Persons of the Trinity. We have been taught by God to pray this way and to also pray to specific Persons of the Trinity individually. We proclaim this truth each Sunday as we worship. Knowing that we would find all of this difficult, God provides for us a manner of life that emulates, in the flesh, what we cannot grasp in the mind. In the 1st Letter of John, John affirms that “anyone who does not know love does not know God, because God is Love” (4:8). This agapic love (the selfless love of God) is more than a feeling, it is an attribute of God. Love is the core aspect of God’s character, God’s Person. This is why agape is central to our proclamation of who God (Creator, Word, Spirit; Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is every Sunday. Before the heavens and the earth were created, before human beings or angels existed, God is love. The three divine Persons of the Trinity relate to one another in love, from eternity to eternity, before God the Word ever spoke anything else into being. Before there was anyone else to love, from age to age, the three divine Persons love one another. In other words, as important as the fact that God is, is the fact that God loves. We are called into this love both by Jesus' example and God’s very being. In his 1st Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul implores us to "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." In his Letter to the Ephesians he clarifies this by saying, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” (5:1) St. John Chrysostom, applying the nature of God’s relationship within the Trinity to marriage wrote, “The husband and wife should be like the hand and the eye. When the hand hurts, the eyes should weep. And when the eyes cry, the hand should wipe away the tears.” The intimacy that God has shared with us as name and Trinity is consummated in our flesh as we imitate God’s self. When this truth is truly embraced, new life is given to all things in us. The understanding of Trinity as the basis of a life of faith illuminates as it self-explains. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31, Matthew 22:39) and we hear through the Love of God, we can only interpret it as: “Love your neighbor as BEING yourself.” The other person is not other than you in essence. When Jesus prayed that we would…“all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:21), he was expressing God’s plan that we live our lives as the Trinity exists. Our ability to understand the complexity of the Trinity may be lacking, but we are able to live by the example of the Trinity to the fullest. As imitators of Jesus, we are embraced by the Trinity. Our ability to love as God loves us is the expression of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Next week we will delve a bit deeper. Love, Fr. Bill+ |
AuthorFather Bill Burk† Archives
March 2025
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