Economic Trinity Found At The table
Triune God Essay for Theology 1 Nov, 2020
Communion holds the Trinity’s mystery of inclusion in view (Boff, 399). If our Trinitarian faith can be expressed in our daily practice of Christian life, then the Eucharist brings forth the intimacy of the Trinity (Migliore, 85; Boff, 395). The bread symbolizes God who is life force of our living and continued creation in seeking flourishing for all (Migliore, 79). Jesus is the offering and vessel of this truth and tangible witness of how we can and are called to participate in this communal act of life and love together (Boff, 401-402). The cup of salvation symbolizes the Holy Spirit, which unifies this wisdom, our knowing of beloved-ness, and continues the stirring of our communal relations and receiving of God’s love (Boff, 402). At the table we find the unity of our Triune God, which is for everyone who has and will ever be in creation (Boff, 391-392).
“Life is the essence of God” (Boff, 399). Boff’s explanation of life offers room for the unfathomable mystery of God who has never been seen, yet deeply felt, through the life offered by God’s loving nature for creation through the Trinity (401). God is for every living being and for the relationships we can foster together (Boff, 399). When the morsels of grains hit our tongues upon receiving this sacrament of life, I think of this essence of God who gives life to us as we co-habitat together in creation, love, and living. I believe God is Triune because God offers us life – life that is wrapped in the richness of love (Migliore, 83).
Jesus reveals himself as the visible image of God at the first communion (Boff, 402). His life, emotion, subversions to patriarchy and hierarchy call forth a tangible truth of our Triune God – that God is for us and has made a way for participation in life and in love together (Boff, 393, 402; Migliore, 83). Jesus draws us in communion and shows us that we are a part of the Trinitarian family – that we are a part of what can be radical in this world offering and receiving the life of God (Boff, 402). I believe God is Triune because Jesus offers us models of how to be human with one another and commune with the mystery of God’s love for us as kin (Tanner, 382).
The Holy Spirit stirs our communal natures and reminds us and calls us into participation of what Jesus’ life and ministry showcases and God’s desire for love for all. “Where there is the Spirit, there is freedom” (Boff, 402). As we partake in the cup of salvation, we remember in this practice God’s grace, love, and compassion for all of us. It is here I believe in God as Triune because as the wine touches our lips, the Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ words and inspires us to participate in liberative ways with our gifts (402).
At the communal table, the Trinity gives life to all. The Triune God indwells 3 in 1 and 1 in 3 offering mutuality, dignity, love, and reciprocal communion (Boff, 392). This economic Trinity creates a divine community where “each divine person is for the others, with the others, and in the others.” The communion table is a meeting place where humanity can come and commune in a relational way and experience the consistency of the divine persons, 3 in 1 – 1 in 3, and be reminded of God’s love for us, Jesus’ offering and witness, and the Spirit’s gift of restored memory and comfort (Tanner, 384).
God as Triune is bonded in a deep love of which we will yearn to taste in bread, wine and in relationship with Jesus for the rest of our lives. In communion we remember God, Son, and Spirit in tension of their mystery and their economic hope for humanity. Through God’s love, Jesus’ divine and human vulnerability, and the Spirit’s prompts to participate – no matter where we are when we arrive at the table of indwelling – the Trinity finds us and welcomes us.