The late Sen. Edward Kennedy has a memoir that is being released in a couple of weeks. This posthumous self accounting of his life delves into some interesting territory around his brothers, the tragedies he has lived through, and the lessons that only a life lived on the edge can give someone like the late senator.
Evidently the NY Times got their hands on an advanced copy of the book and in it Sen. Kennedy addresses one of the darkest periods of his life, the car crash off of the Chappaquiddick bridge that killed Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy says, “atonement is a process that never ends,” and that while he had to live every day with the consequences of the accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne, her family had to endure worse.
Atonement is a process that never ends. That sentence intrigues me. Could it be the greatly flawed senator is on to something. Is atonement a process that never ends? Atonement seems to be a both instantaneous and a process. It is instantaneous in that in the moment of our submission to Christ as Lord our sins are forgiven and we participate fully and redemptively in the work of Christ on the cross. But it is a process in that what begins in that instant is a sanctifying work of God that does not cease until we are perfected in glory.
Thinking of atonement as a process that never ends is a beautiful thought. The picture of Christ’s redemptive work being an ongoing process that we live inside our entire lives is so hopeful. Even though we are forgiven we are not yet complete but we are not intended to be stagnant within our salvation. There is something more, something more beautiful, something more glorious than even our forgiven self and that is a fully made new creation of God.
We don’t know what Senator Kennedy understood about atonement, but he was on to something with this sentence. Atonement is a process that never ends. Thanks be to God that he got that part right.
September 3, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Edward M. Kennedy experienced unending guilt for his act of betrayal and cowardice. That is what his statement says to me. Atonement is final at the moment of salvation. After that comes sanctification, which will be completed and perfected when we are finally with our Savior. I pray that Mr. Kennedy did not depend on his Catholic religion for salvation, but found the way, the truth and the life through Jesus alone, before he died.
September 4, 2009 at 8:17 am
I think you are creating a beautiful idea, but I’m not sure that atonement is the right word. Unfortunately, sanctification is a bit worn out term, especially in your tradition, whereas atonement still has some zest to it.
So I agree with and appreciate the beauty of the meaning behind what you are saying. However, in case any theology profs are reading, I probably disagree on the specific application of the term “atonement”.
But I would love to hear more ponderings on how you see it differently.
September 4, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Dave,
I am obviously stretching atonement, which many would make a singular act of reconciling, into a description of the entire process of salvation, but that doesn’t bother me too much. I don’t want to paint a picture where as we make up for our sin throughout our whole life, as if we are paying off a bar tab, but instead of a continuing regenerative work begun through the work of Christ on the cross. It sounds like something a preacher would say more than a theologian!
September 4, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I thought that’s how you wanted us to read you. Just checking.