May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen.
The
Easter season has come to an end. Jesus has done his teachings, he has shown
himself to the disciples, and the Holy Spirit has come upon us. Now, we are
being sent out into the world to spread the Good News of God, Jesus, and Holy
Spirit.
Trinity
Sunday is a time to focus on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the
teaching that there is one God in three Persons – God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. The
Triune God is one the fundamental theologies of the Christian faith, and it is
the ultimate mystery. Take a moment and think about how you would explain to
someone how the Almighty can both singular and triune? It’s not easy. Not by a
long shot. And trying to separate the entities doesn’t help. God and Jesus
might be easy enough to describe, but the Holy Spirit?
Several
years ago, I taught a Lenten series and in week two the group discussed the
Holy Trinity. It was quite the discussion as we talked about what the Trinity
is, why it is a difficult concept to understand, and to try and define or
describe the Holy Spirit. There were references to God with us versus above us,
there was discussion around whether Jesus was human or divine, and there was a
lot of confusion surrounding the essence of the Holy Spirit. Lots of talking
and debating was done that day and when there was a pause in the conversation,
after prayerfully listening to what everyone had been saying, I told the group
my vision of the Holy Trinity. It really struck a chord with the group and so I
have held it close to me and shared it wherever possible.
My
image of the Holy Trinity is simple, but it’s powerful to me. God and Jesus
stand beside me, one on either side and facing each other, as if they were my
walls of solidarity. The Holy Spirit surrounds me in a circle of protection,
like a blanket or the arms of a hug. I do not see myself as below the Holy
Trinity, as if God and Jesus are somewhere up in the sky looking down on me. I
am in the middle of the Trinity; they surround me as I live my life, like my
own personal protectors. The Trinity is with me, always.
So
how would you describe the Holy Trinity?
Has
your image of the Trinity changed over time?
The
Holy Trinity is not something tangible, something that you could draw on a
piece of paper and say that it is an exact image. Everyone will imagine the
Trinity, will experience the Trinity, in a different way. It is an extremely
personal experience. But when we trust in our image of the Trinity, things
happen. And because it is God, our experience of the Trinity will never be as
we expect it to be.
The
Trinity is not something we believe in because it describes God. It is not
something to be studied and understood. The Trinity is something to be
experienced, and ultimately it is found in our relationship with God, Jesus,
and the Holy Spirit. Particularly as we – ourselves, our congregations, our
communities – seek to move into a future that aligns more closely with what we
believe deep in our heart God wants for us – a right relationship with not only
God, but also one another.
And
there is no path forward if we don’t make room for working to create space for
intentional and genuine relationships with people who are different from us –
culturally, in faith, in gender, in race. We recognize that harm is being done
in the world, and we are demanding a better future. We recognize that there is
system of racism in our country, in the justice and policing systems, everywhere.
Therefore, there are demands for systemic changes. We recognize that the world
is burning because we are not caring for creation in the way we ought to have, therefore
there are demands for climate change action. We recognize that we have failed
in our human relationships causing pain, trauma, and even death to those on the
margins. Therefore, there are demands for human rights laws and protections.
But
nothing, in the end, will change if we are not drawn into genuine, concrete,
actual relationships with persons from communities beyond our experience or
comfort. Because just as we know and struggle to name God through our actual
experience of God active in our lives, so also, we can only know and appreciate
and love and be changed by others in and through actual relationships.
This
is the long road to not merely social change but a vision and reality of
community that more closely matches God’s dreams for us and God’s own existence
as a relational being. Holy Trinity Sunday is about revealing the relational
being of God. Theologians have been trying for eons to explain the Trinity,
this mysterious 3-in-1, but within the mystery lies relationship. There is a
closeness in God, an intimate relationship where each one knows the mind of the
others, where each is inseparable from the others. God, Jesus, and the Spirit
are one. This closeness, this relationship is an example for us. Jesus called
his disciples to follow as a group, and sent them out two by two, not alone.
The Spirit called more people to join, and so the church began.
We
were never meant to follow Jesus alone. Whenever life of faith has been
challenging, the people of God have gathered together to break bread, to pray,
and to encourage one another – and to dream of better things. So, we too, two
thousand years later, continue to gather together, to share stories and meals,
to pray and to ponder. We gather in our congregations, but also as dioceses and
as the national church to pray and discern, to listen to the nudges of the
Spirit, to find the way forward together.
We
have Jesus’s promise that we will never be alone. God remains faithful through
the changing world, and the changing church. The Holy Spirit continues to guide
us to truth – one step at a time. The Trinity is with us, always.
Amen.
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