Matthew 28:16-20
Trinity Sunday / Year A
Most preachers do
not look forward to Trinity Sunday because, well, who really knows what to say
about the Trinity? And finding something
new to say year in and year out can be a daunting task. After botching a sermon on the Trinity, a
twelfth-century monk by the name of Brother Elric took a vow of silence and
never spoke again for the rest of his life!
Hopefully after today you will not suggest I would be well-advised to
follow his example.
In seminary we
studied all the ancient creeds at length.
Imagine sitting through a lecture fleshing out how God is neither confounded
in Persons nor divided in Substance. For
most people, the Christian faith begins with an experience rather than a system
of theological intricacies. We don’t
meet orthodoxy, we meet God in the Father, God in the Son, and God in the Holy
Spirit. A three-fold experience of God
precedes a three-fold explanation. The
Trinity wasn’t invented on the word processors for forth-century philosophers
and theologians. Rather, it began in the
lives of everyday people who were grasped by faith in the Father, captivated by
the revelation of the Son, and filled by indwelling of Holy Spirit. And, as a result, the lives of these ordinary
people were changed forever.
This is why, when
we church folk talk about the Trinity, we speak more about our experience of
God than we do about explanations. Our
language of God is born from very personal, intimate moments when a Mystery has
been upon us; a Mystery we can scarcely describe, but certainly cannot dismiss.
We speak of God as Father, the one in whose image we are
formed. Like many teenagers, I did not
want to grow up to be like my dad. In
spite of this desire, I am my father in more ways than even I realize. I share in many of his good qualities and in
a few of his bad. My physical progression,
including weight gain, hair loss, and body aches, mirror his. In my case, the acorn has not fallen far from
the tree. I am, in many ways, the image
of my father – Roger Hugh Emerson
It is no mistake we
use the notion of father to give name
to a part of the Mystery we experience as God.
We are, in some ways, created in the very image of the Father. Every time we demonstrate our capacity to
love, to create, to rationalize, to think, to communicate, to build
relationships, to make life-long commitments, to demonstrate righteous
indignation, to forgive, to show mercy, and to act with compassion, we sense we
are expressing God’s inescapable image within us. And there is something very satisfying, very
holy, when we are aware this, in fact, is what we are doing.
Think about the
Mystery of God as expressed in the Son.
Jesus takes bread, give it to his followers, and says, “This bread is my
body,” and he invites them to eat. Then
he takes a cup of wine and says, “This wine is my blood,” and he invites them
to drink. Think about how our bodies
break down the food and drink we receive to nourish and build up the self. In our Eucharistic thinking, we are
expressing a belief the Mystery of God is not only a part of us, it also comes
into us to sustain us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In an intimate way we come to experience what
Jesus says, “We do not live on bread alone, but on every Word which proceeds
from the mouth of God.” We know we would
starve without this Word.
Think about the
Holy Spirit, which we describe as being like a mighty wind. Think about how the body draws breath into
itself, how some are drawn with great intension, but most without a passing
thought, how the lungs break down each breath, and how the blood system carries
this life-giving power throughout our entire physical structure. Breath gives us life. It animates us. It becomes us. This too is how we describe the Mystery of
God: life-giving, animating, indwelling, God in us and we in God.
It is not by
accident we speak of God in such personal and intimate terms because this is
how we come to experience God in our daily life. We see in ourselves the image of the One who
created us. We recognize how our lives
are sustained and nourished by the One we encounter from beyond us. We sense this Presence moving through us and invigorating
us with every breath. As Paul said, “God
is the One in whom we live and move and have our being.”
Yes, all analogies
of the Trinity fall short. True, all
doctrines and creeds represent our best efforts to comprehend something which
is beyond comprehension. And still the Holy
Trinity is the core of our faith because it is the essence of how we encounter
God in our lives. On this Sunday, we ponder
how the Holy One, the Mystery from beyond, comes to us as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. And, as we celebrate and give
thanks, we are neither confounded in persons or divided in substance.
