June 4, 2023
Sermon title: "The Holy Trinity"
Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20
(Other lectionary suggestions include Genesis 1:1- 2:4a, Psalm 8, and II Corinthians 13:11-13.)
Matthew 28:16-20
The Commissioning of the Disciples
16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Today is Trinity Sunday, and the ecclesiastical color is WHITE. (Next Sunday - and for the rest of recorded time, it seems! - the color will be GREEN!) Seriously, we will be green through August, and maybe even beyond. (I don't have my worship book for Sept. and beyond yet, so I don't know!) But back to today, Trinity Sunday. The Scripture suggestions for this day are fairly PUTRID, if I may use that word, and there's a reason: the word TRINITY is nowhere to be found, either in the Old Testament or the New Testament. Not in Hebrew or Latin or Greek....NOWHERE can be found the word "Trinity". Father, Son, and Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, yes. But "Trinity": NO! So why do we talk about the Trinity when it DOESN'T say so in the Bible?! Because it's Trinity Sunday, that's why!
Seriously, the use of the term "Trinity", which is a combination of the word for THREE (TRI), and the word for UNITY, is what Christians have historically believed in. Another term is TRIUNE GOD, or Three-in-One. I think St, Patrick tried to use the shamrock to explain the Trinity to his flock. If you have a tough time with this, that's okay. I have known other believers who have frankly told me that they were not Trinitarians. The reason we have the concept of the Trinity is because Christian thinkers in the early church were trying to get their heads around the idea that God the Father was also in Jesus, and they started calling him the Son, and God the Son. Well, as we heard in Matthew's Gospel today, that Person told us he would be with us ALWAYS. Now how is THAT going to be possible if Jesus is no longer walking the earth? We believe God raised him from the dead, and there are even reports that he appeared to several of his followers. But THEN where did he go? That's why we have the doctrine of the Ascension. Jesus is no longer with us in the flesh. He rose from the dead, we believe, and then he disappeared! So how do we handle the fact that he is NOT here in the flesh, but he promised us that he always would be with us? Last week we celebrated Pentecost, and on that day, we believe God's Spirit and also Jesus' Spirit descended on the church at Jerusalem. So, if you believe that, then you almost HAVE to have a doctrine of the Trinity: as the hymn says, "ever three and ever One".
Now I personally believe that we'd be just fine with God the Father - who was always with us, right? I believe he was - and with this remarkable guy Jesus, who had a special relationship with his heavenly Father. In fact, Jesus even called him "Daddy", and he urged us to call Him that, too! But once you start saying that this guy Jesus was and is GOD HIMSELF, you have a theological problem. Why? Because that Jesus will not live forever, just as you and I won't. True, he was killed by evil men, but God raised him up. But then where did he go? Christian writers liked to think he went back to take his place beside his Father in Heaven, and that's why we have the doctrine of the Ascension. But he - Jesus – promised that he'd always be with us. HOW? By the coming of the Holy Spirit on that gathering at Jerusalem at Pentecost. Is it the Holy Spirit of God? Yes! Is it also the Holy Spirit of Jesus? Yes! So that SPIRIT is with us always. But is that Spirit any LESS than God or Jesus? Absolutely NOT! That Holy Spirit is ONE with God the Father and God the Son......and THAT is why we have the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
There is something we need to keep in mind, and that is that we are talking about SYMBOLS here. Do you know what God looks like? I don't, either. I think we'd all agree that he's not a kindly old man who lives up in the sky and has a long beard! (If you think that way, you need to update your faith!) Really, though, how do you describe the indescribable? In the Old Testament we are told that nobody can look at the face of God and live. Moses got to see God from behind, because he was lodged in the cleft of the rock, and I am going to guess that's where our hymn comes from, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for me...."
Also, the problem for us is that we can describe what God is LIKE, but we can't describe GOD Himself or Herself or Itself. By the way, is God a male or female or something else? It truly is hard to try to describe God! The Bible was written by men, so OF COURSE they are going to describe God as a HE! But do you see the problem? How do you describe the indescribable?
The concept of the Trinity is an attempt to "update" what we think we know about God. The ancient Hebrews thought of God as Creator and the Father of all humankind. As time passed, I believe our human understanding of God evolved, and we had a whole bunch of prophets who insisted that God wanted us to be as "religious" during the week as we were on the Sabbath. In other words, don't go to worship and mouth all the prayers, and then behave immorally with your fellow humans the rest of the week. For the prophets, one's BEHAVIOR was important, not only one's showing up for religious services. And something else: these prophets felt a personal relationship with God, one not based on fear but awe and maybe even love! And then along came Jesus, who called God "Father" and even "Daddy". And Jesus dared to suggest that that God loved us the same way that a human parent loves his or her children. Wow! A God who loves us, and not a God who is lying in wait for us to make a mistake! And not only that: Jesus demonstrated that God would even SUFFER for us and DID suffer and die for us. Wow! A VULNERABLE God! Now THAT was something brand-new to religious experience or religious proclamation, and that's probably the toughest thing for the Muslim community or the Jewish community to accept: a God who suffers. How can Almighty God, who made heaven and earth and the whole universe, allow himself to suffer and die for his children? But that's the proclamation, and that's what we as Christians believe. What the concept of the Trinity is trying to say is that that same God, the God and Father who created everything, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who would and did suffer and die for us, is also still with us in the form of the Holy Spirit. THAT is a lot to comprehend or even believe! But do you? Are you a Trinitarian? Or, to put it another way, how can you NOT be?! Amen.
Pastor Skip
