A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, June 7, 2009
Exodus 3: 1 -6; Canticle 13; Romans 8: 12 – 17; John 3: 1 – 16
“Trying to learn to sing is like trying to grab hold of a cloud,” we used to say back in my singing days.
Trying to learn about the Holy Trinity is a lot like singing: it’s like trying to grab hold of a cloud.
Today, which is technically known as the First Sunday after Pentecost, is more commonly known as Trinity Sunday.
In the scheme of the Church Year, devoting this Sunday to a contemplation of the nature of God, as He is known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is quite appropriate, for our Church Year to this point has considered the birth, manifestation, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, and it has celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit at the great Feast of Pentecost (last Sunday). Now, with all of that done, it’s time to take a moment to catch our breath and remember that the God we serve, the God who loves us and who created us, the God who redeemed us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the God who sustains us by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, is one God, in unity of being and in Trinity of persons.
Now, we have to be honest: The entire topic, the entire idea of a Godhead who is three-in-one sets our minds to spinning, doesn’t it?
How can that be, that God is One God, but who is known as an undivided Trinity of persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
Yes, the concept, as well as our grasp of it, is difficult.
Many preachers shy away from trying to grapple with the subject. (In churches where there is more than one clergy on the staff, the Rector will often assign an assisting priest to tackle the sermon for this day, thereby sidestepping the hard issues and the difficult questions that are associated with the Holy Trinity.)
And, as a word of caution, I recall a seminary professor who, on the occasion of our study of the Holy Trinity, stated that “it was an easy matter to wander off into heresy when we are talking about the Trinity.”
Well, perhaps we’d want to shy away from the topic, too, given these warnings, and given the track record of the many preachers who’d simply rather not tackle the mystery of God as we know Him to be Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
But as your preacher today, I would have to say that our willingness to “ask the hard questions” and to “deal with the difficult mysteries of God” would leave us as impoverished Christians, I believe, if we simply ignore or sidestep this key part of our Christian faith..
We’ve simply got to take up the challenge and do the best we can with the hard work before us today.
So, let’s begin.
We will start with the Biblical foundations which would support the concept of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We find that there are two specific references which support the concept. They are:
Matthew 28: 19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….”That’s as close as we come, in terms of specific references to all three persons of the Trinity.
II Corinthians 13: 14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
But the New Testament witness to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as being interconnected is solid. There are many texts which refer to this unity, even if it is only understood, but not outrightyly stated.. Here, I make a summary of just one thread as we find it in the Fourth Gospel:
The unity of the Father and the Son: Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”Now, let’s turn our attention to the Church’s reflection on the nature of God, and to the formulation of the theological concept of the Trinity itself.
(John 10: 30)
The interconnectedness of the Son and the Holy Spirit: “Jesus breathed on them (the disciples) and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’…” (John 20: 22)
We begin with the question, “What prompted the Apostles and the early Church to reconsider the nature of God as He had been known and worshipped in the Jewish community?”
Notice that I used the word “reconsider”. For that’s what the Church did, it reconsidered who God is in the wake of Jesus Christ’s coming.
This reconsideration came as the outgrowth of what theologians call the “Christ Event”. This is language which wraps up everything having to do with Jesus Christ, His birth, life, teachings, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.
For, you see, the things Jesus said and the things that He did cast a new light on the One who had sent Him, whom He called “Father”. And, in turn, the instructions given to the disciples about the nature and work of the Holy Spirit, who was given directly by Jesus on Easter Sunday evening (see John 20: 22, above) was the causative event which prompted the Church to reflect on the nature of the Holy Spirit as being fully God, fully one with the Father and the Son.
As part of our discussion, we need to consider the term “Trinity” itself. Many who question the existence of the Trinity, or who cannot find scriptural support for the understanding, often point out that the word “trinity” is not to be found in the pages of sacred scripture. They are right.
The term “trinity” is coined by a third century theologian named Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225 AD).
As part of its reflection, the Church formulated the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. The Apostles’ Creed stems from the second century, and the Nicene Creed comes to us from the fourth century. Both were formulated in response to incorrect, heretical teachings. Both are formulated in the three-fold understanding of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Along the way, some understandings of the three-fold nature of the Trinity were rejected. One of those understandings is important for us to remember here, for it is known as Modalism. Essentially, this understanding maintained that God the Father was present in the beginning, in creation, and was present until the coming of Jesus Christ. With the coming of Jesus Christ, God came as the Son. When the Son’s work was finished, God then came in the person of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Thus, our human experience of God was seen in terms of a chronological manifestation of the three persons, each coming at a specific time in history.
A form of modalism exists today, and we will consider it as we draw some conclusions from our study together (see below).
Now, we would do well to consider some aspects of the Holy Trinity, as they relate to our everyday life with God. We might draw out the following points to guide our beliefs and our lives:
The heart of the matter: unity and distinction: At the heart of much of the historical consideration of the nature of God as Christians understand Him is the issue of unity and diversity. This part of the concept of the Holy Trinity is the most difficult to grasp. For example, if we put this part of our understanding in the form of a question, we might ask, “How important is the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and how important are the distinctions between these three persons of the Trinity?”
Essentially, the Modalists (discussed above) were trying to preserve the unity of God, even as they acknowledged the distinctiveness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was – in retrospect – a misguided attempt, to be sure.
Traditionally, the western Church has emphasized the unity of the Godhead, while the eastern Church has done just the opposite.
How should this question affect our understanding? I think the answer might be, “It’s best to hold the mystery of God always in our minds, even as we know we can understand part of that mystery, though not all of it.”
The full experience of God: Here we come to a very practical part of living the Christian life….
We are called to realize and to remember that the three persons of the Trinity are always present, all the time. Though we may emphasize one person over the other (considering Jesus’ teachings, life, or work, e.g.), we need to remember that the Father was also present whenever Jesus spoke, or performed miracles, etc. Likewise, the Holy Spirit was also present, working with the Father and the Son to enable the power of Jesus’ words and work to be known and understood.
So that, whenever we pray, we are addressing the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all three.
Whenever we invoke the Holy Spirit’s presence, we are also calling on the Father and the Son to be present, and so forth.
If we are able to remember the omnipresence of all three persons of the Godhead, we can avoid a version of modalism (discussed above).
Are we comfortable living with the mystery of God, the three-in-one? After all, in this life, we can say with St. Paul, “Now I know in part, then I shall understand fully.” (I Corinthians 13: 12b) Eventually, the mysteries will be wiped away, and our knowledge and experience of God will be full, complete, and satisfying.
Living with the mysteries of the spiritual life in the meantime is essential to further and fuller understanding. Saints down through the ages have affirmed this key insight into the life of God. With them we can say, “I believe in order to know, and I know in order to believe.” Faith in God – believing – allows fuller insight and knowledge God. Fuller insight and knowledge permit greater and deeper faith.
So may it be with us, dear Lord. May we be enabled to believe in the mysteries of the divine life, so that we may know more about those mysteries.
AMEN.
