Proverbs 8: 1–4, 22–31; Psalm 8; Romans
5: 1–5; John 16: 12–15
The
following is a homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, prepared to be preached at St. John’s
Church in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 22, 2016.
“GOD IN
THREE PERSONS”
(Homily
text: John 16: 12–15)
When
I was active as a professional singer, I would make use of a statement to
describe the process of singing in general, and of the process of learning to
sing in particular. That statement went like this:
“Learning to sing
is like trying to grab hold of a
cloud…
just about the time you think
you’ve gotten hold of it,
it changes.”
The
point of this statement is to state the truth that the process of singing is
often very mysterious. The subject often eludes even our best efforts to
understand just how the process of singing works. The same can be said of the
nature of God, who is known to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Just about
the time we think we’ve grasped the truth of this mystery, we recognize that
there’s still more to know that has eluded our grasp.
We’ve
just sung a wonderful hymn (Holy, Holy, Holy) which is especially suited for
Trinity Sunday. One of its lines says this: “God in three persons, blessed
Trinity”.
In
this homily, we will attempt to deal with what is – most likely – the very most
difficult topic that a preacher can have to wrestle with: The nature of God as
the Holy and Blessed Trinity.
Notice
that we’ve used the word “mystery” to begin to address the concept of the
Trinity. The truth is that – this side of heaven – we will never know
completely and fully all the details of how God can be One God, but in three
Persons. We’ll have to wait until we are
in God’s presence to pose our lingering questions.
Just
how did the Church come to understand the nature of God, and to discover (at
least to some extent) the relationship and interaction between the three
Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? The short answer is that the Church
didn’t come to a full(er) understanding of God’s nature overnight. Instead, this process of discovery and
reflection took a long time, centuries in fact.
In this homily, we will explore a bit of that history.
We
should begin with some of the Church’s very early indications that God is to be
understood in three distinct parts or aspects (I can’t think of a better word
to use). Although there is no use of the
word “Trinity” in the New Testament, yet there is evidence to show that – very
early in Christian history – Jesus’ followers had identified distinctions
between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Two passages from the New Testament bear
witness to this understanding:
Mathew 28: 19 – 20: “Jesus came and said to them (the eleven disciples), ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’.”[1]
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.”[2]
These
two passages are quite early: Matthew’s
gospel account probably dates from the second half of the first century, with
most scholars tending to think the time of writing was probably somewhere
around the year 85 AD or so. St. Paul’s
second letter to the early Christians in Corinth is a good bit earlier. Most
scholars tend to date his second letter to the years following the establishment
of the Church in Corinth, which may have happened sometime in the years 51 – 52
AD.
The
motivation for the Church’s quest to come to a fuller understanding of the
Trinity was God the Father’s sending of the Son. (The sending of the Son is
often called the “Christ Event” by theologians and biblical scholars.) The
things that Jesus said and did, His victory over death in His resurrection on
Easter Sunday morning, His ascension into Heaven, all of these were the
motivators for Jesus’ followers to discover more about the relationship between
the One whom Jesus called “his Father” and the One whose sending was promised
through the Father, by request of the Son..
A
brief look at some of Jesus’ statements will serve to establish the basis for
this process of reflection and discovery. Among Jesus’ statements, these will clarify the point:
John 8: 18: Jesus said, “I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”[3]
John 10: 30: Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”
John 14: 8–10a: “Philip said to him (Jesus), ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and still you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father, How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”
Then
speaking of the sending of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said this:
John 16: 13 & 15: Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak,” and “All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
John 14: 16–17b & 26: Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit will come from the Father, in response to the Son’s request: “…I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth”. Then He says that the Holy Spirit will come in His name: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you.”
Acts 1: 4–5: Speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit, Luke (the author of the Book of Acts), says that “While staying with them, he (Jesus) ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “You have heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So
Jesus’ words and His actions pointed to the reality of the One who sent Him, His
Father. His words and His actions seem to point toward a unity, and yet, with
some distinction, all at the same time. Some of the scriptural citations
provided above bear out the reality of this relationship. Furthermore, Jesus’
promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit seems to affirm the same reality: Unity and yet, distinction, at the same time.
Now,
let’s return to something we began with a moment ago: “God in three persons,
blessed Trinity”, that line from the hymn.
Just
where did the concept of God as one God in three Persons and the language
attached to it come from? The second and third century theologian Tertullian[4]
is credited with using this language to describe the Godhead. Tertullian is
also credited with creating the word “Trinity” to describe God’s three-in-one
nature.
The
word “Trinity” attempts to maintain the connection between God’s one-ness and
God’s distinctiveness in the different manifestations that we human beings have
experienced God. So there is unity in God’s nature, for God is One. In that
confession, we can affirm the truth that God’s chosen people have affirmed down
through time in the very well-known Shema,
which says, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”[5]
And yet there is a difference in the experience of the fullness of God, for God
the Father is the sender of the Son, and the Son and the Father together send
the Holy Spirit. (See John 16: 15, from our Gospel reading for this morning,)
In
time, the Church would come to understand that the unity between the three
Persons of the Trinity is so complete that it’s impossible for us to tell where
one Person leaves off and another Person begins. (Again, I can’t think of a
better way to say it.) It’s as if – the Church says – that the one Person of
the Trinity penetrates into another Person’s.[6]
The point here, I think, is to be sure that God’s unity, God’s one-ness, is
maintained.
The
inseparable nature of the three Persons brings us to an important truth: When we encounter or think of one Person of
the Trinity, the other two Persons are also present. So, for example, if we
consider something that Jesus said or did, we should remember that the Father
and the Spirit are also present in those words or actions. When we ask for the
Holy Spirit to enlighten and empower us, we should also remember that the
Father and the Son are also present.
Given
our human limitations, it’s quite common for people to focus on only one Person
of the Trinity at a time. An example from daily life will illustrate this
point: We might think of an individual
as being a parent, as a grandparent, or as an employer or employee, each one
separately, depending on the mode in
which they are encountered. Sometimes this concept is also applied to God. But
the challenge is that it’s easy to lose sight of the totality of God’s nature
when our focus is on just one of the three Persons of the Trinity.[7]
Let’s
return to the beginning point of our reflection, the person and work of Jesus
Christ. Since Jesus Christ is fully God
and fully human, He becomes the way for us to share in the inner life of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He
becomes the way into the inner life of God. By His coming, Jesus Christ shines
light on God’s inner life and nature, making it available to us.
God’s
blessings overflow, as a result.
AMEN.
[1] These verses have come to be known as The
Great Commission.
[2] This verse is known as the Grace, which
closes the Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer.
[3] The italics are mine. I’ve indicated those
portions of the verses chosen which demonstrate – in my estimation at least –
the relationship between the Father and the Son, and which show the sending of
the Holy Spirit.
[4] Tertullian lived from about 150 – 225 AD.
[5] Deuteronomy 6: 4
[6] The technical term that theologians use to
describe this interpenetration is the Greek word perichoresis.
[7] A term which is applied to this approach to
God is modalism.
