Trinity C R Lundquist 6/3/07

Is 6:1-8 http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=48581233

Rev 4:1-11 http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=48581263

Jn 16:5-15 http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=48581336

I heard a story about an 11 year-old girl staying with friends while her parents were traveling. They took her to their church, which was a new experience for the young lady. After church her hosts wondered what she thought of the service. She told them, “I don’t understand why the West Coast isn’t included too.” They were stumped – “What do you mean?” they asked. “You know, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Whole East Coast.”

Today is Trinity Sunday, when we focus on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. It’s the one Sunday of the year on which we observe a theological idea instead of an event in the life of Jesus or one of his teachings.

The Trinity not found in Bible – but theologian Owen C Thomas says we find the “warrant in Scripture.” In Acts 6 we read of the new Christian community setting aside 7 men as deacons, who were to care specifically for widows, orphans, and the poor. Stephen does more, and he speaks out against the powers that be. He is stoned to death, the first Martyr. We learn in Acts 7 that Stephen is filled with the Holy Spirit in his last moments. He gazes into heaven and sees the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God in heaven. Here is the “warrant” for our understanding of the Holy Trinity.

It seems the word “God” doesn’t suffice for Christian community. We see the Father above all, Jesus among and before all, and the Spirit within the life of the faithful… Another scholar speaks of the Trinity as the love between Father and the Son. It is divinely perfect: There is no separation between them, no daylight between them. This Unity is shattered in the Crucifixion – from which the Holy Spirit flows anew, given in Pentecost

In the reading from Isaiah we hear a beautiful foreshadowing of sanctus—“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” This was “in the year when King Uzziah died… Herbert O’Driscoll expands this phrase past the simple time-keeping. For Isaiah and the prince – the son of King Uzziah – were close friends, leading a carefree and opulent life. But life changes when king dies. Isaiah has vision of God, in which his hem fills temple. The foundations of the world and Isaiah’s life shake, and he has a vision of the seraphim crying out. “Holy is the Lord of Hosts (the angels and all the heavenly beings). The entire earth is filled with the glory of God.” “Holy” means “of God, not humans.” This is the Triune affirmation – glory beyond our comprehension!

In Revelation, another vision of heaven. Ceaselessly the 4 creatures (later to represent the 4 Gospels) sing:

“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty,

Who was and is and is to come.” The Triune affirmation of the One who tells Moses “I AM has sent you.”

In John’s Gospel Jesus promises the mysterious Spirit to rather dim disciples. They are given the “Spirit of Truth” so that we may know the truth. The 3 in 1 and 1 in 3, a concept in contrast to Judaism. In Deuteronomy (6:9) we find the ancient prayer called the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” Trinity is also a stumbling block for Muslims as well…

How do we Christians articulate God’s Absoluteness AND Relatedness? For in Trinity we behold Divine Community – a high value for us. We see the Lover, the Beloved, & Love Itself.

It’s enough to make head spin… It took the Church 400 years to develop our Trinitarian orthodoxy (“correct way of speaking”). We say Nicene Creed week after week, and we scratch our heads when it sinks in past the routine…

But now I suggest that you RELAX with it, let it be. Perhaps the Trinity is more of a feeling thing than a thining thing. For our love of God is made real in the heart before the head. The Trinity is not so much something to be figured out as to be embraced. We proclaim that God is not just high & lofty & far away (like in that old pop song with the refrain, “God is watching us from a distance”), but present & active & alive in and around us.

This is captured so beautifully and comprehensively in the centuries-old prayer St Patrick’s Breastplate:

I gird myself today with the might of heaven:

The rays of the sun,

The beams of the moon,

The glory of fire,

The speed of wind,

The depth of sea,

The stability of earth,

The hardness of rock.

I gird myself today with the power of God:

God’s strength to comfort me,

God’s might to uphold me,

God’s wisdom to guide me,

God’s eye to look before me,

God’s ear to hear me,

God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to lead me,

God’s way to lie before me,

God’s shield to protect me,

God’s angels to save me

From the snares of the Devil,

From temptations to sin,

From all who wish me ill,

Both far and near,

Alone and with others.

May Christ guard me today

From poison and fire,

From drowning and wounding,

So my mission may bear

Fruit in abundance.

Christ behind and before me,

Christ beneath and above me,

Christ with me and in me,

Christ around and about me,

Christ on my left and my right,

Christ when I rise in the morning,

Christ when I lie down at night,

Christ in each heart that think of me,

Christ I each mouth that speaks of me,

Christ in each eye that sees me,

Christ in each ear that hears me.

I bind unto myself today

The strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One, and One in Three.

Of whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Amen

A Parish For All People!