The Message: Trinity Sunday, June 13, 2022

The Message: Trinity Sunday, June 13, 2022

Scripture Readings: 

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

    

 “The Concept of Trinity”

Would you pray with me: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.[1] Amen.

 

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. It is also the day the United Methodist Church designates as “Peace with Justice Sunday.” And in understanding of the relationship of the three Persons in One God we begin to see the relational nature that emphasizes living a life in peace with justice.

 

For our belief in a Triune God is foundational to our Christian life. It is one of the “two primary doctrines of Christianity. The doctrine of the incarnation with the doctrine of the Trinity lay the foundation from which all of our other doctrines stem. [2] And these doctrines give us guidance and lead us to living life in holy love, in relationship with our God, who is love, and with one another in agape love.

 

As United Methodists, it is our mission “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. So, it is important that we are able to communicate our faith and beliefs to make known our God who is one Being, yet “three distinctive identities,”[3] in three distinct Persons. Our belief in the Trinity is what separates our faith from the rest of the religions of the world, and distinguishes us from the other monotheistic religions including Judaism and Islam, whose faith also stems from the Abrahamic tradition.

 

As United Methodists, we confess our belief in a Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are relational and coeternal, of one essence or substance (Homoousios), being of same mind and having one will as one God. Together Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved in every divine work; equal in power, love, mercy, justice, knowledge, and all other divine attributes. Having “three distinctive identities”[4] with distinct consciousness and role, each Person of the Trinity is fully and equally God in our one Godhead.

 

And our belief in one God, a Triune God, is Biblically founded. In Mark 12:29, Jesus speaks about “the Lord our God,” saying “the Lord is one.”[5] In Matthew 28:19, we are commissioned to “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.”[6] And, Second Corinthians chapter 13, verse13 speaks to the grace, love and communion of God, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”[7]

 

There is a relational aspect in the Trinity, between Father, Son and Holy Spirit through grace, love and communion. It models for us a harmonious life of holy love and unity, balanced in equality in peace with justice.

 

Yet our minds are often boggled and confused by Three-in-One. And throughout Christian history, theologians have pondered the mystery of the Trinity, trying to grasp its concept. Saint Patrick used the shamrock to try to explain the Trinity. Others have referenced the three states of water – solid, liquid, and gas. Noting that they are of the same substance, but can have different properties while remaining H2O. And over the course of history, heresies have arisen in a misunderstanding of the Trinity. Some have thought that God changes identities like wearing a different mask in play. But this concept is wrong.

 

Our doctrinal faith makes clear that the Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit. Nor is the Son the Father or the Holy Spirit. And likewise, the Spirit is not the Father or the Son. They are three distinct Persons in One God. While many have tried to explain the Trinity, perhaps the best example I have heard was explained by Rev. Dr. Andrew Parks in one of my courses at seminary.

 

In turning to scripture, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul states that human beings are “spirit and soul and body”.[8] And in Genesis 1:27, the Bible speaks to humankind being created in God’s own image. If we are truly created in God’s own image, then might not we come to understand that “God is spirit and soul and body?”[9] Could the concept of the Trinity really be so simple? I invite you to ponder this for a few moments. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God.[10] Yahweh is the Soul of God. [11] And Jesus Christ is the body of God- God incarnate, both fully human and fully divine. [12]

Spirit, soul and body are inseparable, acting in unity, equally sharing in the love-light being poured out because there is only one God, one source of love, of light, of grace and communion.

 

And this Trinitarian model can be expanded to encompass an ethical “life in relationship” with God, other human beings, and all of creation, demonstrating how “life-in-community”[13] should be. For by God’s grace, we are all connected in communion, bound together by God’s holy and pure love continuously poured out in all of God’s creative acts.

 

While we can never fully express who God is, for God’s majesty is unfathomable and we are limited by mere words; there is a deep knowing within our souls that provides for us an awareness of the oneness of our “one God in three persons.”[14] For “we have been justified through faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”[15] And “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”[16]

 

In today’s Gospel Lesson, Christ tells us, that when “the Spirit of truth come, he will guide us into all the truth.”[17] As we grow deeper in faith and grow closer to our Lord, our Lord reveals more to us. Jesus tells us “All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”[18] And in the fulness of time, more will be revealed to us.

 

As we ponder the mystery of the Holy Trinity today, know that we are not alone in trying to understand the concept of the Trinity. Aiden Wilson Tozer, a Protestant theologian said to understand the Trinity, “faith must precede all effort to understand.”.[19]

 

Let me ask you, do you have faith – the faith to fully trust God in all things, knowing that our God loves us and wants what is best for us in this lifetime, even though we may not fully understand the ways in which God works in our lives?

 

As believers, it is only by faith and love that we are able to come to know our Triune God as we open our hearts, minds, and souls allowing ourselves to be touched by the grace of God. And it is the Spirit who illuminates the truth within our souls giving us the understanding, the knowledge, the wisdom revealed to us over time, when our hearts and souls are ready to receive it. Know that our Lord communicates to us and moves us in ways that transform us, allowing for a deeper union with the Almighty and which enable us to build relationships with each other and live in harmony with all of creation. It is through our faith and belief in God, in the Holy Trinity, God begins to reveals to us God’s own essence in God’s love, allowing us to begin to answer the question of “Who Is God?” and thus, enabling us to trust that God is in control of all things.

 

We may want to understand all things. We may want answers now. Yet as mere mortals, we cannot yet bear all that Christ wants to share. For now, we cannot fully comprehend this mystery of the Holy Trinity. And that is okay. Stanly J. Grenz, a theologian, once said to “grasp the incomprehensible mystery of the Trinity remains forever futile”.[20]  And perhaps this is true - at least during this life time.

 

And, in John Wesley’s “Sermon 55, On The Trinity,” he suggests that “abstruse doctrines are better believed devoutly than analyzed rationally”; “the mystery of ‘the Three-One God’ is better left a mystery, to be pondered and adored.”[21] So, as we celebrate the Holy Trinity today, let us ponder this mystery and adore our Lord God, creator of all things who loves us so much that He sent his only Son so that we may be reconciled to Him.

God loves you. And God continually pours out his love and grace upon those who turn their hearts to the Lord. So let us raise our voices in praise and thanksgiving knowing that God’s love will never let us go. Our God is forever faithful leading us forward in knowledge and truth, and holy love. Amen.

 

[1] Psalm 19:14, NRSV

[2] Peter Bellini, “Modules 1 & 2, Theological Foundations: Trinitarian Theology of Life,” May 30, 2021, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH, Panopto, 43:36, United Online Logon; Church Renewal for Mission ER503-Hybrid-1, Pages, Modules Week 1: Overview.

[3] Andrew Park, “Week 8 Class Meeting”, WebEx, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH, November 9, 2021.

[4] Andrew Park, “Week 8 Class Meeting”, WebEx, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH, November 9, 2021.

[5] Mark 12:29, NRSV

[6] Matthew 28:19, NRSV

[7] 2 Corinthians 13:13, NRSV

[8] 1 Thessalonians 5:23, NRSV

[9] Andrew Park, “Week 5 Class Meeting”, WebEx, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH, October 12, 2021.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Stanly J. Grenz, Theology For The Community of God (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 76.

[14] J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology, Systematic Theology from a Charismatic Perspective (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 83.

[15] Romans 5:1-2, NIV

[16] Romans 5:5, NIV

[17] John 16:13, NIV

[18] John 16:15, NIV

[19] A. W. Tozer, Three Spiritual Classics in One Volume (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2018), 43.

[20] Ibid., 39.

[21] John Wesley, The Works of John Wesley Volume 2 Sermons II (34-70), ed. Albert C. Outler (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1985), 373.