The Holy Trinity

I’m going to start this morning by telling you about the weirdest birthday party I ever attended. Timmy lived up the street from my grandparents’ house. We were friendly with one another. Not good friends, but we got along and when I would be staying with my grandparents for an extended period of time, we would often end up playing together. Tim lived with his older brother and sister in a great big Victorian house right next to the church we attended while I was growing up.

So, I was at Timmy’s house one day. We had spent the day down by the creek and on the big hill behind their house. Timmy’s mom called us in for lunch. Having spent most of the morning outside, and seeing as how it was summer and the day was starting to heat up, we decided to stay inside. It was late afternoon when I realized that there were more people in the house than usual. In fact, the place really started filling up. And I didn’t know any of them. And then finally, his grandparents arrived. And they all started singing happy birthday to Timmy’s grandmother.

I felt awkward and out of place, because again, I didn’t really know anyone aside from Timmy and his family and his grandparents. I started feeling like I really wanted to leave. I said something to Timmy about thinking maybe I would go. Next thing I knew, his mom was there talking to me. “You don’t wanna go yet”, she said. “Why don’t you have a piece of cake and some ice cream first.”

I might have felt uncomfortable, but I wasn’t stupid. I decided to stay for cake and ice cream. And I ended up staying until everyone else started going home again. I wasn’t part of the family. I felt out of place. But through the kindness of Timmy’s mom and the whole family, they granted me the gift of relationship.

Last week we observed the festival of Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through no merit of their own, but solely by the grace of God, they were drawn into relationship not only with God but with one another.

The same thing that happened to the disciples at Pentecost is exactly what happens to us at Baptism. Through no merit of our own, by the gift of baptism we become a part of that same circle of relationship and receive the Holy Spirit as a result of God’s grace. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, inspired by the word of God, we are drawn into relationship with God. A relationship that knows no limits in terms of its depth or breadth, except for the limits that we ourselves place upon that relationship.

We need to consider the power of words! Think about the story of Creation that we have today from the 1st chapter of Genesis. Talk about the Power of Words!! God speaks, and it is so! Let there be light! Let the waters be separated! Let there be vegetation! Let there be a sun and a moon and stars! Let there be life in the water and in the air and on the land! And it happens!

The power of Words!! But not just any words! The power of God’s words!! And then, there are what I consider to be the most interesting words of all in the creation story… “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness;”

“Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness;” Already in the first story in the Bible, we catch a glimpse of the nature of God. And we discover that God is not characterized merely by power. We discover that a sense of relationship is an essential characteristic of God. And it’s interesting that this should be revealed just as the first people are about to be created. God is, by nature relational, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; three in one, and one in three. And so, we, being created in God’s image, are created to be relational. We are created to be in relationship with God and with each other. God was, is, and always will be Love. Love isn't about understanding; it's about trusting and committing to someone who is different, Other, incomprehensible.

Jesus does not define or describe the Trinity. What Jesus does is to articulate “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” for the sake of spreading the good news of God’s presence and imagining God’s kingdom here and now. Making disciples and baptizing does not require a formula or doctrine. What it requires is our words which witness to Christ in the world. “I am with you always” is a summary of the Trinity itself.

The Trinity asserts that God is with us. The Trinity affirms God’s presence. The Trinity avows that no matter what and regardless of circumstances God will be there. Even when we risk mentioning to others the value of faith in our lives.

God created us to be in loving relationship with God and with each other. And God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that our relationships with God and with those around us can be fully realized. In receiving the Holy Spirit, we become intimately connected to God. A relationship of such depth and strength, that even death cannot destroy it.

But it’s not a one-sided relationship. There’s a connection between, on the one hand, the kind of relationship that God desires with us and, on the other hand, what we call “The Great Commission”, Jesus’ imperative at the end of Matthews Gospel 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

It’s a command that has been appropriated by the church for itself throughout the centuries. It’s a command that, if we take our faith seriously, we must appropriate for ourselves. We need to be able to put ourselves in the place of the disciples when we read that text: “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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Having received the gift of the Holy Spirit which inspires us to faith, we seek to better understand the power of that love. That’s why we get to come to church on Sunday. So that we can steep ourselves in God’s word, exposing ourselves to it at every opportunity. We get to devote ourselves to reading the bible regularly. We get to attend Bible studies and Sunday School, so that we learn how to apply it to our lives on a daily basis. We get to pray — keeping those lines of communication open that are so vital to any living relationship.

Being a disciple grants us the opportunity to invite other people to be in relationship with us here. It’s worth your time and effort to not sleep in on Sunday and to come here for a couple of hours, and even longer if there’s coffee hour. And if you get something out of being here, the chances are very good that other people you know will get something out of being here.

It all comes back to relationships once again. The majority of us are probably here because of an influential relationship. Somewhere along the way, someone influenced us. Maybe it was a parent or grandparent. Maybe it was an aunt or uncle. Maybe it was a friend.

For me, it was my parents. Church was not an option. My dad, who taught music at a local college for 30 years, had been playing piano at the church in which I grew up (and in which he grew up), since he was 14. And no matter how busy my dad’s week might have been, he always found time to rehearse on Saturday for the playing he was going to do on Sunday morning. And no matter how late Saturday night ended up being, we were always out the door by 7:30 for the 8:15 service at St. John Lutheran church, in Syndertown, PA. We went to church when we were on vacation, as well. If the campground had a service, we would go there. If they didn’t, we would find a place close by. Were it not for my parents and the way they lived their faith, I might well not be here today.

The point is that we have daily opportunities to make the love of Christ and value of faith known to those around us.

Anne Lamott once wrote, “I didn’t need to understand the hypostatic unity of the Trinity; I just needed to turn my life over to whoever came up with redwood trees.” The promise of God’s presence expects a certain kind of behavior from us.

What will we do, what will we say if we truly believe “I am with you always”? Making disciples and baptizing are not just things that only the apostles do. Making disciples and baptizing are how the Kingdom of Heaven happens. The Kingdom of Heaven doesn’t happen by chance. 

How will we be with each other if we believe God is here? How will we act toward each other if we believe God is with us? How will we speak about each other if we believe God is among us?

What would our lives look like, our way of being look like, if everything we did and said began with, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Might it make us pause and question if what we are about to do is truly in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? The experience might be completely different if there is an expectation that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit are actually in the room. Or “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” might give us the strength, the power to risk, to take a chance on an action, knowing that God promises to be there.

This is hard work. I know that. But it's also good work, and I am grateful to God for your commitment to doing it. And, when you feel discouraged, don't forget: Jesus has not only commissioned us for this work but has promised to go out with us as we do it. Indeed, he is with us, even to the end of the age. Thanks be to God!    AMEN