A friend of mine shared an embarrassing moment she had as an episcopal deacon. She had a dear friend and neighbor who was Jewish, named Sarah. They’d known each other for years, and had frequently shared their faith stories and traditions with each other, attending baptisms and Seders together. A new family moved in the neighborhood, who had a more extroverted spirituality and talked openly and passionately about her Christian identify. One afternoon, Sarah came charging over to my friend’s house, exasperated. You will not believe it, but our other neighbor - the vocal Christian - thinks that Jesus is God. My friend felt like a heel, because somehow, the concept of a Trinitarian faith had never come up, and now she had a big confession. Well Sarah, that’s what I believe too. That’s what all Christians believe.
And that’s not all. We also believe that the Holy Spirit is God. Sarah, devoutly Jewish and believing in One God, was stunned and shocked. I thought you believe in one God, like I do! I am not sure how they navigated through the rest of the conversation. I am sure that I’m grateful this happened to my friend and not me.
Today is Trinity Sunday, a day when preachers around world will struggle to explain or know one of the greatest mysteries ever to be unknowable.
You see, we are mono-theistic (One God). And we are also Trinitarian. We believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. There are three distinct persons that comprise One God. I’m not sure exactly how it works, but I believe it does. I believe it, because I’ve experienced it. I have seen Christ in other people, stood in awe at the Father’s creative miracle that is my created world, and felt the presence of the Comforter, or the Holy Spirit.
So rather than making my brain hurt any more trying to explain the Trinity, and possibly being branded as a heretic, I’ll focus on one of the implications of being a Trinitarian people. In the football world, 3rd down and long, I’ll punt.
God the Father has been referred to as the Creator. The One who brought all things into being. The one who created the mountains and oceans, what we see in the Hubble Telescope, the vast expanse of interstellar space, and each one of us. What amazing and diverse creative imagination, to create this place and us, and to also create every bird and color and every breathtaking vista. And what a sense of humor to create some these creatures like the hippopotamus and those chickens that look like they have feather-hats on. God the Father also has amazing diversity and depth. God the Father made me. God the Father knows every hair on my head. And that same creative force made the mountains and valleys and oceans and plants and . . everything. The Psalm today describes this creative diversity. It reads, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what is man that you should be mindful of him? So thinking about some of the ways we can describe God the Father, we can call him creative, imaginative, has a good sense of humor, flexible, vast, and focused.
God the Son. God the Son is Jesus. He loved. He gave people a tangible model of the intangible God. People of his time and ours can see what Jesus the man did, and know a little about the unknowable God. The reading from Romans describes that it is through Jesus Christ we obtain grace. God the son is a model, healing, forgiving, life-giving, just, grace-giving, truthful. God the son is love.
God the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit united all the people, despite language barriers. Christ says the Holy Spirit is a comforter and advocate. In the reading from John, we learn that the Spirit will guide us into all truth. The Holy Spirit is a uniter. A comforter and advocate. The Holy Spirit is mystical. And the Holy Spirit allows us to understand God’s Word.
These three persons are distinct, and yet very inter-related, performing a sacred dance, leading and following. Bishop Hillary of Poitiers in 367 described the relationships in this way. He said it’s as if someone is given the gift of sight. An amazing, creative gift. And even if the person has perfect eyesight, without light, the gift cannot be used. And without something to look at, the gift of sight is meaningless. Their gifted eyes work fine. But they need other things to make their perfect eyes work as designed. Hillary’s analogy is that we have the gift from God the Father of the Word of God, of Jesus Christ. We hear Christ’s teachings and we understand the words clearly. But without the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we cannot fully understand the Word. In the analogy, the Holy Spirit in us is the light that makes eyesight work. So it is with God. God has created all things, and given us the Incarnate Word of Jesus Christ. But without the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we cannot use or value the gift we have in the Word.
The words of today’s last hymn also allude to this dance. The first three verses start clearly, describing the three distinct persons of the Trinity: Holy Father, great creator Holy Jesus, Lord of glory Holy Spirit, Sanctifier
But then the dance begins. The verses go on to have the Father look upon the mediator, or Holy Spirit. And the Spirit will fill us with the savior’s love. And it is through the Savior that the Father hears and blesses. One God. Three distinct persons. Beautifully interwoven, interrelated and interdependent.
Through how we experience these three persons and one God, we understand something about the nature of God. We experience or learn from Scripture about a whole variety of attributes and strengths - everything we should strive to be. From what we have heard or experienced of God the Father - Creative. Imaginative, Good Sense of Humor, flexible, vast, focused. About God the Son - Ethical, model, healing, truthful, just, love. And God the Holy Spirit - Comforter, advocate, mystical.
And here’s the best part. We are made in God’s image.
So like a mold that is used to cast sculptures, the mold-maker designs the mold, and the images created look like that mold. The mold that was used to create us, is the Trinitarian, multi-faceted God. We are made in God’s image. So… that… means…. We each have in us, all those attributes and strengths of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The mold we were made from has space for all that.
Each of us is unique, with strengths and places where we can grow. But we were made in the image of God with all those traits. You were made to be creative. Imaginative. Ethical. Loving. An Advocate. Mystical. To point people towards God. Love.
But, you say, I am not all of those things. Yes, neither am I. And how amazing is it that you have it in you to be those things. Of those amazing God-traits, think of one you don’t consider a strength. One you don’t think you could ever have. Surprisingly, you do have it in you to be that thing you don’t think you are, because you are made in God’s image.
So maybe we should be trying out our less-developed-modeled-in-God’s-image traits. I’m not suggesting that you can go home and be a creative sculptor or a healing doctor today, just because you’re made in God’s image. But you were made to be creative, healing, loving, all of the things we learn from the Trinity. Tend and nurture one of those traits that’s been sitting fallow. And see how God designed your particular brand of creative or mystical. Sing in the shower. Draw a stick figure. Believe in a mystery. Be the person who helps someone understand the gift of the Word of God.
Not only are you made in God’s image with all of those embedded traits and characteristics, so is your neighbor, your friends, your family. Sometimes, I wish I had special glasses that I could put on, and see what God sees. What do all of those characteristics look like in my family members? What does God want them to become? What can I do to help them be that person, in God’s image, that they were made to be? Having those glasses would help remind us, particularly when our family members or friends behave in a way that doesn’t reflect God’s image.
And being made in God’s image isn’t something reserved for us and our family and friends. Think about the inconsiderate drivers, testy co-workers, an acquaintance you cannot stand, or that group of people you consider unworthy. They too were made in the image of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, made with the same God-like attributes we have and space to grow those we don’t. Knowing that, we should always strive to act or judge only after we’ve put our glasses on, and seen others as God designed them, made in God’s image.
I cannot comprehend the Trinity. I do know what the three persons of the Trinity look like, or maybe I ascribe a list of traits that I attribute to the Trinity from what I read, what we share as our experiences. Those human attributes we ascribe are helpful to understand the breadth and depth of God. And they’re very helpful as we think about each other and others in our world. As we encounter the different persons of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, we can begin - to possibly – perhaps - comprehend the unknowable God. We should also begin – to possibly – perhaps better understand and have compassion for our brothers and sisters in this world, made in God’s image.
Amen.
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