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Sermon - Trinity Sunday (B) - 7th June 2009
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping
Readings: John 3:1-17
Today is Trinity Sunday and an opportunity to consider that unique teaching of the Church. The word Trinity is not used in the Bible but it is taught throughout. For example, we really couldn’t make sense of today’s gospel reading without the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine reveals the true nature of the God we worship and in our liturgy it is always on view. For example, when a person is baptised they are baptised into a faith in God, and the naming of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is deliberate because God distinguishes himself from every other faith and religion in the world be revealing such a unique characteristic. This God has three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is more than just a vague affirmation of a faith in God. This is faith in a particular God, the Trinitarian God.
Now, of course, its hard to understand the Trinity. So its always best to see the Trinity in action, and that’s what we see in the Bible, the Trinitarian God at work. But as well, that’s how God is at work in our world today. As a Trinitarian God he is actively involved in our world. If God were not Trinity what would we have? We would be left with a God of the outside, supporting us at a distance, hoping we prosper in the world. It would be like a football match. We are left to get on with the game, with God cheering us on from the sidelines, offering his encouragement. But with God as Trinity, he can do both. He can rule over his creation, yet at the same time be intimately involved with every aspect of it.
And in that way it makes sense of the human experience of God, that is, how we experience God in our time. I was always impressed with Corrie Ten Boom’s reflection of her time in a concentration camp during the Second World War. She maintained her faith through those dreadful years. Others in the camp laughed at her, saying, “Where is your God now? Clearly he has abandoned you to this terrible place.” Her response was to say, there was no dark deep place to go where God’s love did not go deeper still. Even there, she knew that the spirit of God was with her to strengthen and to comfort her.
Now I have never experienced anything as bad as that, but I will never forget my year in Papua New Guinea as a young man. I was not married. I was separated from my family, my friends, anyone of significance in my life. I had no phone. I couldn’t ring home. Letters took about a month to get anywhere. I felt incredibly isolated. And yet, for that year I felt the comfort of God in ways I had never known before. No doubt the Spirit of God was with me supporting me, encouraging me, and strengthening me throughout that time.
And of course, this sort of experience is commonly reported by Christians throughout the centuries. And its not inspired by a faith in a remote and disengaged deity in some distant location. It is because God is Trinity, that his activity is so dynamic as he works with his people in his world. As we pray through our church’s liturgy we come across the expression of the Trinity over and over again. The absolution and the blessings are always given in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is always in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit because this uniquely defines the God we believe in.
He has revealed himself in three persons, not just to provide us with some intriguing information about him. This is not data to be puzzled over for a doctrine exam. We are told that God is trinity for three very good reasons. First, because God is a revealing God. He is constantly explaining himself to us though he is under no obligation to do so. Second, because that is how we will see God at work in our world and essentially in the work of redemption which ruptured the Trinity like nothing before or since. And thirdly, this truth is revealed to us so that we don’t come to wrong conclusions about God.
But we can be so easily put off by this doctrine. Essentially, it teaches that there are three persons, but only one God. Each person is fully God, yet there aren’t three gods. Each person dwells within the other, or technically they co-inhere. But that doesn’t mean that there is just one God who masquerades as three persons. The three persons are real though there is only one God. Other religions criticize Christianity because of the Trinity. Some accuse us of believing in several gods. We can feel quite defensive and embarrassed. But just because we don’t understand it, and can’t explain it, doesn’t take away its inherent worth or value to us.
I don’t understand nuclear physics. Perhaps few understand the works of Einstein. But just because its not easily understood doesn’t stop countries from building nuclear weapons – even Pakistan. Though the knowledge is difficult understand doesn’t stop people from applying it. And it is with the Trinity. We may not understand it but when we apply it we can see its power.
So firstly, as I said, God is a revealing God. In essence God is Trinity. So the mind behind the whole of creation is not a single individual but a community, a fellowship of three. This is a community that dwells in harmony and love. that community of God has revealed itself to us, and calls us to join in that community. So the family of the church becomes the family of God. “In my Father’s house there are many rooms – I go to prepare a place for you.” – said Jesus.
Second, the Trinity accurately describes how God works in our world to rescue us. It is God the Father who sends God the Son into our world to die on the cross. It is God the Holy Spirit who raises God the Son from the tomb. So the Trinity explains who it is that is dying on the cross and yet how God can still be God. It is this unique man, Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man. It is the death of God that bring us life. As the writer to the Hebrews takes pains to point out. Jesus is unique only because his is God. As a man he can sympathise with our weaknesses and can stand before God as our representative, making petitions on our behalf but as God he can do that work both perfectly and powerfully.
And as the Son of God, his sacrifice will be acceptable to the Father. It is only because of the reality of the Trinity that this great work of God can be accomplished. And we must always remember that the Trinity is not an exclusive club. We see the power of the Trinity in salvation and we see the glory of the Trinity in that we are drawn into that relationship. And so what the Spirit of God has done for Jesus he will also do for us. So Paul can write that if the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, he will bring to life your mortal body. A great hope we all share as the work of the Trinity impacts upon us individually.
And that’s the positive side. But finally, the negative side is that the Trinity helps us to avoid making wrong conclusions about God. The biggest mistake is where people conclude that Jesus was nothing more than a man. In the days of the early church it was a major issue. Some said he was just a prophet of God though a great one. Others said he was all God, and his feet never touched the earth. Both conclusions rob Jesus of the ability to save or the ability to be our representative. The Trinity affirms that though Jesus was a man, he was also fully God, as much as the father or the Holy Spirit are fully God.
Many have doubted that the Spirit is truly God. They conclude he is just the power of God. Yet throughout the Old Testament we have plenty of references to the work of the Spirit. From Jesus own lips we learn so much of the ministry of God’s spirit. The spirit is most closely associated with the work of bringing life. So we see the Spirit bringing life to the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37. We see his work on Easter Sunday bringing Jesus to life. And we see again the work of the Spirit in Acts 2 with the birth of the Church so he is accurately described as the Spirit of the church and the Spirit of life.
So as we gaze at the Trinity it’s like viewing a kaleidoscope. At first it might appear a confusing picture. But with each turn a new pattern emerges, a new beauty is revealed and through it all the glory and the love of God shines through.