Preached by Carol Kidd on 16 June 2019: Trinity Sunday
Psalm 8, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15
May I speak in the name of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Amen
Glory to God in the highest, for you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father!
A thanksgiving to God for forgiving and freeing us from our sins. Words that in our liturgy follow prayer to the God of love and power to heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ.
Trinity Sunday is set aside in the church calendar as a time to celebrate and give praise and glory to God: Father, Son and Spirit each unique yet equal, working in unity.
We have been greeted in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, soon we will be invited to declare our faith in the triune God in the words of the Creed, and at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer the Trinity will be praised for:
“Through Christ, and with Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory are yours, O loving Father, for ever and ever, Amen”
As Christians we will encounter, question and wonder about various Holy Mysteries as we deepen our understanding of God. It is not necessary to be experts in theology and doctrine or to know for certain everything about God, for having hope in what we do not yet fully understand is part of the journey of faith.
Jesus, as his trial and crucifixion drew near, understood it was all too much for the disciples to understand, the time would come when it would make sense and they would form new communities in his name.
As Easter people we are part of the world-wide Christian community who hold fast in faith to the everlasting hope that God has given because, as Paul explained, the Holy Spirit pours God’s love into our hearts which will surely help us to bear all things.
There is the well-known saying, “two’s company, three’s a crowd”. That may be so in a close one to one relationship where a third person is seeking inclusion and feeling excluded – but that is not the structure of the Trinity. Rather than being in a competitive relationship Father, Son and Holy Spirit make up a perfect united, inclusive community.
I wonder how many communities are represented here? Many of us belong to several communities. Here we are part of the church community. We also belong to communities where we live or work and various groups or clubs where we claim membership.
Relational communities exist through unity in diversity where all who wish to be a part can find a sense of belonging despite differences. An important part of the Collation Service on 25 June will be the opportunity for representatives from different community groups to introduce themselves to Rev’d Vicky. Some will be people who we will recognise, others may never have been in St James’ Church before. What is important is the invitation and the response, a time for relation building as here in West End we welcome our new Vicar whose responsibility is relational to all who live in this parish not just those of us who attend services.
The whole of Christian life, how we relate to God, is defined by the Trinity and determined by God’s invitation through his Son and by his Spirit and how we respond to his call.
Christian life must be loving and inclusive because God in Trinity is loving and invites all; Christian life should be communal, transparent, humble and joyful, because God in Trinity is communal, transparent, humble and joyful. Within the community of the Trinity there’s no jealousy, no conflict, no disrespect. There’s no lying or hiding, and no blaming. Within the community of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit there’s just love: perfect love, perfect unity and communication.
As a church we need to ask how we can move towards a greater expression and experience of community following the example of the Trinity. To do so we need to consider how we think of the three ‘persons’ of the Trinity: God the Father is the creator and sustainer of all things, God the Son redeems, restores and reconciles all that is broken, the Holy Spirit empowers, comforts, guides and inspires revealing the Father and the Son’s quest for loving renewal.
It would be wrong to dismember the Trinity. If we only speak of God’s concern for creation, it can leave God powerful but remote. If we focus only on God as Christ the Redeemer we rightly speak of his salvation, healing and forgiveness; but the danger is that we lose sight of the larger picture that God blesses not only individuals or groups who praise his name, but also that God wishes to bless and draw to himself all communities and indeed the whole world. And if we focus solely on the effects of the Holy Spirit by which God’s grace is shared and our lives are filled with inspiration as God’s love is revealed, then we risk forgetting that God as Trinity reminds us that creation, redemption and renewal belong together!
God as Trinity demonstrates and teaches us that in order to build bridges between the wider community and the community of faith evangelism, prayer and contemplation belong together. The very nature of our Triune God calls us to live lives of mutual care, giving and receiving.
If God is a community of ‘persons’, then we too are called to the community-building task – and the nurture of family, friendships, communities of faith, partnerships in the workplace and hospitality in our neighbourhoods is the creative and demanding task to which all are invited.
Charles Ringma (contemplative and spiritual writer)
The Trinity can be understood as an Icon of what it means to be community. God invites us to be community-builders. God the Father desires that we offer a loving, diverse, fully inclusive welcome in his name in this place and beyond. God the Son desires that all are invited to share in the bread and wine of the Eucharist or a blessing and to enter into relationship with him. God the Spirit desires that by his strength the love of the Father and the Son will be known throughout the world.
This Sunday and every Sunday, today and every day, may we boldly seek to reflect the wonder of the Trinity, to strive to be the community we are called to emulate and give praise and thanks to God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Glory to God in the highest, for you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father! Amen