When we were in Tuscany just a few weeks ago, we saw at least a couple of paintings and frescoes which attempted to portray the trinity. Typically these showed an older, gray-bearded man in the back, who was, of course, God the Father. In front would be Jesus on the cross, representing the redemptive 2nd person of the trinity. And somewhere in between would be a dove, showing the Spirit.
This is Trinity Sunday—the day when we are supposed to concentrate on the three-in-oneness of our God. If I had played my cards right, Kacey would have been preaching on this day too, but I blew it! So here I am, dealing with the sometimes difficult-to-grasp doctrine of the trinity.
The difficulty is that there is no specific reference to the trinity in the scriptures. This is a doctrine the early church came up with. It’s something new as far as religions go. It’s still monotheism and it’s definitely not the polytheism of the Greeks and Romans. It’s proclaiming the oneness of God yet recognizing the different ways that God appears to us.
My problem with the Trinity is that I see God in far vaster ways than just a trinity. I see God as a multi-faceted, ever-turning gem who shows different faces at different times, always amazing and astounding us. I suppose that would make me something of a heretic, but who’s surprised at that?
There is one thing to be clear of when speaking about the trinity. Traditionally, we have spoken about the three persons of the trinity. The word “persons” makes it difficult sometimes to understand. But if you realize that the word “person” comes from the Latin word “persona” it makes it a little easier. For the “persona” referred to the mask worn by Greek and Roman actors. The mask was the persona, which they wore to indicate different characters. So the three persons of God can be thought of as the masks God wears when dealing with humanity.
But here on Trinity Sunday, the lectionary attempts to make it all clear by cobbling together verses that give us a glimpse of some of these facets of God. The trinity as it were. The three aspects of God that have historically been a part of our Christian beliefs. So let’s take a look at these verses to see what we can discover about God. Let’s start with Isaiah.
This is one of my favorite verses. It’s the story of Isaiah’s call to prophesy to the Israelites. It’s a clear acceptance of God’s call but with it we get a glimpse into the magnitude of God’s greatness according to Isaiah.
Isaiah begins by right off telling us that the hem of God’s robe fills the temple. The temple in Jerusalem at this point would have been the biggest building around. And it can contain only the hem of God’s robe. That’s how amazingly big God is. It’s unimaginable.
God is continually being praised by the angels—the cherubim & seraphim—who surround the throne. They sing out “holy, holy, holy.” In Hebrew, to express the superlative, you repeat the word three times. Thus when they sing out “holy, holy, holy,” they are saying that God is the holiest of all.
God also has the power to forgive, as evidenced by the coal which touches Isaiah’s lips and frees him from guilt. God is always ready to do this for us—forgive us of our sins and send us forth guiltless. Isaiah himself declared his lips unclean and immediately he was made clean.
Finally, from this Isaiah passage, we learn that God calls us into God’s service. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God cries out to Isaiah as, indeed, God cries out to us. God is continually in need of those who will respond to the call with “Here am I; send me!” It’s funny to think of God in need but indeed that’s where we find God in this scripture—needing those who will act on God’s part in this world.
In Romans we learn about the Spirit of God which makes us children of God. It is through the adoptive nature of the Spirit that we become God’s children.
The Spirit moves and dances among us. It is the very being of God in our midst always and ever-present. And according to the verses we heard earlier from John, it is this very Spirit that births us into Christian life. We are to be “born from above,” John writes. The Holy Spirit then is the initiator of our lives of faith—adopted in yet born into the life of faith.
The Spirit is the one who sustains us through the difficult times of our lives—who lifts us up when we are perilously close to falling, who propels us forth when we respond with a “yes” to God’s call. The Spirit comes to surround us with loving protection and a nurturing presence in times of trial.
And what can we say about the third person of the trinity—Jesus? Jesus shows up in our gospel reading as a teacher—a well-known and respected teacher. He brings signs from God, according to Nicodemus. As Christians this aspect of God is central. We claim the divinity of Christ as central to our faith. In fact, the age-old Disciples claim of “no creed but Christ” is a clear part of the centrality of Christ in our beliefs.
Jesus is the man who walked the earth—it is Christ who represents us and intercedes for us. Jesus, as a brother to all of us, is often seen as our friend—our compatriot in the struggles our faith can lead us to. Jesus, as God’s son, as the gospel proclaimed this morning, is seen, in traditional Christian doctrine, as fully human, fully divine.
This person of the trinity knows completely what it is to be human. Jesus felt pain and suffering and joy and sorrow and was moved by the emotions of others. He walked the face of the earth and knew real pain—including the pain of a tortuous death.
As John tells us, Jesus came not for condemnation but for saving. Jesus is one who saves us—from the evils that can be found in this world, from the depths to which we can sink, from ourselves.
The three persons of the Trinity have been known historically as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Feminist theology has recast the three persons as Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, referring more to the actions of God. However you refer to God, however you view the trinity, however God comes to you and acts in your life, know that God—the almighty one, the Spirit who makes us part of the family and Jesus the Christ who saves us—is ready to call you forth and sustain you in your efforts on God’s behalf.
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