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Holy Trinity Sunday
John 16:12-15
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
For two thousand years the church has wrestled with the idea that God is three in one. It is one of the great mysteries of our faith and perhaps one of the most difficult of all the doctrines of Christianity. But there have been several teachers in the church’s history who have done a good job of explaining the concept. St. Patrick was one. He used a simple little plant, a three leafed clover, to explain the concept of the Trinity. One plant made of three leaves; he used the shamrock as teaching tool. Martin Luther described the Trinity as God the father in heaven, God the son who came to redeem us and God the spirit who gathers us and inspires us to proclaim his word.
There is not much new to add about the Trinity but it is important to be reminded about the concept as, along with the resurrection, it is one of the great cornerstones of our faith. It is the only area of our faith that all Christian denominations agree on as well. We all have the father, son and Holy Spirit, if nothing else.
The Bible doesn’t mention the Trinity all that often. We find it here in this passage in John, once in Matthew and Paul touches on the idea a few times in his letters. It is even more challenging to find references to the Trinity in the Old Testament, but there are hints of it. In Genesis, we are told the spirit of God hovered over the waters in creation. We are told that it is the spirit of God who inspires the Old Testament prophets. It is important to note these. It is important because the concept of the Trinity is the key to our Christianity. Scholars generally agree that denominations who don’t accept the Trinity really aren’t Christian. Each Sunday in our creeds we confess to our faith and belief in the Trinity.
So what does the Trinity mean in our daily life? It means we are created in the image of this triune God and we are called to bring him into the world through our relationships, our actions, our words. We can begin by asking ourselves these questions.
How am I like God, the Father? How is it that I enrich creation around me? How is it in my work that I make wise decisions? How is it that in my relationships I make decisions that enrich those around me? Do I make those wise decisions? How do I understand myself as the steward of his creation that God calls me to be? Do I care for all creation the way God the Father would care for it? Do I echo his blessing upon those around me?
How am I like God, the Son? Do I show Christ through my care and compassion for those in need? Does my life express my belief in our Lord? Do I bring peace with me wherever I go?
How am I like God, the Spirit? Do I listen before I speak? Do the words I speak uplift and give hope? Do others see truth in what I say and what I do? Do I enable people to be open in my presence or am I too quick to criticize? Do I need to be careful about listening more and speaking less?
In those things we may indeed be a reflection of the Trinity, the whole God in whose image we are made. May we pray that our lives are a reflection of the one who made us, the one who gave his life for us, and the one who gathers us together as the body of Christ.
Words into Action:
Take some time to reread those questions:
How am I like God, the Father? How is it that I enrich creation around me? How is it in my work that I make wise decisions. How is it that in my relationships I make decisions that enrich those around me? Do I make those wise decisions? How do I understand myself as the steward of his creation that God calls me to be? Do I care for all creation the way God the Father would care for it? Do I echo his blessing upon those around me?
How am I like God, the Son? Do I show Christ through my care and compassion for those in need? Does my life express my belief in our Lord? Do I bring peace with me wherever I go?
How am I like God, the Spirit? Do I listen before I speak? Do the words I speak uplift and give hope? Do others see truth in what I say and what I do? Do I enable people to be open in my presence or am I too quick to criticize? Do I need to be careful about listening more and speaking less?
Read them and think about your daily interactions and relationships. Maybe choose one that you might need to be better at. Spend some time praying about it and applying it in your day until it becomes a part of what and who you are and you have made that aspect of the Trinity manifest in your corner of the world.
