Readings:
Sermon:
Today we focus on the Trinity, in our Gospel reading, Jesus sends his followers out to make disciples of all the nations. Jesus commissions them to go out and Baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, the Three in One; but what does this mean and really, does it matter?
I would suggest the Trinity is absolutely fundamental to Anglican Christian beliefs, it helps us to understand who God is and the extent of God’s love for us. God sent God’s Son to walk among us to teach us and die for our salvation. God sent the Holy Spirit to be within us, and around us strengthening us and guiding us to live and work for God’s glory; but God is the Son and the Holy Spirit, a complex and confusing truth, how do we understand such a complex subject?
How do we make sense of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit? The Three in One?
We could use analogies, such as It’s like how water, ice and steam can all exist from the same chemical compound, but that isn’t quite right, that would suggest that God changes from one person to another and let’s be clear, the Son does not become the Father because we are in a cold snap. Another is how one has a different identity to each person that knows us, I am wife, mom, sister, friend, depending on who you ask, but that would suggest that different people know different versions of God. No.
What about one being that exists in three persons, a being, in other words what someone is and person, who someone is. I am a human being, I am also Tracey, I am fully human, I am also fully Tracey, slightly better, but still not quite right.
And where does this all come from anyway? Well, it is found throughout the bible, at the very beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In its original Hebrew, the word for God is Elohim, this is plural, so Gods created the earth, but it is not suggesting there were several, the context used was that of one true God. We also find the number three popping up throughout the Bible, the strangers that called on Abraham, Moses, Elijah and Jesus in the Transfiguration and so on.
The truth is, we could spend days trawling through books written by academics, full of long words and complex analyses, there are libraries full of such books in any Theological college; really though, is it that terrible that most of us cannot really explain the Trinity? Now I am not suggesting for one moment that the Trinity is unimportant, it is, and there are some excellent resources online if you wish to explore the subject further. No, as I have already mentioned, The Trinity is fundamental to our Christian beliefs, however, does it really matter if most of us cannot really understand it or explain it accurately?
Isn’t the point of faith that God is so complex and huge, we cannot truly, as humans hope to comprehend? Would we really want to trust our eternal souls to an entity that was simple enough for us mere mortals to understand?
The important thing is that there is one true God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The all- encompassing, immortal, indivisible God. That he loves each one of us without question, that he is entirely accessible to everyone of us, that he is alongside us even on our darkest days, that is what is important.
Questions
- Where do you see the Holy Spirit at work in your life?
- Does trying to understand the Trinity help or hinder your faith, or should we just trust in God’s plan for us?