The Perfect Relationship............

Trinity Sunday 26^th May 2013

Proverbs 8:1-4; 22-31

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

+ In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Trinity Sunday is one of those Sundays during the year that preachers sometimes dread. How to put into words something that is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible, yet is at the very core of our faith and identity. I’m sure also that many people in churches today will be glazing over slightly at the prospect of listening to a sermon trying to explain the seemingly unexplainable……God the 1 in 3 and 3 in 1! It almost sounds like the tagline from a cheesy television advert!

If you are one of those tempted to drift off for the next few minutes then just remember and hold on to this one thought. Simple enough and one that I’m sure we all know at least on a superficial level.

GOD

IS

LOVE

In those three small words we see something of the essence of what the Trinity is!

At the heart of our Christian faith is the affirmation that in Christ we have come to know the triune God. Not “know about” in some kind of distant or abstract way, but actually know! There is one God, and this God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The mechanics of how this one God can at the same time be three very distinct persons remains as much a mystery to us as how Christ can be fully present in the bread and wine whenever we take the Eucharist. Yet it is a mystery to which we give our assent each and every time we say the creed.

What really strikes me whenever I think about the Trinity is not whether I understand it or not, because I suspect that I understand it no more than most other people sitting in church today. What sticks out for me is the theme of relationship! In many religions God is characterised as a distant, impersonal figure who seems to do little more than set the world in motion, throw in the odd disaster now and again while at the same time demanding a slavish, unquestioning obedience!

The God who is revealed to us within the Trinity is completely the opposite from that unreachable figure. The God we come to worship today is a God who relates to creation itself, and in particular to humanity as we see in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Relationships are at the heart of our human experience. Whatever shape or form they may come in we all have experience of some kind of relationship in our lives. That of a parent and child or the relationship between husband and wife or life partners. The relationship of shared interest and mutual friendship with those with whom we have something in common. Humanity was created to live and thrive within relationship right from the outset. Simply being with, sharing with and supporting and encouraging one another as we journey through life together.

 Most of us operate best within some form of community or another. The old adage of “No man is an island” is not simply a catchy little saying that most of us have heard over the years. It has a certain truth to it! Few of us are called to the solitary life of a medieval style hermit, and even for those who either through choice or circumstance are often alone there is usually some form of contact with others, hopefully (though sadly not always, of a supportive and encouraging nature).

Our gospel reading today gives us an insight into the relationship within the Trinity. Jesus has just been speaking to the disciples about what will happen once he is no longer physically with them. He speaks of the “Spirit of Truth” (v13), which earlier he had described to them as the “Advocate” (v7) coming to guide them into all truth and pointing the way to him. Going on to say that “All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (v15).

That relationship we see there is not one of competition or superiority. Rather it is a relationship that is grounded in love, for GOD IS LOVE. To know something of the Trinity is to know something of the nature of God, which is pure undiluted love. I suspect if we were to ask the question “what is love?” in this room now we would end up with almost as many definitions as there are people sitting here. It’s tricky to pin down, but I suspect also that most of us would recognise it somehow.

 

The Trinity is God in perfect relationship! We don’t fully understand it and we can’t fully explain it! Yet each time we come to the altar and eat the body and blood of Christ we too are invited to be participants in that relationship.

The nature of the Trinity is just as impossible for us to fully understand, yet through it we somehow get a glimpse into the fullness of what it means to love and be loved. May each of us come to experience that love for ourselves and allow ourselves to be used as vessels by which others may also receive that same love.

+ In the name of our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

AMEN

 

 

No More On The Outside........

No More On The Outside……..

Zephaniah 3:14-end

Matthew 28:1-10 & 16-end

+ In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our reading from Matthew’s gospel ends with perhaps one of the most well-known of Jesus’s commands to his disciples. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20)

It comes at the end of a narrative which sees both of the Mary’s, Magdalene and the mother of Jesus visit the tomb of the one who only a couple of days earlier they had seen endure a horrendous and tortuous death by crucifixion. They would have gone to the tomb to weep and mourn for Jesus, grief-stricken and probably at a complete loss as to what to do now!

These feelings of utter despair are suddenly all turned completely upside down at the appearance of an angel who informs them that in fact the Jesus they sought, who had indeed been crucified was now raised to new life. It’s easy to picture them, standing there, mouths wide-open in astonishment at all that is happening to them…….both the angel and the message. Could this be their grief playing tricks on them in their state of mind? Nevertheless they go, quickly, at the angels behest, with a mixture probably of pure terror and high excitement to pass on the angels message to the other disciples.

 And I say “other” disciples deliberately. We are so used to thinking of the disciples as the group of twelve (now eleven) men who figure so prominently in the gospels that the role of others, often women, can be easily overlooked or relegated to a mere footnote in the story. Yet these two women were no less disciples than the men, and it is significant that it was to the women the angel spoke and Jesus made his first post-resurrection appearance.

And it is significant because just as in his earthly life and ministry as Jesus embraced and welcomed those who were often at the edge of society (and in his day that was very much the place of women), so also in his death and resurrection he chooses to appear first to those who perhaps the chattering classes of the day would somehow look down upon. It almost echoes what he says earlier in Matthew’s gospel in a different context in the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard “So the last will be first, and the first will be last” (Matt 20:16). These two women, undoubtedly used to being pushed to one side, ignored or looked down upon were now privileged to be the very first to witness the risen Jesus. And it is they who are given the task of breaking this joyous news to the rest of the disciples. It is ironic perhaps that given the honoured place Jesus gives to his women disciples alongside his male disciples that the church which bears his name has for so long struggled to reflect his full welcome and inclusion for all.

Our first reading, from Zephaniah is a song of joy! A song that speaks of bringing the outcast, the lame, the downtrodden……..the excluded, into the Kingdom of God. It speaks of a God who rejoices over such people with gladness. It’s not of course that he doesn’t also rejoice over those over those whose lives are full of good fortune, but his rejoicing and love are wide and great enough to embrace all who will receive. But there seems to be a particular emphasis in him reaching out to the previously unreachable.

For generations the Jewish people had regarded themselves as the chosen people of God, the elect, who were set apart from others (Gentiles). This “Great Commission” at the end of Matthew’s gospel widens God’s favour to all, not just the select few. Those who had maybe previously thought of themselves as belonging to a select band of specially chosen handpicked elite are told to go and share what they know, bring others into the fold. Include those who had been previously excluded!

Just as he first encountered the women at the tomb and turned their tears into joy and amazement, so we are invited to encounter him also. Just as they ran to share their news of the risen Lord with the other disciples, so we too are invited to join them and share that same news. Whether we share that news literally with the nations, or perhaps with our friends and families or our neighbourhood, we too have a role to play in bringing in those who may somehow not feel as though they belong.

 And perhaps we feel sometimes that is where we are ourselves, sitting or standing on the outside, sometimes ignored…..often overlooked. Yet, it is to you that I would say look at the two women at the tomb who would have felt very much the same and see the difference that their contribution made to the beginning of what would eventually become the church. No more on the outside looking in, but very much on the inside looking out and indeed playing a full role in taking the good news of the Gospel to others.

+ In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.