Entering into the relationship of the Trinity

Trinity Sunday, 19^th June 2011

Isaiah 40:20-17, 27-31; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 & Matthew 28:16-20

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

Relationships are curious things! Often quite tricky and complex. When looked at in very close detail it is often difficult to pinpoint exactly how or why they work, but without them our lives would be vastly different from how they are today. I’m not just speaking about the kind of relationship we may have with a spouse or partner, important though they are. We are all involved in relationships of some kind in our daily lives in the way we relate to and interact  with other people. Sometimes those relationships may be relatively superficial with people who we barely know, or just know as a passing acquaintance.

 Most people will be familiar with the kind of relationships that build up in the workplace. Relationships of employer/employee and the tension and difficulties that can sometimes occur there. Relationships built with colleagues over time as friendships grow and a sense of working together towards a shared goal is achieved. And of course the relationships within a family. Father, mother, son, daughter, grandparents, and so it goes on.

 All our relationships work in very different ways, and have very different dynamics, yet there is no doubt about the reality of them. We may struggle at times to put into words exactly what makes them tick, but on the whole we value them and function much more effectively when we have people we can relate to on some level.

Today, being “Trinity Sunday” is the day set aside by the church for considering the most complex and puzzling relationship of all, that of God as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” and how we can fit into that relationship. Since almost the very beginning of the church theologians have wrestled with the question of how one God can at the same time be three quite separate persons. That is certainly not a question that I’m able to give any quick answers to.

  Every Sunday we say together the words of the Nicene Creed, in which we affirm our faith in one God. A God who, according to the words of the creed is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  There is nowhere in the Bible where the word “Trinity” occurs, and nowhere where it is explicitly spelled out either. Yet throughout scripture we see examples of how the three persons of the Trinity work together in such close unity, that there is little doubt about the closeness of the relationship between them.

In both the gospel and the reading from 2 Corinthians we have the two most often used passages that point us towards an understanding of the Trinity. Matthew’s gospel tells of the disciples meeting the risen Jesus who tells them, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:18-19). And in Paul’s closing words to the Corinthians he urges them to live in peace and unity with one another as he says the words that I’m sure we all know, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor 13:14).

Both of those passages speak of reaching out beyond the comfort our own boundaries and self-interest to others. We are called out to relate to others, and to share what we know of the love and grace of God with one another.....and beyond that, with the world, and with those we meet. And we are to do this in the name of the one who has relationship right at the very core of his being

Our reading from Isaiah speaks of the everlasting God as our Creator.  Many people find it more helpful to think in terms of God as “Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer” than in the traditional terms of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And we certainly get an image here of a God who is active in Creation and who strengthens and upholds the weak and the powerless. Even at the very beginning of creation we start to see the first signs of God operating in relationship. Genesis speaks of the Spirit sweeping over the face of the waters. John’s gospel tells us of “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” as his introduction to who Jesus was, emphasising that right at the very start there was a partnership of equals in operation here.

At the beginning of his ministry during his baptism, we have the familiar image of the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove upon Jesus while a voice from heaven calls out “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11). As he prepares to enter into his public ministry of reaching out to those in need he receives this very public affirmation from above.

Before his death Jesus had already told them that when he had gone the Holy Spirit would come to comfort and sustain them (Jn 14:26), and last week we celebrated Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples in power.

The narrative of the Bible all the way through is one that speaks of a God who is interested in relationship. A God who is actively involved with his creation, of which we are all a part, and who does not stand at a great distance. In the Old Testament we see the development of God’s relationship with the people of Israel through his covenant with them as he takes them through the dark years of the wilderness. Even in their times of rebellion and disbelief he is still reaching out to them in love. In the New Testament we see in the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus the ultimate act of love for a world that so often seems turned in on itself and oblivious to anyone’s needs but their own. And we are given in that reading from 2 Corinthians the perfect template to how we as Christians should aim to live in relationship with one another in a way that mirrors the harmony of the relationship in the Trinity. It is when we are able to be Jesus for others in the things we do or say, when we reach out to those who feel broken and when we allow the Spirit to guide us to say the right words of comfort to somebody. It is then that we are able to enter in some way into the relationship of the Trinity.

As I mentioned at the beginning, understanding how and why relationships work as they do is not always easy. Sometimes the only thing to do is to just get stuck in and be the hands, eyes, and ears of Jesus for someone. Understanding the relationship of the Trinity is something that people far greater than me have struggled with, and all the analysis in the world cannot beat actually experiencing and being a part of that relationship for ourselves, because that is when it becomes more real to us.

May each of us open ourselves to be used as vessels of God’s love and grace to all who we meet, and may our relationships mirror that which we see in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

AMEN