We Are A Trinitarian Congregation!
Posted on Jun 15, 2014 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
Today is the one day in the church calendar that we focus on a doctrine of the church. Today is Holy Trinity Sunday! Now if you try to look for the word trinity in scripture, or for an explanation of what the Trinity is in scripture you won't find it. The doctrine of the Trinity is a complicated and difficult concept to understand. As I have told you before, after four years of seminary and now, eight years of further study and pastoral teaching, I still don’t understand it. How on earth can we explain that God is one and three at the same? For several years after seminary, I would try to explain the Trinity on this day, as if I really could do such a thing. But, as you know, over the past few years, I have come to the conclusion that to try and explain something that is incomprehensible is silly. As Jesus said to his disciples in the Gospel of John, as he prepared them for his departure, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). There are things about God and God’s ways that we just can’t comprehend, yet. But after he said this, Jesus went on to say, God’s Spirit will reveal these things to us as we are able. To say we believe in the Holy Trinity is not to say that we have God all figured out, but instead it says, we have a God that loves us so much that he chooses to reveal himself in many ways.
Now, as I said, I am not going to try and explain the Trinity, but before I go any farther this morning, I would like to make sure that we understand what the doctrine of the Trinity is not saying. It is not saying that God is a man. If this doctrine causes you to imagine God as two guys and a ghost, then we are missing the point of the doctrine. You see, God, over the millennia, has revealed himself in many ways. In our story from Genesis this morning, we are told that God was revealed to the world in the form of wind. In the book of Proverbs, God is revealed as wisdom, “Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1). In this verse, God is referred to in a feminine way. And in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke God is also referred in a feminine way, when Jesus himself said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34).
The bottom line is this; God is neither male nor female. For us, God is incomprehensible, but, God has revealed God’s self to us in many ways and over the millennia, the most common form of reference to this incomprehensible God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So, if we are not going to try and figure out how God can actually be all these things at once, and if we are not going to try to prove God is a man or a woman or neither, then what is it that we ought to talk about today? I think the answer lies on our Gospel text. As I thought about this in preparation for today, I decided that maybe, just maybe, the key today is the challenge that Jesus lays before his disciples, which means
you and me, too, in the name of this Trinitarian God. We all have heard this story before haven’t we? As he is preparing to ascend to the Father, he say to his disciples, “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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (28:19-20).
According to Matthew, Jesus’ final words to his disciples were to commission them to go into to the world in mission. Yes, the church is called to be in mission and that mission is that we are to bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. How do we do that? Well, we do it by proclaiming the word to the world. But, as we were reminded last week by BJ Fevold the best way we can witness to Christ is through our deeds and the most powerful deed we can proclaim is love. Today, Jesus reminds us that God, who is a God of relationships, desires that you and I, and all his followers, go into the world and be willing to enter into relationships, not just with people we know, but seek to enter into relationships with strangers, people who are different than us, people who know God and people who don’t. The bottom line is God wants everyone to know of the love he has for all his creation and we are the hands and feet in this world that are called upon to make Christ known. Our baptismal mission is to share the gospel with a world that often forgets its source of life. We are to bear the good news that God promises always to remember us with mercy and compassion.
So how do we do this? Well, first and foremost we ought to remember that we don’t do this alone. Jesus has promised that he walks with us, even “to the end of the age.” Secondly, we are strengthened for this missional work when we gather for worship and as we grow in our faith. But, we don’t believe in this Triune God and we don’t seek to do his work without doubt. If I were a betting man, I would bet everyone in this sanctuary today, in the midst of this worship has some doubt and that is not only OK, it is normal. Doubt strengthens our faith. Don’t you find it fascinating that in every one of the gospels, Jesus’ own disciples, those who had followed him from the start and knew him best, did not believe the story of the resurrection at first? And even after the resurrection and after 40 days of being with the risen Lord, the 11 gathered with Jesus and worshipped and doubted. They doubted and, still Jesus said to them, you can now go do my work.
Brothers and sisters, today, we are reminded that we are a Trinitarian congregation that is called into mission by the Trinitarian God we confess. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to love the world as our Trinitarian God loves this world. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to leave the comfort of this place and go into a dark, scary, violent world to proclaim, and offer, peace and love. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to stand with the oppressed, the poor, the homeless, the alien, and seek to bring about justice. As a Trinitarian congregation, we are called to offer more than charity, that is writing checks and giving away free food, we are called to enter into relationship with the world and work for justice.
BJ pointed this out to us last week when he challenged us to be willing to touch the world when he shared Coles challenge for himself to love someone a little more every day. This is our mission!
Over the next several months, as a congregation, we will be looking at and trying to better understand our specific mission and I invite you today to begin to dream about the new mission you think God might be calling us into. If you have not already done so, you will soon be receiving an invitation to attend a small group meeting you will be asked to share your thoughts and concerns about Salem. Please make the time to attend one of these meetings and share your thoughts and dreams because we are a Trinitarian congregation, who is called to bear witness to the love and mercy of the God we know, the God we call Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.