Trinity Sunday C
Grace Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
June 12, 2022
I speak to you in the name of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Well here it is! Can you feel the excitement?? There is no Sunday like this one. Not one at all. You see, this is the only Sunday in the liturgical year that is an observance of a “doctrine” of the Church. Our other festivals celebrate events in the life of Jesus. Other Sundays we commemorate the lives of saints. Other Sundays we live in ordinary time. But today, we contemplate the teaching of the church on the doctrine of the Trinity. HOOT!
I can’t begin to tell you how many volumes have been written on this church teaching. It is confounding and confusing. Systematic theologians expound upon it at length. All of our efforts to symbolize it fail – we use shamrocks and pizzas and H2O and eggs to describe the incomprehensible. But the reality of the Trinity stands.
The God who loves us and is the crafter of our salvation is three persons in one being – God, the one, is also three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three in one; one, yet three. You see, despite the many volumes that have been written about the Trinity, the fact of the matter is that this doctrine defies explanation. It is a mystery.
And that is what I want you to understand about the Trinity – it is a mystery. It cannot be explained through any number of symbols or analogies, despite our belabored efforts to the contrary.
Generally, we are not comfortable with mysteries – we tend to want to solve them, figure them out, have the answer. But not all mysteries are susceptible to this kind of logical deduction. You know this, of course. There are mysteries in your life as there are in mine –
How is it that you love that one dearest to you?
How can it be that you love this new child in your life without even knowing her?
How is it that when you walk paths in our parks and forests, that you feel a sense of the divine?
This is mystery. This is Holy Ground. And we cherish these moments. We relish the peace that we find there. But this isn’t the end of the conversation.
This is what I want you to understand about the Holy Trinity – God consists of the Father and of the Son and in this love and relationship we see the Spirit.
These three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – appear simultaneously in Scripture only a few times. – we see this at Creation – God created all that was, the Son of God was present and all things were made through him and not one thing was made without him. And at the beginning the Spirit hovered over the waters.
And then there is Jesus’ baptism – Jesus in the river, God speaking clearly, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
In the reading from Romans today we hear that we have peace with God through Jesus because God’s love has been poured in to us through the Holy Spirit. This too is a mystery. The Father is not the Son, the Spirit is not the Father, the Spirit is not the Son. It’s a mystery.
But, my friends, this is the most important part – the Trinity, the God who loves us and claims us, is not a static monolith. God is one who lives in relationship – relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And in this relationship God reaches to us so that we may have peace with God through Jesus because God’s love has been poured in to us through the Holy Spirit.
And so it is that a dance begins.
Each of us are swept up into the arms of God to join in to this cavorting. Dancing with God. Sometimes slow steps. Sometimes a polka. Sometimes we are led around the dance floor that we don’t even recognize. And, my friends, as important as this dance is to each of us individually, I must also proclaim that this dance is one that we as a community of faith engage in together.
Because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we are drawn into the dance of the persons of the Trinity, the dance of God. A dance in which relationship is paramount. A dance in which we indeed are Dancing with the Stars. A dance where we follow where our Shepherd leads. A dance that may take our breath away. But not we alone.
In this sacred space, we baptize – we welcome and receive and embrace all who are washed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We walk wet. In this sacred space, we feast – bread and wine are prepared. Prayers are offered. The Holy Spirit is invited to join us and make this meal holy. In this sacred space, we are girded up and prepared to depart this place to be the hands and feet and heart of Jesus in the world around us.
Relationships. The God whom we worship is a God of relationships. Dear friends across the miles. Parent and child, growing and stretching and wondering what is next. Newcomer among us. Those with whom we may be at odds. Closest ones. Those whom we cannot even name because they are at distant lands.
Because of the dance of the Trinity, we are knit together into a fabric of faith.
Let’s dance!
In the name of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
