This is probably heresy (Trinity Sunday)

John 16:12-15

Every year, when Spring is fading into Summer, clergy around the world rise from their seats and stand in their respective pulpits.  The congregation is the faithful crowd, plus or minus a few families who are on vacation.  The season of Easter has drawn to a close and the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit is behind us.  These clergy look out at these faithful who have gathered; I say faithful, because they know that Pentecost, although exciting and seemingly the pinnacle, is not the end of the story.

The preacher clears their throat, shuffles and racks the papers on the pulpit, and beginning their homily speak words that are just shy of officially established heresy.  Today, you see, is the we celebrate The Holy Trinity; Trinity Sunday.

I’ve been told that it is true that you can actually say a few theological things about the Trinity without becoming a heretic.  It was also suggested to me to show pictures of kittens instead of preaching on the Trinity. 

But, I’ve not always been the best at taking advice.

In the short text from today’s Gospel reading we are given one picture of the inner life of the Holy Trinity by our Lord.  Jesus describes how all he has and all he knows as God is more than you and I can truly bear; I am inclined to believe him, being that the simple thought of the Triune God is enough to make my head pop off my shoulders.  So I am thankful for Christ’s gentleness with us here.  But we do see that the Son has everything and knows everything as the Father, but is NOT the same thing as the father, but the Father has this as God and the Son has this as God, and then there’s the Spirit of Truth who will take what is the Son’s and make it the Spirit’s and will share what is given and will glorify the Son who glorifies the Father, the Spirit being God but NOT the same thing as the Son or the Father.

There’s a pretty good chance I committed heresy a couple of good times in what I just said.

So instead of focusing on what we heard from John today and trying to figure this out, let’s do something I don’t often do…let’s focus on the subject of this Sunday, vs. the lectionary text at hand.  So what do we know about the trinity that won’t make our heads spin around and explode? 

Every Sunday, we say the Apostle’s Creed…which I love because as Methodists, well, it’s what we do.  But this morning, I invite you to take a hymnal out of the back of the pew in front of you, and turn to page 880.  The Nicene Creed.  This creed does an amazing job addressing the Holy Trinity.  Let’s read this together:

We are told in the beginning, there was God.  This is what you and I commonly know as God the Father.  The uncreated Father, who always was…without beginning, because the Father is the beginning.  The Almighty, who created the heaven, the earth, created all that is both seen and unseen.  And in this first section there’s another indicator of that knowledge that would make our heads pop off…the unseen. 

Then we have the second section, pertaining to the Lord, Jesus Christ.  The Son of God, begotten of the Father…eternally begotten.  *Note the distinction; the Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.  Not created and not originating from a point, but begotten from no origination.  God from God, (ok), Light from Light (ok), true God from true God (ok) begotten, not made (we got that), of one Being with the Father, through Him all things were made.  Two separate, equal entities, not each other, but both equally God.

The inset speaks of Christ’s purpose and hallmarks of His life, then the third section is about the Holy Spirit, which is named the giver of life (which we know from scripture, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit comes to us at our Baptism in the form of new life through rebirth as we are named and claimed).  We are told next that the Holy Spirit “proceeds forth” from the Father and the Son.  Proceeds…per Merriam Webster’s dictionary, to proceed means to “come forth”.  Not created from, not originating from, but comes from in the intransitive state, who is then worshiped WITH the Father and the Son.  This procession is something that is understood, too, to be eternal with no beginning and no relation to time, and like Jesus who is, was, and is being begotten, we understand that the Spirit is, was and will process from the Father and Jesus, both of these happening in eternal acts of love.

Everybody’s good on that, right?  These three persons…Uncreated, Proceeding, Begotten.  One eternal being, always giving to one another.  The love that the Father has for the Son, that the Son has for the Spirit, that the Spirit has for the Father…the church says these are three persons but they are so tightly wrapped in love that they are really just one being….

Is your head spinning yet?

Despite this carefully articulated theology (albeit imperfect), we can go back to today’s Gospel reading and see that this holding of all things is never ending, and the Holy Spirit is inviting you and I to be a part of this mysterious, loving relationship.  And it’s only by being present in this relationship…not passive, but actively present, present in the same way that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with each other, are we able to tap into the life transforming power held within the love of this Trinity.  It is only by being present in relationship with each other, being present in relationship to the Body of Christ in the church, that we can fully engage the mission ahead of us.  It is through these relationships that we learn to let go of dispute, let go of ego, let go of hate, let go of pride…to hold each other with the same equality wrapped in the same love that takes three persons and bonds them so tightly they become one. 

It is possible.  It can be more than theology.  And we need it…today. 

I’ve sat with our United Methodist brothers and sisters over this past week, and one thing is for certain…we are not in relationship with each other.  This body, this church, is fractured.  The pain is palpable.  Instead of coming together in unity, we promote division.  We use language that separates…us vs them, liberal vs democrat, left vs right, traditional vs progressive.  We aren’t in relationship with one another won’t be until we choose each other over pride, each other over ill formed beliefs, each other over the status quo, each other over hatred, each other over me myself and I. 

We have to let go of dispute.  We have to let go of the things that are keeping us out of relationship with each other.  We, here, gathered in this room, we need each other.  The world needs us, and we need them.  We need to let the love of the Trinity change who we are.  We need to be transformed by the love of the Triune God, in the way that only this love can change us.  Join the work of the Holy Trinity, and change this world.