On the Trinity, Trinity B, 7 June 2009

Trinity B 2009

On Trinity Sunday we speak boldly and as well as is humanly possible about our faith in God and about how we perceive God. We do this even though we may never do more than penetrate the outermost fringes of the great mystery of the Triune God.

            We speak about God in the context of this world and of our experiences in it. We are limited to this world, speaking about God who is not and therein lies the beginning of the difficulty. But God as Holy Spirit inspires us to speak in our limited way about God who is not limit.

            As Christians, we believe that God is totally transcendent, perfect in every way, and ultimately completely beyond our understanding and knowledge, all powerful, all knowing, unlimited in every way except by God’s own self. We also believe that God is also totally immanent, always here among us as pervasive and abiding Spirit, like the air, that we might breathe in and breath out, guiding us to do only that which is good, but allowing us through the gift of free will to do evil as well as good. Finally, we believe that God is active in our lives, coming to us most of all in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whom we believe to be the Risen Christ.   We believe in one God perceived as God the Father, as God the Son, and as God the Holy Spirit, though we cannot understand how that can be.

            The threefold acclamation of the Lord God of hosts as "Holy, Holy, Holy" suggests the emphasis on and great respect for the Lord God as the revelation of God’s own self allowed the ancient Hebrews to begin to perceive God.   Christians understand this as an early revelation of the threefold being of God.

New Testament Greek in which most of the earliest development of our Christian theology was developed and expressed the Trinity concept used plural forms to mean three ways of perceiving God. The Greek came through Latin and into English as three persons.

We should more correctly speak about God on Trinity Sunday and throughout the year as "one in three" rather than as "three in one," one God whom we perceive in three principal ways rather than as three whom we perceive as one. In dialogue with people who are Jews and Muslims, this is especially important. We Christians are monotheists, not tri-theists.

Our Gospel for today allows us to speak from our hearts about God as God is revealed to us. Our Christian traditions depict God as the Father of Jesus and consequently as "Our Father." We can proclaim that the Risen Christ is God for us. We believe that the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus, is among us wherever and whenever God wishes. We cannot see God, but we can feel God the Holy Spirit moving and shaking-- just as we cannot see the wind but we can hear it and we can feel it - and we can see the effects of what God does. We believe that God certainly is revealed also in other ways, but for us as Christians these three are by far the most important. For in the end what we can believe is more important than what we can know about God.

From Saint Matthew: “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

And Saint Paul’s benediction for the Corinthians: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit of God be with all of you".

AMEN

Adapted from Lectionary Scripture Notes for Trinity Sunday (CSS Publishing) and internet sources


				*Sermons 2009* *On the Trinity, Trinity B, 7 June 2009*



	Home \| Proper 17B, 30 August 2009, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 \| Proper 16B, 23 August 2009, John 6:56-69 \| Pentecost 10 (Proper 14B) 9 August 2009, John 6:35, 41-51 \| Pentecost 8B (Proper 12B), John 6:1-21, 26 July 2009 \| Pentecost 7B (Proper 11B), 19 July 2009, Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 \| Pentecost 6B (Proper 10B), 12 July 2009, Mark 6:14-29 \| Pentecost 5B (Proper 9B) 5 July 2009, Mark 6:1-13 \| Pentecost 4B (Proper 8B), 28 June 2009 \| Pentecost 3B (Proper 7B), 21 June 2009 \| Pentecost 2B (Proper 6B), 14 June 2009 \| About Pentecost, Pentecost B, 31 May 2009, \| On the Trinity, Trinity B, 7 June 2009 \| Jesus and Prayer, Easter 7B, 24 May 2009, John 17:6-19 \| How can we love? Easter 6B, 17May 2009, John 15:9-17 \| 2 Sermons: Vineyard and a Baptism, Easter 5B, 10 May 2009, John 15:1-8 \| Who's in? Who's out? Easter 4B, 3 May 2009, John 10:11-18 \| Sacramental Meals, Easter 3B, 16 April 2009, Luke 24:36b-48 \| Resurrection, continued, Doubts, and a Baptism, Easter 2 B, 19 April 2009, John 20:19-31 \| He is not here, Easter B, 12 April 2009, Mark 16:1-8 \| The Seven Sayings from the Cross, Palm Sunday B 2009 \| We wish to see Jesus, Lent 5B, 29 March 1009, John 12:22-33 \| For God so loved the world, Lent 4B, 22 March 2009, John 3:14-21 \| Out with the money changers! Lent 3B, 15 March 2009, John 2: 13-22 \| On taking up the Cross, Lent 2B, 8 March 2009, Mark 8:31-38 \| News or the real Good News?, Lent 1B, 1 March 2008, Mark 1: 9-15 \| Listen to Him! Epiphany Last B Transfiguration, 22 February 2009, Mark 9:2-9 \| What do you mean, demons? Epiphany 4B, 1 February 2009, Mark 1:21-28 \| Immediately and discipleship, Epiphany 3B 2009, 25 January 2009, Mark 1:14-20 \| Right in front of your eyes, Epiphany 2B, 18 January 2009, John 1:43-51 \| In the beginning, water and the Spirit, Epiphany 1B, 11 January 2009, Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11 \| In God we trust, Christmas 2B, 4 January 2009, Jeremiah 31:7-14; Matthew 2:1-12






		Trinity B 2009 On Trinity Sunday we speak boldly and as well as is humanly possible about our faith in God and about how we perceive God. We do this even though we may never do more than penetrate the outermost fringes of the great mystery of the Triune God. We speak about God in the context of this world and of our experiences in it. We are limited to this world, speaking about God who is not and therein lies the beginning of the difficulty. But God as Holy Spirit inspires us to speak in our limited way about God who is not limit. As Christians, we believe that God is totally transcendent, perfect in every way, and ultimately completely beyond our understanding and knowledge, all powerful, all knowing, unlimited in every way except by God’s own self. We also believe that God is also totally immanent, always here among us as pervasive and abiding Spirit, like the air, that we might breathe in and breath out, guiding us to do only that which is good, but allowing us through the gift of free will to do evil as well as good. Finally, we believe that God is active in our lives, coming to us most of all in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whom we believe to be the Risen Christ. We believe in one God perceived as God the Father, as God the Son, and as God the Holy Spirit, though we cannot understand how that can be. The threefold acclamation of the Lord God of hosts as "Holy, Holy, Holy" suggests the emphasis on and great respect for the Lord God as the revelation of God’s own self allowed the ancient Hebrews to begin to perceive God. Christians understand this as an early revelation of the threefold being of God. New Testament Greek in which most of the earliest development of our Christian theology was developed and expressed the Trinity concept used plural forms to mean three ways of perceiving God. The Greek came through Latin and into English as three persons. We should more correctly speak about God on Trinity Sunday and throughout the year as "one in three" rather than as "three in one," one God whom we perceive in three principal ways rather than as three whom we perceive as one. In dialogue with people who are Jews and Muslims, this is especially important. We Christians are monotheists, not tri-theists. Our Gospel for today allows us to speak from our hearts about God as God is revealed to us. Our Christian traditions depict God as the Father of Jesus and consequently as "Our Father." We can proclaim that the Risen Christ is God for us. We believe that the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus, is among us wherever and whenever God wishes. We cannot see God, but we can feel God the Holy Spirit moving and shaking-- just as we cannot see the wind but we can hear it and we can feel it - and we can see the effects of what God does. We believe that God certainly is revealed also in other ways, but for us as Christians these three are by far the most important. For in the end what we can believe is more important than what we can know about God. From Saint Matthew: “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” And Saint Paul’s benediction for the Corinthians: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit of God be with all of you". AMEN Adapted from Lectionary Scripture Notes for Trinity Sunday (CSS Publishing) and internet sources