The Whole East Coast, June 22, 2014

The Whole East Coast

Trinity Sunday

Genesis 2:4-9, Matthew 28:16-20

June 15, 2014

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

 

The Whole East Coast

A small girl stayed for the worship service for the first time.  When the service was over, her Father asked how she liked it.  She replied, "Oh it was just fine.  However, there's just one thing I don't understand.  Why wasn't the west coast included?"  Her Father asked her what she meant.  And she replied, "Oh, you know!  It's where the minister said, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the whole east coast."

It's easy to understand why she was confused.  Even if she had heard the words correctly, the Trinity is a difficult concept to understand or to explain.  However, since last Sunday was Trinity Sunday, and since few of us have heard a sermon about the Trinity this week, I’d like to focus upon this concept for the next few minutes and by so doing, celebrate God’s presence in our lives.

Every Sunday we sing Henry Greatorex’s Gloria Patri  as well as Thomas Ken’s Doxology. In both we proclaim and affirm the triune nature of God. In the Gloria Patri we sing, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.”

In the Doxology we sing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heav’nly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

 

Thomas Ken was an Anglican Bishop in England in the 1600's. And he was the brother-in-law of Izaak Walton, the famous angler. King Charles of England appointed Thomas as one of his chaplains. It is said that when it was time for chapel, King Charles would say, “I must go in and hear Thomas tell me my faults.”

It has been said that the Doxology has been sung more frequently than any other religious song in the last 350 years.

Tertullian The concept of the trinitas or trinity to describe the Godhead was first put forth by Tertullian, a pagan who converted to Christianity around 195 a.d. Living in North Africa, Tertullian was known as the greatest theologian of the West until Augustine.

Triune Expressions  We speak of the Trinity in many benedictions such as “Grace, mercy and peace, from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest and abide with you now and forever more.” When I baptize a child or an adult, I say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Book of Confessions Our Book of Confessions reflect the triune nature of God. For instance, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Confession of 1967, and the Brief Statement of Faith of 1983 all are written in three sections: one for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Spirit.

New Testament  The concept of the Trinity is found through out the New Testament.

At the end of his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul ends with this familiar benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14)   Peter speaks easily and frequently of the Trinity. He says that we have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to the Son. (1 Peter 1:1-9)

In our morning scripture Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...”  (Matthew 28:18-19)

So what is the Trinity? Frederick Buechner said, “Father, Son and Holy Spirit mean that the mystery beyond us, the mystery among us, and the mystery within us are all the same mystery. In Latin, this is called the Divinum Mysterium - the Divine Mystery.

What is God Like?  Even though much of God is a divine mystery, we still strive to discover what God is like.

The story is told of a five-year old daughter who asked, "Daddy, what is God like?"  This appeared to be a simple enough question until the Father tried to answer it in terms his daughter could grasp.  He finally gave up and said, "Go ask your mother."  So she went to her mother and asked, "What is God like?"  Her mother knew at once she was over her head so she said, "Honey, why don't you ask your Sunday School teacher?"  So the next Sunday she did.  And the Sunday School teacher thought a moment and then said cheerfully, "Why don't you ask your parents?"  At this point the little girl muttered, "Boy, if I had lived with God as long as my mother and Father and Sunday School teacher, I think I'd know what God's like!"  

Now if someone asked you what God was like, what would you say? I suppose you could quote our Shorter Catechism and say, “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” [7.004, “Shorter Catechism”] That’s a rather ponderous definition of God even for an adult.

God in Three Persons  However, another way to understand God is by looking at God’s three basic functions - Creator, Redeemer, and Comforter.  

St. Patrick tried to do this with the analogy of the shamrock.  The three leaves of a shamrock are all connected to the same stem.  In like manner, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three parts of the same God.   One way to explain the trinity is to say that God wears different hats when he's doing different things, just as we might do.  Some times we're a parent to our child, a child to our parents, and an employee to our boss.  

 

Another analogy is to look at God in the three ways he revealed himself: as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

Creator - God created the world and each of us here. In our scripture reading from Genesis we read that after God made the earth and the heavens, “God formed man from the dust of the ground,and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” God continues to create and recreate his world and us all the time.

Savior -  Second, God is our savior. The same Word of God that went forth to create the heavens and the earth and gave us the breath of life, now went forth in flesh to save us from our sins. “In the beginning is the word, and the word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.” [John 1:1, 14]  When God’s Word became flesh, Jesus was born. Jesus not only saved us, he continues to save us each day through the forgiveness of our sins. So now we speak of God the Son.

Holy Spirit - Finally, God is Holy Spirit. This is the presence and power of God in our lives today. We highlighted this on Pentecost Sunday when the Spirit came as a mighty wind to 120 followers of Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” [John 14:26] Just as Jesus was called Immanuel, God with us, so today the Spirit is God with us. So now we speak of God the Holy Spirit.

St. Augustine elaborated on this concept when he described the Trinity as “Lover, Beloved, and Love.” For God so loved the world - the Lover. He gave his son - the Beloved. And his love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. God is always the divine lover inviting us to love him back. As God loves us, we become God’s beloved whether we respond or not. God’s creative love continues to shape and reshape our hearts and souls into the person he would have us be.

His redeeming love continues to receive us back into covenant with him no matter how many times we run away. And as Paul writes to the church in Rome, “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

God is With Us  As we struggle to grasp and understand God, the temptation is to try to make God fit our own idea of what and who God is. We try to reduce God to digestible and understandable size. However, it just doesn't work that way. God’s ways are not our ways, nor are God’s thoughts our thoughts. However, all that really is important for us to know is that our triune God has revealed everything necessary for our salvation.

Final Thoughts As we leave here this morning, I encourage us to celebrate the Trinity by doing three things:

1. Allow God the Father to continue creating and molding you into the person he would have you be.

1. Allow God the Son to continue saving and forgiving you so that you are free to witness to him in all things.
   3. Finally, allow God the Spirit to dwell in your heart that you might receive power to withstand temptation, guidance when confused, comfort when saddened, hope when filled with despair, strength to forgive the unforgivable, and love that never ends.
   God is Love Remember, the greatest definition of God is that God is love. That’s right, as creator, God is love. As savior, God is love. And as Holy Spirit, God is love. Each day of our lives, we are enveloped in God’s love whether we know it or not. Isn’t that great? Amen.
   Genesis 2:4-9 NRSV
   These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
   In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
   Matthew 28:16-20 NRSV
    Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on 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, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’