Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, 26th May 2013
A printable PDF file can be found here
One of the great mysteries of Christian faith is that Christians say that believe in One God, yet seem to talk about three gods; a god called Jesus, a god who is a Father and a god who is somehow involved in life called the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. The claim is made that God is a "Three in One" God, a claim known as the "Doctrine of the Trinity". Today is Trinity Sunday and it is that "Trinity Doctrine" that I want us to think about. To do so we'll look at how it came to be experienced by one of the earliest disciples.
Our gospel reading spoke of Jesus calling four fishermen,one of them being Simon - later to be known as Peter. At that stage in Simon Peters spiritual journey we don't know much about him, but we can read back from later events to give us a picture of his character. Rugged, matter of fact, religious but not in a sanctimonious way. An ordinary working Jewish man of his day.
The gospels record that, because of the storms that blew up from nowhere, the sea of Galilee could be a rough and terrifying place to work. As one who battled against the elements Simon would probably be familiar with the words of the Psalmist, "You are my Defender and Protector. You are my God and in You I trust".
He would have had an awareness of his roots in Judaistic teaching. At the time Jesus first called him to follow, he would already be aware of God as one who had Father-like concern for His people. That was one of the great pictures of Hebrew religion, again from Psalm 91 (Verse 13) "When they call to me, I will answer them, when they are in trouble, I will be with them."
Simon and his brother Andrew started to be influenced by Jesus. They realized their was something different about Him. So much so that when He called them saying, "Come with me, I will teach you to catch people" they at once left their nets and went with Him!
Time went by and Peter (as Simon was now named) heard Jesus revealing more and more about God the Father and Creator of all things. He saw the miracles and wonders that were taking place. He in himself had to wrestle and come to terms with what was going on around him and within him. He came to realize that this Jesus was not your everyday religious teacher. He was incomparable. He was unique. Although others had said similar things, even done similar things, Jesus had about Him an authority that set Him apart.
A turning point came at Ceaserea-Phillipi in Northern Galilee, when Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say I am?". One said "John the Baptist, another Elijah, another suggested Jeremiah or some other prophet.” Jesus turned the question around. "But what about you, who do you say I am?".
Simon-Peter answered, maybe fearfully, maybe hesitantly, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God". And Jesus congratulates him, "Well done.. that's a truth that didn't come to you from any human being, it was given you directly by my Father in heaven!"
Through his openness and willingness to seek the truth, God had been able to work upon the heart and mind of Simon-Peter to reveal the truth about Jesus. He was the Messiah, the One sent by God; God Himself coming into history in a unique way.
Of course such a revelation was not easily accepted. Time and time again Jesus was rejected (and eventually crucified) because He claimed to be the Messiah. He used such expressions as, "Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father", "If you knew me, you would know my Father also" (John 8:19).
He referred to Himself in the special way only God referred to Himself, by saying in John 8:24, "I am who I am". He claimed, "The Father and I are One" (John 10:30). In the great prayer He made for His disciples, He prayed "May they be in us, just as You are in me, and I am in You". (John 17:21).
Peter became aware of Jesus as the Son of the Living God. But then came the crucifixion, and the disciples lost their focus. In fear and bewilderment they were scattered. If He was the Christ, how could such a thing happen?
The answer came in the resurrection. Through Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself. He died for our sins. He was raised to life that we may know His risen power amongst us. Jesus was not a dead friend to be mourned, but the Living Lord with whom they continued to have a redeeming and creative relationship.
This came home, powerfully, to Peter and the other disciples, when seven weeks after Easter, on the day of the feast of Pentecost, they had an intense experience of God as the Holy Spirit, whilst they gathered together in prayer at a house in Jerusalem. Those who witnessed the scene started to ask questions. And it was Peter who, in Acts 2, stands up and started to explain.
God had poured out His Spirit on them. Jesus had been raised and reigned for ever more with God the Father. He had promised that those who believed in Him would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as His personal presence in their lives.
As the book of Acts unfolds it gives us a picture of God the Father, at work through Jesus in the person of the Holy Spirit; God the three in One God. Not three gods... but One Almighty God at work in three, united, complimentary ways. Peter had become aware of the reality of God in three ways, and in his evolving experience we see the pattern that became the special Christian awareness of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the Trinity had nothing to do with scholars or theologians sitting around with nothing better to do than make God to complicated for people to believe in. It came out of the experience of the early Christians, including those who were the first called by Jesus to follow Him. It was never intended to be a representation of all that God was or an explanation of how God could be. Rather it is a picture of how we should be aware of God and how we should relate to God.
Jesus, in Matthew's gospel 28 commissions the disciples to go out into the world making others His disciples and baptizing them 'in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit'. So the church has proclaimed to the world that God was three, yet God was One, that just as a triangle has three sides, so God has revealed Himself to the world in three distinct yet united ways.
Think again of Peters experience. He was aware of God as the Heavenly Father and the great Creator. As he walked with Jesus he became aware of God, focusing Himself uniquely in Jesus Christ. He was aware of God, in the person of the Holy Spirit creatively invading the hearts and minds of those who believed in Jesus.
The key to understanding the Trinity appears to be personal experience. Try and get our minds around it or explain it and we can tie ourselves in knots. It's one of those things that once you see it, you realize that's the way it has be. The authentic Christian experience is Trinitarian.
- We need to know that God is the great Creator who has a parental like care for His Creation. That ultimately life finds it's beginning and end in God. That there is a purpose to life's mystery and a mystery to life's purpose and that is all tied up with the will and design of the Almighty One.
- We need to know that God is ultra-personal. In Christ we see the imprint of God fully expressed through humanity. We read of the life of Christ in the gospels and find ourselves saying, "Yes, if God were to come in the flesh that's exactly how you'd expect things to turn out!" There's something wrong with the world but something so very right about Jesus Christ.
- We need to know that God's love is not distant... and that the power of the resurrected Christ is not far off but can be known in our lives through the presence of the Holy Spirit. God is not God of the dead, but of the living and through Christ's love in our hearts we can really live!
The doctrine of the Trinity. Think about it. But not too much! Instead just get out there and live your life in the knowledge of God's presence. And somehow, as you seek to live in a way that brings glory to Jesus, as you seek for the help of God's Holy Spirit in your daily struggles and joys, as you seek to be that unique, beautiful, human person that God intends for you to be, then, somehow, it doesn't matter if you can't explain the doctrine of the Trinity. You become to busy enjoying it!
It's good to have a Sunday set aside to consider the awesome mystery of a God who has revealed Himself to us as the three in one God. It is good to reflect on the nature and being of Trinity. But don't get bogged down in theological reflection. Instead, listen to the call of the Jesus.
"Go" Jesus says, "Into all the world, and make others my disciples. Mark them by baptism in the threefold name; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. And, listen, I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end times."
May God help us to be faithful servants and in so doing discover His love.
And to God's name be the glory.
AMEN.
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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