SERMON FOR TRINITY SUNDAY
Most people love stories. I know I do. When Jesus was teaching the people difficult truths, he told them stories. The Trinity is perhaps one of the most difficult truths of our faith. So, today, I want to tell you some stories. The Bible tells the story of God and of God’s people. It tells three stories: • the story of God and the Hebrews • the story of God and the Christ of God • the story of God and the Church These three stories together constitute the three fold narrative of God. They are the stories of Father, Son and Spirit. The first story begins at Genesis 1:1 where we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” A wind from God swept over the waters, and God spoke. At God’s Word a glimmer of light appeared, the sky filled with crimson and the sun dawned in glory on a new day, bringing life and warmth. Great galaxies were created, with planets, moons and stars. Waters were gathered into rolling oceans and trickling streams. Mountains appeared and forests and creatures of every kind. It was a place filled with beauty - beauty poured out from the very Being of the Creator. And God delighted in his creation and filled it with his presence. But God wanted to share his joy and delight so he created man and woman in the very image and likeness of himself to speak to him and play with him to share with him and rejoice with him to love him and be with him. And God blessed them and sent them into his world and walked with them in the beautiful place he had created for them. As their Father God wanted to protect his children from everything that would hurt them but he knew that they could not stay forever children. They must grow and mature and so he allowed them to make their own choices. And the people did choose their own paths. But they chose to turn away from God and to go their own way. Throughout the ages that followed God disciplined his children and tried to turn them back. They saw him as a God of judgment and punishment. Because they were ashamed they saw him as a God of Holiness, too holy to be approached - remote, transcendent. And yet when they were taken into slavery God saw their misery he heard their groaning and their cry for help and he brought them out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm into a beautiful land, a land of milk and honey. Now they saw God as a Mighty Warrior, all powerful, a God who would protect them a God who would save them. Which God was. But God was much more. In the fullness of time a child was born to a young girl in a small town in Galilee and the second story began. His name was Immanuel which means “God with us”. And in the life of this man people recognised something of the power and holiness of God. But not the God they thought they knew. This God was merciful, loving, forgiving. Love poured out from the very Being of the Creator. This God was a servant, who healed their wounds, and turned their brokenness into wholeness. He showed them how to follow, how to be led back, how to be restored. People saw God with new eyes. And they called him ‘Son of God’. But others said he was an imposter, pretending to be God A blasphemer, a criminal. There is only one God. The true God is a king not a servant, a Mighty Warrior not a humble carpenter. When they killed him Creation went into mourning. The sky grew dark and the earth shook and God hid his face. And they said “Truly, this was God’s Son.” Then they understood that God was forgiving as well as judging, Disciplining and yet loving, Transcendent, and yet Immanent, God with us, and yet wholly ‘other’, Divine, and yet also Human. Which God was. But God was much more. Two stories had become one story. The same story. The story of release from slavery and new life in a promised land. When Jesus rose on the third day the third story began. They gathered in Jerusalem this small band of believers as they had been instructed. A wind arose, coming from nowhere rushing violently into the room blowing into every corner filling the entire house entering their lungs and their very being. A wind like the very breath of God. Life poured out from the very Being of the Creator. The people were on fire, and they called this wind, this breath of God Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit empowered them with strength and courage. They went out boldly to tell the stories of God. How God had once again bridged the chasm between Creator and creature so that nothing stood in the way of the intimate relationship God had intended. The Holy Spirit gave them gifts Gifts poured out from the very Being of the Creator - gifts of healing, wisdom, knowledge, faith. Then they understood that God could fill every part of creation Even their very selves making them the Holy People of God, the Church. That God was still “with us”, even to the end of the age. The wondrous story of God’s activity with his people was told and retold. The story of the God the Creator The story of the Son the Saviour The story of the Spirit the Sanctifier Three stories, yet the same story retold. Not three gods, not a succession of gods, but one eternal God. And they called it the Trinity, the Three-in-One. The ‘Three-in-one’ enables the Church to see that three stories are one story, without ceasing to be three stories. It is the story of God creating the people, of God loving and saving the people, of God empowering and sanctifying the people even to the end of the age. When God created the heavens and the earth, the Spirit hovered over the waters of creation. The Word of God rang out in the far reaches of chaos and brought order to chaos and light into darkness. Father, Spirit, Son, together at the dawn of creation. All sharing the first story. Trinity in the story of the Father. When God raised Jesus from the waters of baptism, the voice of God again sounded from the heavens, and the Spirit again hovered over the waters of the Jordan. Father, Son and Spirit. All sharing the second story. Trinity in the story of the Son. When Jesus was raised on the third day, the voice of God rang out on the other side of death, and by the power of the Spirit light shone in the darkness once more and brought forth new life, a new creation. Father, Son and Spirit. The third story had begun. Trinity in the story of the Church. And so the Trinity helps the Church to understand that God is one but that God is also three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Which God is. But God is much more. The story of the Church is the third story, and it may have only just begun. The story is still being written. It is the continuing story of God’s revelation to the people. It is the story of the rule of God, the retelling of God’s reign. It is our story as we share in the life of the Trinity and as we journey together with God remembering and celebrating the great moments in our story - Christmas – Easter – Baptism – Pentecost. Sharing these old stories making the story our own while awaiting the new story. Perhaps there is a fourth story? Because whatever we understand God to be God is always much more.