Ss Peter & Paul, Kettering
Talking Trinity
God: One and yet three persons.
A mystery.
Many are the books that explore this concept of the three in one – none have a clear and fully defined answer, if they’re honest. This is one of those things that the church has struggled over, sweated over, argued over and even fought over for centuries.
Factions have been formed and exclusions made; students of theology have worried over texts and essays to be written as to why we can’t explain it....why we can’t understand it in this modern world where we seem to demand an explanation or a scientific argument as to why such a thing exists.
But then, it just is. Whilst sceptical minds may feel unsettled or incomplete without a firm definition or explanation, the mind that works on faith has far less problems. Not because the faithful mind is somehow lazy, and certainly not because a person of faithful spirituality is somehow less able to engage with reason or argument, but because the mind of faith looks beyond the superficial, beyond the apparent, to the deeper meaning, essence and presence of it all.
However, there we have it. We can either accept that somehow God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are in unity with each other: Three in one and one in three, or we must reject it and so reject that which has been evident in the world through the life and character of those who believe.
Our gospel passage itself shows that, from at least the very earliest days, Father Son and Holy Spirit were seen as being together in the Godhead – that community that is God: Setting the example for us to follow. The words of Christ, his teachings to us, encourage, indeed demand of us that we should live in harmony as a community of the faithful. Loving God and loving our neighbours as we love ourselves.
This is all about a loving community. And Christ does not just spout words or teachings for us to follow; he lived out and continues to live out these concepts as he is in community with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
And the example of the Trinity is one of love, of trust, of commitment, of hope. All through the gospels as we hear from Jesus and his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, we can see traces of that trusting of each person, of the commitment to each person, and the hope that grows from such mutual love and trust.
Trust of course, especially in our day, is said to have to be earned. We somehow need to earn the trust of those around us – as if trust is some sort of commodity that one can purchase. But of course, trust is a mutual thing – it takes two sides. And that’s a tall order when you have two sides of an argument where both sides are expecting the other to make the first move.
But as Christians we are called to have that and give that loving trust because Christ made the first and only necessary move when he committed his very self upon the Cross on Calvary’s hill: Once of all. We do tend to think about the Cross in terms of washing away our sins before God, but it is also a move that reconciles us to each other.
To give a sort of example to explain it; when I’m talking to youth groups I will ask them if they have every fallen out with their friends or class-mates. Of course, nearly all will have fallen out with someone at one time or another. I then ask them about how they get back together with their friends. The process is usually hard, difficult and embarrassing for one side or the other but often both sides feel the strain. Usually if there is a mutual friend to both sides then the process is much easier and runs quite smoothly. As Christians, we have the saving action of Christ that brings us together and our faith should be big enough to accept his reconciling work amongst us.
When we acknowledge His peace amongst us, as we will do in a few minutes, we are recognising that, whatever our differences in opinion, we are called to be one in Christ; standing together as one community before Christ: Indeed to stand as a unity of many persons as we stand as the body of Christ in this place. If we do not stand together, work together, ‘be’ together then, as it says in the bible, a house divided against itself can not stand.
Nowhere does it say that it will be easy to be a unity of body like the unity of the Trinity, but yet we are called to try. Christ’s saving action on the cross, The Holy Spirit’s empowering at Pentecost, The Father’s ever-loving commitment from the beginning, these are the elements that the Christian will hold to and draw the courage to step forward in their faith as part of the body, the community of Christ.
The Trinity may be simply a concept to some. The Trinity is a community of relationships that, in some way we are to mirror. That may not always be easy but it is the task of the Christian in their discipleship.
As we gather around this table to share in the body and blood of Christ as He himself commanded us to do, let us be mindful of the community of the Trinity and our community as the body of Christ in this place, and let us always be thankful that God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit has called not just ourselves as individuals, but all of us, with our differences, to be a community bearing the name of Christ who gave his life that we might have life and have it in abundance.
The Reverend Robert Hill, 18th May 2008
Office Address:
The Rectory
Church Walk
Kettering
NN16 0DJ