The Trinity

[Our lessons were Genesis 1:1-2:4a, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, and Matthew 28:16-20.]

Trinity Sunday is unusual on our calendar because it doesn’t commemorate an event, as do Christmas and Easter, rather it is dedicated to a doctrine. In fact, our readings today don’t directly address the doctrine of the Trinity, although two do describe the three natures of God.

We first hear the beautiful, poetic creation story from Genesis. This story was not intended to be a literal description of the creation process or as definitive science and in fact it bears a very strong resemblance to creation stories of other early civilizations. What it does do is take us beyond the limits of science.

Science has been able to tell us what the universe looked like a few seconds after the Big Bang and it’s been able to move closer to the moment of creation until we have gotten just a fraction of a second afterwards. But we can’t quite get to the moment of creation through science because science is part of the created universe. We can only get to that point by God.

The creation story is in fact the story of divine victory over chaos and establishment of God as creator of all. “And God saw that it was good.” That is a critically important point. God took pleasure in His creation and that includes us.

Paul’s conclusion of his second letter to the church in Corinth perhaps tells us what that church was not. “Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.”

From elsewhere in both letters we learn how disordered the life of the Corinthian community was. Conflicts existed between different factions caused by interpersonal rivalries, spiritual arrogance, a lack of sensitivity toward less experienced members, sexual immorality, and possibly some theological differences. That doesn’t sound all that unusual today.

Paul’s final, familiar Trinitarian benediction in fact may have been a later addition. It goes farther than most of his writings, but it shows that a concept of a Trinity was beginning to develop.

We also hear the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel with the familiar commission to baptize in the name of the Father and Son and of the Holy Spirit. Most Christian churches use this formula and in fact, if it is absent, there is some question as to whether a sacramental baptism has occurred. The command to baptize and teach is how the Church to this day witnesses to and continues in its faith relationship with the risen Christ, who will be with us “always, to the end of the age.”

And so, the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity evolved over time, not because it was planned out that way, but because the natures of God and the experiences of the Church compelled the Church to work out how to deal with a God with three natures without diverting from the absolute monotheism we inherited from Judaism. No self-respecting Church would ever want to start out with this complicated idea of one God in three persons.

The early Church, raised in the Hebrew Scriptures, accepted the concept of God as their creator and, even more, as a God who was in an intimate relationship with His people, as would a Father or a Mother. God heard their cries and cared for them as a hen cares for her chicks. (You can’t really visualize this until you’ve seen it.) This is not a distant God on Olympus or in a far-off, remote heaven, but a loving, caring parent who continues with His people through all adversities.

Another understanding of God came from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. God became flesh and dwelt among us. God was made incarnate in Jesus to make sure that the Church understood that God wasn’t remote from us, rather that God lived as one of us as Jesus. God was not only the creator; God was also the savior and redeemer.

And, last week, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to the Church. Not just to the disciples, but to the whole community. The Spirit acts in unpredictable ways to give power and courage and enlightenment, often in ways we cannot expect.

The Church did not set out to create a doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is a response to the experience of the Church over the ages as we try to understand how God acts and as we try to figure out how we should respond to God’s acts. The doctrine of the Trinity attempts to speak of the mystery of God as God has been revealed to us. It invites us into the life of God, giving us a place at the Table. And finally, it returns us to revelation: God’s calling of us, the unveiling of God, the witness of the Spirit to the Father and the Son and to worship.