Welcome
to the trickiest sermon
a preacher will likely preach
all year.
Preaching is no simple task
any given Sunday,
but trying to illuminate
the mystery of the Holy Trinity
without committing any of a cadre of heresies
is like trying to “smell the color nine,”
as Chris Rice described searching for God.
Metaphors fail us,
as all metaphors break down at some point,
but they are especially unhelpful
in the realm of Trinitarian explication,
because saying God is
or is fully encapsulated within
some real thing
either elevates that thing to divinity
or reduces God to a mere image,
said another way,
it is a form of idolatry.
Simile is no help either.
Saying God is like water,
retaining its chemical substance
and yet existing in the form of
ice, liquid, and steam,
is the heresy of modalism.
We do not worship one God
in three modes.
Saying God is like a three-leaf clover,
looking at you St. Patrick,
is the heresy of partialism.
We do not worship one God
in three parts.
Nor do we worship one God
who seems to be three,
or three Gods who seem to be one.
We do not worship one supreme God
and two demigods,
nor a hierarchy of three.
When this became tricky for the early Church
they relied on creeds.
First the Apostles’ Creed,
then the Nicene Creed,
then the Athanasian Creed.
Each of these three
are still confessed by the Universal Church today,
though I’m willing to bet
you’ve never read the Athanasian Creed in worship,
because it has 40 verses
while the other two have only 3.
So,
grab a hymnal and turn to page…
I’m only kidding.
Though you should read it at some point.
For all the terrible analogies,
condemnable heresies,
and loquacious creeds,
the Trinity is a mystery,
ineffable,
transcendent.
All our doctrine,
dogmatic pronouncements,
and conciliar verdicts
will always only be attempts
at articulating the inexpressible majesty
that beckons us to come,
take and eat,
take and drink.
The most faithful approach
is to stick to God’s self-revelation,
to the Word of God,
in Scripture, in Christ, and in Proclamation.
In Scripture,
we see Holy Wisdom
recall the beginning,
when God created,
the Spirit hovered over the waters,
and the Word spoke.
The Apostle Paul tells us
that we have peace with God
in Christ
by the Spirit.
And we hear Jesus
speaking to his disciples
on the night he was betrayed
of the coming of the Spirit.
The Father has given all things
to the Son,
and the Spirit will glorify the Son
in obedience to the Father.
It is this relationship
of mutual deference,
the Father pouring out Godself
into the Son and the Spirit,
the Son pouring out Godself
into the Father and the Spirit,
the Spirit pouring out Godself
into the Father and the Son.
This relationship
of mutuality,
of unity;
this is Trinity.
We are not called by the Scriptures
to split hairs
and draft doctrinal purity tests
to weed out unorthodox belief.
We are called to relationship,
to mutuality,
to deference to the other.
We are called to pour ourselves out
into God and our neighbor,
as our neighbor is called to pour out themselves
into God and us,
and has God has already poured out Godself
into us and our neighbor.
Trinity is relationship
because God is love;
ineffable love,
transcendent love,
inexpressible love,
majestic and mysterious love.
And yet,
a love made manifest,
a love expressed,
a love that knew the cost
and loved anyway,
and still yet,
a love returned,
a love shared,
a love vindicated,
a love proclaimed.
This Triune Love calls us
to love and be loved,
to relax into the waters of our baptism,
where the Spirit hovered,
the Word was spoken,
and God created anew.
To come here to the table,
to take in our hands
the ineffable majesty of God,
small enough to hold,
and big enough to swallow death.
For these sacraments are mysteries too,
a moment to “see through the glass darkly”
that we are loved beyond all comprehension,
beyond our ability to earn it,
and still yet,
we are invited to return it,
to share it,
to proclaim it.
Whether or not
you ever read the Athanasian Creed,
or find a way to explain the Trinity
without embracing centuries old heresy,
know this:
Trinity is relationship
because God is love.
That is no metaphor,
that is truth.
Trinity is relationship
because God is love.
Amen.