What the Trinity Can Teach Us About Community

I almost decided to skip Holy Trinity Sunday and just call this the First Sunday after Pentecost.

Part of it is simple logistics.

For the First Sunday after Pentecost, we are back in Ordinary Time with green paraments, which stay green until Advent.

For Holy Trinity Sunday, we are supposed to have white paraments—for one week.

The other reason is that the concept of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” is deeply entrenched in Holy Trinity Sunday and that is challenging for a congregation like Emanuel that strives to use inclusive liturgy.

But never one to shrink from a challenge, I figured, “what the heck?”

Let me start out by saying, if Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are integral to your faith, that’s OK.

I would never tell you that you need to give it up.

What I will say is that the concept of a Holy Trinity is not biblical.

The first mention of the word “Trinity” was not until the late second century and it was not codified as church doctrine until the Council of Nicaea in 325.

Now, if I were you, my first question would be, “well, then what about today’s gospel: ‘Baptize them in the name of Abba God, and of the Only Begotten, and of the Holy Spirit.’

It is widely believed by theologians, that the text in Matthew was more a reflection of first-century Christian practice than actual words of Jesus.

Their rationale is that way baptizing and teaching are worded, it sounds very much like the creation of a new religion and, as you have heard me say many times before, Jesus was a faithful Jew and he sought to reform Judaism, not break from it.

That may be disturbing to some and I reiterate, if you chose to believe that Jesus said those words, it’s perfectly fine.

I’m not here to challenge your faith.

I only present opportunities to expand it.

I will ask you to remember that God is a spirit and, as a spirit, gender is irrelevant.

So, calling God “mother” or “parent” has as much meaning as “father”.

They are all constructs to help our finite minds grasp the idea that our Creator loves and cares for us—as a father, mother, or guardian would.

Jesus was human, so he had a gender and, at least as we understand it, he was male.

So, calling him the Son of God makes some sense.

But remember, in Luke 13:34, Jesus says, “How often have I wanted to gather your children together as a mother bird collects her babies under her wings”.

So, Jesus is comparing himself to a mother hen—no toxic masculinity there.

And our church doctrine says Jesus is 100% human and 100% divine.

Well, the divine part is spirit and, there again, gender has no meaning.

No one seems to care too much about the gender of the Holy Spirit.

Many use feminine pronouns to describe the Spirit, presumably to try and balance out the Trinity.

But traditionally, the Spirit has also been linked to Sophia—Wisdom—who is female.

All of which is to say that our ideas about God are just that—ideas.

God is an infinite being.

As finite beings, we are incapable of completely understanding the mysteries of God.

The best we can do is to use concepts with which are familiar—male and female, father and son, king, judge, savior, and wisdom—all these help us understand that which is beyond our grasp.

For the sake of this morning’s sermon, I’d like to propose another metaphor to help us in our understanding of the Trinity—the Trinity as community.

God is not solitary.

God is an eternal, loving community of three distinct entities.

Community is a concept that we will come back to again and again.

Because our faith practice as followers of Jesus was meant to be observed in community.

Community is about belonging.

One way of thinking about the first person of the Trinity is to think about them as the source of belonging.

The Creator is our beginning in whose image we were formed.

Our identity as children of God gives us belonging.

Community is also about relationships.

One way to think about Jesus is to think about him as the source of relationship with God.

God became incarnate in Jesus to be in relationship with us.

Jesus modeled empathy, compassion, and service—to show us how God intended us to be.

When we emulate that same empathy, compassion, and service, it is a bridge to God.

And, as a bridge, it flows in both directions.

The incarnation not only helps God relate to us, but also for us to relate to God.

Community is also about unity—it’s right in the word!

One way to think about the Spirit is to think about her as the source of our unity.

The Spirit flows through us, binding us.

She breaks down our barriers and inspires us.

She opens our hearts and our minds so that we can experience unbridled joy, extend unqualified welcome, and share unconditional love.

So, if you’ll indulge my metaphor: the Trinity is a community—a community with entities who are the source of belonging, the source of relationship, and the source of unity.

And perhaps, when we realize that Jesus’ followers were a community AND we think about the Trinity as a community, it will help us to recognize the importance of this community as well as the community that surrounds us.

Because our future as a congregation hinges on our embracing community—not just that which is comfortable and familiar but community in our most expansive imagination.

I had no idea that we would have 13 people join our congregation last week until a few days before.

For me, Pentecost last week was a Spirit-filled, joyous event.

But perhaps it was not so for everyone.

For some, change is difficult.

For some, their faith is an anchor in a world that is simply changing too fast.

I think of my faith more like a boat than an anchor—something that holds me up and carries me through the torrents of change.

My faith is constantly evolving.

I have moments of doubt that lead to soul searching.

I learn new things and have encounters that make me experience God in new ways.

I’m not saying that faith like a boat is better than faith like an anchor—it’s only different.

But I will say that, if you resist change, your faith will be static.

If you embrace change, your faith has an opportunity to grow in ways you may not expect.

As the saying goes: if you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.

I am reminded of a quote from Rachel Held Evans, one of my favorite authors.

She wrote, “…church isn’t static. It’s not a building, or a denomination, or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Church is a moment in time when the kingdom of God draws near, when a meal, a story, a song, an apology, and even a failure is made holy by the presence of Jesus among us and within us.

Church was alive and well long before we came up with the words relevant and missional, and church will go on long after the grass grows through our cathedral floors.

The holy Trinity doesn’t need our permission to carry on in their endlessly resourceful work of making all things new.

That we are invited to catch even a glimpse of the splendor is grace.

All of it, every breath and every second, is grace.”

The church of Christ is alive—and it always will be.

It is a dynamic organism that is driven by the Trinity of belonging and relationship and unity.

This congregation can choose to embrace change or be static, wither, and die.

I say that, not to be harsh or unkind, but only to be a truthteller.

Rachel also said, “I often wonder if the role of the clergy in this age is not to dispense information or guard the prestige of their authority, but rather to go first, to volunteer the truth about their sins, their dreams, their failures, and their fears in order to free others to do the same.

Such an approach may repel the masses looking for easy answers from flawless leaders, but I think it might make more disciples of Jesus, and I think it might make healthier, happier pastors.

There is a difference, after all, between preaching success and preaching resurrection.

Our path is the muddier one.”

I love that.

I’m sure that doesn’t surprise most of you.

The guy that says he loves change and isn’t bothered by chaos wants to lead you down the muddier path.

All I can say is, “I’m up for an adventure!”

How about you?

May this meditation on God’s word keep our hearts and minds on Christ Jesus, Amen.