When I realized that I was not going to achieve my goal of explaining the Trinity, I tried to provide some images that might be helpful. Not sure I achieved being helpful.
I used a diagram on the screens in the Sanctuary service, although I did not refer to it. No one mentioned whether it was helpful to have the diagram or not. It was a meager attempt to try and utilize the new technology in the Sanctuary.
The sermon went better in the Sanctuary service, in part because it was in the context of the baptism that was going to take place. Although I referenced the baptism in the Chapel sermon, having it live in the Sanctuary added to the sermon.
“Grab
Bag: Three Persons” August 18, 2013; Grab bag series John 1: 1-14; Matthew 28: 16-20
Introduction: “I baptize you in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
Later
in the worship service (later this morning for chapel), I will say those words
with an infant in my arms, as I douse him with water.
And
the gathered congregation will take vows to teach the faith to Nolan and help
him learn about God so that one day he might profess Jesus Christ as his Lord
and Savior.
We
baptize using the Trinitarian formula for God – that is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Try
explaining that to the infant as he or she grows up!
One
of you wanted more explanation about the Trinity as part of the Grab bag
sermons.
Easier
said than done.
Think
about how we view the Trinity through the years – from baptism as an infant, to
when we claim our faith, to when we are older and wiser about our faith!
Fluid
– move back and forth.
Move 1: we come to the baptismal waters
with an infant baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
a. child hears it, but does not comprehend.
b. We baptize in that name because Jesus said to do it that
way.
c. No explanation involved – Jesus said it, we do it.
d. For a child, that is enough.
Move
2: Confirmation age, high school college
– claiming our faith. Want more of an
explanation. We try to give images.
a. Acknowledge that we can't really
explain it.
b. We might offer the description of
the God as “one essence - three persons” to use the language of the early
church.
1.
Turn to biblical stories to see how we discover God.
2.
God the creator – breathed life into humanity; the one to whom the
psalmists cry out; the one who speaks to the people through the prophets.
3.
Jesus Christ, the son of God – the one conceived of the Holy
Spirit (don’t’ dwell on that too much); lived a perfect life; died and was
resurrected; saves us.
4.
Holy Spirit – tongues of fire and Pentecost story; tie it to
becoming new creations; Comforter language Jesus uses.
5.
Sovereignty of God; but also Christ and HS
c. Images
1. David Lose, Biblical Preaching Chair at
Luther Seminary, “Which is why we lean on metaphors and
analogies, from the Desert Fathers (you remember, the two Gregorys and Basil)
comparing the members of the Trinity to the source of light (Father), the light
itself that illumines (Son), and the warmth when you feel the light (Spirit) to
2. Father/Creator; Son/Redeemer; Holy
Spirit/Sustainer
3. Parent, spouse, child
4. Concrete images that speak to
the different persons that make of the Trinity.
d.
Temptations to distort
1. Temptation to see God as one God who wears
the masks of the Jesus and HS.
2.
In other words, Jesus Christ or Holy Spirit are not fully God.
3.
Temptation to emphasize one of the three, which leads to a distortion of the
image of God.
4.
Angry God who is satisfied by Christ’s sacrifice. Separate persons, but it denies the oneness
of God. Imagine how differently it
speaks to God when Christ, the Savior.
5.
Or the tendency to think of the Holy Spirit as the spiritual part of God that
is separate from Christ. That separates
the realm of the spiritual from the world of the flesh. (Shirley Guthrie, Christian Doctrine,
Revised Edition, 87-88).
6.
If we are not careful, we have an image of God that gets the three persons
correct, but it feels more like three gods, than one.
Move
3: Older, more life experience; can
handle a bit of ambiguity
a. Read John 1 text
1. Recognize this mysterious God who acts in
concert even at creation.
2. I sometimes speak of Father, Son and Holy
Spirit talking about things before deciding to create.
b.
David Lose, Biblical Preaching Chair at Luther Seminary, puts it
bluntly:“Here's my rule-of-thumb regarding the Trinity: People who say they
understand it aren't to be trusted. I mean, well, the Trinity is, quite
frankly, more than just a little beyond our comprehension and understanding.”
b. Recognize
how this speaks to the temptations of the concrete images.
1. Instead of the angry God and
the saving Christ, we recognize that they were in it together from the
beginning. Imagine what it means to say
that God the Father who judges us joins with Christ in saving us.
2.
Instead of separating spiritual realm from earthly realm, Christ and
Holy Spirit work in concert with once another and with God the Creator.
3.
Offers nuances that broaden our understanding of God in helpful ways.
c. The
Trinity also speaks to what it means for God to be a relational God. Faith
seeking Understanding, Daniel Migliore, 56-72 offers a good introduction to
the Trinity, an analysis of historical interpretations of the Trinity, and an
exploration of the communal aspects of a Trinitarian God).
1. If by definition, God is Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit – each person connected to the other, then by definition God is a
relational God.
2. IF we want to live into the image of God, it
means that we have to be connected to others.
3. It is
not about God creating Richard, Richard having a personal relationship with
God, or Richard living out his call to discipleship in isolation from others.
4. It is about me and you living out our lives as followers of Christ in
connection with others. We cannot be
separated from that context and be in the image of God.
Conclusion: The Trinity – we sing it; we say it; we teach it; we pray
it. We may not fully understand it, but
we know the God who lives it fully.
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