Trinity Sunday Sermon, June 7, 2009, St. Margaret's Episcopal

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT:

AMEN

WRITTEN AS THE BANNER HEADLINE ON YOUR BULLETIN TODAY ARE TWO WORDS WHICH STRIKE TERROR INTO ANYONE BOLD ENOUGH TO PREACH ON THIS TOPIC: TRINITY SUNDAY.

THERE’S NOTHING ELSE IN CHRISTIANITY WHICH CREATES MORE CONFUSION.

LIKE THIS FAMILY I KNOW, IN CALIFORNIA, WHO WENT TO CHURCH ONE TRINITY SUNDAY.

WHEN THEY ARRIVED HOME AFTER THE SERVICE, THEIR YOUNGEST DAUGHTER SAID, “I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE REST OF YOU, BUT ALL THIS TALK ABOUT THE TRINITY MAKES ME FEEL LEFT OUT.”

DADDY ASKED , “WHY IS THAT, HONEY?”

SHE REPLIED, “BECAUSE THE PRIEST KEPT GOING ON AND ON ABOUT THE FATHER, SON, AND THE WHOLE EAST COAST!”

WELL, THEN LET’S TRY TO MAKE MORE SENSE OF THIS TOGETHER AS A ST. MARGARET’S FAMILY.

THE FIRST THING TO THING TO NOTE IS THAT THE WORD, TRINITY, ITSELF, IS NOT IN THE BIBLE.

THE TERM IS SOMETHING EARLY FATHERS OF THE CHURCH INVENTED BY INFERRING IT EXISTED, INDEED, BY READING ALL THE SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, TOGETHER AS THREE, THROUGHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT.

THERE ARE EARLIER HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS TO THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF A HOLY TRIO.

THE ANCIENT GREEKS CONCEIVED THEIR UNIVERSE TO BE CREATED AND GOVERNED BY THE ONE, AND NATURE, AND A DIVINE INTELLIGENCE.

THE GREEKS BELIEVED EVERYTHING WAS CREATED BY THE ONE, AND CONSISTS, OF THE ONE.

NATURE REPRESENTS THE PHYSICAL THINGS WHICH CAN BE PERCEIVED THROUGH THE FIVE SENSES.

THE DIVINE INTELLIGENCE, FUNCTIONS IN A WAY, LIKE THE HOLY SPIRIT. IT’S AN INDWELLING DIVINE SPARK OF THE ONE WHICH KEEPS THE MEMORY OF BEING ONCE UNITED WITH THE ONE ALIVE.

IN THE GREEK COSMOS, THEN,LIFE ON EARTH IS A HEROIC EXHAUSTING JOURNEY TO RE-UNITE WITH THE ONE.

IT CERTAINLY CONTAINS SOME ELEMENTS WHICH REMIND US OF OUR OWN CHRISTIAN TRINITY, BUT WHAT’S VERY DIFFERENT IS THAT WE DON’T EARN OUR WAY TO HEAVEN BY CARRYING OUT HEROIC DEEDS, THANK GOD, CAUSE IF THAT WERE THE CASE, I KNOW I’D NEVER MAKE IT.

OTHERS HAVE LIKENED THE TRINITY TO GOD, AS THE LOVER, JESUS AS HIS BELOVED, AND THEN, LOVE, ITSELF, AS THE FORCE WHICH HOLDS THE UNIVERSE TOGETHER.

WHAT IS COMMON TO THESE INTERPRETATIONS IS A DESIRE BY HUMANITY TO IMAGINE THE NATURE OF THEIR CREATOR AND HIS CREATION.

THAT’S THE CRUX OF THE PROBLEM WHEN IT COMES TO COMPREHENDING THE TRINITY: IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT GOD DOES, BUT WHAT GOD IS.

IT’S THE SAME WITH LOVE – YOU COULD SAY LOVE IS LIKE A BOWL OF CHERRIES, WHICH IS AN ANALOGY, OR “I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU” WHICH IS AN ACTION, BUT IF SOMEONE ASKED YOU TO DEFINE LOVE, OR GOD, HOW MIGHT YOU GO ABOUT THAT?

SOME THEOLOGIANS, LIKE THOMAS AQUINAS, PLAYED WITH DEFINING THE CONCEPT IN ANOTHER WAY: SINCE IT’S SO HARD TO SAY WHAT GOD IS, HOW ABOUT WE SAY, INSTEAD, WHAT GOD IS NOT.

THIS IS CALLED THE THEOLOGY OF VIA NEGATIVA.

FOR EXAMPLE, ALL OF US HERE ARE FINITE IN TIME – LIKE IT OR NOT, THERE’S A 100% CHANCE ALL OF US WILL DIE – BUT AN ETERNAL GOD IS NOT FINITE.

SEE, WE’VE DEFINED GOD BY WHAT HE IS NOT…HE IS NOT FINITE.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF VIA NEGATIVA IS THAT IT IS 100% CERTAIN ALL OF US HERE WERE CREATED.

BUT GOD THE CREATOR IS NOT A CREATION.

YOU GET THE IDEA OF HOW THIS WORKS…

WELL, THEN, WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHAT GOD IS?

MAYBE THIS’LL HELP:

I ONCE STUMBLED ACROSS A FORGOTTEN BOOK ON A DUSTY LIBRARY SHELF (DON’T YOU LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!) CALLED, SIMPLY ENOUGH, “HOW TO THINK ABOUT GOD.”

IT WASN’T WRITTEN BY A THEOLOGIAN, BUT BY A PHILOSOPHER, NOW DECEASED, NAME OF MORTIMER ADLER.

GREAT LITTLE BOOK – I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT…

IT GOES ABOUT DESCRIBING GOD, AND PROVING HIS EXISTENCE, NOT BASED ON WHAT’S WRITTEN IN SCRIPTURE, BUT BY USING STANDARD PHILOSOPHICAL METHODS.

THIS IS WHAT ADLER CAME UP. SEE IF YOU CAN BUY INTO IT…

ADLER SAYS WE KNOW TWO PROPOSITIONS FOR SURE:

WE EXIST.

WE CONTINUE TO EXIST.

LOOK AROUND YOU – IT CERTAINLY APPEARS TO BE SO, BUT AS IT GOES WITH ALL POSITIVE PROPOSITIONS IN PHILOSOPHY, THE CASE MUST BE EXAMINED AGAINST AN OPPOSITE PROPOSITION.

IN THIS CASE, THE ALTERNATIVE IS:

WE DON’T EXIST.

SINCE THAT IS OBVIOUSLY FALSE, BECAUSE, AFTER ALL, WE ARE HERE IN CHURCH TODAY, WE CAN SAFELY RELY ON THE PREMISE THAT THE STATEMENTS:

WE EXIST

AND CONTINUE TO EXIST, ARE TRUE.

ADLER STATES, THEN, IT FOLLOWS, THERE MUST BE SOMETHING, BY NECESSITY, SUPERIOR TO US, THAT CONTINUOUSLY PROLONGS OUR EXISTENCE, OR ELSE, WE WOULD STOP EXISTING.

IN PHILOSOPHY, THIS IS CALLED AN ARGUMENT OF NECESSITY.

ADLER IS CONVINCED, THEN, BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, THAT THERE IS SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO STATE IT IS NECESSARY A SUPERIOR BEING, THAT IS, GOD EXISTS AND DOES SOMETHING WHICH CONTINUOUSLY PROLONGS CREATION OR ELSE IT WOULD DISAPPEAR.

DO YOU FOLLOW? CAN YOU BUY THIS?

IF YOU DO, IT MEANS YOU’RE NOW EQUIPPED WITH LOGICAL ARGUMENTS TO PUT TO SOMEONE WHO COMES UP TO YOU AT A PARTY AND SAYS, “HEY, YOU CAN’T PROVE WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS IS TRUE JUST BY QUOTING THE BIBLE!’

YOU CAN SAY “OH YEAH, “HAVEN’T YOU EVER HEARD OF ADLER’S ARGUMENT OF NECESSITY?”

GREAT COMEBACK, EH, YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE RIGHT KIND OF PARTY TO USE IT…

SO, AGAIN, WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US WHEN WE THINK OF THE TRINITY?

IF I IMAGINE IT, THEN, IN LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE, AND WHAT ADLER WROTE, THE TRINITY MIGHT RESEMBLE AN ENORMOUS GENERATOR WHERE THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, DANCE, AND SWIRL, SHOWERING SPARKS OF ENERGY WHICH POWER CREATION.

I CALL THIS BILL’S COSMIC THEORY OF THE DOMINION ELECTRIC COMPANY.

BUT THAT’S A PRETTY FAR OUT WILD BILL CONCEPT, EH?

SO LET’S GET BACK TO REALITY, TO WHAT THE CHURCH SAYS.

WHY, EXACTLY, AFTER THE CHURCH HAD INFERRED THE EXISTENCE OF THE TRINITY DID THE IDEA BECOME SO CENTRAL TO CHRISTIANITY?

WELL, BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST FEW CENTURIES AFTER JESUS, THERE WERE SO MANY IDEAS FLOATING AROUND EVEN STRANGER THAN A TRINITY ELECTRIC COMPANY, THE CHURCH SAID, “HEY, IF WE ALL DON’T GET ON THE SAME PAGE AND SET SOME BOUNDARIES, THEN THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE THE UNIVERSAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH MIGHT TOTALLY FALL APART.”

FOR EXAMPLE, SOME FOLKS WERE SAYING, SINCE THERE IS LANGUAGE IN SCRIPTURE WHERE JESUS REFERS TO HIS FATHER AS ONE GREATER THAN HIM, THEN JESUS MUST BE INFERIOR TO GOD, AND NOT CO-EQUAL.

OR THAT WHEN JESUS TOOK HUMAN FORM, HE MUST HAVE HAD TWO DISTINCT NATURES, ONE HUMAN AND ONE DIVINE, BUT NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME…

AND SO ON AND SO ON AND SO ON.

YOU CAN SEE HOW ALL THESE COMPETING IDEAS POSED A THREAT TO A CHURCH, JUST A FEW CENTURIES OLD, TRYING TO GROW, AS THE ONE TRUE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

SO THE BISHOPS MET IN A SERIES OF COUNCILS (LIKE THE ONE HELD AT NICAEA) AND TOOK TURNS PRESENTING THEIR THEORIES.

THEN THE BISHOPS VOTED ON WHAT YOU NEEDED TO BELIEVE, AND STATE PUBLICALLY, TO BE CONSIDERED A CHRISTIAN IN GOOD STANDING.

WHAT WAS AGREED UPON BECAME MANDATORY; WHAT WASN’T, WAS BRANDED HERESY.

THAT’S WHY, TO THIS DAY, WE RECITE THE NICENE CREED, ALOUD, EVERY SUNDAY, IN OUR SERVICE.

EVEN NOW, THOUGH, TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER, SOME FOLKS STILL WANT TO TWEAK THE CREED, LIKE WHERE IT SAYS THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER AND THE SON, THAT MIGHT INFER THE HOLY SPIRIT ISN’T CO-EQUAL WITH THE OTHER TWO.

IF YOU’RE ANY KIND OF HISTORY, THEOLOGY, OR PHILOSOPHY GEEK, LIKE ME, THIS IS ENDLESSLY FASCINATING, EVEN IF IT MAY NOT SOUND LIKE IT!

BUT THAT’S THE REASON WHY I LIKE TODAY’S GOSPEL READING, JOHN 3:1-17, SO MUCH…

HERE WE HAVE TWO GREAT TEACHERS TALKING THIS OVER AND WE GET TO EAVESDROP ON THEIR CONVERSATION…

NICODEMUS IS A JEWISH LEADER AND TEACHER – HIS JOB IS TO INTERPRET THE TORAH, AND THEN TEACH OTHERS HOW TO LIVE A DAILY LIFE IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD’S LAWS.

AND WE HAVE JESUS, CALLED RABBI, OR TEACHER, TRYING TO EXPLAIN, LIKE I HAVE TODAY, SUCCESSFULLY OR UNSUCCESSFULLY AS THE CASE MAY BE, SOME COMPLICATED AND CHALLENGING IDEAS.

BEYOND THE RESPECT NICK GRANTS JESUS AS AN EXCELLENT TEACHER, HE’S PAYING EXTRA SPECIAL ATTENTION SINCE HE ALSO GRANTS JESUS MAJOR PROPS FOR PERFORMING MIRACLES AND ALL.

IN THE COURSE OF THIS CONVERSATION, JESUS DROPS A BOMB.

HE SAYS, “NICK, THE ONLY WAY TO SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND TRULY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING IS TO BE BORN AGAIN.”

AT FIRST NICK TAKES TOO LITERALLY – HE SAYS, “HOW CAN ANYONE BE BORN AGAIN? YOU MEAN YOU WANT ME TO ACTUALLY CRAWL BACK INTO MOM AND BE PHYSICALLY BORN AGAIN, LIKE THAT?

AND LIKE THE GIFTED TEACHER HE IS, JESUS APPEALS TO HIS STUDENT’S DIRECT EXPERIENCE, BY SAYING, “C’MON, NICKY, THINK ABOUT IT. THIS SHOULDN’T BE ENTIRELY NEW TO YOU.

THERE ARE PLENTY OF EXAMPLES IN THE JEWISH BIBLE YOU TEACH JUST LIKE IT.

THERE WAS THE TIME GOD TOLD MOSES TO MAKE A SNAKE OUT OF BRASS AND LIFT IT UP ON A POLE. AND EVERYONE WHO LOOKED UP AT THE SNAKE ON THE POLE WOULD BE HEALED, OR BORN AGAIN, IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT.

AND, NICK, I’LL LET YOU IN ON SOMETHING REALLY AMAZING – THERE’S GOING TO BE A TIME WHEN I’M LIFTED UP ON A POLE LIKEWISE AND EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL BE HEALED.

THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT WHEN I SAY YOU HAVE TO BE BORN AGAIN.”

IN FACT, AT THIS POINT, IN ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PASSAGES OF THE BIBLE, JESUS REPEATS HIMSELF, MOST ELOQUENTLY, SAYING, “FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, SO THAT EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM MAY NOT PERISH BUT MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.”

BUT EVEN IF NICK SEEMED TO HAVE STRUGGLED TO GRASP THE CONCEPT, OR WAS SCARED OF WHAT HIS FRIENDS MIGHT THINK, SINCE WE SEE HE ONLY CAME TO TALK WITH JESUS UNDER COVER OF THE NIGHT, THERE ARE STRONG INDICATIONS HE TOOK JESUS’ WORDS TO HEART, BECAUSE AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION, NICODEMUS, THE PHARISEE, HELPED JOSEPH OF ARIMETHEA, GENTLY ANNOINT JESUS’ BODY FOR BURIAL IN THE TOMB.

THROUGHOUT THEIR CONVERSATION, YOU SEE, JESUS WAS INVITING NICK INTO A RELATIONSHIP, WHICH IT LOOKS LIKE, PRETTY MUCH, IN THE END, HE DID ACCEPT.

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE ROMANS, OUR SECOND READING, TODAY, IS ANOTHER SUCH INVITATION.

PAUL IS SAYING, “HEY ROMANS, IF WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO DO IS INTERPRET SCRIPTURE SO YOU CAN FOLLOW EVERY LAW IN YOUR DAILY LIFE, YOU’RE BOUND TO FAIL, BECAUSE NOBODY’S PERFECT.

BUT, IF YOU ENTER A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT, INSTEAD, WHICH IS POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE, YOU CAN BECOME A CHILD OF GOD AND JOINT HEIR TO THE KINGDOM.

SOUNDS GOOD, SO FAR, BUT WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN EXACTLY ABOUT BECOMING A CHILD OF GOD AND JOINT HEIR TO THE KINGDOM?

IN ORDER TO TRY AND UNDERSTAND THAT, LIKE JESUS DID WITH NICK, LET’S FIRST REDUCE IT TO THINGS WE KNOW FROM OUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND THEN BUILD BACK UP TO THE KINGDOM FROM THERE.

AS A GOVT. BUREAUCRAT FOR 30 YEARS, I CAN START BY ENVISIONING SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

THE FATHER IS THE SES AUTHOR OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN;

THE SON IS THE DESIGNATED PROJECT MANAGER, WHO ALONG WITH HIS 12 PROGRAM ASSISTANTS, CARRIES OUT THE TACTICAL PLAN;

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE LAN ADMINISTRATOR WHO OPERATES THE SERVER WHICH PROCESSES THE EMAIL TRAFFIC BETWEEN THEM.

EXCEPT, THE MYSTERIOUS THING IS, WHEN IT’S TIME TO MAIL THEIR PAYCHECKS, THEY’RE ALL SENT TO ONE ADDRESS.

NOW, THAT, FROM MY TREASURY DAYS, IS SOMETHING I CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND!

HOW MIGHT THIS WORK REDUCED EVEN FURTHER TO SOMETHING IN OUR ST. MARGARET’S EXPERIENCE?

THERE WAS A NEED EXPRESSED AT THE SHELTER ON ROUTE 1 TO CREATE A COMPUTER CENTER SO GUESTS COULD WRITE THEIR OWN RESUMES…

THE CHURCH, IN THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC PLANNER, CREATED THE PROJECT PLAN, AND OBTAINED $4,000 FROM A DIOCESAN MUSTARD SEED GRANT, TO FINANCE THE EFFORT…

SOMEONE WAS STILL NEEDED AS TEAM LEADER TO CARRY OUT THE TACTICAL PLAN…

A FELLA SOON STEPPED FORWARD. HE WAS A RETIRED NAVAL OFFICER WHO’D BEEN NURSING HIS AILING WIFE FOR A LONG TIME. AFTER SHE’D PASSED, HE FOUND HIMSELF WITH TIME ON HIS HANDS, LOOKING FOR SOMETHING USEFUL TO DO.

FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, THINGS APPEARED TO BE ROLLING ALONG, BUT A FEW DAYS AFTER THE COMPUTERS WERE PURCHASED AND INSTALLED AT THE SHELTER HE CALLED ME IN A PANIC.

HE SAID, “I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN WORK HERE ANYMORE. IT’S CHAOS! THERE ARE STRANGE PEOPLE COMING AND GOING YELLING AND SHOUTING. I’M NOT USED TO WORKING UNDER THESE CONDITIONS!”

I RESPONDED, “I’VE ALWAYS LIKENED WORKING IN SHELTERS TO GOING TO DISNEY WORLD, EXCEPT, IN THIS CASE, YOU’RE GOING TO SHELTER WORLD.

IT’S NOT LIKE THE WORLD YOU AND I LIVE IN. IT DOESN’T FUNCTION THE SAME WAY.

MOST OF THE TIME, IT’S BEST YOU DON’T GET FRUSTRATED, BUT TO JUST GO WITH THE FLOW.

AND LIKE DISNEY WORLD, IN THE END, YOU USUALLY FIND IT’S WORTH THE EFFORT.

SO DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GIVE IT ANOTHER TRY?”

HE AGREED AND I DIDN’T HEAR FROM HIM AGAIN.

A FEW WEEKS LATER, FROM MY PEW, THIRD FROM THE BACK, ON THE RIGHT, I RECOGNIZED THE BACK OF HIS HEAD, FOUR ROWS FORWARD, IN HIS PEW, AND HE WAS SITTING NEXT TO ANOTHER PERSON.

THAT WAS UNUSUAL BECAUSE AFTER HIS WIFE PASSED, HE USUALLY SAT IN CHURCH BY HIMSELF.

I’M NOSY -- I WONDERED WHO IT COULD BE.

NOW, I’LL TELL YOU, THE BACK OF THE HEAD OF THE PERSON SITTING NEXT TO HIM, LOOKED, AT FIRST GLANCE, A LOT LIKE WHOOPI GOLDBERG’S, LONG DREADLOCKS, AND ALL.

AND THEN IT HIT ME. I REALIZED WHO IT WAS.

SHE WAS ONCE A RESIDENT OF THE SHELTER AND I KNEW SHE’D HAD A VERY HARD LIFE BEFORE SHE LANDED THERE.

WHEN HER TIME WAS UP AND SHE HAD TO LEAVE, THERE WAS SOMETHING SO SPECIAL ABOUT HER, SHE WAS HIRED, AND TO THIS DAY, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, SHE STILL WORKS THERE, MANY YEARS LATER.

I THOUGHT AT THE TIME, THIS IS SOMEWHAT OF AN ODD COUPLE: A BUTTONED DOWN RETIRED NAVAL COMMANDER SITTING NEXT TO A STREET-WISE FORMER HOMELESS LADY.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?

THEY WERE THE BEST OF FRIENDS, UNTIL HE PASSED PEACEFULLY, IN HIS SLEEP, ABOUT A YEAR LATER.

BUT THAT’S IT YOU SEE.

SHE WAS THE FINAL MEMBER OF THIS LOCAL TRINITY:

THE CHURCH WAS STRATEGIC PLANNER;

A LAY PERSON STEPPED FORWARD TO CARRY OUT THE TACTICAL PLAN;

A HOMELESS WOMAN WAS THE INSPIRING SPIRIT.

IT WASN’T COMPUTER SKILLS WHICH MADE THIS PROJECT WORK: IT WAS RELATIONSHIP.

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I PREACHED ON A READING INVOLVING OUR LOVABLE-ALWAYS-GETS-IT-WRONG PETER.

TRINITY SUNDAY INCLUDES A READING, OTHERWISE, FROM PAUL.

TO ME PAUL IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT KIND OF CAT: HE’S SHARP AS A TACK, COMBATIVE, HE EVEN SEEMS DOWNRIGHT MEAN AND CRUEL AT TIMES. I FIND HIM IRASCIBLE, AND LIKE SOME OTHERS I KNOW, WE FIND HIM HARD TO LIKE.

(I DO HAVE ANOTHER THEORY – PAUL WAS SCOURGED, BEATEN, AND DRIVEN FROM TOWN TO TOWN. THE THEORY IS THAT IF THEY HAD ASPIRIN IN THOSE DAYS, LIKE I TAKE EVERY MORNING FOR MY ACHING JOINTS, MAYBE HE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SO GROUCHY? THAT’S ANOTHER THEORY OF MINE I BET WOULDN’T HAVE FLOWN AT NICAEA.)

ANYHOW, EVEN IF PAUL WAS HERE TODAY, AND HE WAS IN HIS USUAL CRANKY MOOD TRYING TO EXPLAIN WHAT THE TRINITY IS, HE STILL MIGHT HAVE ENDED ON A CONCILIATORY NOTE, SAYING THE SAME THING TO YA’LL THAT HE WROTE IN HIS FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS.

"IT’S OKAY IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, BECAUSE, “EVEN IF YOU UNDERSTOOD ALL MYSTERIES AND ALL KNOWLEDGE, BUT DIDN’T HAVE LOVE, YOU’D STILL BE NOTHING.”

KATE AND I DISCUSSED WHETHER ANYONE HAS EVER COME UP WITH A DEFINITIVE ANSWER TO WHAT THE TRINITY IS.

TO THAT I’D HAVE TO SAY, AFTER DOING ALL THE RESEARCH FOR THIS SERMON, I DON’T THINK SO.

THE TIMES I’VE BEEN CLOSEST TO UNDERSTANDING – TO CATCHING GLIMPSES OF THE KINGDOM PAUL WAS TALKING ABOUT - ARE WHEN I’VE WITNESSED TWO PEOPLE OF ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS PUT AWAY THEIR PRE-CONCEPTIONS, AND THE RULE BOOKS THEY’VE FOLLOWED ALL THEIR LIVES, TO ENTER A NEW RELATIONSHIP ON BEHALF OF OTHERS.

OR LIKE WHEN I WENT ON OUR VERY FIRST MISSION TRIP WITH THE YOUTH GROUP TO SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, ONE VERY HOT SUMMER, 10 YEARS AGO, TO REPAIR HOUSES FOR THE POOR AND ELDERLY, ALONG WITH 500 OTHER CHRISTIANS FROM ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

THE EXPERIENCE I WENT THROUGH IS SOMETHING I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO ADEQUATELY DESCRIBE TO ANYONE ELSE AND STILL PROBABLY CAN’T TODAY.

I ONLY KNOW I APPROACHED THE DIVINE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY, AS, JEANETTE SAYS, AS THE WORLD’S OLDEST TEENAGER, AND A WILLING CHILD--

--AND SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENED DURING THE THURSDAY NIGHT PROGRAM WHEN I KNELT AT THE FOOT OF A CROSS IN A HIGH SCHOOL GYM NEXT TO A YOUNG MAN FROM THIS CHURCH NAMED WIL YOW.

LIFTED ALL WEEK BY THE LOVE, HARD WORK AND SACRIFICES BY THE YOUTH, AND GENTLE KINDNESS OF THE RESIDENTS WE SERVED IN RETURN, I PRAYED HARDER THAN I EVER HAD BEFORE IN MY OWN WAY, TO LET JESUS KNOW I WAS READY TO ACCEPT HIS INVITATION.

WHEN I AROSE FROM THE FLOOR THE WORLD DIDN’T LOOK THE SAME.

IT HAD THIS SORT OF GLOW, I THOUGHT, AS SWEET AS IT WAS ON THE FIRST DAY IN EDEN.

I FELT DIFFERENT TOO.

IT TURNED OUT, FOR ME, WHAT JESUS SAID TO GOOD OLD NICODEMUS, AND WHAT PAUL WROTE TO THE ROMANS, WAS TRUE: THAT I REALLY COULDN’T SEE WHAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WAS ALL ABOUT UNTIL I’D LET MYSELF GO SO COMPLETELY SO I COULD BE BORN AGAIN NEW FROM ABOVE.

IN THE END, WE FIND, UNDERSTANDING THE TRINITY ISN’T SO HARD.

IN FACT, IT’S NOT SOMETHING YOU UNDERSTAND AT ALL.

IT'S AN INVITATION INSTEAD.

AN INVITATION TO A RELATIONSHIP ANYONE CAN JOIN JUST BY SAYING YES.

IN THE TRUCK COMING UP FROM FREDERICKSBURG THIS MORNING, CONNIE AND I HEARD AN OLD HYMN ON THE RADIO: THOUGH MILLIONS HAVE COME THERE’S STILL ROOM FOR ONE.

BE THE ONE.

SAY YES.

AMEN