"BLESSED TRINITY"

We sing, "God in three persons, Blessed Trinity." But the concept of One God in three aspects – Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit – is one that most people have had difficulty understanding. The word "Trinity" is never mentioned in the Bible...but it's there by implication. Creator (Father/Mother God), Christ (the Lord Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. Blessed Trinity. One God. For most people, though, it's kind of like the scientist who said of one experiment's results, "This is the sort of thing I wouldn't believe even if it really happened."

Far greater minds than mine have attempted explanations of the Trinity throughout the centuries...but the closest anyone can come is to offer some metaphors.

See if you've ever heard any of these metaphors before. 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. Or...the Trinity is like H2O: it can appear in the form of chunks that keep our iced tea cool-a solid, yet it can also appear as the steam off our coffee, but it may also be felt as the stuff that we shower under every morning. Or how about this? A three-leaf clover. The Irish among us saw in the clover a window into the Mystery of the Trinity. All three leaves are from the same stem, yet they all are distinct from the other; they have their own identity and history, but all contain the same substance.

In fourth century art, the Trinity was first painted as a hand, a lamb, and a dove. The hand reflected the Creator action of God...the lamb, the redeeming action of God...and the dove, the empowering, purifying action of God. Another symbol of the Trinity is three circles -- three unending circles all touching each other, yet distinct and whirling around in their own orbit.

In our lesson this morning, Paul closes his correspondence to the Corinthian church with a blessing that says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." In Genesis, God says, "Let Us make humankind in our image." Us? Seems like God is in deep counsel within God's mysterious self. And in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus sends the disciples out with the specific formula to baptize people "in the name of the Creator and of the Christ and of the Holy Spirit."

So how do we apply the "Blessed Trinity" to our lives? How do we respond to the Trinity long after this sermon is finished? How do we leave this place and start practicing the holy Trinity in our lives? We can tell the truth, we can become better stewards of our wealth, we can work toward peace, control our anger. But how do we "do" the Trinity?

Well, let me suggest some ways that we can benefit from our discussion about the Trinity. First, broaden your understanding of God's nature. What does that mean? I mean take inventory of the Person of the Trinity that you feel most comfortable with. Which of God's three essences do you envision when you pray? Then try to imagine a new vision of God. Many of us center on Jesus exclusively; elements of Christian worship have so focused on Christ, that sometimes we are strangers to the Creator and the Spirit. The Spirit has been called the Cinderella of the Trinity because so few people have seriously considered or explored this part of God.

Here's what you can do: ask the Holy Spirit to give you more spiritual hunger, ask the Spirit to speak a personal word to you. Ask the Spirit to deal with our racism or discrimination. Ask the Spirit to show us how we have wronged one another and ourselves...and how we can make things right again.

Or maybe you need to discover that part of the Trinity we call Creator -- Father/Mother God. You might want to walk around and thank God for being such an imaginative and artful Creator! Discover the Creator's handiwork in the most unlikely places. There is beauty in all God's creations...even snakes! Have you ever wondered how you would survive in our world if you had arrived in the delivery room without voice, with only one lung, with no ears, arms, legs, or eyesight? That's the way the lowly snake is made. Yet they have flourished-they climb trees, swim, and move faster than humans. They are excellent hunters, guard their young, and can go without food for up to a year. Praise to the Creator from whom all things flow -- and slither.

Second, live within the tension that you don't have to have the doctrine of the Trinity nailed down to go to heaven. Peter will not be standing at heaven's gate with his clipboard, giving you some kind of final exam on the Trinity before you can enter into eternal communion with God. A lot of folks have a hard time not having all the answers. But the truth is that there are gray areas in even the best of belief systems. We don't have all the answers, and some of the answers we think we have are wrong anyway.

Knowledge does not save us. The Church does not save us. A preacher does not save us. Our good manners do not save us. Our baptism does not save us. The Trinity saves us -- God the Creator, God the Christ, God the Holy Spirit. That's who saves us -- and not because we can articulate the right salvation formula. But because "God so loved the world that God gave Jesus Christ – that whoever believes in that One will not perish, but have everlasting life."

Lastly, try thinking of the Trinity as an intimate relationship that goes on within God. When we talk about the Trinity, the truth is that a loving relationship is going on within God's Self that is absolutely whole and pure. God exists in a unified, whole relationship. One day, Jesus prayed a prayer. No, not the Lord's Prayer. He prayed like this: "I have finished the work you gave me to do. Now Abba, (which is sort of like saying, "Mom" or "Dad") give me glory in your presence, the same glory I had with you before the world was made." Then Jesus concludes his prayer like this, "I pray that they may all be one, Abba! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me." You see: within God and throughout our world and in our lives -- it's all about RELATIONSHIP. Maybe someday someone will look deep into our telescopes and microscopes to discover that relationships stand out at the core of the universe. Atoms exist and function only in relationship to other atoms, says one scientist. As a loving, vital relationship goes on within God's Person, so we should take our relationships within ourselves and our congregation very seriously.

I think that's why, in Paul's closing words to the Corinthians, he called them to do several things. He said, "Mend your ways" or, as some translations put it, "Put things in order." Put things in order -- This is Paul's attempt to get the Corinthians to prioritize. When we put our lives in proper order, the "last things" (the things that "last") will go "first." That which is important will separate out from the extraneous "junk" we find cluttering up our lives. Those bags stuffed full of old resentments, petty grudges, and childish attitudes need to be cleaned out to make room for the important things – the things that last: good relationships with God, self and others.

Paul says, "Listen to my appeal" -- the most important word here is listen. We can't hear if we won't be quiet and tune in. Listening saves us from the risk of going off half-cocked, misinformed and misdirected. We must listen, in all things, for the message of God's love -- which comes to us through the sounds of the Holy Spirit.

"Agree with one another...." We're not just to tolerate each other's company (some of the Corinthians apparently couldn't even do that). We're called to celebrate one another. Since God's love extends to each of us, there is reason to celebrate every individual. Instead of criticizing shortcomings and highlighting the negatives of each other, try emphasizing the positives. Just because we have differences doesn't mean we can't agree to disagree in love.

Paul says, "Live in peace...." When differences among us are celebrated instead of criticized, we can experience harmony instead of discord, "shalom" instead of shouting. Of course, these days most of us don't "shout." We whisper gossip...we quietly snub each other...we send out voiceless, passive-aggressive, "hit and run" e-mails! I guess there is such thing as a "silent scream" – and too often we aim them at one another. The God of love and peace wants to be with us. But we must be willing to live in love and peace!

The mystery of the Trinity stands to remind us that God is all about relationships. But not the kind of flawed relationships we too often engage in. Writer Madeleine L'Engle said that talking about the Holy Trinity is attempting to talk about God's wholeness to a human race that only knows what it is to be fragmented and broken up.

But it doesn't have to be that way. The concept of the Trinity should remind us that God is diamond-perfect, fully formed and not some piecemeal work stuck together by divine duct tape. God is the seamless, complete, whole whom we worship in mystery -- God the Creator, God the Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. To truly create wholeness in our lives and relationships we must turn to and come to know the reality of the Blessed Trinity who is our God. Amen.

Amen and God Bless.

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