The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
Today is Trinity Sunday. We have spent most of the past few months, since the beginning of Advent, reading and thinking about the work of the Father, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit of God, one by one. Now, we take time to think about how they are really one Person: God. None of the three can act alone. When the Bible talks about the actions of one of them, the other two are there, also. We people often find this confusing.
If we look at the creation story in the book of Genesis, and then at the beginning of the Gospel of John, this becomes much clearer. Both Genesis and John begin in the same way: In the beginning.... So, let us, also, start with the beginning!
John begins his Gospel with these words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.
John uses the Greek word, Logos , which in English is translated as the Word , to refer to Jesus Christ, God the Son, Son of God, Messiah. What John is telling us here, in plain Greek (or, in plain English, if you are reading your English Bible) is simply that Jesus is truly God, that Jesus worked with God to create all things, and that neither God the Father or God the Son made anything without the help of the other.
And now let's look at the beginning of Genesis: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Note that it doesn't say "God the Father" or "God the Son,"...just "God". They acted together, you see. And then John goes on to say, ...and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Holy Spirit was also there, helping with Creation. It couldn't have happened without all three working together.
We see the three working together at other times in the Bible. At the time Abraham and Sarah learned that they would have a son, at long last, they were visited and given the news by three men who appeared out of nowhere. As we read that story, we become aware that God is there...but which one is God? The Bible carefully does not say, because they together are God.
Later on, we see the Exodus from Egypt, and we know God talks to Moses; we know that God strengthens and empowers Moses to do what needs to be done; we know that God, as a pillar of fire and cloud, leads the people out of Egypt and across the desert to the promised Land. Which is who? All are all! The voice that addressed Moses, the strengthening and empowering Spirit, the leading sign...God showing himself in different ways at different times.
When Jesus hung on the Cross, he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? and received no answer. But somehow, he received the strength to call out those words in the midst of his agony. And of course he received no answer, because the Trinity cannot be separated; where one is, the other two are. Jesus was not alone on that cross. GOD was on that cross, and while we know that Jesus' body was visible, we know that the Father and the Spirit were with him, there, too.
You see, the Trinity is our model of the wholeness of community. It is our model and example of how we are to work together with God and with other people to bring God's kingdom to earth. And it is our sure promise from God that we are never alone. In the Gospel, Jesus gives us our orders: go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And then he goes on to say, Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Stop a moment and think. How many times have we heard or read in the Bible that God is with a person and will not forsake them? God made that promise to Abraham, to Moses, to Isaiah and to Jeremiah, to countless others. The angel said to Mary, The Lord is with you. Over and over we hear that promise: The Lord is with you. In joys and sorrows, in trials and tribulations and great danger and terrible agony, the Lord is with you. We remember this in every church service. How often have you heard the priest or minister say, The Lord be with you? How often have you responded, And also with you? We need to keep reminding ourselves and each other...The Lord iws with us all, every minute of every day of our lives.
That is also why there can be no such thing as a private religion. We are members of the body of Christ, the church. It can never be "just me and God the Father". It is always God, Father, Son and Spirit, me, and all other believers together. In our baptism and in our life in the Christian community, you see, we share in some small way in the togetherness of the Trinity. St. Paul tells us to put on Christ, and what that means is that we grow closer and closer to God, Father, Son and Spirit, taking ont heir ways of thinking, feeling, understanding and acting; learning to act for the aims and plans of God, not for our own; learning to see through God's eyes, hear through God's ears, think with God's mind, and understand with God's heart.
That is why, today, we give honor, praise, thanks and glory to the Holy Trinity, who never leaves us, always is with us, and continues the work of creation in our own minds, hearts and souls....here on earth, and in the life to come...until the end of time. Amen.
