The Holy Trinity, One Love, NO EXCEPTIONS!

The Holy Trinity

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Shorthand for God’s Dynamic Activity in Creation

If ever there were a time when we needed the power of God, this would be it. There is in the body politic of the United States and in the theological world of faith a near total breakdown in the art of conversation. There is no debate that there is a dangerous disparity in wealth distribution in the United States. The problem is that there is no debate at all as to how to deal with it. Our conversation is non existent. Similarly in the world of faith the Progressives take one corner, the Evangelicals another and the Atheists still a third. If the three of us in our respective corners could find a pathway toward genuine conversation we could conceivably discover a Trinity of Powerful Resolution to the daunting issues that face us. 

For that reason, I propose a fresh look at the Holy Trinity as a possible pathway toward fruitful discourse. Let us look at the Trinity not so much as a doctrine but as an experience available to us with all the Power of God to change human hearts and human culture

God Creates

God Saves

God Sanctifies

and so do we

We Name God; Father

We Name God; Jesus

And we Name God; Holy Spirit





I.

God The Father

For whom there is no image other than the One that enthralls us with the Glory of God’s Creation. As Moses was enthralled by the Burning Bush, so in that Glory I notice as Moses did the Great I AM dwells within my own Being. Thus the “I am” within me comes to life with the potential for all kinds of creativity. As Moses wrote the Law, as Mohammed wrote the Koran, and all the writers of all the Sacred and Holy Writings of humankind, we find that it is within our grasp to approach The Holy One, the God and Father of All.

The impulse to create, of course, knows no bounds in art, literature, music, architecture etc. We describe the Glory of God and the Reality of Human Experience with amazing creativity.

II.

God The Son

The One Whose Compassion can only Give His Life for me, suggests that we can also offer our lives on behalf of one another. Sometimes we'll do that in dramatic ways as Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King have done, more likely we'll make more modest sacrifices for the benefit of humankind.

Jesus whose hands uplifted reminds me of his unending blessing extended toward me, teaching me to love myself and all others as he himself cannot help but love

“Woe is me”, I thought just as the prophet says in today's first lesson, “I am a man of unclean lips”, and yet one of the Seraphs is dispatched to take a burning coal from the Altar of God, to touch my lips and enables me to sing with the Angels and the Archangels and the Whole Company of Heaven. You children who receive your communion today have been touched by the angels of God as we all are and so we all sing

“Holy Holy Holy”

"Who will go for me?" God asks, "Here am I, send me." The only possible reply!

III.

God The Holy Spirit

Heavenly Dove

Alighting upon us and filling us with all the goodness of God. What once dwelt among us in flesh and blood in the Personhood of Christ now dwells within us in the Personhood of God the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit guided the Early Church to open its heart to every race and nation upon the earth so now we too carry on this work in the world to proclaim that The Holy Spirit is alive and active in God’s Church; God’s People: that’s you and me, so that everyone might come within the loving embrace of God

NO EXCEPTIONS!

Closely allied with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit there is

The Holy Wisdom of God

The Hagia Sophia, literally 

She, yes She, “Sophia”, the Greek word for Wisdom, like the name itself, is feminine, in the language of The Scripture. She who brooded over the deep at God’s Creation now seeks the Day when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the Sea. And the human heart cries “Abba, Father” as “children of God, heirs of God, joint heirs of Christ, so that as we suffer with him we may also be glorified together.”God now fills my heart with

The The Dynamic Community known as God

Much as we see sub atomic particles in powerful bonds to one and other

Much as we see the Universe and its inter-galactic relationships bound by incredible forces of nature

So too we see in the Trinity a dynamic activity within

The Relationships

We know as God the Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier

One in Essence

One in Nature

Yet Three in Personhood

Can you imagine the Power available to humankind or to you personally in the Holy Trinity?


We sing the ancient Breastplate of Blessed Patrick


I bind unto myself this day The Strong Name of the Trinity

Since God gives us the Power to be Co-Creators with the Father to help us build our families and friendships our homes and careers, our Arts and Sciences and our relationships with one another and  with God, we have amazing capacity for abundant life. 

But then when The Evil One strikes, as it often does, to destroy that which is Sacred. When our nature errs and wastes away far from the hopes we once had, Jesus, then, is the Power to Salvage what he can of our lives. Jesus Gives us Power doggedly to Love Ourselves and to Love One Another and teaches us how to redeem our lives from Despair.

This is why we Bind the Strong Name of The Trinity unto ourselves because it takes all that is in us to be open to this Grace. We cannot do this work alone. That is why Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world but that though him the world might be saved

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

The Hope of God’s Kingdom that dwells within us; The Holy Spirit And as the Wisdom from on High awaken the Courage of God’s Comforter! If we but awaken to this power, we could unleash the power of God within us for the God's purposes for the service of God's people to bring justice with compassion and for the purposes of peace.

The Personality of God is thus a personality that is tremendously Creative. God eagerly thrusts his only begotten into the affairs of humanity to salvage what he can of it and then makes us Holy enough for forgiveness and eternal life through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Last week I told you of a Hindu Atheist that liked my blog. I want to tell you of another atheist who is also a follower of mine. He is a skilled master carpenter and a renowned Boston Furniture maker. He made some money in the DotCom days of software development. He fancies himself an atheist but he has befriended me because there is something very special he sees in the life of Jesus and we both see something very special in friendship. This like, the Trinity itself is a Mystery to be enjoyed and employed not explained.

And then there was the atheist in West Virginia who admired our work at the soup kitchen there and gave us $250,000 to support our work. He directed that the money not be spent to support the church but to feed the poor, quoting Jesus, interestingly enough, He who said to Peter; “Do you love me?” Three times he asked Peter the same question. Three times Peter said “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said again three times “Feed my sheep.”

We feed the hungry here at the Community Table, we tend to the elderly across the way at the Villa, and we teach and care for the young at The Learning Center. There is much more to do, but our focus is on the needs of God’s People.

That is the work of God in Trinity of Persons. And when a parish priest can generate a following of atheists like these, I suggest to you that much is indeed possible with God. The world is craves considered conversation so that together we can deal with the problems and issues we face.

I Bind unto Myself this Day the Strong Name of the Trinity on behalf of these children who will taste and see the goodness of God in this Great Sacrament. 

There is that magic number three.

Three atheists, three stories, One God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of The Holy Spirit.