Readings: Psalm 8, 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13, Matthew 28: 16-20,
Let us pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable
in your sight O God, our rock and our sustainer. Amen
From the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church
the creed of St Athanasius explains the Trinity in this way:
‘We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity,
neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance.’ Fair enough we
say – but then in an attempt to further clarify the three persons, the creed
continues: : ‘The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost
uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy
Ghost incomprehensible... and yet,,,,there are not three incomprehensible, nor
three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.‘[1]
This is not about belittling the Creed, but rather
about understanding the lengths that people have gone to in their attempts to
explain the Trinity in words, as a doctrine of the Church – we have been captivated
and teased, drawn into incomprehensible rhetoric and fiery debates for the
duration of the Church’s history. And I
read that there is currently a resurgence of Trinitarian debate!
Maybe we are trying to describe the
indescribable! Maybe we rather need to
sit in the mystery of the inexplicable and know the triune God within that
mystery.
Right throughout the service today – and every worship
service – we encounter the God who is the three in one, Father, Son and Spirit;
Creator, Saviour, Companion.
And in the readings today we connect to that same
triune understanding of God:
Within the
Genesis reading we traditionally focus on God Creator but we also have the
strong presence and immense power of the Spirit of God that hovers and broods
over all and the piercing image of the Light of God that shines in the darkness
and is not overcome by it – the three in one.
In the Psalm for today we encouraged to live in this
mystery of divine and yet God with us and to explore our place in God’s
continuing creation – inviting us in to the loving relationship with a God
incomprehensible and God who is mindful of mere mortals .
In 2nd Corinthians the triune blessing reflects
the attributes of living that God calls us to – order, mutual agreement and
peace – as lived out in the grace, love and communion that already exists
within the Trinity. We are to live in
the same kind of relationship with each other and with the God who exemplifies respectful
and loving community.
And in the commissioning of the disciples in Matthew,
Jesus sends them out, baptising and teaching in the name of the Father, Son and
Spirit.
So how today to engage with Trinitarian
understandings. Today maybe by going
back in time.
I would like you to look at this 15th
century icon – often in the visual we find a way into mystery – and this is one
that connected for me. It is an image of
the Holy Trinity created by Russian Andrei Rublev and the inspiration for him was
the story of the three messengers who visited Sarah and Abraham and announced
the future birth of a child to this aged couple. The icon shows three figures seated at a square
table – the opening is immediately in front of the viewer. The figures, if you look closely, seem to be
almost looking into each other with an unqualified dignity, respect and loving
gaze – three yet one. There is an
unspoken invitation for us to join in them at this table – to even join in the
conversation. There is a sense that the
image is completed when we sit at the table.
Henri Nouwen writes[2]
that this icon was the image that carried him through a time of deep
depression, that gradually over many months he began to experience the trinity
as a community of love, a house of love, where all the things that were causing
him such angst like anxiety and violence and anger were absent and only
enduring love and deepening trust were present.
He sat down at the table with them and found peace.
So how does it look for each of us to be invited into
this relationship, to sit in the deep peace of the three in one? We will all have different thoughts in answer
to that question. You might be thinking
‘What on earth is she on about?’ It might have immediately triggered other
images and experiences that are your expression, your understanding of a triune
God. Can we take a few moments to think
about that before I offer my thoughts on where it takes me?
As I thought about
the readings for today and studied Rublev’s expression of the Holy Trinity I found
myself connecting with these words from the Gospel reading:
‘Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to
the end of the age.’’[3]
On one hand we have the invitation into the
relationship with God, to the table and on the other we are sent out to baptise,
to teach, in the reassurance of God with us.
And it is in the assurance of the welcome for us to the table that we
can offer without judgement, without conditions, that same invitation to
others. Is this not what it is all
about? Welcoming others into the
presence of the community of faith with love and acceptance and an
understanding of difference, diversity, the same relationship exemplified for
us in the community that is the triune God.
And do you know what constantly reminds me of this
relationship when I come into this place of worship each Sunday – the three
aspects of being Christ followers that Christ commissioned us to go out and do
that we should always have in front of us as our focus as we worship:
Jesus said - baptise them in the name of the Father
and Son and Spirit. The font reminds us every
time of the relationship we have entered into with God, of our covenant with
the living God and our place with the communion of saints.
Jesus said – teach them what I have taught you,
what I have commanded you. The bible and
the pulpit remind us each Sunday that we are on a constant journey of learning
who we are to be in Christ and then articulating and sharing that transforming
way of being with others.
Jesus said – remember, I am with you always – to the
end of the age. The table reminds us of
Christ with us, in this world and of this world, the one who has lived and died
among us, walked this earth and came again as the Spirit of God to guide,
nurture and companion us in our journeys.
The baptismal font, scripture and pulpit, the table
- all attest to the witness of the
living Christ and our relationship with God.
We struggle to live as Christ wants us to live without that constant reminder
of our baptismal promise, our hearing and living the teachings of Christ and
the reassurance of Christ’s presence with us found especially at the
table. That is why you will sometimes
see me getting a bit ‘particular’ about keeping those elements as the focus of
our worship. For I believe our wholeness
as Christians comes from accepting the invitation to come sit with the community
of the triune God and taking that same promise of community to the world. Amen
Margaret Garland
No comments:
Post a Comment