Readings: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 John 16:12-15
We pray: May the
words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your
sight, O God, our rock and our sustainer. Amen.
This last week has
seen a few conversations about preaching on the Trinity – some mentioning our
sometimes obsessive attempts to explain exactly what it is, others happily
embracing the relational movement of the three-in-one, others freely admitting
that they simply avoiding going there.
In one of my books
from Iona there was an article explaining that lines to explain the trinity
tend not to be very helpful – suggesting that a straight line, what ever its
orientation inevitably makes you think of progressing from one end to the other
or, in triangular form inviting a hierarchical model which always puts one of
the points at the top or bottom. So a
circle has a much better chance of symbolising the relational qualities in that
there is no beginning and no end, no top and no bottom – an existing and
eternal relationship that we pray into, live into, part of the dance of the
circle.
You will have your
own image – mine would be the facets of a gem – all bringing beauty from the
centre to the face we meet. I sometimes
think that we should stop using words and start drawing pictures of the
Trinity.
So what do we make
of Trinity Sunday coming after Pentecost in the liturgical calendar, especially
where we seem to have become mired in the trap of trying to explain the
Trinity? I do find the segue from
dancing in the freedom of Pentecost last week to the stumbling around with the
doctrine of the Trinity this week somewhat disconcerting. Yet I believe there
are ways that we can also dance in the freedom of the triune God-with-us and
that is what I would like to explore today.
Actually the way
my head works (and I know it can be a bit weird at times), the concept of the
trinity, God three-in-one is not a struggle for me nor does it drag me down in
the slightest. Instead I find it to be a
very intuitive space where my understandings of God is made clearer, is more
helpful and hopeful.
God is not one
dimensional after all and each aspect of God is centred in relationship – and
in fact without relationship God would be - not God? Parent Son Spirit each
needing other, each present with us in different ways, each speaking the same
words with different accents.
And this is made
clear in our reading from Proverbs today – Wisdom, Sophia, loud and bursting
with attitude. She is hollering out an invitation for us to come to her, she is
popping up in all these locations (the gates, the crossroads, the heights), she
speaks of her longevity, her faithfulness, her working alongside the Lord,
whirling, dancing in the creation of the world.
It’s a compelling picture of the energy of creation and the multifaceted
God who is both creator and spirit. And
according to Wisdom, there was a great deal of delight and joy and play in the
relationship that formed the world as well as delight and rejoicing in the
inhabited world that was created– us, humanity.
It is a slightly different picture to the serious, solemn shape of
wisdom that we might have carried.
In today’s
language the personification of Wisdom might look like this:
I was out shopping
yesterday, and whom did I run into?
Wisdom. Yes, there she was. She called me over and we began talking. Wisdom and I.
Then, I went down to the courthouse, and there she was again, making a
plea for justice in some dingy courtroom where someone had been unjustly
accused. After that, I dropped by the
school, and she had gotten there before me, calling for students and teachers
alike always to seek truth. Then I went
for a walk in the bush, moving along the path in quiet meditation. Wisdom snuck up on me and said, ‘Now that we
are alone, I have something I want to share with you, a present I want you to
enjoy. You know, I have been around a
long time, really before the beginning of time.
I have been whirling and dancing with God all along. I am God’s delight,
laughing and playing. I want you to know
the lightness of spirit and gladness that comes when you welcome me. Will you set aside those thoughts, words and
deeds that make life heavy and sad for you and others? Will you come and laugh and play with
me? Will you come and dance with me?
Will you?’
On Trinity Sunday,
hearing this wisdom from the book of Proverbs, we are reminded of the
reciprocity of the trinity – giving and receiving within the very body of
God. The image of the whirling dancing
Wisdom in creation calls to mind the image of a God who pours out overflowing
gifts to humanity with gladness – in fact in the Orthodox tradition, the icon
of Wisdom depicts a woman seated on a throne, her skin and clothing red, to symbolise
the dawn emerging against the deep, starry blue of night. With all her beauty and grace, Wisdom invites
us all to walk, laugh, play and dance into the light of God’s new day.
And in the reading
from John we hear in a different time and a different way the relationship of
Father Son and Spirit to each other and to us, each sourced in the other, each
sharing in the teaching of the truth of God to the world. And this trinity of relationship has one
focus: to guide us in all the truth. To
encourage us to hunger for a truth that is God’s vision for the world. To tell us that this truth flows out of
relationship and helps develop and cement relationship. Relationship is core to the truth of God and
to our living in the way of God.
Relationship gathers into one body the diversity, the unfathomable
depths of a many faceted God made known to us in Christ Jesus but also speaks
to us of the importance of meeting the truth of God in each other.
And if truth comes
out of the relationship of God: Father, Son and Spirit then is truth itself not
also relational – some people like to define truth as absolute, statements of
fact, capital-T truth. Yet I would say that in the Trinity we are shown a way
of truth that many people yearn for – where, out of relationship, centred in
the love of God for us and for each other, comes the truth that shapes the
kingdom of God here on earth.
To me the Trinity
speaks to us of the celebration of and the absolute need for all the facets,
the faces, the circles that make up the church today – that where we have a
true understanding of the trinity we cannot but be expansive, welcoming, truly
excited by the wholeness that comes from many strands made one in the truth of
God.
And where we lose
that sense of the relationship of Mystery, the Word and Companion/Advocate,
then we find it easier to keep ourselves in limited relationship – both with
God and each other.
So it is no
surprise that I find this centring of the truth of God found in the Trinity is
to me the celebration of diversity – the celebration that is all people in
relationship in and with God and each other.
I will finish with
a psalm I wrote after attending a women ministers’ retreat and a younger
ministers meeting – where I pondered the
diversity of our church and the truth of the oneness we have in God that we
don’t always practice.
Very Simple Psalm
God who loves all
people,
Jesus who walked and
talked with all sorts.
Spirit who cares
not for our otherness, greeting us all in Christ.
Earth with its
eclectic mix,
People with their
many ways of being,
Faith with its
demands of belief and belonging.
Love expansive and
unconditional,
Respect ours to
give or withhold as we choose,
Fear a reaction to
encountering diversity and otherness.
Jesus teaches us to love and delight in all people –
how hard can it be?
Very……
we build on the
trampling of other!
church can become
a citadel of like-mindedness!
it’s easier to
stay close to those who we have some respect for!
Jesus teaches us to love and delight in all people -
how hard can it be?
Simple…..
God’s love
bursting from our heart!
in company with
Jesus, hearing the voice of others!
guided by the
Spirit, greeting all people as God’s beloved children!
One people in all
our diversity – praise be to God.
Margaret Garland
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