SERMON, TRINITY SUNDAY C

Trinity Sunday. The day that strikes fear into preachers everywhere. The day when priests wish for visiting seminarians. Why is that? It's because the Trinity, if you really think about it, is really complicated.

Where does this doctrine of the Trinity come from? We had to get the idea from somewhere. For starters, there's Genesis when God says, "Let us make humankind in our image." And then there is what many theologians have seen as a prefiguring of the Trinity in Genesis 18 when the Lord (singular) appeared to Abraham as three men. There is the baptism story of Jesus in Matthew and Mark with Jesus, the dove and the voice. There is the baptismal formula from Matthew 28, "baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." There is Jesus' own teaching in John 14 and 15 about the Advocate who will be sent in his name by the Father. And there is a benediction at the close of 2nd Corinthians.

As that Corinthian benediction shows, Trinitarian thought has been with the Church from almost the beginning. It's safe to say that if you are a Christian, you are a Trinitarian. Trinitarian doctrine is central to Christianity; one of those non-negotiables. We can argue about communion before baptism, when to baptize, the value of the episcopacy, sexuality, and a whole host of other issue, but we can't argue about the necessity of the Trinity.

As I said, the Trinity is prefigured in Genesis, shown outright at Jesus' baptism, mandated in the baptismal formula and referenced in the early Church. But what is it?

Let's start simple. The Trinity is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's about as simple as it gets. We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the giver of life. One God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our collects and doxology end in a Trinitarian formula, and VC adds the Gloria Patri at the end of the psalm. So there's a beginning.

From there it tends to get real complicated real fast. There is the concept of the economic Trinity in which the distinctions between Persons depend on their distinct function. Tertullian said that the Word existed in the Father's mind and the Spirit followed, so they don't exactly co-eternally exist. Others have said that the Father is eternal, the Son is generated by the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds form the Father. Still others have said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son.

Some have tried to describe the Trinity by what it is not, otherwise known as apophatic theology. The Trinity isn't one being acting in three different roles, that's modalism. The Trinity isn't one God who created separate beings, thereby causing a time when the others were not, that's Arianism. By saying what the Trinity was not, it was hoped to say what it is.

Like lots of other things in the Church, we can argue about what the Trinity is. We can argue about its source. We can argue about its exact substance. But we cannot argue about the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is a necessary aspect of our faith.

The Trinity expresses the infinite and incomprehensible ways that God loves us. God created everything out of love. God is love, so says John. "Let us make humans in our own image." We are the image of love.

And God gave up everything to live among us as a person. The Genie in "Aladdin" said it best: "PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER .... itty bitty living space." God in Jesus showed us, and continues to show us how to live and how to die.

And God in the Holy Spirit remains with us in our every breath. The Holy Spirit guides us and protects us. The Spirit gives us the wisdom and courage to proclaim the Good News of the gospel.

As I said, the Trinity is a necessary doctrine of the Church. Is it exemplified as the Holy Spirit from the Father through the Son? Is it exemplified as the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son? Is it co-eternal in substance? Eternally in the Father's mind? The answer to all of this is, "Yes." As long as we acknowledge that God exists in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in one substance; as long as we can acknowledge the divinity of the Trinity, I really don't think the details matter. Besides, if you think about the details too much, you'll probably just confuse yourself.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.