Trinity Sunday
Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Matthew 28:16-20
Holy Trinity Sunday, June 4, 2023
Pastor Ritva H Williams
Today we begin a new season of the church year called “Time after Pentecost” or “Ordinary Time.” Curiously, the first Sunday after Pentecost is dedicated to the Holy Trinity — a concept that is not ordinary at all. Although the word “trinity” occurs nowhere in the Bible, the three-part or “Trinitarian” formula of Father, Son and Holy Spirit was used by New Testament writers and early church leaders for centuries before anyone decided to define their relationship as a Trinity of three persons united in and sharing one essence.
On Holy Trinity Sunday we reflect on who God is, what God does, and how God relates to us. The first chapter of Genesis is particularly helpful for answering these questions. You have just heard a shorter and cuter telling of Genesis 1 from the Spark Children’s Bible, and a translation of the ancient Aramaic version that was used by ordinary Jewish folk like Jesus and his disciples.
Genesis 1 introduces us to a God who sees chaos and disorder, and imagines and creates a different reality. God calls forth light to shine in the midst of chaos. God speaks into existence a space in the midst of waters, protects with it with a dome and organizes distinctive habitats to support life. God energizes earth, seas, and skies to bring forth a multiplicity of varied lifeforms. God blesses every living thing and empowers it not only to survive, but to create new life.God exercises creativity and power not just for the benefit of creation, shares divine creativity and power with all living things, including humankind.
This Creating and Life-giving God is not a single solitary person or force, but a community of persons and energies. Notice that when God creates humankind, it is not in my image, but in our image, not according to my likeness, but according to our likeness. In the ancient Aramaic version of Genesis 1, we meet God as the Lord, as a Spirit of mercy blowing over the surface of the waters, as the Word that speaks and blesses, and as the Glory that sets the stars in the expanse of the sky. Lord, Word, Spirit, and Glory — multiple distinctive energies or names for the one God.
Just take a minute to think about how people know you … Ritva, Dr Williams, Professor Williams, Vicar Rit, Pastor, Pastor Ritva, mum, grandma, sister, aunt, a variety of nicknames … Everyone of those ‘names’ points to relationships and communities, some entirely separate, some that overlap. Each of us is one person with many names, titles, roles, and functions. Sometimes there are clear lines and boundaries between them, but often they are interconnected and embedded in each other. Maybe that’s how God’s identity works too.
Listen to the opening verses of John’s Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the lift of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:1-5.
The Gospel writer summarizes the ancient Aramaic rendition of Genesis, but then boldly proclaims, “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). Jesus’ first followers experienced him as a human person whose words and deeds powerfully communicated and revealed God’s thoughts, desires, and dreams. When Jesus was crucified and died, they continued to experience his energizing and life giving presence. Those experiences led them to conclude that God had raised Jesus from the dead and drew him into the very heart of the God whose Spirit fills every corner of creation.
New Testament writers over and over emphasize that we are in Christ Jesus and Christ is in us (Romans 8:1, 10). We are in the Spirit, and the Spirit dwells in us (8:9). The Spirit is Christ’s Spirit, and also God’s Spirit (8:11, 14). Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (8:35ff), which is also the love of God (8:39). Separate but interconnected and embedded within one another. Fr. Richard Rohr describes God as a circle dance of transpersonal, personal, and impersonal love.
Did you notice in the Genesis narrative how God’s thoughts, words and actions harmonize perfectly? God gets an idea, expresses it in words, and it comes to life. It is always beautiful and proper, or beautiful and good, or very beautiful and good. On the one hand, that means that every one of us is also created beautiful, proper, and good with the ability to think, speak, and act purposefully in ways that other creatures cannot. If we are honest, however, we must confess that our thoughts, words, and deeds are not consistently beautiful, proper or good. The things we dream up do not always turn out as we had hoped. We are not God. But God does not leave us to struggle on our own.
God became one of us in the person of Jesus to show us how to become more like God. In our Gospel reading, the Risen Christ reminds us of our purpose and mission. Matthew 28:19-20, in the original Greek reads, “as you go along your way, pursuing your ordinary everyday lives, disciple all peoples, baptizing and teaching them my commandments.
As humans created in the image of God, we are endowed with the ability to dream and imagine; communicate and express those dreams; and hunger to make them real. As humans created in God’s image we have the capacity to experience and express the love that creates relationships and communities. Not only do we have God’s permission to think and speak and do, to put our strengths and talents to work for each other, we are in fact commanded to do so by Jesus the Christ, our Lord, and Savior.
We know Christ’s commandments: Love God with your heart, strength, mind, and soul. Love you neighbor as yourself. Love the stranger and foreigner in your communities as you love yourself. Love your enemy (Matthew 5:44). Love one another just as Christ loves you. (John 13:34; 15:12). Basically, our mission and purpose in life is to learn to love like Jesus.
We love like Jesus when we see the poor, grieving, and humiliated who hunger and thirst for justice, who are persecuted and reviled, and we honor and respect their humanity, and bless them by working together with them for mercy, peace and empowerment to flourish (Matthew 5:3-12).
We love like Jesus when we see the hungry and feed them, when we see the thirsty and give them clean water to drink, when we see the stranger and welcome them, when we see the naked and clothe them, when we see the sick and provide adequate health care, when we see the prisoner and visit them. We love like Jesus when we see the least, the last, and the lost as beloved siblings, children of God together with us (Matthew 25:31-46).
Please pray with me this prayer by Pastor John van de Laar:
The Word you spoke, and keep speaking, O God, is the life, the sustenance, of all that is – seen and unseen. The Life you gave, and keep giving, O Christ is the re-creation, the renewing of every broken, wounded and sinful creature. The breath you breathed, and keep breathing, O Spirit is the inspiration for creativity, compassion and community that connects and unites all that God has made. Life-giving, Life-restoring, Life-fulfilling God, help us honor you in our hearts and in our lives as we go along the way. Amen. (adapted from “Life-Giving, Restoring, Fulfilling God,” 4 June 2023 at sacredise.com)
