Sunday
05/27/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “The Holy Trinity”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 29
New Testament
Scripture: Romans 8:12-17
Gospel Lesson:
John 3:1-17
Welcome again my friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ,
on this our Trinity Sunday, this our Peace with Justice Sunday, and this our Memorial
Day weekend Sunday.
On this Peace with Justice Sunday, which is happening today
across the entire United Methodist Church worldwide, we all have the
opportunity to give towards various ministries that address issues of peace and
justice in this world. If you haven’t noticed in watching the news recently,
our world is in great need of peace and justice, in many places and in many
ways. If you would like to give to this special giving Sunday, there are
envelopes that you can put your donations in.
In tomorrow being Memorial Day, which is our federal holiday
that we honor and remember those men and women who have died while serving in
our armed services, we have a special worship service this morning to honor
them, and all who have served. It is a joy, pleasure, honor, and a duty I believe
to remember those who have died in the service of our country. Melissa and I
will be off tomorrow for this holiday, as will some of you. I pray that in-between
the barbeques and the other things that will occupy our days tomorrow that we will
all take time to remember those women and men who have died in the service of
our country.
Today is also Trinity Sunday, and it would seem to me that
the United Methodist Church sometimes likes to make a Sunday two special
things, or three, or more!
The subject of my sermon this morning will be Trinity
Sunday. With this said, some of us might know right away what the “Trinity” is.
Some call it “The Holy Trinity,” as my sermon is titled this morning. If anyone
one watched the royal wedding in London about a week ago for example, before
Episcopal Church USA Bishop Michael Curry began to preach, he first made the
sign of the cross on his body. While making the sign of the cross, he said, “In
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. “Crossing” one’s heart
is very common in some Christian traditions. This makes the statement, “Cross
my heart and hope die,” make much more sense.
The Episcopal Church USA that Bishop Michael Curry is the
head of, generally identifies itself as a liberal or a progressive Christian
denomination. Conservative Christian denominations that identify themselves as
such, sometimes also make the sign of the cross and say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
as well. So this is fairly universal in Christianity.
The question that I have for us to think about is this
morning then, is why do some Christian traditions say this and make the sign of
the cross? You might have noticed that about a year ago, I began ending our
Sunday worship service with the sign of the cross and saying “In the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. Why do I do that? Do I just want to
be cool like Bishop Curry?
Why do any clergy or Christians make the sign of the cross
or say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at all? Further, why have Christians been
practicing and reciting this for centuries?
The common answer is that the majority of Christian
Churches have believed for centuries in what is called “The Holy Trinity,” or
the “Godhead”. Another simpler way to say this is that the majority of
Christians throughout history have believed that we have one God who is in three
persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Some might say, but isn’t that really three separate Gods?
No. The claim that most Christian Churches make throughout history is that God
the Father, is the person of God who is the creator of heaven and earth. We
would say that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh on earth, who existed with God
the Father before time, who sits at his right hand, and who saved us from sin
and death. We would also say that the Holy Spirit is the person of God who fills
us and guides us, like the blowing of the wind. How can God then be three in
one, or one in three?
If I could perfectly answer this question, I would be in a
church with thousands of people right now, writing books, or be on a television
show somewhere right now.
What is very true though is this, the word “Trinity” is
nowhere in the Jewish or the Christian Biblical scriptures. Given this, some
have argued that the Christian Church created the “Holy Trinity”. Some have
argued that Jesus was a mere man only, and the church in 300’s AD created this
idea of “The Holy Trinity”.
My response to this is, while the word “Trinity” itself is
not in the Bible, the idea that God is three in one, or one in three is all
throughout the Bible, particularly in the New Testament of the Bible.
Let me show you an example of this from the reading we have
from Romans 8:12-17 for this morning. Once again, this scripture says:
“So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you live according to the flesh,
you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you
will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For
you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have
received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very
Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact,
we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:12-17, NRSV).
In this portion of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to
the Romans, the Apostle Paul is telling us to not live in the flesh, or for pleasure
or materialism. Instead the Apostle Paul says to live:
“by the Spirit you put to death the
deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are
children of God”
(Rom
8:13b-14, NRSV).
So the Apostle Paul tells us to be led
by the Spirit, or the Holy Spirit. Yet as many of us know, John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”
(Jn. 3:16, NRSV).
So if God sent His only Son, and we
are supposed to believe in Him, why do we need to be led by the Holy Spirit?
You see, when you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, over and over
we are hearing about God the Father or the creator, His Son Jesus Christ, and
the Holy Spirit. It would seem that God the Father or the creator is
significant, as is His Son Jesus Christ, and we are told in our reading from
Romans for this morning, to be “led by the Spirit”.
Once again our reading from Romans
ends this morning with:
“When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it
is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of
God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if,
in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:15b-17, NRSV).
So we can cry
to God the Father, the creator, “Abba,” not the band. When we do this, we can
seek and feel the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul also talks about us being “joint
heirs with Christ”.
So who exactly
do we follow and worship then? Do we worship the Father? Do we worship the Son?
Or do we worship the Holy Spirit? The Church for centuries has said this, God
the Father or the creator created the heavens and the earth, that His Son came
to earth to save us, and that the Holy Spirit fills us and guides us. The
church in 300’s AD officially called this relationship between the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit the “Holy Trinity”. This became the subject of the
Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed.
In looking at
the definition of the word “Trinity,” one source I found says this:
“The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (Latin: Trinitas, lit. 'triad', from Greek τριάς and τριάδα,
from Latin: trinus "threefold") holds
that God is one but
three coeternal consubstantial persons
or hypostases—the Father,
the Son (Jesus Christ),
and the Holy Spirit—as "one God in three
Divine Persons". The three Persons are distinct, yet are one
"substance, essence or nature" (homoousios).
In this context, a "nature" is what one is, whereas a
"person" is who one is”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity).
So the historical church’s belief is that God is one God in
three persons. In John’s Gospel for example is says in 1:1-2:
“In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (Jn. 1:1-2, NRSV).
“The Word,” or
the “He” here is Jesus Christ. Meaning that before time itself, according to
John’s gospel, God that Father and Jesus were together, looking face to face at
each other.
Last week in
our reading from the gospel of John Jesus tells his disciples to go to
Jerusalem and to wait for “The Advocate” or the Holy Spirit (Jn. 15:26-27,
NRSV). Jesus tells them, that they will be complete and understand more when
the Spirit of God comes.
Jesus said in
the gospel of John 14:9b:
“Whoever has seen
me has seen the Father” (Jn.
14:9b, NRSV).
If this is what Jesus said, then to
know Him is to know God the Father. If this is true, then was Jesus not God in
the flesh on earth? Yet Jesus also tells us that we need the Holy Spirit. So
how do we square God the Father or creator, the Son, and Holy Spirit? I believe
that they are all equal persons of the one God.
In our reading from the Gospel of John for this morning, we
have a Jewish Pharisee named Nicodemus that came to Jesus one night (Jn. 3:1-2,
NRSV). Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus’ power and his Godliness. Jesus then tells
Nicodemus that he must be “born from above” (Jn. 3:3b, NRSV). Nicodemus interprets this as literally
being reborn of his earthly mother. He says to Jesus how can this be possible?
Jesus then tells Nicodemus that he must also be “born of water and Spirit” (Jn. 3:5b, NRSV).
Jesus then says to Nicodemus in 3:13-15:
“No one has ascended
into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And
just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up, that whoever
believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn.
3:13-15, NRSV).
Jesus then gives us that famous verse
of scripture, John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that he
gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may
have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16, NRSV).
Jesus then
ends this gospel reading by saying:
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn
the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”
(Jn. 3:17, NRSV).
So in our gospel reading, Jesus talks about
the significance of God the Father, about how he is the Son who saves, and he mentions
the role of the Holy Spirit. In this gospel reading, Nicodemus knows God the
Father, but he comes to Jesus as he knows that he is missing something else in
his life. Jesus says that Nicodemus needs to believe in him, be baptized, and
be filled with or be “born of the Spirit” (Jn. 3:6b, NRSV).
On this Trinity Sunday then, we are invited to continue to
enter into the great and curious mystery of our great God, who is Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. May we draw closer to all that God is today and always? I
bring you this message in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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