Holy Trinity

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Today is the Festival of the Holy Trinity.  The only week in the entire church year devoted to a doctrine of the church.  It is a festival devoted to entirely to an idea.  Unlike most of the commemorations of the church year which focus on specific events in the life of Christ or biblical events in the history of the church, Holy Trinity Sunday focus on the doctrine of the Trinity, the concept of God as Three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit united together as a single undivided God.

 

But the Trinity is complex, confusing and always shrouded in mystery.   We struggle to find language to even describe much less understand the nature of the Trinity.  Countless books and seminary classes and sermons and lectures have been devoted to the topic, yet many of us still struggle to understand how God can be three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and yet still one God.

 

And I was bad at my Systematic Theology classes in seminary and its summer now and it’s lovely out and I don’t think any of us are in the mood for a complex theological exposition on the doctrine of the nature of God in the Trinity.  So that’s not what we are going to do today.  Because even though it is Father’s Day, rather turn to the voluminous tomes written by men on the subject, we are going to do what we do and learn from a biblical woman today, we are going to listen to Lady Wisdom and follow her example.

 

Because in our first lesson from the opening chapters of Proverbs today we encounter once again one of the most interesting figures in the whole bible, Lady Wisdom.  And granted she is not a real woman in the traditional sense.  Instead, she is God’s wisdom personified.  And as we can see from the passage, if there is anyone with the credentials to speak with authority about the nature of God on this Trinity Sunday, it would be her.  After all, she has been there since the beginning; she witnessed all of God’s creative activity, she knows more than anyone else.   Yet rather than offer any sort of explanation, what does she do in the face of all of God’s creative activity and majesty?  Rather than expound, she rejoices and daily delights in the Lord and all they have made.

 

And perhaps this is the best response for us too.  Rather than dissecting God into manageable pieces, parts and activities, every now and then, it is good to take a step back and look at the big picture.  To be awed by God’s majesty in all its glory and to be wowed by the sheer glory of creation.

 

So tell me.  Where is your favorite place in all creation?  Someplace you really take delight?  Some place that makes you thankful when you see it?  Close your eyes and try to picture it.  Maybe a family cabin or farm.  A perfect mountain vista, seaside or desert landscape.  Or a building or even the living room of your house with all the family gathered together. 

 

There are some things in this world that are just plain awe-inspiring.  And the funny thing about really awe-inspiring things is that knowing how they work doesn’t change a thing.  You may look at a mountain pass or a forest or field or a flower or building or a work of art and know something about how the geological or ecological or human forces influenced how it come to be.  But fundamentally, it’s not the specifics but the whole that makes it awe-inspiring.  It’s not the little bits and pieces but how they come together that make it amazing.

 

And it’s the same with God.  We may know something about the Trinity, about how God works in three persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, about the specific and important things that God has done for us to make our lives what they are now.  But even knowing that, we can still be struck with the awesomeness of God.  And like Holy Wisdom, who witnessed the whole creation, all we can do in the face of all that wonder, is rejoice and daily delight in the wonders of God’s creation and whole human race.

 

And that part is important.  Holy Wisdom rejoices and daily delights in the whole of creation and the whole human race.  Not just in the big stuff, in the towering vistas and impressive sights, not just in the heroes and moments where humanity stands together and makes us proud, but in the ordinary things too.  In the barren patches of land, and the moments when people do not seem to be at their best.  For it all belongs to the mysterious and wondrous activity of God.

 

And our lesson from Romans for today takes that idea even one step further.  Paul tells us to boast, glory or rejoice even in our sufferings.  Not because we are masochistic and somehow enjoy suffering, or because we think of it as some kind of penance, or that it will make us better in the eyes of God, but because “suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope.  And our hope is in Christ, who does not disappoint.”  To rejoice even in our suffering is an act of faith, that as Paul says a little later in this letter that “all things work together for the good for those who love God.”

 

For that is one of the greatest mysteries of God, that even if it takes a long and circuitous route, God can take our suffering, our hardships, the bad things that happen to us and work them together for the good of God’s children.  God is so wondrous and mysterious that we can even be thankful for the bad things, because even those are part of God’s divine purpose and even those things can be redeemed.

 

So school ended for my children this week, and I gave them an assignment that we have done together for the last few years to keep them writing and thinking during the summer and I am going to give it to you all too.  I want you to see if you too can daily rejoice in the Lord all summer.  I challenge you, every day to think of something you are thankful for and write it down.  Maybe every morning, when you get up, or in the evening when you go to bed, or around the dinner table.  Every day this summer, pick just one thing you are thankful for.  It doesn’t have to be big, momentous or life changing, remembering what Paul said, it doesn’t even have to be a good thing, perhaps just something you hope God will transform into something good.  Just think about it, write it down and see what happens.  For God is bigger and wider and more complex and more deeply present in our world than we can ever imagine.  So lets take a little time while we are out and about this summer to let ourselves by awed by God and lets try to remember to be thankful for the amazing world they have created.  Amen.


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