Trinity Sunday, cycle A

JOHN 3:16-18
THE TRINITY IS A VERY DIFFICULT DOCTRINE TO DESCRIBE OR EVEN TO IMAGINE. AND YET, OUR CHURCH TELLS US THAT GOD HIMSELF HAS REVEALED THIS TO US. SO THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES, WHY? IF I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT, AND THINKING ABOUT IT MAKES MY HEAD HURT, WHY DID GOD REVEAL THIS TO ME?THINK OF ALL THE WAYS THAT PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO DESCRIBE THE TRINITY. SAINT PATRICK’S FAMOUS USE OF THE SHAMROCK – THREE LEAVES, ONE PLANT – BUT NO, THAT DOESN’T WORK, BECAUSE THE THREE LEAVES ARE PART OF ONE THING, BUT EACH PERSON IN THE TRINITY IS ALL GOD. WORDS LIKE “CREATOR, REDEEMER, SANCTIFIER” HAVE BEEN USED. BUT THAT DOESN’T WORK, BECAUSE WHILE IT MIGHT DESCRIBE ACTIVITY, IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT EQUALITY OF PERSON, OR THE FACT THAT GOD IS ONE, OR THE FACT THAT EACH MEMBER PARTICIPATES IN EVERYTHING DONE BY EACH MEMBER. ONE ANALOGY I LIKED UNTIL I THOUGHT ABOUT IT WAS THAT GOD THE FATHER IS LIKE THE SUN, GOD THE SON IS LIKE THE SUNBEAM, AND GOD THE SPIRIT IS LIKE THE WARMTH THAT IS CAUSED IN WHAT THE SUNBEAM STRIKES. SUN, LIGHT, AND WARMTH ARE ONE, AND YET DIFFERENT. BUT THE TRINITY IS MADE UP OF PERSONS, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY HAVE FREEDOM TO ACT. THE SUN-LIGHT-WARMTH IDEA IS VERY MECHANICAL, AND THERE IS NO CHOICE. YOU CAN’T DESCRIBE THE TRINITY, AND WHEN YOU TRY TO DO SO, YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST 90% WRONG.BUT MAYBE THERE IS A WAY TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY WHICH MEANS SOMETHING TO YOU AND I. INSTEAD OF BEGINNING WITH THE PERSONS, BEGIN WITH LOVE, FOR ST. JOHN SAYS, GOD IS LOVE. IS LOVE A THING? NO, OF COURSE NOT. IS LOVE AN EMOTION? NO, TO THAT AS WELL. MY WIFE CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE ARE PLENTY OF TIMES WHEN SHE’S BEEN REALLY MAD AT ME BUT HAD TO LOVE ME NEVERTHELESS. IS LOVE REAL? YOU TELL ME. I’VE LOVED AND EXPERIENCED LOVE, SO I COULD NEVER DENY THAT IT IS REAL.LOVE, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, IS A RELATIONSHIP WHICH SEEKS THE BEST FOR WHATEVER IS LOVED. THE LOVE THAT WE CALL GOD NOT ONLY WANTS THE BEST, BUT IS ABLE TO BRING ABOUT THE BEST. SO THE LOVE BRINGS FORTH THE UNIVERSE, IN SPACE AND TIME – IN REALITY AND IN OUR IMAGINATIONS; AND IN THE COURSE OF ETERNITY, EVERYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY EXIST IS BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE, BECAUSE TO EXIST IS BETTER THAN TO NOT EXIST. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE FATHER – EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IS CHILD TO THAT PARENT.
BUT THE BEST FOR US, FOR YOU AND I AS BEINGS CREATED TO LOVE, IS MORE THAN MERE EXISTENCE. THE BEST FOR US IS TO HAVE OUR ABILITY TO LOVE FULFILLED. IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT THERE IS A GOD-SHAPED HOLE IN EVERY PERSON, AND THERE IS NO SATISFACTION UNTIL IT IS FILLED. AND BECAUSE OF SIN WE CAN'T FILL THAT HOLE. SO LOVE EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT SO THAT WE CAN BE FILLED UP; LOVE BECOMES SIN SO THAT WE CAN BE RIGHTEOUS. AND GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE US HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVE IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH, BUT SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE SON.
NOW IT IS NOT ENOUGH THAT LOVE CALLS US INTO EXISTENCE, THAT LOVE MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO BE COMPLETED BY LOVE, BUT LOVE DOES NOT STOP THERE. LOVE ENTERS US, DWELLS WITHIN US, GIVES US WISDOM TO SEE WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS FALSE, GIVES US STRENGTH TO PURSUE THE GOOD AND AVOID EVIL, EVEN GIVES US POWER TO DO THINGS THAT WE MIGHT NEVER BE ABLE TO DO OTHERWISE. AND MOST IMPORTANT, LOVE TURNS OUR ATTENTION TO JESUS, WHO IN TURN SHOWS US THE FATHER, SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT LOVE HAS DONE, AND COOPERATE WITH WHAT LOVE CONTINUES TO DO. AND THAT IS WHY WE CALL LOVE SPIRIT.NOW IF I STOPPED RIGHT THERE, I WOULD BE GUILTY OF AN HERESY CALLED MODALISM. THAT MEANS THAT I AM GIVING THE ACTIONS OF GOD DIFFERENT NAMES DEPENDING ON WHERE GOD IS ACTING. BUT THESE ARE NOT JUST NAMES, THEY DENOTE PERSONS. FOR A PERSON IS CAPABLE OF ACTING WITHOUT BEING ACTED UPON, A PERSON IS SELF-STARTING. AND ONLY A PERSON CAN LOVE. SO THE SECOND PART OF THIS TRINITARIAN MYSTERY IS THAT GOD IS NOT A PERSON, NOT A THING, NOT A BEING IN THE SENSE THAT YOU AND I ARE BEINGS. GOD IS A COMMUNITY, A COMMUNION. THERE IS NO ZEUS, THERE IS NO ALLAH, THERE IS NO SENIOR GOD AND JUNIOR GODS. EACH PERSON HAS A UNIQUE ROLE, BUT ALL THINK AND ACT IN PERFECT COORDINATION. THE MYSTICS TRIED TO DESCRIBE THIS BY THE TERM “PERICHORESIS” WHICH MEANS “DANCING AROUND”. IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN REALLY GREAT DANCING, THE DANCERS MOVE TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT IS PRECISE AND DYNAMIC AND EVEN BEAUTIFUL.
AND EVEN IN OUR HUMAN LIVES, WE RECOGNIZE THAT FOR LOVE TO BE COMPLETELY REALIZED, THERE MUST BE NOT ONE PERSON, BECAUSE THERE CAN BE NO OBJECT OF LOVE; NOT TWO PERSONS, BECAUSE TWO PERSONS IN LOVE (AND IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN MADLY IN LOVE, YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT) TEND TO LOSE TRACK OF THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND THE LOVE BECOMES SELFISH; THERE MUST BE AT LEAST THREE PERSONS FOR LOVE TO GROW, TO OVERFLOW, TO BE CREATIVE, TO HAVE POWER. SO IT IS BECAUSE THERE ARE THREE PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITY WE CALL GOD THAT WE CAN HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS TRINITY, IN FACT, THAT WE CAN LIVE FOREVER IN THE HEART OF THE TRINITY.
TODAY WE HAVE BOOKS BEING WRITTEN BY VARIOUS ATHEISTS, WHO TALK ABOUT HOW JUVENILE, HOW ABSURD, IT IS TO BELIEVE IN A GOD. SAMUEL HARRIS, ONE OF THESE WRITERS, SAYS THAT DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE HUMAN RACE, PEOPLE HAVE BELIEVED IN THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF GODS. HARRIS SAYS THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIM AND YOU AND I IS THAT HE DOESN'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THESE GODS, AND YOU AND I DON'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THEM EITHER, EXCEPT FOR ONE. BUT I WOULD CORRECT HARRIS. THE GOD IN WHOM I BELIEVE IS NOT ANY OF THESE, NOT EVEN THE ONE HE THINKS I BELIEVE IN. MY GOD IS LOVE, AND LOVE IS REAL, AND THE PERSONS IN GOD CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER; AND WE ARE INVITED INTO THIS RELATIONSHIP, AND ONLY IF WE SURRENDER TO IT WILL WE TRULY FIND OURSELVES.
IT IS HARD TO THINK ABOUT THE TRINITY. BUT IT IS GOOD FOR US TO THINK ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THE ONLY KIND OF GOD THAT MAKES ANY SENSE IS THE TRINITARIAN GOD REVEALED BY JESUS.
SO THIS WEEK LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE FATHER IN THE LEAVES AND FLOWERS AND TREES, IN ALL OF CREATION. LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE SON IN THE GOODNESS OF PEOPLE WHO GIVE SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES TO YOU; AND LOOK FOR SIGNS OF GOD THE SPIRIT IN THE INSIGHTS YOU GET, IN THE IMPULSES TO LOVE THAT YOU WILL HAVE. AND MAY YOU SEE WHAT IS REALLY TRUE, THAT YOU LIVE IN THE TRINITY.