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Romans 8:12-17 12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 13 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. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 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!1 Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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.
John 3:1-17 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above. 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 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. 17 “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.
Come Join the Dance of the Trinity
Today is Trinity Sunday. This is the only Sunday in the Christian calendar where we celebrate not an event but a doctrine. The doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is the central doctrine of the Christian faith.
Ask any Christian who the Trinity is and they can probably tell you it’s the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Where do these names come from? Jesus called God Father, named Himself the Son and spoke of the Holy Spirit. That tells us who they are, gives each person a name. Here in church we sing songs that say, “God in three persons, blessed trinity” but do we really know what that means? A contemporary theologian has said of the Trinity, “While one may be in danger of losing his soul by denying it, he is in danger of losing his wits in trying to understand it.”
The word trinity is not in the Bible. While each member is named they are not called “the trinity”. The doctrine of the trinity was developed in the early centuries of the church. There was much debate over the divinity of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We can see this reflected in the early creeds. In the Apostles’ Creed we say, “I believe in God the Father almighty and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord.” Then a few lines later we say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” The Nicene creed adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 381 says, “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 Lord, the giver of life.”
Both of these creeds speak of the members of the trinity and call them divine but they don’t use the word trinity and they don’t speak of the oneness of God. For this we turn a creed most of us are not familiar with, the Athanasian Creed which says, “Our faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and the Trinity in unity.” These three creeds come to us from the early church.
We also see definitions for trinity in confessions from our reformed faith. The Second Helvetic confession says, “God is one. We believe and teach that God is one in essence or nature, subsisting in himself…God is three…we believe… that the… one and indivisible God is in person distinguished as Father, Son and Holy Spirit…Thus there are not three gods, but three persons, consubstantial, coeternal, and coequal; distinct with respect to hypostases…”
From our Reformed heritage we have the Scots Confession which says, “We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
Is this all rather dry? Does it sound confusing? Here’s what two well-known theologians have said. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist denomination, once said, “Show me a worm that can comprehend a human being, and then I will show you a human being that can comprehend the Triune God.” It’s simply beyond our ability to understand. Martin Luther even said, “To try to comprehend the Trinity endangers your sanity.” So if the concept of the trinity is hard for us to understand than we are in good company.
Another way to help people understand the trinity is to use analogies. Illustrating the Trinity is a noble goal, but it is ultimately an exercise in futility. I’ve seen it compared to a triangle. It has three sides yet is one figure. It’s been compared to an egg which has a shell, yolk and white yet is one egg. An apple that has skin, meat and core yet is one apple. One often used example is of water. It can be either steam, liquid or ice depending on the temperature yet whatever state it is, it is still water. Then there’s an example based on relationship. I am a mother, a sister and a daughter. Three relationships but one me. I’m sorry to say none of these analogies are correct and many of them are actually heretical.
We read our scriptures today to gain understanding of the trinity. In Paul’s letter to the Romans we heard, “for all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” In other words, if we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us we become children of God. Not only that, but Paul went on to say that if we are children of God we are also joint heirs of God with Jesus. Paul never uses the word trinity but his writing includes references to God as Father, God as Jesus Christ and God as Holy Spirit. God can be seen as having three persons yet God is always one.
In our second passage from John it seems Nicodemus was as confused as we can be. Nicodemus acknowledged that Jesus came from God. It doesn’t appear that he thought Jesus was divine but he was getting close. Then Jesus told him he had to be born again from above, he must be born of the Spirit. Nicodemus found this quite puzzling. He asks, “How can these things be?” A good question for us as we seek to understand the trinity. How can God be one and three at the same time?
If this was a class I would explain some of the words that theologians use; consubstantial, hypostases, perichoresis. But this is not a class; this is a sermon. A sermon usually contains some teaching but mostly a sermon is to point people to Jesus, to draw them into relationship with God. So why does it matter if we understand the Trinity?
In many ways it doesn’t. When we get to heaven God is not going to ask us to write an essay explaining the trinity. We are each one solitary being. We cannot fully understand intellectually the oneness and threeness of God. How can God be one and three? One plus one plus one equals one. The math just doesn’t work. One theologian said, “The Trinity is a mystery, not a puzzle. You try to solve the puzzle, you stand in awe before a mystery.” We stand in awe before our glorious almighty God. We do not fully understand and that is okay.
Why does it matter that God is three in one? One reason is to understand the importance of community and fellowship within the life of a Christian. There is no such thing as a Lone Ranger Christian. We are not meant to live in isolation. The Trinity is relationship, community, interaction, unity. God does not exist alone but is in eternal relationship within the trinity. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unified in one by the bonds of love. So since this is true, then the image of God in us longs for community. We are not made to be rugged individuals. We are not made to do it all ourselves. We are not made to be self-sufficient. It is not good for humans to be alone. We need one another. We are made to belong. Think of the words in the hymn, Blest Be the Tie That Binds, “The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above”. When we join in unity we are, in a sense, attempting to imitate the persons of the trinity.
One way to conceive of the trinity is as a dance of relationship. The Father loves the Son and the Spirit. Jesus loves the Father and the Spirit. The Spirit loves the Father and the Son. Around and around the dance goes full of mutual love, honor, joy and respect. An eternal dance of joy. Now this type of love is far beyond what we can imagine. It is a love in which there is no striving for power, but only self-giving, no selfishness but unity, a perfect love.
We were created in the image of God to be part of this dance of love. When we sin, we are in a sense, stepping out of the dance, we disturb the rhythm of the dance. Think of what happens when people try to square dance but don’t know the steps that are called. Or there’s someone like me who gets left and right confused. The caller says circle right and I go left, not good. Allemande left, dosado your partner; if people don’t know what the calls mean everything will get confused. Instead of grace and beauty there will be people crashing into each other and stomping on each others’ feet. This is our life without Jesus. Brokenness, sin, confusion, and violence. We are unable to even see the dance much less take part in it. Then through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God restored the rhythm and beauty again. We are able to join the dance through the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born of the Spirit. Only when we are filled with the Spirit are we able to join the dance.
The trinity is an intellectual concept. God does not seek our intellectual comprehension but a heart relationship; He calls us to enter the dance. Some of us joined the dance as children and have spent our lives filled with the Spirit. Some of us joined later in life like I did and the dance is all the sweeter now. Some of us understand with our minds but not our hearts so we can’t join in yet. Seek God with your heart and you will soon find yourself dancing. Some of us think we aren’t good enough to dance but it is not our ability but God’s enabling that allows us to dance. We are all invited to join the dance; to be in relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So, on this Trinity Sunday does it matter that we cannot fully explain the theology of the trinity? Not really. God isn’t interested in our intellectual answers. God wants us to know His love and to love God and God’s people. God wants us to join the dance of the Holy Trinity. Listen, can you hear the music? Let’s join the dance!