Trinity
Sunday Homly By The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
Francis Episcopal Church, G0ldsboro, NC, 22 May 2016
RCL
Year C Pentecost 1: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 ; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5;
John 16:12-15
Jesus
shows us the importance of timing & self-restraint in our
interactions. In our Gospel, we hear a man who is steadfast, brave,
valiant,
strong, determined.
Jesus
says there is a time to say things & a time to refrain. His
compassion, his love for the disciples, his wisdom about human
interactions, his steadfastness lead him to refrain from speaking
hard truth at this time.
How do we know the time to speak,
the time
to act,
the time to be still?
We
have the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us. We receive this gift
from the love that out pours on us from the Holy Trinity, the Mystery that is the one God we follow. We know the “three distinct
personal expressions of the one, eternally rich God who is
love...”
as
Daniel
Migliore describes in his book,
God's
outpouring love challenges us, invites us to live deeper into this
Mystery, to trust deeply this Mystery that we proclaim in our creeds,
this Mystery that loves all of creation, all of us, each of us.
"The
doctrine of the Trinity is to explain the range & variety of
divine action,"2
says
priest, author & scholar Ian Markham, who serves as Dean &
President of Virginia Theological Seminary.
Notice:
Our Creeds & Scriptures speak of God “concretely &
specifically” rather than generally & indefinitely.3
We
“...affirm (our) faith in God as sovereign Lord of all creation who
has done a new & gracious work in Jesus... & who continues to
be active in the world through the power of the Spirit.”4
This
Holy Trinity, this Mystery
nourishes us in many ways. Foods that nourish us offer glimpses into
the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. Think
of water: We experience as it as flowing liquid, solid ice, hot
steam.
Think of bread: We experience its taste, texture, nourishment.
We
don't have to know all about how water, bread & eggs nourish us
for us to be nourished by them. Babies are nourished without any
understanding of how these elements bless their bodies.
The
Holy Trinity generously, freely fills us with love, nourishes us &
sends us wisdom as a gift. Like any gift, we can accept it, reject
it, ignore it. We are wise to embrace God's deep love & God's
generous gift of wisdom.
How like wisdom are we [that we hear in our
lesson from Proverbs]?
How do we delight in God as God works in our
lives?
How often do we notice:
God has a great deal of confidence in
us!
We
see the confidence Jesus has in the positive difference we can make
as he dies for us on the cross & startles us with his
resurrection & ascension. We see the confidence the Holy Trinity
has in the positive difference we can make individually &
together by the power we have with the Holy Spirit active in our
lives.
Beloved
Brothers & Sisters, God's Love, God's Holy Spirit can embolden us
– together & individually – to live boldly, to pray boldly,
to proclaim boldly the Good News:
God loves you. No exceptions. All
are welcome.
The
Holy Trinity shows us – individually & together – the various
aspects of life that call us to act or to refrain from acting, to
pray specifically, to pray without our agenda, to be open to God's
will as we wait & trust God's timing.
As
we grow in grace, trusting God & each other, trusting the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, we grow away from being doubtful &
grow into Jesus' boldness. We see in Jesus what
our own Liz Meador describes in her column “Doughty &
enduring”:
The
word “doughty” has been in our vocabulary since
the year 1030!6
Different from the word “doubtful”, doughty means “steadfast,
brave, valiant,” &
my dictionary adds
“strong,
determined”7.
This
sounds like an apt description of the Body of Christ that I know as
St. Francis Parish. This Body of Christ is
steadfast, brave, valiant, strong, determined.
This Body of Christ is
one way the Holy Trinity increases the love the world needs now.
Bibliography
Cunningham,
David S. “What Do We Mean By God?”
Essentials
of Christian Theology.
ED: William Placher. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 2003.
Hughes,
Robert Davis III. Beloved
Dust: Tides of the Spirit in the Christian Life.
New York: Continuum. 2008.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Juarez,
Laurie. Charles Kirkpatrick. “The Mystery of the Trinity”.
Accessed: 19 May 2016.
http://www.sermons4kids.com/mystery_of_the_trinity.htm
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doughty
Accessed: 20 May 2016.
Markham,
Ian S. Understanding
Christian Doctrine.
Malden, ME: Blackwell Publishing. 2008.
Meadors,
Liz. “Language matters: Doughty and enduring”. Goldsboro
News-Argus. 8 May 2016.
Migliore,
Daniel L. Faith
Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology.
2nd Ed. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2004.
Placher,
William. Editor. Essentials
of Christian Theology.
Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 2003.
The
New American Bible for Catholics.
South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
Voyles,
Robert J. Restoring
Hope: Appreciative Strategies to Resolve Grief and Resentment.
Hillsboro, OR: The Appreciative Way. 2010. www.appreciativeway.com.
4
Ibid. P. 66.
5
Juarez,
Laurie. Charles Kirkpatrick. “The Mystery of the Trinity”.
Accessed: 19 May 2016.
http://www.sermons4kids.com/mystery_of_the_trinity.htm
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