Past Sermons |
22nd May 2005 |
Don't You Just Love a Good Mystery?
Matthew 28:16-20
Garrison Keillor, modern American prophet from the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," said of love, "We should not think that we have figured this out, because it is not a problem, it's a mystery and always will be."
Having been married for almost three years now, I can attest to the wonderful mystery of deep and abiding love. Neither of us planned for it, neither of us understood it and when it came one of us fought it tooth and nail and even moved 2000 miles to get away from it. Still, it prevailed. Now if that is not a mystery, I don't know what is.
Today is Trinity Sunday - the belief that God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three, but one. This is a day that has been celebrated in the Christian church since the 10th century. It is on this occasion that ministers around the world address themselves to the subject of the triune God.
Notice I said "address themselves on the subject of the Trinity," not "EXPLAIN the Trinity." And I think that is the best we can do. The Trinity, like love is at best a mystery. We can talk about it, point to it, juggle it, and hopefully even come to grips with it. But understand it? Not in this lifetime.
Maybe, though, if we can't figure out the Trinity in these next few minutes, at least we can try to point to what the doctrine of the trinity is attempting to say about God and how we experience God.
Let me begin by reiterating that the doctrine of the Trinity does not attempt to explain God. It only explains to us, in a very elementary way at that, what God has revealed to us about himself so far.
First, God is revealed to us as GOD THE FATHER. That in no way means that God is strictly male. God is God and as far as we know has no gender. But the Biblical concept of God as Father deals with how Jesus revealed God to the world. And it was Jesus who introduced that relationship.
Jesus had a very close relationship with God. One that every son dreams of having with his father. One that every daughter dreams of having with her mother. Their relationship reveals both what it means to be the ideal child and the ideal parent. And their relationship reveals the ideal child/parent relationship.
Think of the PERFECT father and you have God. Caring, understanding, compassionate, gentle … with a love that is freely showered on us, his children, in spite of what we have done; a love given that was not earned; a love that came despite our resistance; a love that healed when sickness pervaded our soul; a love that to this day restores, restores, and restores some more.
Jesus' relationship with this "perfect father" was so intimate that Jesus even referred to God as "Abba," the Hebrew word for "Daddy." Can you imagine referring to the creator of all we know and see around us, all that has been created and ever will be created, as Daddy? And yet that is exactly what Jesus called him.
When I was a child I used that word for my father. However, when I went into high school and college and became very "sophisticated" I dropped "daddy" and started using "Dad." But not Jesus. Jesus maintained that intimate, trusting relationship with his Father and encourages us to do the same.
If we could only think of God as that loving daddy who waits patiently for us while we foolishly wonder off to the far countries in our life and do our own thing. Then, when we have come to ourselves, he is there to meet us at the door and joyfully take us back in.
But still God as "Daddy" doesn't define God. It just defines a relationship - a relationship that reveals a God of love and grace. A God who cares. And a God who is willing to sacrifice to prove that love.
And while it may not define God, it does reveal a portion of what God is like. It gives us a glimpse. And sometimes a glimpse is all we need.
C. S. Lewis wrote: "A glimpse is not a vision. But to a man on a mountain road by night, a glimpse of the next three feet of road ahead of him may matter more than a vision of the entire horizon."
Secondly, we affirm a belief in GOD THE SON, Jesus Christ. We say that God took on human form, came and lived among us, suffered the same trials that we suffered, experienced the same feelings that we experienced.
Soren Kiekegard, the great Danish theologian of another century, tells a story of a prince who wanted to find a maiden suitable to be his queen. One day while running an errand in the local village for his father he passed through a poor section.
As he glanced out the windows of the carriage his eyes fell upon a beautiful peasant maiden. During the ensuing days he often passed by the young lady and soon fell in love. But he had a problem. How would he seek her hand?
He could order her to marry him. But even a prince wants his bride to marry him freely and voluntarily and not through coercion. He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her front door in a carriage drawn by six horses. But if he did this he would never be certain that the maiden loved him or was simply overwhelmed with all of the splendor.
Then the prince came up with another solution. He would give up his robes, move into the village, entering not with a crown but in the garb of a peasant. So, he lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked their language.
In time the maiden grew to love him for who he was and loved him because he had first loved her.
This very simple, almost child like story, written by one of the most brilliant minds of our time explains what we Christians mean by the incarnation. God came and lived, among us. It shows how God is with us, that he is on our side, and that he loves us.
But it doesn't end there. This God the Son, this Jesus, loved us so much that he was willing to give up everything for us.
Pastor William L. Stidger tells the story of a man in his congregation who served in the Navy during World War II. One night, this man was running his transport across the Atlantic, when he noticed the white trail of a torpedo coming toward him. His ship was manned by hundreds of soldiers; the potential loss of life would have been devastating.
Nearby, another smaller ship had also seen the torpedo coming. The captain of this smaller vessel maneuvered his ship between the transport and the torpedo. The explosion destroyed his ship. And all those aboard died.
The man who told this story ended it by saying, "Dr. Stidger, the skipper of that other ship was my best friend." Slowly, he remarked, "You know, there is a verse in the Bible which has special meaning for me now. It is this: 'Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'"
What kind of love gives itself up for someone else? What kind of love is willing to die for you and me, especially knowing that at times we are going to simply forget or ignore the depth of that love?
It's a love that is greater than human love. It's a sacrificial kind of love. It's the kind of love that Jesus revealed on the cross to show us how much we mean to God.
GOD THE SON reveals a love that goes on forever. A love that continues to redeem. A love that continues to walk before us like the Good Shepherd preparing the way for us.
There was a little girl who was riding on a train for the very first time. She saw a body of water coming up and became petrified with fear. As the train reached the water, she realized there was a bridge that crossed the water.
The same thing happened a couple of minutes later. Again she was frightened and again there was a bridge that crossed the water. A third time it happened again. Only this time she said, "I don't think I have to worry anymore. Someone has gone ahead and put bridges all along the way."
Our Lord and Savior has gone before us like the Good Shepherd He is and prepared the journey for us. There are bridges we have to cross and while life may get frightening at times, Christ has already built the bridges. We are safely in His hands.
But sometimes we need to be reminded. And that's where the Holy Spirit comes in. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT reminds us of all that Jesus taught. The SPIRIT reminds us that we are the children of God. The SPIRIT reminds us that we are not alone.
One creed puts it this way: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ and find strength and help in time of need." Put another way: The Holy Spirit is the infinite become intimate.
Intimacy with God. That's what the Holy Spirit brings to our lives. The Spirit helps us to hear God. The Spirit helps us to feel God. I remember when I was trying to decide whether to come to STHPC it was the Spirit that warmed my heart and let me know that this is where God wanted me. It is the Spirit that gives me goose bumps when we sing a particularly moving piece of music.
And it is the Spirit that lets me know that I am never alone. We have access to the Spirit of God 24/7. All we need to do is tune in.
When my Mom died (this past October) and I was in New York 3000 miles away, I felt cut off, alone, and very sad. But the Spirit of God filled my heart, not trying to make it all better and take all the tears away, but crying with me and letting me know that I was not alone. And that made all the difference.
Through GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, God reminds us that we are not alone. Through the Trinity we are reminded that God is everywhere.
Though the Doctrine of the Trinity reminds us we can't define God, we can't harness God, we can experience God through the various revelations of God: GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT.
And as limited as the language we use to describe those revelations is, we still experience the presence of God in our lives. And we come to know that God loves us, no matter what. The Creator of the Universe loves us as if we were an only child.
We learn that God loves us so much that God did come. God didn't send anyone else. God came in the form of one of us. God became human in Jesus and walked where we walk.
And God decided to be with us all, forever, so we would never feel alone again. God came one more time as the Spirit, blowing through our lives, filling us with life giving breath. Empowering our lives with the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, The very Spirit of the risen Christ, so that we can carry out the mission and ministry of Christ in the world today.
Yes, God is revealed through three very distinct natures GOD THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT, but God is still God.
Pastor Tom |
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