The fullness of God
SERMON PREACHED ON TRINITY SUNDAY, YEAR A
ZION CHURCH WASHINGTON MAY 31, 2020
GENESIS 1:1-2:4a; CANTICLE 13; MATTHEW 28:16-20
From Canticle 13: Glory to you, beholding the depths; *
in the high vault of heaven, glory to you.
Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.
When I was a child, Trinity Sunday marked the beginning of summer! That glorious time of year when soon school would soon be out, and flowers spread over all the gardens, raspberries and peaches fruited in the yard, and corn high as an elephant’s eye overspread the fields. On Trinity Sunday at church, we had a big picnic outside, with a gracious plenty of the most delicious dishes the ladies, and some gentlemen, lovingly provided.
Indeed, Trinity Sunday marks that green season in the church year, when hangings and vestments take on the verdant shade of summer. Prosaically, we call this time of year – stretching all the way from Trinity Sunday until the first Sunday of Advent – “Ordinary Time.”
During this long Ordinary Time, our souls are full to bursting. We have experienced all the rich narratives and liturgies and traditions of Advent and Christmas, the Annunciation, the Transfiguration, the priestly addresses of Christ at table on Maundy Thursday, the passion of the Messiah on Good Friday, his Resurrection and appearances and Ascension. Then, finally, came Pentecost when the Holy Spirit pours upon the new Church. We need some ordinary time to appreciate and grow into all this spiritual fullness, to contemplate and understand where Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is leading us.
Our Scripture lessons today begin with God’s creation of the world. At the very beginning, the ruach Elohim blew across the face of the earth. Ruach Elohim translates as the breath of God, the Holy Spirit. So from the time that God initiated a relationship with all known and unknown matter in the universe, the Holy Spirit was present, and is present, and shares fully in the continuing work of Creation.
Note that I say “continuing” work of Creation. This means that every year, every day, every minute, God is creating, renewing everything that exists. And that goes for us – God is continually renewing us, making us something new, more fully in God’s own image.
Do you know who else was present at the Creation? Of course you do: God’s Son, who eventually was born in history, of Mary and the Holy Spirit, as Jesus — Immanuel, God with us. We tend to have earth-bound images of Jesus in our mind’s eye. And well we might, given the surmounting importance of the details of his life on earth. His teachings, his healings, the way he formed his itinerant group of disciples to spread news of the Kingdom of God. The way that he refused no one in his personal dealings, and shocked keepers of the religious status quo by eating with “sinners” and healing on the sabbath. In every way, Jesus modeled self-giving love, even as he gave it surpassingly to the world in his crucifixion – the ultimate act of self-giving love that released us from the iron grips of sin and death.
Even so, Jesus is fully God. He did not sit enthroned with cherubim somewhere in heaven, waiting until his time to come to earth. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all Three, are the animating force behind everything that is. As John relates so beautifully at the beginning of his Gospel:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Let us pause to consider the Trinity and Creation. Holy Scripture captures in Genesis the myth of seven-day creation. Don’t be disturbed when I use the word “myth.” I am not saying that Genesis is untrue. Far from it! “Myth” encloses rich vaults of truth, expressed the best way that human beings at a certain time and place can. Myth is something precious, told and retold until finally preserved in writing. Myth uses narrative, poetry, images and simile and metaphor to express something that is deeply true.
Part of the Creation myth is that God created the heavens and the earth “bara.” This means that God made everything that is “out of nothing.” When I try to imagine this, my intellect fails. Bara happens to correspond roughly to the “Big Bang” theory, which stands as the most widely accepted explanation for the origin of the universe. According to this theory, the universe began as an infinitely small, hot, and dense point, which rapidly expanded and continued to stretch over 13.7 billion years. This initial period of rapid inflation set the stage for the vast and still-growing cosmos we observe today.
This falls short of God’s mighty creation “bara,” but in a sense the big bang theory is remarkably close to the Genesis Creation myth. Understanding the nature of this beginning point is beyond the grasp of science. Because it is divine. Scientists probing the universe have come near to God, but faithful Jews and Christians are already at the source.
There is much to contemplate here, and I hope you do so, but I want to offer yet one more thing to think about on this Trinity Sunday. I am reminded of a friend of mine, Marlee, who was a Roman Catholic. At my invitation one Sunday Marlee came to my parish, St. George’s in Arlington, Virginia. From that point on, she was drawn to the Episcopal Church and took up the life of St. George’s. One Saturday afternoon she and a group of parishioners were working on an outreach project, and the rector had reminded them that this was a good occasion for building community. That was a favorite topic of his. A guy working next to Marlee asked, “What’s with all this community stuff?” Marlee had the perfect response.
“Community is important,” she told him, “because God is community.” Of course! God exists as three persons in one, continually communing within itself. And since we are created in the image of God, we are meant to be and live in community. Community is where we become most ourselves.
Consider, where is your community? Church – family – friends – workplaces, volunteer or paid — recreational clusters: these are places where you can practice becoming who you are. Where you can exercise those spiritual muscles. You will grow closer to the Trinity. And both you and your communities will be recreated.
A note about Marlee: my friend was received into the Episcopal Church and became a priest. God worked within her powerfully. She has since gone to her heavenly reward.
THANKS BE TO GOD. Amen.