A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Trinity Sunday 12 June 2022, by Rev. Judy Chan. The scripture readings that day were Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15.
Good morning.
On this Trinity Sunday, let me begin with a story from my days at Hong Kong Christian Council before I retired in 2020. As some of you know, my main job there was to take care of our ecumenical Christian radio programs. Once we had a dilemma. There were some churches that had been on the radio a long long time ago, when someone else was in charge. And then they dropped out. Now one of those churches asked to rejoin the broadcasts. The request came to me as the producer. I wasn’t sure what to do. That church was recognized as a religious body in Hong Kong, but they had some teachings that were outside the mainstream of local Christian churches.
The dilemma was more than how to respond to their request. The radio ministry also needed to make clear who we are and how we operate. I was glad there were better theological minds than my own on our committee to put this together as a statement.
I remember the point made by Fr Roman Carter, one of the Catholic representatives at that time. He said, “We are a group of Trinitarian churches sharing the Good News through public media in Hong Kong.” Trinitarian – in other words – churches that believe in God as the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
That emphasis on believing in the Trinity has stuck with me to this day. Whenever I have to evaluate whether something could properly be called ‘Christian’, I always ask, is the Trinity evident? For example, if I’m looking for a modern creed or benediction for worship – is God in three persons in there somewhere? If not, the words may sound nice and holy, but it’s not Christian. For the Trinity in essence is what makes a Christian church Christian and what distinguishes Christianity from the other Abrahamic faiths – Judaism and Islam.
So, if the Trinity is so central to Christian identity, it’s a wonder that many churches only talk about it once a year – like today – on Trinity Sunday. In fact, some preachers say they dread it because it seems the more you try to explain the Trinity, the more confused people become. I pray that’s not where we end up today. I don’t expect I’ll answer all your questions on this important subject. There’s not enough time and I don’t have all the answers anyway.
But I recall the words of a dear seminary friend whom I email daily. I was sharing my problem about a couple of books I was reading to prepare this message. She replied: “Your two books do sound far out.” Wishing me luck, she frankly admitted: “Don’t know where peace and hope and the Trinity get woven into this fabric of a sermon.” Her words hit me like a thunderbolt. That’s what people really need to hear! Not mathematical three-in-one formulas (and I’m not good at math anyway). What I really need to tell you is how the Trinity gives us peace and hope in God. So, with that ultimate goal in mind, here we go.
Let’s begin by asking why the Trinity was necessary in the first place. Wasn’t it dreamed up by some grey headed philosophers sitting in an ivory tower during antiquity? No! The doctrine of the Trinity was actually the early church’s response to challenges at the very heart of the Gospel. They had to answer questions like: Was Jesus divine or not? How are God the Father and God the Son related? What’s the place of the Holy Spirit in the Godhead?
The Church rightly understood they needed to make sense of their faith. They needed to explain, as best they could, their life-changing experience of the God who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. To do that, they needed a framework, what theologian Alister McGrath calls the ‘Big Story’. The big story that weaves together all the important stories of their faith – Creation, Exodus, Jesus Christ, Pentecost and their own story. That big story eventually became what we call the doctrine of the Trinity.
But where did this idea of a Triune God come from? Some skeptics point out the word ‘Trinity’ isn’t actually in the Bible. And that’s true. But we certainly find references to God in three persons throughout Scripture, especially the New Testament.
Probably the two verses that most often come to mind are those we’ve incorporated into worship. Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. And then 2 Corinthians 13:13: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
So, the makings of the Trinity have been there all along which shouldn’t surprise us. Because that’s precisely how God chose to be revealed – in personal, relational terms. Of course, not exclusively in masculine terms, because God is neither male nor female. But we use the traditional names here while recognizing there are also rich feminine images for God in the Bible.
Now, besides Matthew 28 and 2 Corinthians 13, are there other passages in Scripture describing the Trinity in action? There are many. You heard one last week from John 14 on Pentecost Sunday. And you heard another this morning from John 16, verses 12-15. Jesus is talking to his disciples on the night before his crucifixion. Even though the main focus is the role of the Spirit, if we pay attention, we find a powerful message of peace and hope and the Trinity for these troubled times.
Listen as I read again:
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
What’s happening here? Jesus is reassuring his disciples, both then and now. He tells them no matter what happens in the future, you won’t be left on your own. Even in the worst of times, when life seems unbearable, you won’t be left without resources. You’ll always have a way forward because the Holy Spirit will lead you there, will lead into the truth – the truth about God, the truth about the world and the truth about yourself. The Holy Spirit will teach you to see things the way God sees them and to do things the way God would do them.
That won’t always be the quick or easy way, but it will be the right way. Because, Jesus says, my Heavenly Father has shared everything with me from eternity. And I share everything with the Holy Spirit in eternity. So together in love we share everything with you for eternity.
Everything! Always! Forever! And that’s the Gospel truth!
Seminary dean and pastor Clarence Weaver tells us more. He says:
The function of the Holy Spirit is to make us truthful with the truth and to counsel and console us when it seems [we’ve] lost everything of any worth or value. The Spirit comforts us when [we’re] . . . tormented . . . racked with anguish. When we stand accused, the Spirit acts as our Counsel and Defender. The Spirit teaches us the inner meaning of the commandments so that we might abide in love. The Spirit teaches us that God chooses us before we choose God.
God chooses us before we choose God. God chooses to love us before we love God. God chooses to save us before we knew we needed saving. God even chooses to let us choose whether we want to be loved and are willing to be saved. Why? Because, as Weaver concludes:
In human growth and spiritual maturity, timing is the mysterious key. When are we ready for the truth? … Jesus has things to say to us to console us, to challenge us, to comfort or to stretch us. But perhaps we “cannot hear them now.” …. But God [won’t] go away and when [we’re] ready, the Holy Spirit… will guide us into the truth and will show us, in and through this truth, how to glorify God.
For that’s what you were made for – to glorify God and be a glory to God – in other words, to add your story to the Big Story in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. May you know peace and hope this day through the One who is truly Holy, Holy, Holy, Merciful and Mighty. God in three persons, Blessed Trinity. Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, June 12, 2022
