Trinity Sunday: 18 June, 2000
The Rev'd Dr John Davis, Vicar, St Peter's Eastern Hill
So acknowledge today and take to heart
that the Lord is God in heaven above
and on the earth beneath;
there is no other. Deut 4:39.
Today is a major day in the Church Year. Advent and Christmas really started it all off. So, Christmas has come and gone. The God who is with us in Jesus Christ, born of Mary, has been joyfully acknowledged. His teachings have been presented. His way of following, his way of discipleship has been taught and encouraged. We try to follow where he leads. His suffering and redeeming sacrifice has been honoured. Holy Week and Easter ceremonies have culminated in the triumph of the resurrection. The celebration of the Lord, risen ascended and glorified, as the line of the well-known hymn puts it, has been well and truly undertaken. And in the power and continuing presence of the living God we attempt to live out the implications of that. The Pentecost experiences of both the first and the succeeding generations of Christians have been honoured, and similar gifts and graces requested.
This is the pattern of the Church Year as it unfolds. The whole cycle ends today with Trinity Sunday: the Red Letter Day that honours God the Most Holy Trinity. It is a day that praises God's holiness, to use the phrase from the 150th psalm. We honour God in all the fullness and diversity of God's revelation. Creator, redeemer and sanctifier. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Over-arching, beside, within. Awesome, accessible, empowering.
The text I chose from today's readings is uncompromising and direct. It is simple in its monotheism - there is God and there is no other God. It is a clear assertion of the otherness of the God of heaven and earth. It was intended to invoke awe and acceptance, and gratitude and thankfulness because that God of all things is also our God and we are a part of that people called into relationship.
Christians believe and understand that this relationship is particularly expressed in God as made known in Jesus the Christ. We find focus and nurture in the sacraments of connection, as commanded and taught by the Lord, especially baptism and communion. Christians welcome the presence and renewing power of the Spirit of this God. We try to allow this presence and power make a difference in our lives: in the way we live, the way we love, the way we die. But all this flows from, points towards that one God.
It is often very hard to explain to others who might ask: what do you believe? A short list of acceptable doctrines probably would not be that helpful. It is even more difficult to attempt to explain how we believe. And maybe even more difficult still to explain why. We may find ourselves falling back onto agnostic generalities, or alternatively on the language of gift or grace, of revelation or of call. The simple fact is that for some of us in this world and one would guess and hope for many of us here in this church, somehow somewhere we have bumped into God and God has bumped into us. Our lives and our perspective on living are therefore potentially different. There is a completely different context.
That of course does not mean that those who have this insight or perspective on things are therefore totally wonderful, or totally integrated, or in every (or indeed in any ) way much nicer people. That is patently not the case. No doubt some of the worst people ever, have included those who would share this claim. None of that is a reflection on God. It serves as a continuing reminder of the truth that we do indeed hold these treasures in earthen vessels. But treasures they are. And worthy of celebration on a festival day such as today.
Perhaps some of the most helpful sections of today's readings are to be found in the psalm; psalm 33. With the response 'Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own' it describes something of the nature of God: God is described as being upright and faithful; a lover of righteousness and justice. The earth is said to be full of God's steadfast love. God is described as the creator of all things; that God is protective and supportive of the whole creation. The psalm portion ends in trust and prayerfulness:
Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
Let your steadfast love O Lord, be upon us,
Even as we hope in you.
The promise at the end of the gospel for today from Matthew 28 is a further response to that Old Testament prayer and hope: "And remember," says the Lord, " I am with you always, to the end of the age." That promise follows the great commission to "go out into all the world, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that has been commanded of them."
The selection from Paul's letter to the Romans has the Christian revelation, as he understands it, fully unfolded: God is Father of Jesus Christ; God's only son, God as much as God is God. The Holy Spirit that has been given to us makes us all children of God and therefore heirs of God and thus joint heirs with Christ, in both suffering and in glory. That is the promise and the hope.
So that response from the psalm " Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own" reminds us that that is what the Church is: the people called together, brought together, brought forth from God as Trinity. We hear the message that we are the children of God. We then begin to try to explore just what that might mean. It means also exploring our manner of living and our manner of interacting; with each other and with the world and the whole creation around us. That is a tall order and a most considerable challenge. But if in any way shape or form we consider ourselves to be children of God ,we should be attempting to live as such.
First and foremost that starts with the relationship that each one of us has with God. That can be expressed in a whole range of ways, but relationship it is. We can understand the language of relationship because it is well within our human experience. Exploration of the implications of relationship can move easily into concepts of commitment and mutuality; into care and concern, support, encouragement, responsibility, outreaching self-giving.
The relationship is also and must also be expressed in community. Individuals are called into a relationship with God the Trinity in the context and in the company of others. In our particular case, it is in the company of those who together form this open ended and somewhat porous community, here in this city church. We have a particular way of expressing our Christianity. We are part of a particular tradition. Some are here every week. Others less frequently. Many on any given Sunday are welcome visitors or travellers. Together, we constitute this community.
So this community too, this part of the people of God, needs to be engaged in the exploration of what it is to be in relationship with God. The results of this exploration will be found in the total experience (and then some), of all the individuals who are here, plus the prayers of the saints around us and of all those who have gone before us here. It will be lived out in worship, devotion and service. It will be found in the fulfilment of tasks great and small. It will be an expression of and a witness to the relationship with God of this small part of the whole people of God.
Above all, it will be expressed in the joyful sharing of that which we have received as gift. There is really not much room for the merely tired and the cynical. Christians have been known now and again to be creative and full of a sense of fun and of a joy in life. And that is contagious.
Relationship with God the Trinity then is also to be seen in our case in the living-out and in the passing on of this living, developing and life-giving Anglo-Catholic tradition and heritage that is ours, to others who are searching. That is our task. But it starts with God.
So acknowledge today and take to heart
that the Lord is God in heaven above
and on the earth beneath:
there is no other.
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