Proverbs 8.1-4, 22-31, John 16.12-15
Trinity Sunday, 12 June 2022, Austwick
Here we are once again on Trinity Sunday; a congregation of believers who through our faithful recital of them week by week, know the historic creeds more or less by heart. Yet if we were asked to explain them to an interested enquirer, might struggle to put these mysteries into words.
As you’ll have heard me say before and will again, living as we do in an increasingly non-Christian culture people may be looking to us for understanding about the ways of God; in a society where everything is questioned, there will be people genuinely keen to hear our particular perspectives on faith. You may not think of yourself as a teacher; but as their parents, grandparents, neighbours, friends, people may look to each of us to get an idea about the Christian way of life; and may even occasionally ask us to share what we understand about Christ.
If that makes you understandably nervous about getting it wrong, or being found wanting in your knowledge, then please let me encourage you: we don’t have to know the answers to the mysteries of God, or even be good at expressing them; but if we ask the questions then, according to the writer of Proverbs, God will appear to us in the guise of Wisdom; ‘Does not wisdom call,’ he asks, ‘and does not understanding raise her voice?’ Indeed, he answers, Wisdom calls out to all who live, and particularly to those of us who are trying to live wisely and well, in the way of our faith.
So what might she teach us, Wisdom, today, on Trinity Sunday: we who recite the creed week by week, but who might struggle to explain it in any detail. Well, firstly, wisdom might help us appreciate that we’re not alone in that struggle. It’s confounded preachers, teachers, theologians for centuries and I imagine always will. As I mentioned last week whilst considering Queen Elizabeth’s Christian character, there is a close connection between humility and wisdom; so each believer can rest secure knowing that if we just simply stay open to learning about God, then God will keep feeding our insight and knowledge. I feel God will do this often through our life experiences: experiences which we can share.
I’m sure you will recall experiences in life which have given you insights about God, the Trinity:
God the Father - the creator, the generator of life, the one to look up to. Maybe you feel especially close to The Father because of a love you have for creation, for nature in its details or in the great wide sweep of the heavens or the oceans; maybe you feel especially close to The Father because of your having had a good father who you learned so much from in life; maybe you feel especially close to The Father because of your own experiences of being a father, learning by trial and error how to be a good one.
You have experiences which have taught you about God the Son - Jesus, the prophet, preacher, healer. Maybe you’ve been influenced by people who have been inspired by this man: Christians who have lived out their lives in response to his calling - who have shown you how it is possible to love the neighbour, love the enemy; who have cared for the poorest and neediest, practically, in response to Jesus’ teachings to ‘do this to the least of these, my children [so that you] do it to [him]’. There will be those acts of charity you have made yourself, those acts of grace inspired by Christ’s example; sharing your food with strangers; sharing your time and place with others in need of fellowship and care.
And you know about God the Spirit too - the one who Jesus sent to help us make the connection between ourselves and the Father. Maybe you’ve seen the Spirit at work, healing people, inspiring great teaching, inspiring humble but wonderful acts of love. Perhaps you’ve been touched by the Spirit yourself, found yourself (in the words of John Wesley) ‘strangely warmed’ by the presence of God as you have prayed or worshipped, found yourself unusually provoked to go to someone to help them, to take a decision in faith. Recognised the Spirit at work within you.
Here’s a revelation: that you can say, quite humbly, I am a teacher - inasmuch as by my actions I do influence other people; inasmuch as by my words, sharing my experiences and insights about the Father, Son and Spirit, I do educate others about who God is.
And you can say, quite happily, that although I may not understand everything about the mystery of the Trinity, nor explain how God can be three persons and simultaneously One, I’m still seeking, still open to learning. And because I’m open to learning, I can be a good friend, good guide, good teacher, to others who may be at different stages in their journey of life and understanding, but who are my companions on that same road.
God the Holy Trinity, we thank you for the unity and fellowship which exists between you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We thank you for showing us how your very different characters coexist together as one. On Trinity Sunday, help each of us your children to accept that the way we are will be different to the way other Christians are. Help us feel valued for being ourselves; help us cherish our own distinctiveness and our story. Encourage us that whilst the questions we have will be different to the questions other seekers have, we can join them in the search for answers to the great mysteries before us, and each benefit from making that search together. Amen
Note
This is a revised version of Trinity Sunday - searching together for answers to the mysteries, preached at Clapham in 2021, and in turn based on the earlier sermons On Trinity Sunday - Are you a teacher... and yet you do not understand these things?, Somerset, 2015, and John 3 - Are you a teacher... and yet you do not understand these things?, Liverpool, 2008.
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