Revelation
Around him flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings. Each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying. They were calling out to each other: Holy, holy, holy! The Lord Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world.
Isaiah
Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and they were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day and night they never stopped singing: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.”
Matthew
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. Jesus said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in(to)** the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(**alt. Translation: “into”)
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When I was a child - and probably when some of you were children - every single church service began with the hymn we used this morning - Holy, Holy, Holy. No one even thought about it - it was just the opening hymn. No one, even today, thinks about where it comes from. It is one of the most beloved hymns in the church, a part of our history. It is based, in part, on the readings of Isaiah and of Revelation.
When I was in seminary, taking classes in worship and liturgy, one of the questions we were asked was”What is the one thing you remember most about church when you were a child?” That was what I remembered - starting every week with the same hymn. The hymn reflected strongly the grounding in the Basis of Union of the United Church.
Another course we were required to take was called “Systematic Theology”. Everyone, even the professors, got a smile out of the term, because theology is really anything but systematic. I took two: one was the required first-year course, a history of the development of theology in the church - covering heavy stuff like Paul Tillich, Karl Barth, and Jurgen Moltmann - but also going back into the history of the beginning of the church’s creeds at the time of Constantine, through the Reformation and Martin Luther, and onward. The second course, called Confessing Our Faith, took us through the Articles of Faith, in our Basis of Union in the United Church.
Throughout all of our history in the church, people have been trying to explain the Trinity. There isn’t one satisfactory explanation. When I came out of the exam for Systematic Theology, and the professor asked how it went, I answered “I felt like I answered the same question three times and three different ways, and all of them were right.” My professor answered “That’s it!!!”
Well, most of us in our lifetime in the church never read the Articles of Faith, let alone try to rewrite them in modern language. So here - for your edification, is some of what we have.
"We believe in the one only living and true God, a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being and perfections; the Lord Almighty, who is love, most just in all His ways, most glorious in holiness, unsearchable in wisdom, plenteous in mercy, full of compassion, and abundant in goodness and truth. We worship Him in the unity of the Godhead and the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons of the same substance, equal in power and glory."
"We believe in and confess the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and man, who, being the Eternal Son of God, for us men and for our salvation became truly man, being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, yet without sin. Unto us He has revealed the Father, by His word and Spirit, making known the perfect will of God. For our redemption, He fulfilled all righteousness, offered Himself a perfect sacrifice on the Cross, satisfied Divine justice, and made propitiation for the sins of the whole world. He rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, where He ever intercedes for us. In the hearts of believers He abides forever as the indwelling Christ; above us and over us all He rules; wherefore, unto Him we render love, obedience, and adoration as our Prophet, Priest, and King."
"We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who moves upon the hearts of men to restrain them from evil and to incite them unto good, and whom the Father is ever willing to give unto all who ask Him. We believe that He has spoken by holy men of God in making known His truth to men for their salvation; that, through our exalted Saviour, He was sent forth in power to convict the world of sin, to enlighten men's minds in the knowledge of Christ, and to persuade and enable them to obey the call of the Gospel; and that He abides with the Church, dwelling in every believer as the spirit of truth, of power, of holiness, of comfort, and of love."
Everything clear? Sure. Except. The concept of the Holy Trinity didn’t even exist in the Bible. We are *told* that Jesus sent the disciples to baptise “in the name of the Father, and the son, and the Holy Spirit. It can also be translated as "baptise "into" ..... But that wasn't a reference to the Trinity. In fact, any actual reference to a doctrine of the Trinity came along 325 years after the death of Jesus, in the time of the Emperor Constantine. Historically, for all of his life, Constantine was NOT a Christian - but he recognised that using that faith to unite his empire would be a smart idea. People under his rule became Christian or lost their lives! A prominent theologian of the time, Arias, was executed because he didn’t agree with the proposed ideas of the newly formed state church.
For Jesus, raised in the Jewish rabbinical tradition, God was One. Remember the Sh’ma? “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is ONE.” One God. The Spirit existed - the ‘ruach’, the “breath” or “wind” of God, Holy Wisdom. Proverbs tells us Wisdom was present at the beginning, at creation. So either Wisdom, the breath of God, was present separately, or not.
The Proverbs passage says Wisdom was created before the earth was formed, before the mountains and the fields. Some people equate this "Wisdom" with the Holy Spirit, but if the Holy Spirit is God, it cannot be a created being. But if Wisdom is a part of God, as it must be, because God did all the creating, and has all wisdom and knowledge, then wisdom is not a created being. See how twisted around these studies can be?!
Confused? Good. I hope so. I confess, I wrestle with the concept of Trinity all the time. In seminary I was accused of being a “closet Unitarian”, because I believed in God, Jesus and the Spirit - but not that they were all one and the same. I still wrestle with it. I suspect that some of you do too. I'm here to tell you it's OK not to be too sure.
Years ago, Abbot and Costello had a wonderful riff on the Trinity. Judith Stark in BC worked it into a sermon with some alterations to fit our context.
“So, one Trinity Sunday at church this curious man who wanted to see me squirm, came up to me demanding a personal explanation of the Trinity, and this is what happened:
I said, “Now listen closely. There is one God.”
He said: “Okay, one God. What do you call this God?”
I said: “We call this God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”
He said: “Hey! You said there is one God, right?”
I said: “Right.”
He asked: “And this God has THREE NAMES?”
Me: “Correct.”
Him: “So which is it?”
Me: “The one I gave you.”
Him: “But you gave me three names!”
Me: “That’s right.”
Him: “What’s right?”
Me: “God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?”
Him: “You have THREE Gods?!!”
Me: “No, one God. “
Him: “So which IS it?”
Me: “Which is what?”
Him: “Father, Son or Holy Spirit?!!”
Me: “Yes!”
Him: “Yes to what?”
Me: “That’s God’s name.”
Him: “WHICH God?”
Me: “Our ONE GOD!”
Him: “But you gave me three names!”
Me: “Three names, one God!”
Him: “But why three names, why not just ONE name?”
Me: “Because they’re not all the SAME!”
Him: “But you just TOLD me, there is ONE God.”
Me: (patronizing/sarcastic chuckle) “Now there we have a wonderful mystery, don’t we?”
Him: “So which is it?”
Me: “Which is WHAT?”
Him: “The name of your God.”
Me: “I told you. Father, Son and Holy Spirit!”
Him: “But that’s three!”
Me: “But there’s only ONE God!”
Him: “I was thinking of joining the United Church of Canada, but don’t think I want to now.”
Me: “Well, lots of other churches say the same thing, so what’s the problem?”
Him: Well, okay, so you say there’s only one God. Is it God the Father?”
Me: “Yup. And God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!”
Him: “So how can this be, three in one, separate, yet together, all in one God?”
Me: (chuckle) “Hey, that’s very GOOD! Maybe you should become a minister!”
HIm: “Who, me?”
Me: “Yup. Some things we just need to accept, in faith.”
Him: “Faith?”
Me: “Faith!”
Him: “Hey, maybe we should take a break from this discussion, and head out to the baseball diamond, okay? And by the way, who’s on first?”
Me: “That’s right, Who’s on first!”
Him: “What?”
Me: “No, what’s on second!”
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So here’s what some wrestling with this concept produces. God is energy, a creative force of love and grace. We were created in God’s image, so we are part of that. Jesus showed us how to liberate love and grace so we can become more like God. The Holy Spirit empowers us in the liberation of that love and grace, and sustains us as a community!
For me, the Trinity is not about whether they are all one, and all from the same substance, but the relationship implied among the three. God is Creator, Jesus is Liberator, the Holy Spirit is Sustainer.
The Eastern Orthodox church uses the word "perichoresis" -- the Persons of the Trinity dancing around together, joyfully participating as community in all the acts of creation, redemption and sanctification, and inviting us into the dance.
It’s a lovely metaphor, but even then we still fall short. The simple answer is, for all of our human language, we cannot adequately explain - because if we could adequately explain God, then God would no longer BE God!
So, we live with mystery. At the bottom of that mystery is that each of us has a relationship with God which calls us to teach others what Jesus taught - love and compassion for everyone, regardless of who they are; human relationship in living creation. That’s what we have. And mystery. May it be so.
Sources:
1. The Lord Our God is One…or Three? John 16:12-15 Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 by Rev. Janet in CNY
2. ‘Three Gods in One’ a sermon by Rev. Judith Stark, Abbotsford, British Columbia
3. The Manual 2010 Basis of Union Articles of Faith
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