A Relationship as Well as a Doctrine

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. And Jesus came and 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 the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20

This Sunday we celebrate Trinity Sunday, a complicated feast in some ways, as it primarily celebrates a doctrine — a doctrine that many would be hard-pressed to explain or claim as central to their day-to-day faith observances. The gospel for this Sunday doesn't help much by quoting the Great Commission. It seems a bit of a non-sequitur to have Jesus calling the disciples to go out and baptize with a Trinitarian formula long before it was settled.

Recently, someone shared a funny story with me that quoted someone as saying they "were too sophisticated" to believe in the Trinity. Some might argue that one needs to be quite sophisticated to believe in the Trinity rather than not — but again — how are we supposed to imagine this in our day-to-day lives?

I actually do think the doctrine of the Trinity makes a difference. It forces me to address the multidimensional nature of God. Christians in the early church spent a lot of time trying to figure out how they could remain monotheistic while still believing Jesus was God. To maintain that God is One in Three is to honor our connection to the faith of Abraham while claiming Jesus as both human and divine in nature. The scandal of the incarnation is God's radical willingness to take on flesh to be more aligned with us and the fullness of creation.

It is also an invitation to embrace mystery and the inability to ever fully know God. We are far too prone to get locked into a favored version of God — which is a limit and ultimately idolatry. To retain the fullness of God's nature means we can never fully comprehend who God is and how God is acting in the world. It is acknowledging our finitude and understanding we need something that transcends us.

That can still seem pretty abstract. The other thing that is at the heart of the Trinity is relationship. God, by God's own nature, is in relationship. Post-Easter and Pentecost, we now share in that same relationship more fully. We may never fully understand God, but we know that God is related to us in love and is still active and present in the world, which allows us to answer our Baptismal promises with "I will, with God's help." We need both the will and the assurance that we are not in this alone.

Peace, Beth +