Trinity
Sunday, I always thought, was a good day to take off and go away for a week. But better brains than mine are still writing
enthusiastic accounts of the doctrine of the Trinity… and I wonder, is there something
the matter with me? It is not recorded
that Jesus ever talked about what we call the Trinity. But then, having thought it was time we got
back into the lectionary for these Friday talks, I consulted the lectionary for
next Sunday, Trinity Sunday, and the first lesson is the opening words of the
Bible: In the beginning when God
created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness
covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God moved on to the face of the
waters. Then God said, “Let there be
light”; and there was light.
(Genesis 1:1-3)
Reading
these scriptures we are best to leave our literal, categorising,
problem-solving minds at home – and also, it may be, if we can, the legacy of
dogma taught years ago. We need our
imaginations here and our sense of wonder.
In these first sentences we find three elements. One is the Creator, in the Hebrew simply elohim,
a generic term for God. The second is
the Word – dabar in Hebrew, but in the Greek of the Christian
scriptures, logos, the creative word of God, the word that changes
things – God said, Let there be light!, and there was light. The third element is the wind from God, in
Hebrew ruach, and it can mean wind, breath, spirit. So there is the picture. There is a formless abyss… void, and dark. But the Creator is present. Over this void, says this timeless mythology,
is the ruach, the wind from God, and this wind, this breath, was brooding
(the Hebrew verb rachaph), waiting, poised and ready. And the Creator speaks the Logos: Let there be light! And there was light.
It
is an embryonic awareness of something basic to understand, something for us to
know about God. One God… who not only
makes everything ex nihilo in love, but who continues the creation,
sustaining, making all things new, in love… the Logos, the Word, flooding the
dark abyss with light, made flesh writes John – the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us… full of grace and truth[1]…
and the Spirit, the wind from God, inspiring, refreshing, converting, in
love… This is the Spirit who inspires
art and science, healing and truth, forgiveness and restoration, service and
peace… never safe or predictable[2]. James K Baxter wrote how the Spirit blows both
inside and outside the fences… certainly inspiring Baxter to push the
boundaries.
So,
on Trinity Sunday, if you want some lucid explanation of the Christian Doctrine
of the Trinity, go to Thomas Aquinas, or Karl Barth, Hans Küng or the latest I know of, Cynthia Bourgeault. What I know, from the distractions of a viral
pandemic and from 80 years of Christian profession, is that God made the world,
the universe, in love, and sustains it, in love; that Jesus shows us life, in good
times and in bad, lifts the veil on what God wants of his creation, which is
love and justice; and that the Spirit of God brings these to birth in our
hearts by inspiration, by newness, by change, and quite often by surprise. A good prayer on Trinity Sunday would be
silence and stillness, in awe and gratitude, for life and sustenance, for faith
and hope in God who dwells in light and love… for Jesus who is God’s Word… and
for the Spirit who is making all things new.
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