Sermon: Trinity Sunday (Year C) – Sunday 15th June 2025 – St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe (Extended Communion)
John 16.12-15 | Romans 5.1-5 | Proverbs 8.1-4, 22-31
On this Trinity Sunday, I welcome you to this fresh, green-ish phase of the church year!
Easter and Pentecost are behind us, and before us lay many “Sundays after Trinity”…
But what does it mean for us to celebrate the Trinity?
For some, the Holy Trinity could be seen as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”.
Of course, that was Churchill commenting on the Soviet Union, but as an appraisal of something mystifying, it seemed appropriate!
In order for us to celebrate something…. To seek meaning and value in what could loosely be described as the “three of a kind”… do we have to understand it?
If you seek an explanation for the Holy Trinity itself – then I invite you all NOW to repeat my opening prayer with me… in the form of The Grace….
“The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God; and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore. Amen.”
Lovely…
And there you have your ‘explanation’, if that is indeed the right word….
In a simple, familiar form of prayer – we ask for grace, for love and for unity.
We say this prayer before and after meetings – and when we gather as a Christian collective, hopeful that God will bring us closer to one another – to be present amongst us.
It speaks of UNITY.
It is revealed as RELATIONSHIP.
So there you have it.
Although… sometimes it seems more complicated than it should be… as if we have made it so…
In theological study, as preparation for public ministry, there are many opportunities to delve deeply into the various Doctrines of the Church: such as Christology, sin and grace, creation, salvation, Holy Spirit and of course, the Trinity.
All these wonderful things are part of training for lay ministers and clergy alike. Through study we become prepared to help others wrestle with such things….
[how’s that going for you, david…?]
These aspects of theology, whilst seemingly dry and inaccessible sometimes, are woven throughout our experience as Christian Disciples in the making – in how we receive scripture, in our creeds and worship and songs: how we piece together the separate into the whole.
And as you will have found, over time, it isn’t always ‘easy’ to speak about our faith to other people – to summarise all that we have ‘learned’ – to explain the mechanics of God – in the language of church, developed over two millennia.
As we become Christian disciples, we are called to wait upon the Lord God….
To discern and respond – with our senses, our soul and our mind – in the light of the Holy Spirit – seeking God’s wisdom, however long that might take!
If we are asked about our faith, what it all means, or what motivates us, how we deal with the challenges that life presents to us, how do we answer?
Do we talk about the UNITY in God, Jesus and the Spirit?
Do we discuss this Blessed and Holy Trinity as underlining our faith…?
God the “Father” – creating all there is and has been, forever…..
God the “Son”, Jesus, walking, teaching, living, loving, dying, transforming…
God the “Holy Spirit”; YES the tongues of fire thing we hear about on Pentecost, and also the silence…. And what else?
Who is this WISDOM that we encounter in today’s passage from Proverbs?
I will briefly paraphrase what is said of her:
At the crossroads, along the way…
In the city, in its busiest places….
Wisdom calls out to you – to me – to us….
From the founding moment – in all of time….
She raises her voice to share the Wisdom of God….
With a joy that speaks of a life lived with God….
Wisdom dances with a delight in Gods created people.
Who is She?
I imagine you have met her…. The spark, the hope, creativity and wonder… a peaceable moment… but also something else.
Have you ever come across a person out in the public realm – shouting, pointing and gesturing…
This person looks a bit wild…. And not very approachable … I cannot work out what she is saying… it makes no sense….
Yet she seems happy, and not particularly threatening;
She seems to be dancing…
Actually, I might hang around for a while, as all of this seems to be quite attractive, in a mysterious way…
Not as embarrassing as I first thought, and I no longer feel compelled to walk on by – quite the opposite, in fact.
We have all encountered situations where it isn’t clear if a persons behaviour is provocative and challenging, through aggression or intoxication, or the manifestation of a psychosis or other crisis;
Perhaps it is something else….
The unexplainable!
The joy that comes from a peaceful knowing of hope….
Do we allow for the voice of the Holy Spirit…. Of God’s Wisdom…. Right here amongst us?
Edgy, unusual, scary, discomforting…. Stay alert for God…!
In that passage from Proverbs (please do read it), Wisdom is personified – given a sense of being – and is witnessed in a moment of joy as all of God’s love focussed upon the world – upon humankind.
It is an expression of relationship that is so profound.
In John’s Gospel today, Jesus tells his friends that there is much more to come….. not for now…. But later…. And ALL will be revealed in and through the Spirit – as they move through time and space, and experience – like a light in the darkness, a translator, and a companion – inviting them, and us, into the Divine Dance.
A relationship with the Father, initiated through the Christ, set alight in the Spirit.
Maybe relationships are just too hard for us: we get some right…. Some not so right…. And some, terribly wrong….
How do we even begin to speak – or understand – that idea of UNITY amidst all that is happening in the world – the tensions, the atrocious suffering of so many, the apparent failure of leaders to build peace for the nations….or even be bothered.
Paul speaking to the Romans seemed to know all about the challenges we face… yet there is a hope – gifted to us in the Spirit, through the grace of God. This he saw….
And we might do too… as we share God’s love with those around us, and take great joy in doing so!
In each of our parishes, we are asked to consider the ‘bigger picture’ of all of us unified as a Benefice. It’s not been an easy journey. In this discernment process for our new leader, our new vicar, whoever they are, we are invited into further transformation….
We are individual disciples, known by God and drawn closer into community…
We are parishes, with stuff to do! Each with a character, filled with characters!
And yet another dimension is to project our whole, as a Benefice – collective, individual, unique, and…. Unified.
I imagined a richly made tapestry portraying life, challenge, joy, story and hope… of many coloured threads, all needed for the picture it makes. Does that make sense?
However we might be identified … we will hopefully all preach the Gospels through action, and prayer and word… showing God’s love in these and all places….
We know we are the Body of Christ, but it takes the hope-filled Spirit to reveal that to the world, and that sometimes seems to take too long.
Of course, there are many who would say that the Trinity is an unnecessary complication. Religion in its language and doctrines has perhaps created the need to explain the mystical, in such ways as to hinder the growth of Christianity.
Does this then become like a stumbling block to us little children?
Well, Jesus told the Disciples to go and baptise the world into what we call the Trinity. They worked it out, and went and did their best to honour the calling of Christ.
Maybe we don’t have to ‘explain’ the Holy Trinity at all, or even understand it.
In my experience, this Trinity remains a mystery beyond human reckoning.
And do you know what? That’s fine by me.
It is a relationship, a unity that I can only hope for in this life; that I might long for in the world.
And I will have a go at talking about it, to anyone willing to listen.
So….
In the days to come, I double-dare you to share what you think the Trinity means, with someone – anyone!
Not in terms of numbers and who came first, or theological doctrine… or how it all fits together – but, in how you, your community and the natural world around you, are all in union with one another, and with God, and with Jesus – leading you beautifully in the dance of mystery by the Spirit that breathes life and Wisdom through us all….
And if you do get the chance….
We are blessed with the Nicene Creed, and similar words for baptisms. These can be points of reference for shared learning with those new to church. So don’t give up!
To close…
Instead of explanations, I offer a prayer from the Franciscan theologian, Richard Rohr:
God for us, we call you “Father.” God alongside us, we call you “Jesus.” God within us, we call you “Holy Spirit.” Together, you are the Eternal Mystery That enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things, Even us and even me.
Amen.
Image: The Hospitality of Abraham (partial), by Andrei Rublev, 1411 or 1425-27