Today we’re celebrating the Trinity. Naturally, as good
Christians, we celebrate the Trinity every day. But today we commemorate the
feast of the Trinity. One God, in three divine persons: Father, Son, Spirit.
Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Each person is unique in their relation to one
another, but remains one in all else. Co-equal, co-eternal, consubstantial.
And of course, we all perfectly understand the Trinity,
right? Of course not. No one does. That’s why we recognise the mystery of the
Trinity. Not mystery as in a whodunnit novel, but the mystery that no matter
how many ways we try to describe it, we will not succeed. No matter how often
we try to understand it, we simply will not. Our human selves were not designed
to understand it, but we were created to delight in it through faith.
We have all heard many examples of ideas as to how to
describe the Trinity: there’s the 3-leaf shamrock (all connected as one); the 3
forms of water (ice, water, steam); the egg (shell, white, yolk) or apple (peel,
flesh, core); the sun (the star, the light, and the heat). There are many ways we try – and many ways we
fail. Partialism (like the shamrock, egg, or apple) suggests that each is just
a part of a whole, rather than a whole being itself. Modalism or Sabellianism suggests
that God is just one person, being revealed in different forms (like the water
example). Arianism suggests a hierarchical structure (like the sun).[1]
Lots of analogies, lots of challenges.
So. Let’s think about this another way. We could describe
our faith until we’re out of breath, and it would still come across as simple
words. Or, we can find ways to live out our faith. We can describe all the
intricacies of a flower, but won’t appreciate it’s full beauty until we’ve
seen, smelled, touched it. We can articulate the physiological realities of
human contact, but we all know that words cannot explain the feeling of holding
a loved one’s hand. You get the idea – we could write out all there is to be
written about faith, but we all benefit most when we live it in all aspects of
our lives.
So how on earth are we meant to do that? Well, here I’m
going to use the former mantra from the PWRDF: Pray, Act, Give. The notion is
that the first thing we should do for any situation and any decision making is
pray – inviting the Triune God into our lives. Of course this implies prayer (where
we speak to God) and meditation (where we listen to God). We know the benefits
of prayer, we know that it is the first tangible demonstration of our faith.
Then we are called to act. We’re called to discern what God
is inviting us to do, how God is encouraging us to engage in our world, how God
is desiring us to serve. And then we are called to do just that: acting out
what God made us for, what Christ redeemed us for, and what the Spirit sustains
us to do. When we are doing something with our God-given gifts to glorify God,
we are acting out our faith.
And, thirdly, we are called to give. We’re called to
consider what it is that God has given us, and what it is that we are able to
give back. Are we able to contribute the biblical 10% financially? Do we
dedicate 10% of our time? Do we commission 10% of our work to the glory of God?
Tithing is not just about pulling out the chequebook, it’s about a regular
evaluation of giving one-tenth to God and God’s mission. One tenth of our conversations,
one tenth of our TV or reading time, one tenth of our skills and abilities, and
yes, one tenth of our budget.
This week I invite us to be intentional about our
relationship with the Triune God. I don’t expect us to completely understand
how God works – remember, that’s a mystery. But I do expect us to contemplate
how we are responding to that great mystery. How does God influence our
prayers? How does God influence our action? And how does God influence our
giving? The divine may not be explicable, but our human response should be.
I pray we are all inspired to live out our faith this week,
and throughout the year. I pray that we are all eager to demonstrate the
mystery of the Triune God that speaks in our hearts while our fragile minds
cannot find the words to describe. I pray that we might celebrate and delight
in the living Trinity in all of our prayers, actions, and gifts. I pray that
the many blessings of God – Father, Son, and Spirit – may rest upon each of us,
and those we love, and those we pray for, and those we serve.
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