The First Sunday After Pentecost (Trinity Sunday) (Year A), May 22, 2005
BCP: Gen. 1:1-2:3; Psalm 150 or Canticle 2 or 13; 2 Cor. 13:(5-10)11-14; Matt. 28:16-20
RCL: Gen. 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8 or Canticle 2 or 13; 2 Cor. 13:11-13; Matt. 28:16-20
The gospel appointed for this Trinity Sunday mentions the Trinity in the traditional formula, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” The last verse of the epistle mentions the Trinity using other words. There are numerous places in the New Testament where the three Persons of the Trinity are mentioned together, thus showing that the first- and second-generation Christians thought, prayed, and reasoned in Trinitarian terms, even if the doctrine had not yet been formularized. That would not happen for four centuries. Nevertheless, Trinitarian theology is rife in the scriptures, both Old and New Testaments.
The creation narrative, appointed for today’s first lesson, is a product of the “golden era” of Old Testament history. It provides a sophisticated account of how God brought the cosmos into being. All that is, sun, moon, and stars; land, sky, and sea; plants, animals, and humans are created at his word of command and declared good. When humans are created, God speaks in the plural (Gen. 1:26), which some Christians interpret as an early, rudimentary anticipation of plurality in the Personhood of God. Moreover, the Spirit is mentioned in the second verse, and the creation takes place through spoken words — a magnificently advanced concept that anticipates the Son’s being called the “Word” of God “through whom all things were made” (see John 1:1-3). Moreover, since humans are made “in the image of God” who is love, we are created to live in a community of love, a constant exchange of praise. To fall away from God is to fall away from love.
The psalm appointed for today shows that even though we are sinners, we grow close to our true selves when we are full of praise for God, showing forth that praise exuberantly and without reservation.
The command in the gospel, the “great commission,” is that we are to go forth to “make disciples of all nations” and baptize them in the name of the Trinity. At the least, those who are so baptized are brought under the triune Name in whose image all are created, and now in Christ can be redeemed, or re-created: “made new.”
It is in the optional part of the epistle that today’s theme comes together. “Do you not recognize yourselves as people in whom Jesus Christ is present?” (2 Cor. 13:5). When we belong to Christ, we have been made new and therefore must recognize ourselves in a new way. The inner life of the holy and undivided Trinity, mysterious and ineffable, is given to us so that we leave the old behind and take on the new.
Look It Up
What is the primary theme of the canticle appointed for today?
Think About It
In spite of our being redeemed, Paul suggests in the epistle that we might “fail the test.” What test is he talking about and how could we fail it?
Next Sunday
The Second Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 4A), May 29, 2005
BCP: Deut. 11:18-21, 26-28; Psalm 31 or 31:1-5, 19-24; Rom. 3:21-25a, 28; Matt. 7:21-27
RCL: Gen. 6:9-22;7:24;8:14-19 or Deut. 11:18-21, 26-28; Psalm 46 or Psalm 31:1-5, 19-24; Rom. 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31); Matt. 7:21-29
