The First Sunday After Pentecost: Trinity Sunday (Year A), May 18, 2008
BCP: Gen. 1:1–2:3; Psalm150 orCanticle 2 or 13; 2Cor. 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
While the doctrine of the holy Trinity is at the center of orthodox Christian faith, the truth of three Persons in one God is never specifically defined or even dealt with in the scriptures. At best, we find what was probably a liturgical blessing in the second-generation Church (2 Cor. 13:13) and a probable baptismal formula in use early on in the Church which produced the Gospel of Matthew (28:19).
But at least from a plain Christian reading, the Creator in Genesis states, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness” (1:26). And this is clearly proof of God’s triune nature. Right? Maybe, but probably not. Ancient sovereigns and other potentates frequently referred to themselves in the plural, a practice occasionally continued by the Commonwealth’s Elizabeth II and even by a fair number of Episcopal bishops today.
George Carlin recounts his days as a student in a Roman Catholic school. When the parish priest was present, he and his friends would ask impossible-to-answer questions about God (like, “If God is all powerful, can he make a rock so heavy that he himself can’t lift it?”)—to which the priest would invariably respond, “Well, it’s a mystery.”
The Church’s historic tendency to refer to the Trinity as a “mystery” has, in the context of our culture, constrained this central Christian doctrine to the realm of “stuff that can never be explained, let alone understood.” Far more likely, however, is the possibility that most of us misunderstand the nature of “mystery.” Might it be that a Christian “mystery” isn’t as much something that can’t be described or explained as it is a truth so obvious that it doesn’t need an explanation? It’s worth thinking about, at least.
Let’s see. Three Persons in one God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In our own imperfect categories: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. But aren’t more than a few of us simultaneously parents, children, and the love which binds both together? Don’t all of us as human beings engage in creativity, establishing what we have created as good as opposed to evil, and putting our creations above the common and fallen world? Don’t all of us as persons consist simultaneously of mind, body, and spirit? Of course, we’re all of these things!
It just might be that what Genesis describes as God’s creation of “humankind in our image, according to our likeness” (1:26) is, in fact, literal truth. A triune God created triune creatures. And they, in turn, understand God in terms of their own innate triune nature.
It’s a thought, at least.
Look It Up
How is the Trinity described and not described in the Catechism? (BCP, pp. 846, 849, 852-3).
Think About It
How might the Trinity be explained to a young Sunday school student?
Next Sunday
The Second Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 3A), May 25, 2008
BCP: Isaiah 49:8-18; Psalm 62 or 62:6-14; 1 Cor, 4:1-5(6-7)8-13; Matt. 6:24-34
RCL: Isaiah 49:8-16a; Psalm 131; 1 Cor. 4:1-5; Matt. 6:24-34
