Trinity (A) + Matter and God + 6.11.17

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Rublev's "Trinity"
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Saints, Oxnard
(Genesis 1:1–2:4ª; Ps. 8; 2 Cor. 13:11–13; Matthew 28:16–20)
On Tuesday Alene and I saw Genesis act in a play called “Matter and its Properties: The Science of Stuff,” and one of the songs mentioned that “matter was everywhere, even in your uncle’s beard, but try not to stare.”
Matter in this context is of course the stuff that makes up the universe as we know it. No matter what object you look at in the world, it is made of matter, in one of its three states, solid, liquid or gas.
Just as with matter, on Trinity Sunday we talk about how God, just like matter, is everywhere, working through God’s three persons in our midst. Just as Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), God is always with us.
And it is for this reason that we baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God is diverse in God’s own self to show us that creation itself is diverse- just as we saw in today’s passage from Genesis describing the creation story. There are the flowers and the animals, including us, and so much more, and we are all a part of that creation. We are an interconnected creation, glued together by God.
It is for this reason that theologian Richard Rohr mentions that one of the reasons that we especially need to understand the Trinity at this point in time is that we need to be humbled by transcendence.[1] We need the concept of the Trinity now because it reminds us that we are one facet in an immense creation. When our leaders truly understand this, they will no longer ask if a policy affects Pittsburgh or Paris but they will see that Pittsburgh and Paris and Oxnard and in fact all places are inter-connected. One part affects the whole.
This is what the scientists have been trying to describe to us about why we need to care for our planet. We are all connected.
There is not one culture nor one nation that can truly be great without helping all the others to be great. There is no Great America without a Great Mexico or even a Great China or even a Great Ghana. But more than this, there is not one person that can be made greater in minimizing another person.
But this is a mystery that is hard to grasp in our modern culture. We focus on the greatest, when we are a small part of the big picture that is this universe. WE are a small piece in the big process in which our Triune God is participating, the work of creation, in all the universe.
Sometimes our minds just cannot grasp the diversity of God.
It helps sometimes to listen to words that may appear shocking, for example these of African-American theologian James Cone: “God is black… God is mother… God is rice... God is red.”[2]
God is diversity and God is mystery.
But sometimes our culture cannot accept mystery. It does not want to hear about anything that does not seem fixed or understandable in 120 characters or less.
And that is why we are losing some of our younger people. Because they are wise. They know that God cannot be explained neatly with dogma and doctrine.
Jesus, in this passage from the gospel, is not tied to dogma and doctrine. He does reinforce through the gospels the teachings of the Jewish scriptures and the need for following the commandments. But the experience that the disciples have with him brings them to two responses.
First, they must come to a decision. Will they believe Jesus, or not? “They worshiped him; but some doubted (Matthew 28:17).” Because God is mystery, God must in God’s self give us the option to choose to believe or not to believe. Will you worship him now, or do you have doubts? Do not feel bad if you have a bit of both. Because we are all in process with God.
Secondly, the disciples are called to action. They must share the good news and baptize people, inviting them into the new and eternal life offered in Christ. Almost all of us here have been baptized, but are we thinking about how to invite others to enjoy the life that Jesus offers? Are we welcoming everyone to receive the love of God in each and every interaction in some way or other? Obviously, I am speaking of a goal instead of a reality. But if in each moment God is inviting us to be embraced in God’s love, each moment we can be responding to that love in the way that we can by sharing that love with others.
And what is important here is that we do not stay in the rigid position of only receiving doctrine (although in its way it is helpful), but that we move towards a personal, individual experience with the Spirit. Then, as with any profound spiritual experience, we will be called back out with the disciples to take action.
But it does not end there. Because just as Jesus often times said, “Peace be with you,” or “Do not be afraid,” in today’s scripture he reassures the disciples and us that he will never leave us. Although almost in the same breath he is saying good-bye, he is clear that in the Holy Trinity, he is very present to us in every moment, in the form of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
In all of this, I think it is important here to stay humble. And I sometimes imagine God saying this to me. We have much work to do in helping our current world re-learn how to be humble. But the good news is that we do not do it alone. I think God wants us to remember the wonders that surround us, just a few inhabitants of planet surrounded by many other planets moving around many stars in a huge universe. And how wonderful is it that, although we are so small, God cares for us? How wonderful that God is here, working in our midst.
The Holy Trinity invites us to her dance, and to participate in her creative work in creation. And with an invitation like that, who can say no?


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