Trinity C + 6.12.22

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Melissa Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Canticle 13; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15)

“Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.

Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth--

when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world's first bits of soil.

When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,

when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker.”

Proverbs 8 reminds us that God’s sense of time is so different from ours. Across the vast expanse of time, God in God’s wisdom reveals knowledge to us each day as we are able to receive it. Today is Trinity Sunday, a time when we reflect on one of the most amazing mysteries of our faith – how God can be numinous Spirit-dove and advocate on earth, physical man who lived among us, teaching us and pointing the way, who died and then was raised, and the Creator of all things, most easily named Father by world cultures but beyond gender and specific form – we only know we are in God’s image, but since God is three in one, that could mean a lot of things. Is it imperative to understand the mystery of the Trinity? No, I believe we won’t understand God entirely until we are face to face with our maker, companion and friend. But it is worth the effort to delve into the mystery. To let our hearts imagine the bigger picture for a while.

Very few things help us to remember the bigger picture than the baptism of a child. Today in the 11:15 service little Daniel Serrano will be baptized. His parents and godparents will claim a faith for him. A faith that he does not understand now, and a faith he will grow into, even if it bends and flexes with his journey. We do not baptize only to protect young ones- we baptize to show them a way to walk in, even as we know each will need to affirm the same faith of their parents as their own and/or find their own path. But in a baptism, I always hope that the child will be protected. That their faith will help them on their journey. It cannot protect them from the buffeting changes and chances of this world, but it can help them feel supported as they face each of life’s challenges.

Reflecting on Jesus’ words today in John, which say: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now,” a sermon planning group I was in this week noted that God’s compassion was mighty. Mighty because God often only gives us what we can bear at the moment. It is interesting to note that bastazo or “bear” here, is the same word used in John 19:17 in the reference to “bearing his own cross.” We simply cannot carry the weight of everything that is to come. Sometimes we hardly feel we can bear the weight of the moment, or sometimes we are filled with so much joy we are sure nothing will be difficult again. This feels especially fitting to meditate on this week, when we had revelations at the national level about the events at the Capitol. Now that is not the gospel truth, but it is truth that is being revealed to our nation bit by bit. I think this also relates to how we can carry truth in our lives in general. One person said, when you welcome a child into your life, you cannot know all of the challenges you will face beside them. If you did, you might not be able to bear it. But God unfolds truth to us moment by moment and strengthens us to be ready for each new moment.

If you are in a moment of joy, we rejoice with you! And if you are in a moment of sadness, know that God is with you, as is your community. You will get through this. You are being led into all truth, but God will just give you what you need in the moment.

Even though I am not in a recovery community myself, I have so much respect for the good work that can be done while working the 12 steps. And one piece of wisdom that I apply to my life is “One Step at a Time.” The idea is that God knows we cannot handle it all at once, but if we each take it one step at a time, one moment at a time, one day at a time, we can get through anything with God’s help. We may not do it perfectly. We will need God’s help, and the help of our community. But we are accompanied by the Wisdom of the ages, who has seen everything that was, is and shall be, and that ensures us that in the great scheme of things, all will be well.

We too will be well. We too will be healed, and free. Let us celebrate with Daniel on his baptism today as he takes the first step in a journey we are all on, this journey of faith. And let us see what truth God is unfolding in our lives, if we open to beholding and holding it.

Amen. 

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