Trinity Sunday + We are the champions + 6.15.14

(from: krisfoliver.blogspot.com)

M. Campbell-Langdell+

All Saints/ Todos los Santos, Oxnard

(Genesis 1:1–2:4ª; Ps. 8; 2 Corinthians 13:11–13; St. Matthew 28:16–20)

I had the great honor last Friday to attend the graduation of George Moreno and Gilberto Valencia from Pacifica High School. The whole event was moving, but reading today’s scriptures I thought of a specific time during the program. One of the two valedictorians (the other was the daughter of another of our parishioners, Paul Johnson) did something I've never seen in any class before graduation. He guided all the graduates in a sing –along of the song "We Are the Champions" by the 70s rock band Queen. It was good fun! But reading the creation passage in the book of Genesis today, I thought about how many take this passage and interpret it to say that human beings are given "dominion" over the animals such that we feel like we are the champions of the world and that we can do what we want with our world.

I should explain that most Episcopalians do not usually understand this creation as a description of a creation in six literal days as much as an explanation of the identity of the Jewish people and how they were created in the context of the entire world. So if we look at this passage, it is abundantly clear that we are only a part of the entirety of God's creation. God created the sun and moon, the heavens and earth, the sea animals and land animals, and finally God created us. And yes, it is true that we have received the charge of all this, but this is a humbling charge. We have been entrusted with something very special that God has made. We get a little more humble when we realize that we have a place within the creation instead of above it. Which helps us connect better to the psalmist when he says: “What is man that you should be mindful of him? The son of man that you should seek him out? (Ps. 8:5)?"

We know who we are and find our identity within creation. So we cannot imagine that our future is divorced from the future of our planet.

Because our planet is suffering. Our sea levels are rising to the extent that many highly inhabited parts of the world that happen to be on the ocean may soon be underwater. We have been seeing crazy weather events on a scale never before heard of. The list goes on. The poor are the most at risk, because they are the ones more vulnerable to extreme heat waves or crop shortages.[1]  A recent issue of Sojourners magazine shows the travesty that the Tar Sands oil pipeline project has made of a section of Alberta, Canada.[2]

Bill McKibben tells us that this coming year may be a crucial time to make decisions impacting the future of our world. There is a meeting with leaders of the most powerful countries around the world in New York in September. They may decide to make changes that will really make a difference in the life of our planet. The end of 2015 there will be another meeting in Paris, France with official climate talks. So this coming year can make the difference between continuing on a path of destruction or to start to restore planet Earth.^[3] And we can tell our leaders something about that.

Because our identity as human beings only makes sense within the context of the entirety of God’s creation.

If you hear about astronauts who have seen our planet from outer space, they often say something fascinating. Instead of remembering that "we are the champions," they tend to realize that our planet; our earth, is a very fragile place. We have to take care of it, they say.

“What is man that you should be mindful of him? The son of man that you should seek him out? (Ps. 8:5)?"

If the story of creation is also the story of us as human beings, one can also say that the doctrine of the Trinity is a doctrine of Christ, and who he is within the Godhead. Because do you hear the word-play in the psalm above?  You may notice that it speaks of the wonder that it is that the God of all Creation thinks of us humans, and even made us a little lower than the angels. But then, the next part… who is the son of man? For us Christians, Jesus is the son of Man! So for us the psalm both shows who we are raised as human beings as well as how Jesus was humbled to become one of us, that one who is greater than the angels!

NT Wright, a British theologian, says that the doctrine of the Trinity, which says that God is a creator, savior and sanctifier, or Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is really also a doctrine about Jesus.

Because the Jewish religion is monotheistic, early Christians had to explain who Jesus was if we still have one God. So this doctrine shows that Jesus is human, connected to but separate from the Creator of all and the Spirit, the breath of life.^[4] We use the notion of a God that is three and one to explain how on earth we can see Jesus, who was both human and divine, as part of the God we believe in as one. How's that for a head trip?

Yes, we can have fun with diagrams of the Trinity, showing that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but also that the Father is not the Son, nor the Holy Spirit the Father, etc.  But I think this Trinity Sunday it is important to remember that we use the Trinity to understand Jesus, just as we find who we are in understanding about the whole of creation. When we understand that God created everything, we remember that God sent his only son to be with us, save us and give us a commission to make disciples, and who in turn sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify us and support us in our ministry.

The Son of man came among us and received power, but notice something about that power. If you look at today’s gospel reading from Matthew, the power we inherited from Jesus does not make us champions as of old, but it is the power to baptize and make disciples. In other words, it means that this power, which comes from a loving God, is the power to heal. Our baptism does indeed make us a part of the family of God, but baptism is also a process of healing and receiving salvation. It is a renewal of life within creation. Because what do we do in the very first part of the blessing of the waters of baptism? We talk about how the spirit moved over the waters of creation! We cannot disconnect our identity as human beings and as Christians and our relationship with God's creation.

We are but a little lower than the angels. We are a very humble part of God's creation. But we have more power than we think. We have a special role to play in sharing the healing love of God, as Jesus commanded us in today's gospel passage. We hear in today's Gospel that Jesus has given us power to heal the world. We have a commission. And we can be the champions of the world in the way that matters to all of creation.

We can remember who we are within Creation and take steps to care for our creation. We will not be perfect. I love that even though they have seen Jesus resurrected and in the flesh in this passage of Matthew, "some doubted." We will always be trying to understand and do the best we can, with all our doubts and questions. That is okay.  That is actually a part of the faith journey. But we can still do our part, our humble but very important part. Because God made us just a little lower than the angels. Let’s live as if that’s true, because it is.

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[1] Suzanne Goldenberg, “Climate change: the poor will suffer most,” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/31/climate-change-poor-suffer-most-un-report (30 Mar 2014).

[2] Cal DeWitt, “The Earth is the Lord’s (and just look what we are doing with it),” Sojourners June 2014, p. 29.

[3] Bill McKibben, “The Fateful Year Ahead,” in Sojourners, June 2014, p. 21.

[4] N.T. Wright, “Trinity Sunday, Year A” in Twelve Months of Sundays: Biblical Meditations on the Christian Years A, B & C, 72.