Beliefs Week 2: The Trinity...Do we have to talk about it?

Things that we Avoid

Good morning. I hope that everyone is having a good morning. I am so happy we are here today. This week we will be continuing our examination of our beliefs and what they are and how they impact us. The sermon title if you didn’t see had an interesting question. Do we have to talk about it. I mean really think about it for a minute. How often have you heard or someone has tried to start a conversation in a bible study or at church about the trinity. It so often in my experience ends up in well thats a complicated subject that we just don’t have time to get into. I mean if i am honest I know that I have said that more than once in my life. Even this morning i can say that this sermon will not be as indepth as it could be and that we are really hitting the highlights.

The Trinity is one of those topics that we just avoid. I mean think about it there are lots of things in life that we avoid.

Doctor/Dentist

Gym

Sex

Standing next to another man in the bathroom

Talking about the Bathroom or bodily functions from the pulpit

All of these topics we avoid or won’t discuss because they can lead to either uncomfortable situations or they can be seen as disrespectful or inappropriate. Yet the Trinity is not like these topics. It is in fact very different than those topics. The trinity is avoided by many people because it is a very complex and difficult concept to fully grasp. I go back to the fact that we are working with broken tools that we talked about last week to try and do our best to describe God and study and understand God. This is important because when we approach topics like the trinity there aren’t singular verses that say. “the trinity is real and here is how it works”

Instead we have a collection of verses and thoughts trying to gather together and understand the nature of God and the relationship that exists between the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Since it is difficult to explain its just easier to say it exists and people just need to accept it.

This morning though i want to look at this briefly, i say briefly, because as stated before this concept deserves so much more and time but that isn’t our goal this morning. This morning though we are going to look some of the aspects of the trinity and try to give some highlights of it.

Anglican Catechism

Now wait a minute we are a Wesleyan church why are we talking about Anglican Catechism. I will say this we are rooted in Anglican tradition and this is a great area that we can share some information with each other and honestly i liked this breakdown because it was a great way for us to begin to look at the trinity.

Anglican Catechism has a concise threefold understanding of the Trinity.

“First, I learn to believe in God the Father who hath made me, and all the world. Secondly, in God the Son who redeemeth me, and all mankind. Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who Sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God.”

Is it perfect? No. Is it a great start? Yes.

Let us begin by looking at God the Father.

God The Father: Who Made me and the World

Though we are looking at the Anglican Catechism I also think that we should be looking at our own articles of faith.

We believe the Father is the Source of all that exists, whether of matter or spirit. With the Son and the Holy Spirit, He made man, male and female, in His image. By intention He relates to people as Father, thereby forever declaring His goodwill toward them. In love, He both seeks and receives penitent sinners.

Some key similarities if you didn’t notice. The key first is he is the creator and source of all that exists. I thought about this and I was thinking about what verses could we examine to help us better understand this. The easiest example of course would be Genesis chapter 1. However, I thought of a different verse that helps us see God as Creator.

Isaiah 64:8 NIV

8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

The Work of the Potters hands is a powerful one. God as the Master potter. He is working and molding and shaping the world constantly. This is a powerful image for us in our understanding of God. It helps remind us that he is not removed but is present. He is working with his creation to help it to become the best it can be despite the resistance of the creation. It is in his hands that we find our true purpose, that we find our true meaning, and we experience true love and affection as he shapes us into what he wants us to be.

Of course there are many other images of God used in the Bible that help us understand our relationship with him but this one particular in relationship to creation is a powerful one.

The Son of God: The Great Redeemer

Jesus is the most common and understood example within the trinity. There is so much out there about Jesus it is amazing to me at times. This is probably due to the fact this is God in our presence more than any other example. Though the Spirit has been with us longer. Yet, it is through Jesus that our relationship with God changed for all eternity. It is through Jesus that our faith hinges. Let’s look at our article of Religion

We believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, truly God and truly man. He died on the cross and was buried, to be a sacrifice both for original sin and for all human transgressions, and to reconcile us to God. Christ rose bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and there intercedes for us at the Father’s right hand until He returns to judge all humanity at the last day.

It is through Jesus that we gain reconciliation to God. It is through Jesus that the relationship was healed and that we have our intercessor on our behalf with God. This makes Jesus the natural gravitation for all of us as Christians when we want to talk about God. At times i wonder if that is for our detriment. We love to talk about Jesus that we lose sight of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Don’t miss hear me, Jesus is essential, but we don’t always experience the fullness of our relationship with God when we don’t allow God to impact us from all his aspects.

We lose sight of the Father whom we can call abba and walk with him in the cool of the day some day like Adam and Eve did in the Garden. Capture that image for a minute. isn’t it amazing to think about.

IF we lose sight of the Holy Spirit we forsake the impact the Spirit has on our lives. The influence and direction for change and Help that the spirit provides for us on a continuous basis. The Spirit is our helper and he is our strength to help us as we walk this journey through life.

Jesus is the redeemer and he is powerful and the reason I wanted to add this caution here is because we so often talk about Jesus at length on a regular basis that it is at times important to remind ourselves that he is one aspect of our God.

The Holy Spirit: The Sanctifier

I am going to be honest i am not sure if the Sanctifier is the an actual word or if that is spelled correctly but i felt it was a the right choice. The Spirit of God is the most difficult and also easiest aspect of the trinity. Ahh paradox don’t you love it. The Spirit of God is the movement and work in the world. Let us look at our Article together.

We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is of the same essential nature, majesty, and glory, as the Father and the Son, truly and eternally God. He is the Administrator of grace to all, and is particularly the effective Agent in conviction for sin, in regeneration, in sanctification, and in glorification. He is ever present, assuring, preserving, guiding, and enabling the believer.

I love the last line of this article. He is ever present, assuring, preserving, guiding, and enabling the believer. It is through the Spirit the work of God comes and enters into our life. I think back the the Potters hands its like the Spirit is the connection between the hands and the clay. It is how God is working and shaping us, helping us and moving us. It is a way of life that we must maintain because it is in the Spirit we gain freedom. Let’s look at some scripture though.

Galatians 5:16–18 NIV

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The Spirit helps us to focus our lives completely on God and we must keep focused on the Spirit. If we allow the Spirit to lead we are freed from the bondages of sin and we are able to be above the Law because the Spirit is the guiding force in our life. This is an amazing thought. Sin becomes beneath us. It is only through God’s Spirit that this is possible though.

The Trinity

The Trinity is so much more though than these individual aspects it is the interconnected relaitonship and uniqueness that exists between them that is absolutely amazing and baffling at the same time. It is amazing because...

We believe in the one living and true God, both holy and loving, eternal, unlimited in power, wisdom and goodness, the Creator and Preserver of all things. Within this unity there are three persons of one essential nature, power and eternity — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

It is the first article of Religion. It is where we begin. It is something that without we can’t fully understand the scriptures and it is a part of God’s nature that provides us with so much of the mystery of God that it never ceases to amaze me. It is in the trinity that I personally am awed at how much we don’t fully understand about God. It is so profound to think of the power and impact a belief like the trinity has on us. How God works and moves and interacts with His creation. It reminds me on a regular basis how lucky we are to be God’s people and that he created us, he sent his son to die for us, and he provided his spirit to nurture us. Thank God for that.