May 22, 2016
Readings: Psalm 8 Matthew 28: 16-20
Have you ever considered
how important or significant the # 3 is in our society? Just look at what comes in 3's.
There are 3 acts of
existence – birth, life, death. Body,
mind, and spirit, encompasses the physical, mental, and spiritual
makeup of a human being. The combination of thought, word, and deed
is triad of we humans experience, and we have been encouraged to live and act
in faith, hope, and charity.
The 3 types of matter
are: animal, vegetable, and mineral.
H20 is made of 1 part Hydrogen, 2 parts Ox = Water,
and comes in three forms, liquid, solid and vapor. There
are 3 primary colors which make it possible to create all the colors within the
spectrum. The triangle is know to be the strongest shape in the universe.
Our planet remain
within: earth, sea, and sky. According
to the Egyptians the most powerful force in the universe is contained within the
triangle which has its three points.
According to the Chinese culture, 3 is the perfect number. There are numerous products created and sold
under the 3: There is “Three in One Oil”. Story:
The Three Little Pigs, Song: “Rub a Dub Dub, Three Men In a Tub”. And then of
course who cannot remember the hilarious show “The Three Stooges”
As odd as it may sound
the word trinity, which expresses for us a threesome, cannot be found within our Scripture, but there are many references to God
in the form of three Godhead's. The first
sign of a plural being found in Genesis 1: 26 check it out!
We celebrate the first Sunday after
Pentecost traditionally as Trinity Sunday.
It is the Sunday in which many clergy make an effort to explain the
Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It certainly doesn’t even hold a candle to the events
of Christmas or Easter but let me give it my best shot. Let hold on to the 3 entities of water.
We read in Matthew today one of the most common 3 Godhead phrases, where
Jesus gives the disciples the great commission. “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you.” God has given Jesus authority over heaven and
earth. On the basis of that authority
Jesus told his disciples to make more disciples as they teach, preached and baptized. This has become the calling for clergy in
the church all over the world. Taking
vows and offering ourselves as an instrument of that same authority, I offered
myself in service to that same three in one, as did you in your baptism and so
you are called to do the same. Whether
it is as a parent of a baptized child or as a consecrated adult. We enter into and make vows to be of service
to the three Godhead's and to our community of faith. We are called to offer support for one
another and to our neighbor in the wider world in time of need, sorrow, or in
times of celebration. Jesus’ last words were; we are to baptize in
the name of the three, making the baptized new disciples and teaching the new converts
to love and forgive in obedience to Christ’s teachings. Jesus gives the people of that time, as with
us today, the reassurance that He will be with us always, till the end of time
in the form of the third Godhead the Holy Spirit. This spirit will teach, lead and convict us with
the truth. Even though the word Trinity
is not spoken outright, my perspective is that our scriptures affirm the
reality of the Trinity. Some people
accuse theologians of making up the concept and reading it into scripture, but
as we can see very clearly here the concept comes directly from the text, and I
quote “let us make humans in our image” Genesis
1: 26 or in commissioning his followers to baptize in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The best example I have encountered concerning how all three entities
can be one is found in my favorite symbol H20, water. Think about the power of water in it’s three
forms.
1. As Liquid:
When in the form of liquid water can be force through a nozzle under
pressure and it can cut steal cleaner and more efficient than acetylene. We know the wave action on the ocean and what it can do concerning
erosion, during a storm, or as a flood.
All we need do is look at the news today to see the great power water
has over us concerning our existence.
It controls life itself and is the talk of all nations. It is the most precious commodity on the
earth even more precious that all the gold or silver or minerals combined. Without it we die.
2. As Solid:
Now in its solid form, its physical form of ice, it can be shaped and used
for fun to skate on during the winter months, it is used in medicine, and with
its ability to expandable under cold, has be used to crack open solid rock, or
split the thickest of metal pipes as it expands during freezing.
3. As Vapor: In its third state of vapor, steam, or moisture it sometimes is not always
visible to the naked eye yet it can be used to sterilize, to clean, clean
deeper and cleaner than any other form of cleansing. Yet water no matter what we do to it, or in
what form it appears to us, water will never leave us, and keeps
re-appearing in the form of rain from the heavens, or morning dew
that seemingly comes to us out of nowhere.
Nothing that we can do will remove it from creation, for life itself
exists only because of it. As water is
to the planet, so God in three forms should be to the Christian and ultimately
to humankind. The Trinity sustains us,
both now in the future, the Holy Spirit, the spirit of God and the Son of man will
never abandon us or leave us and will just re-appearing seemingly out of nowhere
to nourish and guide us when we need it most. As illustrated in the resurrection appearances
by the Christ, to quench our thrust for life and for meaning. That is why we as Christians are commissioned
to go and make disciples and baptize in the name of the Trinity. It is our work, it is our call we are to be
stewards of the trinity and of creation itself.
The more of us who come to this understanding the more creation itself
rejoices. God has a plan for each and every
one of us, and it’s not just to fend for ourselves, gain for our own pleasure
and enjoyment, or to protect our little part of paradise, we must learn to take
care of one another, teach by example and come together in community to
worships and praise our God, it is necessary for a good and healthy life both
now and in our future.
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