Sermon for Trinity Sunday 2024
Trinity Sunday – It’s a funny sort of feast – It doesn’t celebrate any
particular event in our faith story – It’s a celebration of a theological
doctrine and immediately that makes a lot of people want to switch off!
It is however a very important doctrine – the heart of our faith - which is implied throughout the biblical
narrative and is intrinsic to our understanding of God and our relationship
with God and indeed the whole of Creation.
I was looking for a fresh angle on the Trinity for my sermon today and I
did a bit of reading of some commentaries on the theme and came across this
from a contemporary theologian, Gerald Darring – The theology he articulates is
completely orthodox but the way in which he presents it provoked a sort of
lightbulb moment for me. This quotation is quite lengthy but I think quite
helpful:
‘There is absolute individuality within the
Trinity, for we believe that the Father is neither the Son nor the Spirit, nor
is the Son the Father or the Spirit, nor is the Spirit the Father or the Son.
Each person is distinct from the other two; none loses his personhood within
the Trinity.
There is absolute equality within the Trinity.
No person has something that the others lack, for each is God and each is all
being. None is more God; all are absolutely equal.
There is absolute unity within the Trinity. God
is one; the three persons are one. Father, Son and Spirit are three distinct
persons, but they are persons in one God.
Ours is a Trinitarian religion. The Trinity
is the source of our faith as well as the goal of our lives. We long to
live for all eternity the life of the Trinity. Meanwhile, the Trinity is for us
the model towards which we strive as a community: free individuals with
total equality in complete unity.’
That last paragraph really hit home for me:
It hit home because I suddenly realised it addresses head on an issue
which has caused huge hurt and damage within our own Church of Ireland and
beyond in recent weeks. I’m referring to the defeated motion brought to General
Synod which sought to encourage clergy not to refuse baptism to children based
on the marital status of their parents. The motion was passed by the laity but
narrowly defeated by the clergy, some of whom, for whatever reason seemed to
want to be the gatekeepers to the sacrament of Baptism.
Lets look again at the last line of Gerald Darring’s commentary on the
Trinity.
‘The Trinity is the source of our faith as well as the goal of our
lives. …….the Trinity is for us the model towards which we strive as a
community: free individuals with total equality in complete unity.’
How does that square with what happened at General Synod? It doesn’t I
would suggest! The latter says we are a church with walls and barriers to keep
out certain people – a church not of equality but one which likes to put people
into categories of exclusion – a church which does not seek Unity but division
– withdrawing itself onto an island of purity and rigorous and unforgiving
rules which take away all freedom. It is a vision of Hell!
The Trinity on the other hand is a vision of Divine relationship which
draws us in and welcomes us – What happened at Synod was the antithesis of this
and flies in the face of who and what we are called to be.
I am not one for quoting huge tracts of Scripture out of context but I
do make an exception for the words of Jesus which have a way of cutting across
and through our prejudices and our hangups (and I think that is what was at
play at Synod – some people far too wrapped up in their own theological systems
and hangups that they could not see the fundamental principle at stake.)
These words of Jesus from Matthew 18: 1-5 are I think particularly
relevant and instructive:
At
that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?’ 2 He called a child, whom he
put among them, 3 and said, ‘Truly I tell you,
unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever
welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
I
would defy anybody to interpret those words of Jesus in a way that could
possibly justify turning away a child presented for baptism by its parent or
parents regardless of their marital arrangements, their sex or sexuality or any
other defining characteristic of their personhood.
If
we are truly to reflect the vision of the Trinity in our church and in our
lives then rather than creating a theological obstacle course for those who are
seeking we should be the kind of community that reflects and extends the divine
embrace and welcome to all who show up. We need to get over ourselves and
realise its not about us but about a God who seeks to draw all people to
himself and it is not for us to get in the way.
Infact
the very next verse following those words of Jesus I just quoted from Matthew
18 says this – again the words of Jesus:
‘'If
any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in
me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your
neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.’
Strong
stuff – I think the message essentially is – Get out of the way and let God be
God!
God
doesn’t need gatekeepers – The Church doesn’t need gatekeepers – I don’t know
if you have noticed but people aren’t exactly knocking down the door to get in
to our churches these days…….perhaps because we are perceived to be exclusive
and inward looking – I know that’s not true in this parish or this church
but can we continue to assume that those outside the doors don’t think
differently. The public commentary following the General Synod made it quite
clear that a lot of people had their opinions and prejudices confirmed. There
is a lot of cynicism out there and its hard to say it isn’t justified! We
cannot deny that the majority of clergy want to be gatekeepers and some laity
as well – We have a problem and if we don’t address it our church will not be
here in another generation.
I
think this is a wake up call for us – Somehow we have to leave people in no
doubt as to who we are and what we stand for because no matter what and who we
think we are perception is reality. People have to know they are Welcome – No
strings attached!
Some
years ago at a vestry meeting we discussed joining the Changing Attitude list of Open and
Welcoming Churches in Ireland to LGBT+ people - Many of the parishes in this
diocese (including some of our neighbours) are signed up to it but without
consensus we didn’t pursue it further – I no longer believe it is a option –
Yes I know that people of diverse sexuality are welcome in our churches but do
those who might be outside the door and wondering will they be welcome know? Why
can’t we make it easier for them? Why force them to guess or to make themselves
more vulnerable by taking a risk? Why not be unambiguous and get out of the way
of a God who doesn’t want or need gatekeepers. Sometimes by our inaction we
make great gatekeepers!
That
is just one example – Others spring to mind. Obviously the current issue of
open Baptism is something that we need to make explicit.
We
have an annual pet service in our parish and there is one four legged regular attender
all year around but do we need to say more publicly that we are pet friendly
all year around…. Its not just pets but support dogs – I wonder is there
somebody who would like to be a part of this community of faith but is not sure
if their pet or companion dog is welcome…..
I
could probably go on but that’s probably enough to consider for one day. I
never thought a consideration of the Trinity would lead me down this road but I
do really feel there is an urgency for us as a church if we wish to thrive and
continue to live the vision of the Trinity as a welcoming and open community of
faith to be much more explicit about what we stand for and indeed what we do
not wish to see said and done in our name.
Amen.
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