Proclamation of the Word

Rev. Mike Woods

FPCE

Trinity Sunday

Fathers’ Day

June 19, 2011

Genesis 1:1-5; 1:26-2:4a

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Matthew 28:16-20

Prayer of Illumination: Creator God, breath your Holy Word upon us this hour. Open our ears to listen. Open our eyes to the darkness of this world. And open our hearts to the message of love and compassion found in your holy scriptures. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

            I love mysteries!

            Myong and I both like to watch shows like CSI, House MD (which often involves a medical mystery), stuff like that. But one of our absolute favorites that we watch over and over, even though we’ve probably seen every episode ever made, are the Sherlock Holmes mystery series originally broadcast by the BBC but now is now being rebroadcast on PBS stations. It always amazes me how Holmes can take the tiniest of clues – stuff that always went unnoticed by most everyone else including his clueless companion, Dr. Watson … like a clump of cigar ashes … or the type of paper used to write a note … or a set of muddy footprints outside a closed window … and come to very precisely drawn conclusions about the people who left behind these clues: what they were like … what they’re daily habits were … he could even tell you that they walked with a limp, and based on the evidence that he saw he would go even further and tell you what type of injury the person had suffered – whether it was to the hip or the knee or the ankle. And as he would make these brilliant deductions and announce them, his assistant Watson would look at him dumbfounded! “Holmes,” he would ask, “How do you know these things?” And Holmes would always answer, “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

            Or at least, that’s what he always said in the movies. Actually, in the original stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, all the short stories written for magazines and the handful of novels, Holmes never actually said that line: “Elementary, my dear Watson.” That was something that was always said by actors like Basil Rathbone or Edward Hardwicke, or Jeremy Brett, all of whom played Sherlock Holmes countless times over the years. But even in the short stories and novels, Holmes, himself, was always astounded that normal people like you and me and his friend, Dr. Watson, had so much trouble coming to the same conclusions that his brilliant mind could so easily deduce.

            The Bible is a book of mysteries … but a book of a very different kind of mysteries. It’s not a whodunit or an unsolved crime – not anything as mundane as that. And the clues that are left behind aren’t the kind of physical evidence you would expect in a detective story – no strands of hair, no fingerprints – not even a muddy footprint. The only clues that are left are ancient writings of a people who lived long ago, written in languages that are no longer spoken. And so, in order to decipher these clues, we have translated these ancient languages … and we have studied the cultures and the history of these ancient peoples. And what we find is that they have had an encounter with something so incredible it goes beyond the human ability to describe it! They struggle to find the words to use! Even the great analytical mind of Sherlock Holmes would be dumbfounded by the encounters these people had and struck speechless!

            One of the most profound mysteries in the Bible is the mystery of the Trinity. It is not your typical mystery! This is a religious mystery! It’s the kind of mystery that is like sand held in your hand – if you grasp it too tightly, it begins to slip through your fingers ... you have to hold it loosely. It’s the kind of mystery that is like those Magic Eye paintings that were such a craze back in the early 90’s – you know, the paintings that were filled with multi-color dots and images; and if you looked at them in a certain way, you could discern three dimensional images in the artwork … the trick was to focus your eyes beyond the images, to look beyond the mere surface of the painting and you can see far more than what had been drawn on the surface. I always found it interesting that from a mere two dimensional drawing and by focusing your gaze beyond that surface, you could see a third dimension.

The mystery of the Trinity is a lot like that … you have to look beyond the surface of the biblical text to discern the mystery the writers are trying to convey, and it’s a concept that you have to hold onto loosely, because if you don’t it will always elude you.

            There is, in fact, no direct reference to the Trinity, as such in the scriptures. Neither the Greek nor Hebrew have words that we can translate as Trinity. In fact, the word “Trinity” is a made up word – one that the Christian church came up with long ago to try to describe something that was so indescribable that none of human language up until that point had words to describe: three in one and one in three. It describes a concept that is paradoxical – almost self-contradictory – and it is … if you hold it too tightly.

            But nevertheless, the evidence is there for those who care to look beyond the mere surface … for those who are willing to see with more than just their eyes and understand with more than just their minds. And if we are so willing, then God reveals to us the holy mystery of the Trinity.

            We find evidence of the Trinity in the very first verses of Genesis – right at the very beginning. I’m not really sure that I like the translation I have chosen for the bulletin – that’s why I read from the King James. It captures the nuance of the ancient language a little better, I think (at least in this instance). For it gives us evidence of God as the creator … God as the Father of the universe. And when the earth first existed it was without form and that the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. And when God creates, God does so through the spoken Word. It is the divine Word, that is Jesus Christ, that brings creation into being.

            And right there you have it, the first forensic evidence of the Trinity, appropriately laid out for us in the very first three verses of the Bible. God the Father and Creator; the Word of God who is the Son; and the Holy Spirit of God. All are present at the time of creation … all are engaged in the same act of creation … and all are working in concert with one another for a common purpose. A holy community: three in one and one in three. One God, three divine persons. A holy mystery.

            The great sages and mystics of the church have struggled over the centuries to find ways to explain to simple people like me how such a holy paradox as the Trinity can possibly exist. St. Patrick was famous for using the image of the shamrock to try to describe the Trinity to the people of Ireland: three leaves but yet it is still just one plant. And St. Augustine used the image of the tree which has three parts: the roots, the trunk, and the branches – but yet it is still one plant.

            But the best evidence for the Trinity, I find here in this room this morning – for those of us willing to look beyond the mere surface of things and see an extra dimension that isn’t readily apparent. And as evidence of that, we should direct our attention further down to verse 26. For God says, “Let us make human beings in our own image and after our own likeness.” And God created human beings – men and women, male and female, God created us. And men and women are very different from one another, but we are still one species. We look different from one another, our bodies are built different from one another, we are divided into two separate genders, but without either of those genders there’s no human race. And though we are very different from one another, we are also very much the same.

            You see, in the evidence we encounter for the existence of the Trinity, another mystery is revealed: the mystery of our own being. We are made in the image of God, in the likeness of the holy community. God created us for this kind of community … it is in our DNA … it’s in the human instinct for survival: to live together as individuals but in unity with one another … to love and be loved … to care for one another and to work together for the common good of our families, our society, and our world.

            I hope you don’t mind me talking about matters that are religious and spiritual in church … some people don’t like that. Some people think preachers ought to give practical advice … talk about politics … tell humorous stories to amuse and entertain … or give their parishioners seven easy steps to living a more abundant life.

            But where else in this materialistic world – but in church – are we going to have an opportunity to gaze our attention beyond the surface of this reality and behold a new dimension? Where else can we see with more than just our eyes and understand with more than just our minds? Where else can we speak of things that elude the ability of our language to express?

            In the name of the Holy Trinity … the Divine Mystery … Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.