This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday, a day to explore the mystery of God who can be understood and experienced in three, though united, ways. Mysteries are impossible to explain in words, so we turn to analogies. St. Patrick used a three-leaved shamrock. St. Augustine used a hard-boiled egg. Are there some images you know which might trigger an appreciation of our three-in-one God?
An image from Proverbs 8 portrays Wisdom (a pre-Christian form of the Holy Spirit?) popping up on the hilltop, next to the highway, at the intersections, greeting the traveler. “She” keeps beckoning us to Something Better, that is, the Love of the Creator. Wisdom is the playful, dancing side of God–an entity who paints large scenes of How Sweet It Is! Wisdom is that lavish and constant source of providence that pours over Creation “morning by morning”.
We also turn to Paul’s letter to the house-churches in Rome (5:1-5). Made right with both Creator and Creation through faith in Jesus the Christ, “we have peace with God.” This frees us from worrying about our public image, for we are not disgraced. (Once we know we’re Graced, we cannot be dis-Graced!) “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” “We are washed, cleansed, in fire water, and henceforth we drip the holy stuff wherever we go. We track it into every room of our lives and out into the world.” (Michael Jinkins, FEASTING ON THE WORD, C3:42)
John’s Gospel (16:12-15) acknowledges a bit of Jesus’ frustration, as he remarks that “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” However, the coming Holy Spirit-Counselor-Advocate will guide us into ALL the Truth. Relying on this Spirit, the community then & now will be lead where it needs to go. (Even at General Conference) This Spirit of Truth is the agent of transformation which molds us daily into a more holy shape. This, I believe, is what Wesley meant by “going on to perfection”.
My own image, then, for Trinity Sunday? I like to picture the visit of an itinerant potter, who sets up her wheel in my study. Whirling me around dizzily, she tweaks and shaves and mends…until God says, “That’s enough for today!” And Jesus, peering over the potter’s shoulder, says, “Yes, that’s a LITTLE closer…” Come, Holy Spirit, shape your Church in Heaven’s blueprint!
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My thoughts on lectionary readings for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook, or at horacebrownking.com
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