Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O
Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.
“We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Holy Trinity
One God.” AND “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. . . .
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father. . . . We
believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. . .”
The Holy Trinity is the king pin of our Christian faith. I have been thinking about these statements of
faith in a new way ever since I knew that I would be preaching on Trinity Sunday while Fr. Dan was
out of town.
We say the Nicene Creed together every Sunday. And I must admit that sometimes the words are so
familiar that they just roll off my tongue and I don’t always think about what the words mean. But to
prepare for this morning, I have spent time digging into our Christian belief in the Trinity.
And, this is what I have found. In a nutshell, the historical perspective goes like this: Trinity Sunday
was established as a feast day in honor of the Holy Trinity in the year 1334. Trinity Sunday is one of
the seven major feast days of the Church Calendar, along with Christmas, Easter, and The Day of
Pentecost, (which we celebrated last Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the
Church). During the year, the church celebrates the major events in the life of Christ. Trinity
Sunday marks the end of these commemorations.
The Doctrine of the Trinity is the central belief in all of Christianity. In essence it states: One God
exists in three persons and one substance. The other day, I read an interesting article in the latest
issue of The Living Church magazine. According to the Rev. John Alexander, this doctrine was
hammered out by the early councils of the church to “Chart the Christian journey into the mystery of
God.” Alexander says, “As the earliest Christians reflected on their new relationship with God the
Father through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit, they gradually formulated the classical Trinitarian
doctrine as the only coherent language to account for their
experience and to help others recognize and know the Triune God themselves.” TLC June 7, 2009
The Nicene Creed was the vehicle developed at the first two church councils, Nicea in 325 and
Constantinople in 381, to get across the meaning of the Trinity. The leaders in the early church
formed their understanding of the Holy Trinity by reflecting upon the actions of God: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit as revealed to them in scripture and in the way they experienced God.
We profess our faith every Sunday with the words of the Nicene Creed that these early Christians
put together. It clearly states the faith that has been handed down from the apostles—the apostolic
faith. The Nicene Creed is an affirmation against the many non-orthodox and inaccurate views that
were running rampant in the early days of the church. (And actually, some of these same
inaccurate views are alive and well in our present day, but this is a topic for another sermon.)
The trinity is one of the mysteries of our faith. So, let’s delve a little deeper into our investigation to
shed more light on the matter. Sometimes to know what something is not helps us to understand
what it is.
There are two main categories of heresy regarding the Trinity: Modalism and Tritheism:
Modalism says that there are three different ways or modes of divine revelation. The one God is the
creator and law maker, the same God is then revealed as the savior in the person of Jesus Christ,
and the same God is revealed as the one who sanctifies and gives eternal life, the Holy Spirit. The
problem with this view is that there is no difference between the three persons except their
appearance and chronological location.
The second main type of heresy is on the opposite end of the spectrum: Tritheism is the view that
offers us to imagine the Trinity consisting of three equal, independent, and autonomous beings,
each of whom is divine. The problem with this statement is that each person is considered an
independent entity rather than three united entities.
Again, the Doctrine of the Trinity states: One God exists in three persons and one substance. Each
person of the Trinity is distinct. Two aspects of the Trinity are important:
1. The persons of the Trinity differ in origin. The Father is ungenerated, uncreated. He always was
and He is now and He always will be forever. As we say in the Nicene Creed, the Son is “eternally
begotten, brought into being, from the Father.” The third person, the Holy Spirit, “proceeds from
the Father and the Son,”
2. What we find in Scripture reveals distinct activities of each person of the Trinity. As you probably
know, the word “Trinity” itself is not mentioned in the Bible. And there is no theologically precise
definition of the Trinity in scripture, but rather a clear, concise affirmation that the unity of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit does not deny their distinctiveness. The three persons of the
Trinity are related to each other and they act in unity. One of St Augustine’s great contributions to
the church is his explanation that love is the unifying factor in the persons of the Trinity. He explains
that the Holy Spirit is the mutual love of the Father and the Son.
I want to give you several key references to a few of the distinct activities of each Person of the
Trinity:
The Father is all powerful, creator (Gen 1:1-2 “In the beginning when God created the heaven and
the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.”)
Jesus, the Son is the Word, the Logos (Jn 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.) The Son came down from heaven, He became human, He prays
to the Father, He seeks to do the Father’s will, The Son gave His life on the cross for our salvation,
He was resurrected from the dead to give us everlasting life.
The Holy Spirit is the advocate, the truth. Last week we learned that Jesus must go away for the
Holy Spirit to come (Jn16:7 “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the
Advocate will not come to you. AND Jn:15:”When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from
the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.”
In a wonderful little book regarding the development of the Doctrine of the trinity called “The Cruelty
of Heresy,” by C. FitzSimons Allison, the author says, “The most enlightening path to understanding
the Trinity can be found by keeping as close to scripture and the actual saving experiences of
Christians as possible.”
Let’s take a look at the scripture for today through the lens of the Doctrine of The Holy Trinity. Each
reading gives us a snapshot, just one small piece of the whole picture, of how God reveals Himself in
all three persons. We will focus on the distinct activity of each person of the Trinity in each scripture.
1. Old Testament Reading (Isaiah 6:1-8) and Psalm 29 God the Father
In the Old Testament reading (Isaiah 6:1-8) and in wonderful Psalm 29 that we read a few minutes
ago, we see the glory, power and majesty of God the Father. Before the great prophet Isaiah’s
ministry began, the Lord revealed Himself in a vision. Isaiah saw God seated on His throne in
heaven and the angelic creatures, the seraphs, were worshipping God the Father. The seraphs
called “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” In Isaiah’s vision, we
get a glimpse of the majesty of God’s glory. It is so overwhelming that the seraphs covered their
eyes with their wings so that they could not gaze upon the Lord. Isaiah is also overwhelmed and
humbled to be in the stunning presence of the Almighty and All Powerful Lord. Isaiah was overcome
by his unworthiness and sinfulness. “Woe is me for I am lost and I am a man of unclean lips… One
of the seraphs brought a burning coal from the altar (as were used in the temple on the day of
atonement, touched Isaiah’s lips and thus Isaiah was purified. The seraph tells Isaiah “Your guilt
has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Isaiah is now cleaned up for the job God has in mind for
him.
Then the voice of the Lord God almighty himself called to Isaiah, “Whom shall I send and who shall
go for us.” Isaiah says, “Here I am , send me.” Isaiah heard the very voice of God calling him to
service and he responds.
I know that many of you who are here today have heard a similar call from God to serve him. Maybe
you have heard the voice of the Lord, or you have felt a stirring in your chest or a yearning that
cannot be denied in your heart. Like Isaiah, many of you have said “yes” to God’s call. Some of
you may be praying about how you will respond to His call.
2. Second Reading Romans 8:12-17 God the Holy Spirit
In the Epistle reading, we get a look at the distinct action of God’s Spirit within us. Paul tells us that
as Christians we are no longer under the control of the “flesh,” By the term “flesh,” Paul means not
only the temptations of our physical nature, but also the challenging influences of the secular world
we live in. If we continue to live the old life of the flesh, we will die. Paul does not mean “physical
death,” because we all will die a physical death. Paul means the “ultimate death,” separation from
God for eternity. But, now because we are Christians, the Spirit of God rests within us,
communicating to our own spirit, small “s,” to guide us. “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of
the body, you will live.” (8:13b) The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit guides us. This is the distinct action
of the Holy Spirit. Dealing with sin is not accomplished by our own unaided effort. It is not
accomplished by the Spirit apart from our participation. We can only deal with the temptations of the
“flesh” in our lives but by our constant living out the life placed within us by the Spirit that has taken
up residence within us.
3. The Gospel Reading John 3:1-17 God the Son
The account of Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus during the night is beautiful and it gives us wonderful
information about the distinct action of the Spirit. But it is the last several verses of John chapter 3
that shows us the distinct action of Jesus as the third person of the Trinity.
In Jn 3:14-15, Jesus states His distinct purpose, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
Jesus is referring to His coming crucifixion and resurrection. The purpose of Jesus’ life on earth is
to bring salvation by his death on the cross and His resurrection to all who believe.
God’s love in action is revealed in Jn 3:16. This often quoted verse is critical to the understanding
of the love that is the unity of the Trinity. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” God’s giving and
receiving love is essential to understanding the gospel message and it is essential to understanding
the unity of the Trinity.
The three persons of the Trinity are united in love. The gospel story tells about the giving nature of
God’s love when the Father sends the Son to our world. It tells of the perfect exchange of perfect
love in which the Father gives all in Christ, and Christ returns all that is given by the Father. The
Trinity is love, God is love, God IS the Trinity. According to John 4:16, “God is love, and those who
abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” Thus, the essential nature of love is revealed
in the Christian teaching of the Trinity.
APPLICATION OF SCRIPTURE AND EXPERIENCES
We understand the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit on several
levels:
1. In our head with our reason we understand the statements of faith and the Doctrine of the Trinity.
2. We relate to scripture that reveals the distinct action of each person of the Trinity.
3. We experience God’s presence and action in our lives. Many here, in one way or another, have
experienced God, have experienced some aspect of the Trinity. Some of us experience God in
dreams or in visions, Some hear God’s voice, either audibly or by sensing His message. Many of
us experience God’s healing touch in our lives or the lives of another.
The way we experience the persons of the Trinity is personal, although many share common
experiences.
Lord, do I share my experience of the Trinity on Easter Sunday? The Holy Spirit made His presence
known to this congregation on Easter Sunday. As I was reading the gospel, I heard his voice of
Jesus. (“Mary”) I “saw” Jesus in my mind’s eye, and I had an overwhelming sense of His presence.
I could not speak for a few moments and I was overwhelmed with tears. Later, several people told
me that they observed the movement of the Holy Spirit ripple out through the congregation and
touch many people. Many were weeping. It was just incredible to experience the descent of the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the risen Lord at Hope+in+the+Desert Episcopal Church.
I wish to close with a prayer that was given to us by Bishop Terry Kelshaw when he was our vicar.
Lord Jesus Christ
Master Carpenter of Nazareth
Who on the cross
In wood and nails
First worked our full salvation;
Use well your tools
In this your workshop
That we who come to you rough hewn
May by your grace
Be fashioned to a true beauty and usefulness
In your service. AMEN
Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.
“We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Holy Trinity
One God.” AND “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. . . .
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father. . . . We
believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. . .”
The Holy Trinity is the king pin of our Christian faith. I have been thinking about these statements of
faith in a new way ever since I knew that I would be preaching on Trinity Sunday while Fr. Dan was
out of town.
We say the Nicene Creed together every Sunday. And I must admit that sometimes the words are so
familiar that they just roll off my tongue and I don’t always think about what the words mean. But to
prepare for this morning, I have spent time digging into our Christian belief in the Trinity.
And, this is what I have found. In a nutshell, the historical perspective goes like this: Trinity Sunday
was established as a feast day in honor of the Holy Trinity in the year 1334. Trinity Sunday is one of
the seven major feast days of the Church Calendar, along with Christmas, Easter, and The Day of
Pentecost, (which we celebrated last Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the
Church). During the year, the church celebrates the major events in the life of Christ. Trinity
Sunday marks the end of these commemorations.
The Doctrine of the Trinity is the central belief in all of Christianity. In essence it states: One God
exists in three persons and one substance. The other day, I read an interesting article in the latest
issue of The Living Church magazine. According to the Rev. John Alexander, this doctrine was
hammered out by the early councils of the church to “Chart the Christian journey into the mystery of
God.” Alexander says, “As the earliest Christians reflected on their new relationship with God the
Father through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit, they gradually formulated the classical Trinitarian
doctrine as the only coherent language to account for their
experience and to help others recognize and know the Triune God themselves.” TLC June 7, 2009
The Nicene Creed was the vehicle developed at the first two church councils, Nicea in 325 and
Constantinople in 381, to get across the meaning of the Trinity. The leaders in the early church
formed their understanding of the Holy Trinity by reflecting upon the actions of God: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit as revealed to them in scripture and in the way they experienced God.
We profess our faith every Sunday with the words of the Nicene Creed that these early Christians
put together. It clearly states the faith that has been handed down from the apostles—the apostolic
faith. The Nicene Creed is an affirmation against the many non-orthodox and inaccurate views that
were running rampant in the early days of the church. (And actually, some of these same
inaccurate views are alive and well in our present day, but this is a topic for another sermon.)
The trinity is one of the mysteries of our faith. So, let’s delve a little deeper into our investigation to
shed more light on the matter. Sometimes to know what something is not helps us to understand
what it is.
There are two main categories of heresy regarding the Trinity: Modalism and Tritheism:
Modalism says that there are three different ways or modes of divine revelation. The one God is the
creator and law maker, the same God is then revealed as the savior in the person of Jesus Christ,
and the same God is revealed as the one who sanctifies and gives eternal life, the Holy Spirit. The
problem with this view is that there is no difference between the three persons except their
appearance and chronological location.
The second main type of heresy is on the opposite end of the spectrum: Tritheism is the view that
offers us to imagine the Trinity consisting of three equal, independent, and autonomous beings,
each of whom is divine. The problem with this statement is that each person is considered an
independent entity rather than three united entities.
Again, the Doctrine of the Trinity states: One God exists in three persons and one substance. Each
person of the Trinity is distinct. Two aspects of the Trinity are important:
1. The persons of the Trinity differ in origin. The Father is ungenerated, uncreated. He always was
and He is now and He always will be forever. As we say in the Nicene Creed, the Son is “eternally
begotten, brought into being, from the Father.” The third person, the Holy Spirit, “proceeds from
the Father and the Son,”
2. What we find in Scripture reveals distinct activities of each person of the Trinity. As you probably
know, the word “Trinity” itself is not mentioned in the Bible. And there is no theologically precise
definition of the Trinity in scripture, but rather a clear, concise affirmation that the unity of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit does not deny their distinctiveness. The three persons of the
Trinity are related to each other and they act in unity. One of St Augustine’s great contributions to
the church is his explanation that love is the unifying factor in the persons of the Trinity. He explains
that the Holy Spirit is the mutual love of the Father and the Son.
I want to give you several key references to a few of the distinct activities of each Person of the
Trinity:
The Father is all powerful, creator (Gen 1:1-2 “In the beginning when God created the heaven and
the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.”)
Jesus, the Son is the Word, the Logos (Jn 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.) The Son came down from heaven, He became human, He prays
to the Father, He seeks to do the Father’s will, The Son gave His life on the cross for our salvation,
He was resurrected from the dead to give us everlasting life.
The Holy Spirit is the advocate, the truth. Last week we learned that Jesus must go away for the
Holy Spirit to come (Jn16:7 “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the
Advocate will not come to you. AND Jn:15:”When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from
the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.”
In a wonderful little book regarding the development of the Doctrine of the trinity called “The Cruelty
of Heresy,” by C. FitzSimons Allison, the author says, “The most enlightening path to understanding
the Trinity can be found by keeping as close to scripture and the actual saving experiences of
Christians as possible.”
Let’s take a look at the scripture for today through the lens of the Doctrine of The Holy Trinity. Each
reading gives us a snapshot, just one small piece of the whole picture, of how God reveals Himself in
all three persons. We will focus on the distinct activity of each person of the Trinity in each scripture.
1. Old Testament Reading (Isaiah 6:1-8) and Psalm 29 God the Father
In the Old Testament reading (Isaiah 6:1-8) and in wonderful Psalm 29 that we read a few minutes
ago, we see the glory, power and majesty of God the Father. Before the great prophet Isaiah’s
ministry began, the Lord revealed Himself in a vision. Isaiah saw God seated on His throne in
heaven and the angelic creatures, the seraphs, were worshipping God the Father. The seraphs
called “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” In Isaiah’s vision, we
get a glimpse of the majesty of God’s glory. It is so overwhelming that the seraphs covered their
eyes with their wings so that they could not gaze upon the Lord. Isaiah is also overwhelmed and
humbled to be in the stunning presence of the Almighty and All Powerful Lord. Isaiah was overcome
by his unworthiness and sinfulness. “Woe is me for I am lost and I am a man of unclean lips… One
of the seraphs brought a burning coal from the altar (as were used in the temple on the day of
atonement, touched Isaiah’s lips and thus Isaiah was purified. The seraph tells Isaiah “Your guilt
has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Isaiah is now cleaned up for the job God has in mind for
him.
Then the voice of the Lord God almighty himself called to Isaiah, “Whom shall I send and who shall
go for us.” Isaiah says, “Here I am , send me.” Isaiah heard the very voice of God calling him to
service and he responds.
I know that many of you who are here today have heard a similar call from God to serve him. Maybe
you have heard the voice of the Lord, or you have felt a stirring in your chest or a yearning that
cannot be denied in your heart. Like Isaiah, many of you have said “yes” to God’s call. Some of
you may be praying about how you will respond to His call.
2. Second Reading Romans 8:12-17 God the Holy Spirit
In the Epistle reading, we get a look at the distinct action of God’s Spirit within us. Paul tells us that
as Christians we are no longer under the control of the “flesh,” By the term “flesh,” Paul means not
only the temptations of our physical nature, but also the challenging influences of the secular world
we live in. If we continue to live the old life of the flesh, we will die. Paul does not mean “physical
death,” because we all will die a physical death. Paul means the “ultimate death,” separation from
God for eternity. But, now because we are Christians, the Spirit of God rests within us,
communicating to our own spirit, small “s,” to guide us. “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of
the body, you will live.” (8:13b) The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit guides us. This is the distinct action
of the Holy Spirit. Dealing with sin is not accomplished by our own unaided effort. It is not
accomplished by the Spirit apart from our participation. We can only deal with the temptations of the
“flesh” in our lives but by our constant living out the life placed within us by the Spirit that has taken
up residence within us.
3. The Gospel Reading John 3:1-17 God the Son
The account of Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus during the night is beautiful and it gives us wonderful
information about the distinct action of the Spirit. But it is the last several verses of John chapter 3
that shows us the distinct action of Jesus as the third person of the Trinity.
In Jn 3:14-15, Jesus states His distinct purpose, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
Jesus is referring to His coming crucifixion and resurrection. The purpose of Jesus’ life on earth is
to bring salvation by his death on the cross and His resurrection to all who believe.
God’s love in action is revealed in Jn 3:16. This often quoted verse is critical to the understanding
of the love that is the unity of the Trinity. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so
that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” God’s giving and
receiving love is essential to understanding the gospel message and it is essential to understanding
the unity of the Trinity.
The three persons of the Trinity are united in love. The gospel story tells about the giving nature of
God’s love when the Father sends the Son to our world. It tells of the perfect exchange of perfect
love in which the Father gives all in Christ, and Christ returns all that is given by the Father. The
Trinity is love, God is love, God IS the Trinity. According to John 4:16, “God is love, and those who
abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” Thus, the essential nature of love is revealed
in the Christian teaching of the Trinity.
APPLICATION OF SCRIPTURE AND EXPERIENCES
We understand the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit on several
levels:
1. In our head with our reason we understand the statements of faith and the Doctrine of the Trinity.
2. We relate to scripture that reveals the distinct action of each person of the Trinity.
3. We experience God’s presence and action in our lives. Many here, in one way or another, have
experienced God, have experienced some aspect of the Trinity. Some of us experience God in
dreams or in visions, Some hear God’s voice, either audibly or by sensing His message. Many of
us experience God’s healing touch in our lives or the lives of another.
The way we experience the persons of the Trinity is personal, although many share common
experiences.
Lord, do I share my experience of the Trinity on Easter Sunday? The Holy Spirit made His presence
known to this congregation on Easter Sunday. As I was reading the gospel, I heard his voice of
Jesus. (“Mary”) I “saw” Jesus in my mind’s eye, and I had an overwhelming sense of His presence.
I could not speak for a few moments and I was overwhelmed with tears. Later, several people told
me that they observed the movement of the Holy Spirit ripple out through the congregation and
touch many people. Many were weeping. It was just incredible to experience the descent of the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the risen Lord at Hope+in+the+Desert Episcopal Church.
I wish to close with a prayer that was given to us by Bishop Terry Kelshaw when he was our vicar.
Lord Jesus Christ
Master Carpenter of Nazareth
Who on the cross
In wood and nails
First worked our full salvation;
Use well your tools
In this your workshop
That we who come to you rough hewn
May by your grace
Be fashioned to a true beauty and usefulness
In your service. AMEN
Trinity Sunday
Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17
Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17
June 7, 2009
The Rev. Jane Ross,
Deacon
The Rev. Jane Ross,
Deacon
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