Trinity in Practice
Commentary
Who is the God of our congregation? How is this God made known in the community? These two questions get at the core of the existence and operation of any congregation. The texts of Trinity Sunday could be used as an opportunity to explore church history and the creedal controversies. In the congregations that I have served, such deep, doctrinal sermons on the history of the Triune God will result in glassy eyed parishioners who wonder if they will have to confess the Athanasian Creed. Another direction might be to discover how this ancient doctrine is practiced through congregational ministry into the community. The Trinity can answer who our God is, as well as how we make this God known in the community?
Proverbs 8:1-4; 22-31
Woman wisdom is a metaphor for the divine attributes of the creator God on this Sunday. This God 1) creates, 2) provides and is 3) an ongoing giver of life (three point sermon). Where is God? In Proverbs, God is found as one observes the marketplaces where people live. Dating is contested regarding the editing of Proverbs. If one assumes final editing occurred during the Persian period, then the sage is one who uses persuasion and encouragement of wise rule to advise government leaders, rather than prophetic warnings.
The cosmos is well ordered for God’s creation. Wisdom is the mediator between the creator and creation. Those people who accept Woman Wisdom’s invitation to learn and practice conservative values will continue to live, experience the benefits of life on the creator’s earth. Those who reject wisdom are fools who refuse to live in prudent, life sustaining ways. Such fools are disruptive to the order of God’s world and their legitimacy is doubted.
A practical example might be that a business owner in a small community starts anew. He or she makes their business available for local residents — they open their doors earlier and stay open later than regular hours. Woman Wisdom would counsel local residents to support such a local business, rather than driving away to the urban box store. Woman Wisdom would counsel that the church that supports local merchants becomes admired in the community. In times past, a simple building beside the county courthouse or city hall established credibility for a house or worship. Today, Woman Wisdom would remind church attendees to support local business if they want it in their town and avoid boarded up buildings.
Another direction to explore is to concentrate on Woman Wisdom herself. It is contested by scholars whether she represents a philosopher’s invitation to learn as was common in Greek culture or a wise woman teacher (c.f.: Proverbs 31:10-31, praise of a good woman). Broadening the text out wider for a sermon might be built around four points 1) 8:1-3, Invitation to the simple, 2) Woman Wisdom rules as a queen of Heaven (8:12-210 3) Woman Wisdom’s role in the creation of the Universe (8:22-31) 4) Woman Wisdom’s instruction for life (8:32-36). Regardless of the direction one might select, the whole book of Proverbs is not intended to be carefully followed doctrinal piece such as portions of Deuteronomy. It is rather writings that can be tested and questioned based on observation and experience. This is where the church must always keep in tune with culture around, so it can be more faithful in its witness to God the creator. [Perdue, Leo, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Proverbs, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000)].
Alternative Application
A cross reference to this text might be 1 Kings 3:9-13, when young Solomon asks for wisdom from God to govern the great people of Israel. What sorts of wisdom do we seek from local and national officials today? The church can still encourage people to vote without promoting one form of partisan politics. In this way, the local church witnesses to their presence in the community that encourages good citizenship. Proverbs encourages people of faith to work alongside the life cycles the creator establishes.
Romans 5:1-5
What difference does Jesus make in our lives as people of faith? One of Paul’s concerns was to find ways to seek ways for Gentile and Jewish Christians to be comfortable with one another around the communion table. This particular text has been used as a central teaching of the Protestant Reformation teaching of “Justification by Faith.” Whether “Justification by Faith,” was Paul’s central teaching or one of many remains contested. Traditional Reformation theologians believe that justification by faith alone in Christ (because of God’s grace) is the central interpretative lens for all of Paul’s writings. Theologians in the New School of Paul argue that this was one of many teachings. Paul’s greater concern was reconciling the messiah of Isaiah with the (risen) Jesus of Nazareth that he met on the Damascus Road in Acts 9. He would have to formulate a way to include newly converted Gentile Christians and traditional Jewish Christians into the broader faith community.
To be at peace with God and to grow as a disciple amidst hardship might be a theme that both groups of Pauline theology might agree on. While Christians are justified in God’s eyes from the wages and results of sin (death), this does not exempt them from suffering. Having a right relationship with God through Jesus the Christ (second person of the Trinity) liberates humans from the results of God’s wrath, sin and evil.
There is a basis for hope. However, the Greek term “dia” (we get diameter) is used to indicate that believers will have to follow the crucified and risen Christ “through” (dia) difficult times instead of around them. Any congregation who takes Paul’s views seriously must consider how they are doing ministry in their community through the more difficult times, rather than avoiding them. For example, if a church is located in an ethnically changing neighborhood that has fallen on economic hard times, has their mission been accomplished and is it time to either close or move elsewhere? Does the same church conclude that their mission is to remain and weather the difficult times within the changing neighborhood? How is God made known in this community through the second person of the Trinity — Jesus the crucified and risen Christ?
The bottom line of this text is that while Christians will share in the glory of God, there is still the physical reality of suffering. To answer the question of why the righteous suffer (Theodicy), Romans 5 has one proposal:
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Romans 5:3-5).
Are modern North American Christians prepared to accept the teaching that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, which is the basis of hope? This is part of Paul’s (uncontested) letter to the Romans. It could very well be a letter to North Americans, who often prefer the “bread and circuses” of modern consumerism and entertainment culture, to the sacrifice that is required for serious discipleship.
Quite often, it is not until such entertainment and false gods of concupiscence disappoint us, that many people are more prone to take such writing of Paul seriously here in Romans 5. Can a modern church pay its bills, support missionaries and the denomination with the teaching that “suffering produces endurance which produces character?” To accent the second person of the Holy Trinity on this Sunday leads us down this road. [Harrisville, Roy A., Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Romans, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1980); Hultgren, Arland J., Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Erdmann’s, 2011)].
John 16:12-15
On this Trinity Sunday, the John text is the reference to the third person of the Godhead, that being the Holy Spirit. It is part of Jesus’ farwell address. The readers of John have not yet experienced the second coming, and difficult times persist for the Christian church after being rejected by the Jewish Council at Jamnia ( Smith, 196, Martyn). There are three observations to be made about John’s teaching on the Holy Spirit. First, the risen Jesus breathes the Spirit into his disciples as they are “in fear of the Jews” (John 20:19-22). To receive the Holy Spirit is not a highly charged fiery event such as reported in Acts 2 (though the two accounts are not mutually exclusive). It does suggest that one may have the Spirit as a disciple without having a second “baptism in the Spirit” experience. In liturgical churches, the Spirit is affirmed onto the child/adult during their baptism. The Spirit not only helps embolden the disciples to do ministry by forgiving or retaining sins (John 20:23), but also the text indicates that the Father (first person of the Trinity) sends the disciples out to continue Jesus’ ministry. What spirit does any given church need in order not to be in “fear” of any potential threats or power brokers of the time, is one direction to explore in preaching.
Second, the Spirit that Jesus provides is a new mode of revelation to the church. As Jesus is talking, the disciples’ knowledge is limited. The Advocate or Sprit will bring more truth based on Jesus’ teachings (Beasley-Murray, 283-284). This Spirit discloses more of God’s purpose for the church. It is an open ended revelation. Yet the Advocate will compliment or glorify Jesus and his teachings while he was on earth. Does one define “Jesus’ teachings” as only those writings in the Johanine group or the rest of the New Testament? This is a contested question. If one believes the gospel of John is a supplement to the Synoptic gospels that reports events not included in Matthew, Mark and Luke, then it is not stretch to suggest Jesus includes all four gospel accounts.
Finally, within the whole set of Johanine writings, the Spirit is interconnected with the community of the fellowship of believers (church). The Spirit dwells among a community of faith, not just single individuals. There are no “Lone Ranger Christians” in John. Other sermon paths might include some key words in John’s vocabulary to be mindful. They include zoe, which is the word for life in John 3:16 and 10:10. It is a dynamic, forward moving life. The Advocate would not contradict such a teaching. Second, when Jesus re-commissions Peter in John 21:15-19 and asks Peter whether he “loves” Jesus or not, both Greek words of “philos” (brotherly love) and agape (unconditional love) are used here. On this Trinity Sunday in what ways is the Spirit directing any local congregation into the directions of neighborly or unconditional love? [Sources: Beasley-Murray, George R., Word Biblical Commentary: John, Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987); Bruner, Frederick Dale, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Erdman’s, 2012); Martyn, J. Louis, History and Theology of the Fourth Gospel, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Westminster Press, 2013); Smith, D. Moody, Abingdon New Testament Commentary: John, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999)].
Application
The Advocate comes to the church, as the third person of the Son and Father. Is “advocacy” effective enough to move any group of people into a new direction? Possibly, only somebody’s sacrifice and giving serious blood, sweat and tears is the only way some people are moved to move the church forward. Finally, the same creator who forms the landscape of any given geographical area can just as easily disrupt, if not destroy it so another landscape may emerge.
On Trinity Sunday, people of faith can observe how God works through nature and those people in the public market place (Proverbs 8). Relating to such a God brings the promise of hope, with the accompanying sufferings (Romans 5). However, John’s gospel provides assurance that the pre-existent word who became flesh (John 1:1-14) continue to reveal God’s self through a Spirit or Advocate. Would anybody in a given faith community prefer coercion as a way to usher in the kingdom? Is the mystery of the triune God of the Holy Trinity sufficient in times when people often think in consumer categories of shopping for a spirituality of their own liking?
Alterative Application
What does it mean to glorify Jesus these days? Washing feet was an intimate act in those days (John 13). Would Jesus have to attend a “Boundaries Workshop” had he been close to females such as the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4)? The Jesus in John can also be a bit confrontational to make his points. Does this work in the modern church? To follow Jesus in John is to call out a Nicodemus “ruler of the Jews” at night (John 3:1) and to establish his reign in the religious center early on (Palm Sunday event in John 12:12-19). If a paid clergy person is warned not to participate in such actions without suffering serious repercussions, do such ministries fall upon the uncompensated laity?
Proverbs 8:1-4; 22-31
Woman wisdom is a metaphor for the divine attributes of the creator God on this Sunday. This God 1) creates, 2) provides and is 3) an ongoing giver of life (three point sermon). Where is God? In Proverbs, God is found as one observes the marketplaces where people live. Dating is contested regarding the editing of Proverbs. If one assumes final editing occurred during the Persian period, then the sage is one who uses persuasion and encouragement of wise rule to advise government leaders, rather than prophetic warnings.
The cosmos is well ordered for God’s creation. Wisdom is the mediator between the creator and creation. Those people who accept Woman Wisdom’s invitation to learn and practice conservative values will continue to live, experience the benefits of life on the creator’s earth. Those who reject wisdom are fools who refuse to live in prudent, life sustaining ways. Such fools are disruptive to the order of God’s world and their legitimacy is doubted.
A practical example might be that a business owner in a small community starts anew. He or she makes their business available for local residents — they open their doors earlier and stay open later than regular hours. Woman Wisdom would counsel local residents to support such a local business, rather than driving away to the urban box store. Woman Wisdom would counsel that the church that supports local merchants becomes admired in the community. In times past, a simple building beside the county courthouse or city hall established credibility for a house or worship. Today, Woman Wisdom would remind church attendees to support local business if they want it in their town and avoid boarded up buildings.
Another direction to explore is to concentrate on Woman Wisdom herself. It is contested by scholars whether she represents a philosopher’s invitation to learn as was common in Greek culture or a wise woman teacher (c.f.: Proverbs 31:10-31, praise of a good woman). Broadening the text out wider for a sermon might be built around four points 1) 8:1-3, Invitation to the simple, 2) Woman Wisdom rules as a queen of Heaven (8:12-210 3) Woman Wisdom’s role in the creation of the Universe (8:22-31) 4) Woman Wisdom’s instruction for life (8:32-36). Regardless of the direction one might select, the whole book of Proverbs is not intended to be carefully followed doctrinal piece such as portions of Deuteronomy. It is rather writings that can be tested and questioned based on observation and experience. This is where the church must always keep in tune with culture around, so it can be more faithful in its witness to God the creator. [Perdue, Leo, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Proverbs, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000)].
Alternative Application
A cross reference to this text might be 1 Kings 3:9-13, when young Solomon asks for wisdom from God to govern the great people of Israel. What sorts of wisdom do we seek from local and national officials today? The church can still encourage people to vote without promoting one form of partisan politics. In this way, the local church witnesses to their presence in the community that encourages good citizenship. Proverbs encourages people of faith to work alongside the life cycles the creator establishes.
Romans 5:1-5
What difference does Jesus make in our lives as people of faith? One of Paul’s concerns was to find ways to seek ways for Gentile and Jewish Christians to be comfortable with one another around the communion table. This particular text has been used as a central teaching of the Protestant Reformation teaching of “Justification by Faith.” Whether “Justification by Faith,” was Paul’s central teaching or one of many remains contested. Traditional Reformation theologians believe that justification by faith alone in Christ (because of God’s grace) is the central interpretative lens for all of Paul’s writings. Theologians in the New School of Paul argue that this was one of many teachings. Paul’s greater concern was reconciling the messiah of Isaiah with the (risen) Jesus of Nazareth that he met on the Damascus Road in Acts 9. He would have to formulate a way to include newly converted Gentile Christians and traditional Jewish Christians into the broader faith community.
To be at peace with God and to grow as a disciple amidst hardship might be a theme that both groups of Pauline theology might agree on. While Christians are justified in God’s eyes from the wages and results of sin (death), this does not exempt them from suffering. Having a right relationship with God through Jesus the Christ (second person of the Trinity) liberates humans from the results of God’s wrath, sin and evil.
There is a basis for hope. However, the Greek term “dia” (we get diameter) is used to indicate that believers will have to follow the crucified and risen Christ “through” (dia) difficult times instead of around them. Any congregation who takes Paul’s views seriously must consider how they are doing ministry in their community through the more difficult times, rather than avoiding them. For example, if a church is located in an ethnically changing neighborhood that has fallen on economic hard times, has their mission been accomplished and is it time to either close or move elsewhere? Does the same church conclude that their mission is to remain and weather the difficult times within the changing neighborhood? How is God made known in this community through the second person of the Trinity — Jesus the crucified and risen Christ?
The bottom line of this text is that while Christians will share in the glory of God, there is still the physical reality of suffering. To answer the question of why the righteous suffer (Theodicy), Romans 5 has one proposal:
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Romans 5:3-5).
Are modern North American Christians prepared to accept the teaching that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, which is the basis of hope? This is part of Paul’s (uncontested) letter to the Romans. It could very well be a letter to North Americans, who often prefer the “bread and circuses” of modern consumerism and entertainment culture, to the sacrifice that is required for serious discipleship.
Quite often, it is not until such entertainment and false gods of concupiscence disappoint us, that many people are more prone to take such writing of Paul seriously here in Romans 5. Can a modern church pay its bills, support missionaries and the denomination with the teaching that “suffering produces endurance which produces character?” To accent the second person of the Holy Trinity on this Sunday leads us down this road. [Harrisville, Roy A., Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Romans, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1980); Hultgren, Arland J., Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Erdmann’s, 2011)].
John 16:12-15
On this Trinity Sunday, the John text is the reference to the third person of the Godhead, that being the Holy Spirit. It is part of Jesus’ farwell address. The readers of John have not yet experienced the second coming, and difficult times persist for the Christian church after being rejected by the Jewish Council at Jamnia ( Smith, 196, Martyn). There are three observations to be made about John’s teaching on the Holy Spirit. First, the risen Jesus breathes the Spirit into his disciples as they are “in fear of the Jews” (John 20:19-22). To receive the Holy Spirit is not a highly charged fiery event such as reported in Acts 2 (though the two accounts are not mutually exclusive). It does suggest that one may have the Spirit as a disciple without having a second “baptism in the Spirit” experience. In liturgical churches, the Spirit is affirmed onto the child/adult during their baptism. The Spirit not only helps embolden the disciples to do ministry by forgiving or retaining sins (John 20:23), but also the text indicates that the Father (first person of the Trinity) sends the disciples out to continue Jesus’ ministry. What spirit does any given church need in order not to be in “fear” of any potential threats or power brokers of the time, is one direction to explore in preaching.
Second, the Spirit that Jesus provides is a new mode of revelation to the church. As Jesus is talking, the disciples’ knowledge is limited. The Advocate or Sprit will bring more truth based on Jesus’ teachings (Beasley-Murray, 283-284). This Spirit discloses more of God’s purpose for the church. It is an open ended revelation. Yet the Advocate will compliment or glorify Jesus and his teachings while he was on earth. Does one define “Jesus’ teachings” as only those writings in the Johanine group or the rest of the New Testament? This is a contested question. If one believes the gospel of John is a supplement to the Synoptic gospels that reports events not included in Matthew, Mark and Luke, then it is not stretch to suggest Jesus includes all four gospel accounts.
Finally, within the whole set of Johanine writings, the Spirit is interconnected with the community of the fellowship of believers (church). The Spirit dwells among a community of faith, not just single individuals. There are no “Lone Ranger Christians” in John. Other sermon paths might include some key words in John’s vocabulary to be mindful. They include zoe, which is the word for life in John 3:16 and 10:10. It is a dynamic, forward moving life. The Advocate would not contradict such a teaching. Second, when Jesus re-commissions Peter in John 21:15-19 and asks Peter whether he “loves” Jesus or not, both Greek words of “philos” (brotherly love) and agape (unconditional love) are used here. On this Trinity Sunday in what ways is the Spirit directing any local congregation into the directions of neighborly or unconditional love? [Sources: Beasley-Murray, George R., Word Biblical Commentary: John, Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987); Bruner, Frederick Dale, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Erdman’s, 2012); Martyn, J. Louis, History and Theology of the Fourth Gospel, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Westminster Press, 2013); Smith, D. Moody, Abingdon New Testament Commentary: John, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1999)].
Application
The Advocate comes to the church, as the third person of the Son and Father. Is “advocacy” effective enough to move any group of people into a new direction? Possibly, only somebody’s sacrifice and giving serious blood, sweat and tears is the only way some people are moved to move the church forward. Finally, the same creator who forms the landscape of any given geographical area can just as easily disrupt, if not destroy it so another landscape may emerge.
On Trinity Sunday, people of faith can observe how God works through nature and those people in the public market place (Proverbs 8). Relating to such a God brings the promise of hope, with the accompanying sufferings (Romans 5). However, John’s gospel provides assurance that the pre-existent word who became flesh (John 1:1-14) continue to reveal God’s self through a Spirit or Advocate. Would anybody in a given faith community prefer coercion as a way to usher in the kingdom? Is the mystery of the triune God of the Holy Trinity sufficient in times when people often think in consumer categories of shopping for a spirituality of their own liking?
Alterative Application
What does it mean to glorify Jesus these days? Washing feet was an intimate act in those days (John 13). Would Jesus have to attend a “Boundaries Workshop” had he been close to females such as the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4)? The Jesus in John can also be a bit confrontational to make his points. Does this work in the modern church? To follow Jesus in John is to call out a Nicodemus “ruler of the Jews” at night (John 3:1) and to establish his reign in the religious center early on (Palm Sunday event in John 12:12-19). If a paid clergy person is warned not to participate in such actions without suffering serious repercussions, do such ministries fall upon the uncompensated laity?
