Trinity As Community
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
On Trinity Sunday we remind ourselves of the foundation and core of our faith: the oneness of God experienced and confessed as three persons (Greek: prosopon, "person" or "face" or "mask"). The doctrine of the Trinity always has been challenging. Cyril Richardson, patristic scholar and former Dean of Graduate Studies at Union Seminary in New York, used to say that if you deny this doctrine you are in danger of losing your soul, but if you try to understand it you are in danger of losing your mind.
George Murphy, our lead writer for this issue of The Immediate Word, relates the concept of the social or communal nature of the Trinity with our ever-increasing need for human cooperation, both in the church and in our larger society. He also shows how the lectionary readings for Trinity Sunday suggest the theme of "Trinity and Community." You will find this approach helpful in communicating the importance and relevance of the doctrine of the Trinity in the lives of our people.
With this issue we welcome Julie Strope as one of our contributors of worship resources. Also included are team comments and a children's sermon.
TRINITY AS COMMUNITY
by George Murphy
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15
The United States has again asked the other nations of the world to help to provide security in Iraq and to bring about an orderly transition of power there. Some people are saying that it's about time we stopped trying to go it alone, while others question whether President Bush has gone far enough toward a proposal of genuine cooperation. Still others think that countries like France and Germany should already have been willing to do more to share the burden even if they didn't approve of the war to begin with. But there seems to be fairly general agreement that the people of the world will have to work together if anything like real peace and stability is to be achieved. What's needed is real community and community effort.
That's part of the climate in which we'll come to Trinity Sunday (6 June this year), a Sunday that has sometimes stumped preachers. It is the only major festival in the traditional calendar that celebrates a doctrine rather than some event or person in salvation history. And what are we supposed to say about a doctrine that many of the people in the pews, whether they accept it or not, regard as a piece of strange religious algebra that makes it possible to say 3 = 1? Do we want to try to explain the Trinity to people? (And if so, what theologian's formulation of the doctrine will we present?) Should we try to convince people of the importance of a Trinitarian concept of God? Or is it wiser to give the "mystery" just a brief nod and find something else to talk about in the texts for the day?
Part of the answer to that question is that you'll want to approach the subject in different ways from one year to the next. (I hope though that the last possibility that I noted -- avoiding the Trinitarian theme -- will be used sparingly.) But this year it might be a good idea to talk about community -- for that is what the concept of God as Trinity means: The one God is the communion of Father, Son, and Spirit. Since the Bible speaks about humanity being created in the image and likeness of God, the divine community is to be the pattern for human community. Furthermore, the human community like the divine one is to be a working community.
That idea will seem surprising to some people, because for centuries Western Christianity focused on the unity of God to the extent that trying to understand how that one God could also be threefold became a problem to be solved instead of an answer to problems. We'll return briefly to that later. Now, let's look at two of the readings for Trinity Sunday this year, Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:12-15.
These texts don't present a fully developed "doctrine of the Trinity." In fact, there really aren't any passages in the Bible that do that. This leads some people to claim that the Bible gives no support to a trinitarian concept of God, but this is to misunderstand the situation badly.
In a number of places in the New Testament we find statements about God or God's activity that use "Father, Son, Spirit" or "God, Christ, Spirit" or similar language. (In Saint Paul's letters "God" sometimes means what later theology would call "God the Father.") Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:13 are the most obvious of these, but we can also note (without being exhaustive) Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 4:4-5, 1 Peter 1:2, Jude 20-21, and Revelation 1:4-5. And among these passages are the Second Lesson and the Gospel for this Sunday. As later Christians reflected on these texts, on the ways in which Christ is spoken of in the New Testament, and on their experience of God, they found that some kind of trinitarian doctrine was needed in order to make sense of things.
In earlier chapters of Romans, Paul has spoken of the free justification of sinners through Christ. Now in chapter 5 he begins to talk about the consequences of justification. We have peace with God, he says, though our Lord Jesus Christ, and our hope will not be disappointed because the love of God has been given to us by the Holy Spirit. God, Christ, and Spirit are not spoken of here as identical and interchangeable units, for some priority seems to be given to "God," and the role of each is different. But the action of bringing people into the right relation (and thus peace) with God and ensuring hope is the result of the cooperation of the three.
"Cooperation" literally means, of course, "working together," and that is just what most of the trinitarian language in the New Testament is about. It is not so much about the inner life or being of God as about God's actions in the world. "The external works of the Trinity are undivided" is an old theological formula. Father, Son, and Spirit don't all do the same thing: The Father and the Spirit weren't crucified. But all three of them cooperate in everything that God does in the world.
The Gospel reading from Jesus' farewell discourse in John (16:12-15) comes at this in a somewhat different way. Everything that the Father has is Christ's, in the future the disciples will be guided into all truth by the Spirit, who will take what Christ has, that in turn Christ receives from the Father, and declare it to them. Though their roles are again not identical, we aren't to think of these three as independent agents. The intimate relation that Jesus has with the Father is shown by his very use of the term Father, and a few verses before this Jesus has said that the Spirit he will send comes from the Father (15:26).
(The temporal "sending" of the Spirit is to be distinguished, at least logically, from the eternal "procession" of the Spirit -- from the Father, as the Eastern Orthodox have always held, or from the Father and the Son, as in the Western theological tradition. This unfortunate controversy about filioque ["and the Son"] in the Western version of the Nicene Creed probably shouldn't be gotten into in a sermon but in an age in which ecumenical relations are important it wouldn't hurt for people to be aware of it.)
The idea of the Trinity clearly has important implications for the ways in which we think about God. But it also has profound consequences for the ways in which we think of ourselves, and about the whole human race, if we take seriously the language of Genesis 1 about humanity being created in the image and likeness of God. For if we put these ideas together, they mean that God intended us in creation to be the image of the Holy Trinity.
There are two ways we can think about that. The first is to say that each person in some ways bears trinitarian marks. In his treatise "On the Holy Trinity," Augustine suggested that such triads in the human being as memory, understanding, and will could be thought of as "vestiges of the Trinity." This type of psychological modeling of the Trinity has been influential in Western Christianity and fits in well with an individualistic emphasis in religion.
But without rejecting such interpretations entirely, we need to realize that they don't give the full picture that we find in Genesis 1:26-28:
"So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."
(Genesis 1:27; my emphasis added)
While the second line suggests that each person is the image of God, the first and third lines indicate that humankind as a whole is to bear this image.1
This does not describe just a static quality of humanity but of a task to which humanity is called -- to have dominion over the earth. This should be understood as a call to care for creation, not simply to exploit it for our benefit. Humanity is commissioned as God's representative to work together for the welfare of all people and for the good of the whole world, human and nonhuman. Striving for justice and peace among nations and between individuals and working to defend the natural environment are both parts of the human job description.
Thus one approach to a Trinity sermon this year would be to emphasize that faith in the Trinity is to issue in our cooperative efforts for the good of the world. That should take place on all scales. June is a popular month for weddings, and it wouldn't hurt to point out the need for husband and wife to work together to make marriage succeed: The illusion that "being in love" is sufficient for a lasting marriage certainly needs to be dispelled. Cooperation among members of a congregation or between people in a city may call for attention in some settings. And while few of us will be preaching to the President or Secretary of State, the need for international cooperation is so much in the news that connections could easily be made with our theme.
June 6 is also the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. As an illustration, one might point out that, without denying individual acts of heroism, the outcome of World War II required a great deal of cooperation and not just Rambo-like individualism. (Some may be uneasy about the idea of using military imagery here, but before criticizing it please reflect on the fact that Hitler's "final solution" would have been final, and Europe might still be under Nazi rule, without the grim work of Soviet, British, American, and other Allied forces.)
Something more is being called for here than, "Can't we all just get along?" We can get along much of the time if we just ignore one another. The phrase on a young child's report card, "Works and plays well with other children," comes closer to what we want. Admittedly, for kindergarten children, that phrase may just mean that the child can color at the same table with other children without interfering with them. But that's a start toward actually working together in a common task. We need to go beyond that, to be able to initiate cooperation and carry it out.
Another illustration is that of a complicated dance requiring a great deal of coordination between the dancers. The Greek word perichoresis, literally "a coming around to the same place" or a "revolution," has been used to describe the mutual presence of each trinitarian person in the others (as in John 14:10). This may suggest the image of the dance. (But perichoresis itself does not literally mean, as has sometimes been said, a circular dance. The verb meaning "to go round" is similar to, but not the same as the one meaning "to dance round.")
The approach that I suggest here might work better if the First Lesson for the day were the first Genesis creation story -- which will be the case for Trinity Sunday next year. Of course this doesn't mean that the preacher isn't allowed to refer to Genesis this year! On the other hand, the Old Testament reading this year, Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31, offers its own possibilities, some of which might connect with the cooperation theme.
The first part of this reading, verses 1-4, describe Lady Wisdom (for that is how Wisdom is usually pictured in the Old Testament) calling out to people to follow the path of wisdom. (Unfortunately this has been cut short in the lectionary.) The second part, verses 22-31, then speaks of Wisdom's presence with the LORD before and during the creation of the world. In the Christological controversies of the fourth century it was generally agreed that Wisdom here referred to Christ -- though whether before or after the Incarnation was in dispute. Recent decades have seen a resurgence of interest in wisdom Christologies, particularly among feminist theologians.2
In verses 29 and 30 in the NRSV, Wisdom says that, when God marked out the foundations of the earth, "then I was beside him like a master worker." This image of Wisdom as a worker together with YHWH of course fits in with our theme. Unfortunately NRSV has the discouraging textual note, "Meaning of Heb uncertain." There occurs here a rare Hebrew word 'amon, which might mean "master workman" but could also be "confidante," "coordinator," or "little child." Wisdom is pictured either as God's coworker or "as a child playing in its father's workshop."3 "Master worker" is fine if one isn't dogmatic about it, and "a child playing in its father's workshop" is a delightful image in its own way.
But the significance of Wisdom is not just cosmological. In the wisdom literature of Israel wisdom has a much broader sense, including practical understanding of life and -- significantly for the news with which I began -- politics. "By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just," Wisdom says in one of the verses (15) that the lectionary omits. The leaders of nations need to seek for wisdom and not just political cunning.
This points up the fact that the kind of cooperation we are speaking of should extend beyond the bounds of the Christian community. For Christians, the model of the church as the body of Christ brings out the need for cooperation. The idea that humanity is to image the Trinity extends that to the whole human race -- which is, indeed, to be infiltrated and transformed by the gospel.
One thing that is lacking in the lectionary texts for Trinity this year is any clear indication that the Christian idea of the Trinity arises from the church's basic faith in Jesus. How is it possible to say the kinds of things that the New Testament does say about a man who had recently died on a cross -- that he "was in the form of God" (Philippians 2:5) or that he is the one "through whom are all things and through whom we exist" -- while also recognizing that Jesus himself had looked to the one God of Israel as his Father?
In trying to make sense of the relationships between Christ, his Father, and their Spirit while maintaining belief in the unity of God, it's essential to remember that we are not privy to all the secrets of the divine life. The fourth-century bishop who said, "I know God as well as he knows himself," was a heretic! What we know about God is only what God reveals about God's own self, and our knowledge of God has to be inferred from what God does in the world, most fundamentally in the Christ event. What God reveals really is indicative of the character of God (e.g., the kind of love displayed by Jesus points to the fact that God in God's own self is love) but that doesn't mean that we know God exhaustively.
Thus the Trinity is finally a mystery -- but that's no excuse for muddled theology. Our doctrines of the Trinity, our human attempts to understand God on the basis of God's revelation, shouldn't be mysterious even if they (like the theories of modern physics) aren't "common sense."
The attempts of various theologians to understand the Trinity are important. But it's more basic -- and more important for the average Christian to know -- to realize that thought about the Trinity that can be regarded as orthodox should observe the proper boundaries. On one side it's necessary to avoid the idea that there are three Gods. On the other the notion that there is one God who simply does three different things (e.g., create, redeem, and sanctify) should be eschewed. One needs to stay on the road -- which is, however, a road with some breadth.
For a long time, Western theology began with the idea of the unity of God and then tried to understand how that one God could be three. This has had the result in modern times of making the idea of the Trinity seem like a matter of secondary importance or just as an unnecessary complication. (Schleiermacher relegated it to the last section of The Christian Faith.) Over the past sixty years the work of a number of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox theologians, men and women, has affected a recovery of the fundamental character of trinitarian thought. In particular, this has opened up the possibility of social or communitarian models of the Trinity that I've emphasized here.
Ted Peters' God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in the Divine Life (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1993) is an excellent introduction to modern trinitarian theologies, with background material, reference to and analysis of the work of various theologians, and discussion of connections with modern scientific ideas about the world.
John Zizioulas, Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1985) is a modern Orthodox treatment of related issues. Leonard Hodgson, The Doctrine of the Trinity (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1944), Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Life (HarperSanFrancisco, 1973) and Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom (Harper & Row, 1981) are also helpful.
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Notes
1. I have followed the NRSV margin in the second line, which represents accurately the Hebrew singular: Hebrew doesn't have an inclusive third person singular pronominal suffix. This is also true for the third person plural and the Hebrew plural in the third line -- "them" -- is also masculine, but "male and female" makes the meaning clear.
It also ought to emphasized here that interpreting these verses of Genesis as referring to a plural humanity does not depend on the popular but incorrect belief that the plural character of the Hebrew 'Elohim or of "Let us make ..." are indicative of the Trinity. Understanding these verses in a trinitarian sense is a result of reading them in the light of the New Testament.
2. E.g., Denis Edwards, Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology (Orbis, 1995) and Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Jesus: Miriam's Child, Sophia's Prophet (New York: Continuum, 1994).
3. G. Fohrer, "Sophia," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament; trans. G. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), p. 491.
Team Comments
Carter Shelley responds: George, I applaud your suggestion that preachers explore the community aspects of the Trinity and Christianity this Sunday. You offer a number of excellent and relevant examples that make it possible to affirm that which is best in humanity, our God-given capacity to meet, speak, and engage with one another in a positive, creative, and loving way. In June 2004, when much feels broken and out-of-control, it's important for us to hear and believe that we have within us the capacity for friendship, fellowship, peacemaking, and community because our Creator made us as relational beings: lovers, parents, friends, work colleagues, neighbors, citizens, Christians. As Christians we are called to be in relationship with both our Lord and our neighbor. Moreover, those relationships are based upon justice and righteousness, which need the fire of the Holy Spirit the love of Jesus Christ and the will of God the Father to keep us on course and faithful.
One of the strongest arguments for communal Christianity, community in dealing with hard problems (schools, towns, cities, nations) is the divine inter-related model placed before us in our Triune God. Our knowledge of God comes from three sources: an innate human awareness that there seems to be something, someone beyond ourselves; the Word of God revealed in scripture, and the life and love of Christ our Redeemer and Mediator. Our understanding of God recognizes three distinct and holy functions of God. Our own experience demonstrates that two, three, or forty heads are often far better than one. The very existence of this web site is a case in point. My own sermon preparation and composition is greatly enhanced by the collaborative work that occurs in preparing The Immediate Word. There are so many different ways of interpreting biblical texts, different ideas about what current events merit attention, and so many wonderful illustrations and worship resources provided here that I never could create on my own on a weekly basis. Moreover, the quality of work produced by my colleagues challenges me to work harder to produce good material myself.
Having occasionally honored a couple's desire to have their child baptized in the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, I appreciate your recognition of the terms "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" being descriptive rather than exclusive in their identification of God. Both scripture and reformers such as Luther and Calvin make it clear that our limited human language can never capture or contain all that God is. Thus, feminist biblical scholars, liturgists, theologians, and laity have done our church a great service in urging us to extend the language we use to describe our God who is never one without also being three. One analogy I've heard that at first seems to work is to describe a woman as one person who is simultaneously mother, wife, and employee. Yet that person cannot be divided into an incarnate person, a spirit, and a god in the way the Nicene Creed states that God has become distinct through the working of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The triangle as a symbol remains an effective image, because each side of a triangle can be removed and retains its particular properties. Putting the three sides of the triangle back together does not diminish those properties but puts them into dialogue and mutual support with the other two sides/aspects of God.
I can almost hear the following conversation occurring within the Godhead:
"Don't worry Dad, I won't let you down. I'll show them how to live and love, then I'll show them how to die and live again."
"Don't worry you Two, I know how hard a nut to crack these humans are. After all, I was there with Jephthath and he still made that foolish vow. I was there when they were weeping and wailing over Christ's departure. I'm there every time they let their guard down at a weekend retreat, actually stop to ask the hard questions, and are still enough to hear my answer. I'm persistent and ever present to exploit that divine spark within whenever they let go of their own fears and control long enough to let me in."
"Never fear my Dear Ones, I've been at this for centuries, millennia, in fact. I know what you're up against. Frankly, if it hadn't been for the companionship and fellowship and unity of purpose, space, time, and infinity that we share and reveal, well there'd be no mortals left with the capacity to fear us, know us, worship us, love us, and depend upon us. It's because they need us, all of us, that I/We must continue to reach out to them with love and hope and a vision they cannot sustain alone on their own."
In Christianity we recognize our total dependence upon God, because we cannot do for ourselves what God in Christ does for us. Our total dependence upon God makes us human enough to recognize our dependence on others as well.
"Poem for Trinity Sunday"
by George Herbert, seventeenth-century metaphysical poet and English clergyman
He that is one,
Is none.
Two reacheth thee
In some degree.
Nature and Grace
With Glory may attain thy Face.
Steele & a flint strike fire,
Witt & desire
Never to thee aspire,
Except life catch & hold those fast.
That which beleefe
Did not confess in the first Theefe
His fall can tell,
From Heaven, through Earth, to Hell,
Lett two of those alone
To Them that fall,
Who God & Saints and Angels loose at last,
He that has one,
Has all.
Roger Lovette responds: George, another dimension of the Spirit, which is a spin-off of Pentecost, is John 16, where the author talks about the Spirit of Truth. In a world where words don't always mean what they think they do -- and we wonder which of these political ads are telling the truth -- if any -- we seem to be in a crisis of truth. John says the Spirit of truth (1) guides us; (2) speaks whatever the Spirit hears (like it or not); (3) declares the things to come; and (4) glorifies Jesus.
Frederick Buechner asserts that the central task of the preacher is to tell the truth.
George Cladis has a fine book on leadership, Leading the Team-Based Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999). In his first chapter he talks about "Learning the Circle Dance of God." On pages 4ff. he mentions John of Damascus, a Greek theologian of the seventh century, who describes the relationship of the persons of God (Trinity) as perichoresis. The author quotes this John as saying that a perichoretic image of the Trinity is that of the three persons of God in a circle that implies intimacy, equality, unity yet distinction, and love.
Shirley Guthrie says that this image of God is a "lovely picture" that portrays the persons of the Trinity in a kind of "choreography" similar to a ballet. In this circle dance of God is a sense of joy, freedom, song, intimacy, and harmony. He says (in Cladis' book), "The oneness of God is not the oneness of a distinct, self-contained individual; it is the unity of a community of persons who love each other and live together in harmony."
Cladis' book talks about how members of the church staff should take their cue from this icon instead of hierarchical triangle. The icon stresses a circle as the way we should relate to one another, an interesting concept for a book on church leadership.
Dorothy Sayers in The Zeal of Thy House (p. 339) says, "For every work of creation is threefold, and earthly trinity to match the heavenly. First: there is the Creative idea; passionless, timeless, beholding the whole work complete at once, the end in the beginning; and this is the image of the Father. Second: there is the Creative Energy, begotten of that Idea, working in time from the beginning to the end, with sweat and passion, being incarnate in the bonds of matter; and this is the image of the Word. Third: there is the Creative Power, the meaning of the work and its response in the lively soul; and this is the image of the indwelling Spirit."
Worship Resources
by Julie Strope
CALL TO WORSHIP (based on Proverbs 8)
Leader: A day for rest! In the midst of global chaos, Wisdom is calling out. To every nation and tribe, she is coaxing: grow up; don't bicker and retaliate like feisty playground children.
People: Wisdom invites us to be wise -- it's better than having a large bank account! To be wise means we think and act in ways that honor the Holy and affirm the best in humankind.
L: Wisdom attended creation when God was at work making the universe.
P: Wisdom was like a midwife, joyful in the creative process and happy with the results of holy imagination.
L: A day of rest and a day when we experience God as One -- Creator, Lover, and Sustainer! Today we are eager for God's wisdom to make peace on earth.
P: Yes! We hear wisdom calling to us from crossroads and gates; we are learning to listen; we are learning to discern divine activity in and around us.
L: Let it be so.
PRAYER OF ADORATION (Based on Romans 5:1-5)
God of Wind and Fire:
We've experienced your love and grace.
We've received peace deep within our beings.
We marvel at the mystery of hope while our world is full of despair.
Thank you for your dependable presence among us and through all the universe.
During this hour, we give you our undivided attention as we sing and pray, listen and speak.
Amen.
OPENING HYMN
"O God the Creator." TPH 273. Tune: Kastaak
CONFESSION (John 16:12-15)
Lover of our Souls:
Everyone and everything clamors for our attention!
We long to quiet the noise and hear your clear voice.
We yearn for the Spirit's unmistakable presence.
From your wholeness, make us whole;
Reveal truth for our daily living;
Manifest love and mercy through us;
Create wisdom and harmony with the skills assembled in this place.
Set us free from the past and empower us for today and tomorrow. Amen.
WORD OF GRACE AND ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
The good news for us today is that God hears our prayers and gives us new life in Christ. Receive this good news and be at peace with yourself and your neighbor. Amen.
CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE
(note the inclusive language changes in TPH 223; stanza 3 from Psalm 103)
Far as east from west is distant,
God has put away our sin;
Like the pity of a parent
Has our God's compassion been.
MOMENT WITH CHILDREN ideas
One God: God has many names, as we describe one another or use nicknames.
One God: eggs have several colors, three parts, and are used for many purposes
HYMN AFTER THE SERMON
"Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove." Tune: St Agnes.
AN AFFIRMATION
Many names we call God:
Father, son, mother, spirit, Holy One!
God of the Mountain, God of the Sparrow, God of you and me!
Christ, Spirit, Lover, Breath -- gifts to Creation and to you and me!
One God -- Spirit, Parent, Christ --
Invites us to live boldly, experiencing Divine affirmation;
Challenges us to use inner wisdom making the outer world a safer, hospitable place;
Lives through us making peace in our neighborhoods;
naming arrogance and offering gracefulness;
modeling options to replace grandiosity, greed, and retaliation.
We seek to comprehend God whose ways are beyond our understanding. In spite of our fears and troubles, we live toward peace that supports and empowers us to manifest God's compassion. Amen!
INTERCESSORY PRAYER
Holy One,
we have gathered in this place again, to enjoy you and one another. Thank you for your Word and your love. Thank you for the wholeness you demonstrate for us and offer us: Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Creating God,
We imagine that you grieve as you look at Creation and see how it is being mutilated. Like men and women before us, we pray for peace in our homes, in our country, and in all the world. We hold before you and one another the reality of war and it's destruction.
Grant a way out of the chaos in Iraq. Sustain the families whose loss is great. Bring together the world community to wage peace among Jews, Christians, and Moslems, in Israel, Iraq, and America.
Healing God,
We name before you those who seek your touch: (pause for people to say names aloud or silently)
Grant them fresh awareness of your blessing. For all of us as we move from the cradle to the grave, keep us in your care, faithful and thankful all our days.
Living God,
For the enthusiasm of Spirit, we are grateful.
Thank you for Jesus the Christ who walked this human pathway before us. Make new for us the ancient words of Jesus:
Our Father....
OFFERTORY INVITATION
We have so much! Let us share who we are and what we have.
DOXOLOGY Tune: Nicea.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, Blessed Trinity!
OFFERING PRAYER
Thank you for inviting us to be co-creators with you, One God, friend of all creatures. Use us and our resources here and wherever they are needed. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN Tune: Geneva. TPH 136.
"Sovereign Lord Of All Creation."
BENEDICTION/CHARGE
Our service here is ended;
Go from this place aware of God guiding you day by day;
Be aware of Christ serving others through you;
Be enthused with Holy Spirit to give hope to all you meet.
Amen.
Children's Sermon
by Wesley T. Runk
Text: v. 13 -- When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (John 16:12-15)
Object: flash light, set of directions for assembly of toy, a guide dog
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever been out at night when there is no moon or streetlight to help you see in the dark? (let them answer) How would you like to walk in the woods when it is dark? (let them answer) You might walk into a tree or the branch of a tree or stumble into some sticker bushes. Walking in the woods when it is dark is not a good thing to do. But if you had a big flashlight like the one I am holding in my hand, everything should be pretty good. The light would guide you very safely.
Have you or your dad ever tried to put together a toy without directions? (let them answer) It is pretty hard to do, isn't it? (let them answer) But if you follow the directions clearly it is pretty easy to put it together and it will last a long time without breaking. The directions are your guide.
I guess the best guide that I know is a guide dog for blind people. A guide dog is not only a great friend but also very careful to guide the blind person across streets, around holes in the sidewalk, and up and down steps. A blind person can completely trust the guide dog.
The Bible talks about another kind of guide. It is a spiritual guide and this guide is a guide for the truth. Sometimes we are not sure about the truth. One person says this and another person says that and we don't know whom to believe. But Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will only ever guide us into truth. The reason is that the Spirit is not going to make something up but instead the Spirit will only repeat what God has shared with him.
Let's imagine that we have a very difficult decision to make about telling the truth. We don't always want to tell the truth because we are afraid it will get us into trouble. We don't think it was our fault anyway. Lots of people did the same thing that we did and they are not going to tell the truth to their parents or the teacher. Why should we tell the truth and be the only one to get into trouble? Sounds like a good time to talk it over with Jesus. Some people call this prayer but it can be just your own conversation with Jesus. You ask Jesus the same questions that you have asked yourself. ''Jesus,'' you say, ''Why do I have to be the only one to tell the truth? Mom and Dad may never find out and I didn't mean to hurt anyone; it just happened. No one else is going to tell the teacher that they did it too, so why must I tell the teacher?'' Jesus is a very good listener and he promises us an answer. As a matter of fact Jesus says that he will send an answer with the Spirit.
While you are waiting for your answer, you might think about how you would feel if people did not tell you the truth. When the answer comes from the Spirit it will guide you to the truth just like the flashlight would guide you on a dark night, or the directions would assist you in putting together a toy. Imagine how much a person has to trust their guide dog to give them the true way to safety. So it is with the Spirit, if you ask God for guidance he will only guide you in the truth. But it is the best way, the only way, and the right way. Follow the Spirit and you will know the truth. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, June 6, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
George Murphy, our lead writer for this issue of The Immediate Word, relates the concept of the social or communal nature of the Trinity with our ever-increasing need for human cooperation, both in the church and in our larger society. He also shows how the lectionary readings for Trinity Sunday suggest the theme of "Trinity and Community." You will find this approach helpful in communicating the importance and relevance of the doctrine of the Trinity in the lives of our people.
With this issue we welcome Julie Strope as one of our contributors of worship resources. Also included are team comments and a children's sermon.
TRINITY AS COMMUNITY
by George Murphy
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15
The United States has again asked the other nations of the world to help to provide security in Iraq and to bring about an orderly transition of power there. Some people are saying that it's about time we stopped trying to go it alone, while others question whether President Bush has gone far enough toward a proposal of genuine cooperation. Still others think that countries like France and Germany should already have been willing to do more to share the burden even if they didn't approve of the war to begin with. But there seems to be fairly general agreement that the people of the world will have to work together if anything like real peace and stability is to be achieved. What's needed is real community and community effort.
That's part of the climate in which we'll come to Trinity Sunday (6 June this year), a Sunday that has sometimes stumped preachers. It is the only major festival in the traditional calendar that celebrates a doctrine rather than some event or person in salvation history. And what are we supposed to say about a doctrine that many of the people in the pews, whether they accept it or not, regard as a piece of strange religious algebra that makes it possible to say 3 = 1? Do we want to try to explain the Trinity to people? (And if so, what theologian's formulation of the doctrine will we present?) Should we try to convince people of the importance of a Trinitarian concept of God? Or is it wiser to give the "mystery" just a brief nod and find something else to talk about in the texts for the day?
Part of the answer to that question is that you'll want to approach the subject in different ways from one year to the next. (I hope though that the last possibility that I noted -- avoiding the Trinitarian theme -- will be used sparingly.) But this year it might be a good idea to talk about community -- for that is what the concept of God as Trinity means: The one God is the communion of Father, Son, and Spirit. Since the Bible speaks about humanity being created in the image and likeness of God, the divine community is to be the pattern for human community. Furthermore, the human community like the divine one is to be a working community.
That idea will seem surprising to some people, because for centuries Western Christianity focused on the unity of God to the extent that trying to understand how that one God could also be threefold became a problem to be solved instead of an answer to problems. We'll return briefly to that later. Now, let's look at two of the readings for Trinity Sunday this year, Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:12-15.
These texts don't present a fully developed "doctrine of the Trinity." In fact, there really aren't any passages in the Bible that do that. This leads some people to claim that the Bible gives no support to a trinitarian concept of God, but this is to misunderstand the situation badly.
In a number of places in the New Testament we find statements about God or God's activity that use "Father, Son, Spirit" or "God, Christ, Spirit" or similar language. (In Saint Paul's letters "God" sometimes means what later theology would call "God the Father.") Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:13 are the most obvious of these, but we can also note (without being exhaustive) Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 4:4-5, 1 Peter 1:2, Jude 20-21, and Revelation 1:4-5. And among these passages are the Second Lesson and the Gospel for this Sunday. As later Christians reflected on these texts, on the ways in which Christ is spoken of in the New Testament, and on their experience of God, they found that some kind of trinitarian doctrine was needed in order to make sense of things.
In earlier chapters of Romans, Paul has spoken of the free justification of sinners through Christ. Now in chapter 5 he begins to talk about the consequences of justification. We have peace with God, he says, though our Lord Jesus Christ, and our hope will not be disappointed because the love of God has been given to us by the Holy Spirit. God, Christ, and Spirit are not spoken of here as identical and interchangeable units, for some priority seems to be given to "God," and the role of each is different. But the action of bringing people into the right relation (and thus peace) with God and ensuring hope is the result of the cooperation of the three.
"Cooperation" literally means, of course, "working together," and that is just what most of the trinitarian language in the New Testament is about. It is not so much about the inner life or being of God as about God's actions in the world. "The external works of the Trinity are undivided" is an old theological formula. Father, Son, and Spirit don't all do the same thing: The Father and the Spirit weren't crucified. But all three of them cooperate in everything that God does in the world.
The Gospel reading from Jesus' farewell discourse in John (16:12-15) comes at this in a somewhat different way. Everything that the Father has is Christ's, in the future the disciples will be guided into all truth by the Spirit, who will take what Christ has, that in turn Christ receives from the Father, and declare it to them. Though their roles are again not identical, we aren't to think of these three as independent agents. The intimate relation that Jesus has with the Father is shown by his very use of the term Father, and a few verses before this Jesus has said that the Spirit he will send comes from the Father (15:26).
(The temporal "sending" of the Spirit is to be distinguished, at least logically, from the eternal "procession" of the Spirit -- from the Father, as the Eastern Orthodox have always held, or from the Father and the Son, as in the Western theological tradition. This unfortunate controversy about filioque ["and the Son"] in the Western version of the Nicene Creed probably shouldn't be gotten into in a sermon but in an age in which ecumenical relations are important it wouldn't hurt for people to be aware of it.)
The idea of the Trinity clearly has important implications for the ways in which we think about God. But it also has profound consequences for the ways in which we think of ourselves, and about the whole human race, if we take seriously the language of Genesis 1 about humanity being created in the image and likeness of God. For if we put these ideas together, they mean that God intended us in creation to be the image of the Holy Trinity.
There are two ways we can think about that. The first is to say that each person in some ways bears trinitarian marks. In his treatise "On the Holy Trinity," Augustine suggested that such triads in the human being as memory, understanding, and will could be thought of as "vestiges of the Trinity." This type of psychological modeling of the Trinity has been influential in Western Christianity and fits in well with an individualistic emphasis in religion.
But without rejecting such interpretations entirely, we need to realize that they don't give the full picture that we find in Genesis 1:26-28:
"So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."
(Genesis 1:27; my emphasis added)
While the second line suggests that each person is the image of God, the first and third lines indicate that humankind as a whole is to bear this image.1
This does not describe just a static quality of humanity but of a task to which humanity is called -- to have dominion over the earth. This should be understood as a call to care for creation, not simply to exploit it for our benefit. Humanity is commissioned as God's representative to work together for the welfare of all people and for the good of the whole world, human and nonhuman. Striving for justice and peace among nations and between individuals and working to defend the natural environment are both parts of the human job description.
Thus one approach to a Trinity sermon this year would be to emphasize that faith in the Trinity is to issue in our cooperative efforts for the good of the world. That should take place on all scales. June is a popular month for weddings, and it wouldn't hurt to point out the need for husband and wife to work together to make marriage succeed: The illusion that "being in love" is sufficient for a lasting marriage certainly needs to be dispelled. Cooperation among members of a congregation or between people in a city may call for attention in some settings. And while few of us will be preaching to the President or Secretary of State, the need for international cooperation is so much in the news that connections could easily be made with our theme.
June 6 is also the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. As an illustration, one might point out that, without denying individual acts of heroism, the outcome of World War II required a great deal of cooperation and not just Rambo-like individualism. (Some may be uneasy about the idea of using military imagery here, but before criticizing it please reflect on the fact that Hitler's "final solution" would have been final, and Europe might still be under Nazi rule, without the grim work of Soviet, British, American, and other Allied forces.)
Something more is being called for here than, "Can't we all just get along?" We can get along much of the time if we just ignore one another. The phrase on a young child's report card, "Works and plays well with other children," comes closer to what we want. Admittedly, for kindergarten children, that phrase may just mean that the child can color at the same table with other children without interfering with them. But that's a start toward actually working together in a common task. We need to go beyond that, to be able to initiate cooperation and carry it out.
Another illustration is that of a complicated dance requiring a great deal of coordination between the dancers. The Greek word perichoresis, literally "a coming around to the same place" or a "revolution," has been used to describe the mutual presence of each trinitarian person in the others (as in John 14:10). This may suggest the image of the dance. (But perichoresis itself does not literally mean, as has sometimes been said, a circular dance. The verb meaning "to go round" is similar to, but not the same as the one meaning "to dance round.")
The approach that I suggest here might work better if the First Lesson for the day were the first Genesis creation story -- which will be the case for Trinity Sunday next year. Of course this doesn't mean that the preacher isn't allowed to refer to Genesis this year! On the other hand, the Old Testament reading this year, Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31, offers its own possibilities, some of which might connect with the cooperation theme.
The first part of this reading, verses 1-4, describe Lady Wisdom (for that is how Wisdom is usually pictured in the Old Testament) calling out to people to follow the path of wisdom. (Unfortunately this has been cut short in the lectionary.) The second part, verses 22-31, then speaks of Wisdom's presence with the LORD before and during the creation of the world. In the Christological controversies of the fourth century it was generally agreed that Wisdom here referred to Christ -- though whether before or after the Incarnation was in dispute. Recent decades have seen a resurgence of interest in wisdom Christologies, particularly among feminist theologians.2
In verses 29 and 30 in the NRSV, Wisdom says that, when God marked out the foundations of the earth, "then I was beside him like a master worker." This image of Wisdom as a worker together with YHWH of course fits in with our theme. Unfortunately NRSV has the discouraging textual note, "Meaning of Heb uncertain." There occurs here a rare Hebrew word 'amon, which might mean "master workman" but could also be "confidante," "coordinator," or "little child." Wisdom is pictured either as God's coworker or "as a child playing in its father's workshop."3 "Master worker" is fine if one isn't dogmatic about it, and "a child playing in its father's workshop" is a delightful image in its own way.
But the significance of Wisdom is not just cosmological. In the wisdom literature of Israel wisdom has a much broader sense, including practical understanding of life and -- significantly for the news with which I began -- politics. "By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just," Wisdom says in one of the verses (15) that the lectionary omits. The leaders of nations need to seek for wisdom and not just political cunning.
This points up the fact that the kind of cooperation we are speaking of should extend beyond the bounds of the Christian community. For Christians, the model of the church as the body of Christ brings out the need for cooperation. The idea that humanity is to image the Trinity extends that to the whole human race -- which is, indeed, to be infiltrated and transformed by the gospel.
One thing that is lacking in the lectionary texts for Trinity this year is any clear indication that the Christian idea of the Trinity arises from the church's basic faith in Jesus. How is it possible to say the kinds of things that the New Testament does say about a man who had recently died on a cross -- that he "was in the form of God" (Philippians 2:5) or that he is the one "through whom are all things and through whom we exist" -- while also recognizing that Jesus himself had looked to the one God of Israel as his Father?
In trying to make sense of the relationships between Christ, his Father, and their Spirit while maintaining belief in the unity of God, it's essential to remember that we are not privy to all the secrets of the divine life. The fourth-century bishop who said, "I know God as well as he knows himself," was a heretic! What we know about God is only what God reveals about God's own self, and our knowledge of God has to be inferred from what God does in the world, most fundamentally in the Christ event. What God reveals really is indicative of the character of God (e.g., the kind of love displayed by Jesus points to the fact that God in God's own self is love) but that doesn't mean that we know God exhaustively.
Thus the Trinity is finally a mystery -- but that's no excuse for muddled theology. Our doctrines of the Trinity, our human attempts to understand God on the basis of God's revelation, shouldn't be mysterious even if they (like the theories of modern physics) aren't "common sense."
The attempts of various theologians to understand the Trinity are important. But it's more basic -- and more important for the average Christian to know -- to realize that thought about the Trinity that can be regarded as orthodox should observe the proper boundaries. On one side it's necessary to avoid the idea that there are three Gods. On the other the notion that there is one God who simply does three different things (e.g., create, redeem, and sanctify) should be eschewed. One needs to stay on the road -- which is, however, a road with some breadth.
For a long time, Western theology began with the idea of the unity of God and then tried to understand how that one God could be three. This has had the result in modern times of making the idea of the Trinity seem like a matter of secondary importance or just as an unnecessary complication. (Schleiermacher relegated it to the last section of The Christian Faith.) Over the past sixty years the work of a number of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox theologians, men and women, has affected a recovery of the fundamental character of trinitarian thought. In particular, this has opened up the possibility of social or communitarian models of the Trinity that I've emphasized here.
Ted Peters' God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in the Divine Life (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1993) is an excellent introduction to modern trinitarian theologies, with background material, reference to and analysis of the work of various theologians, and discussion of connections with modern scientific ideas about the world.
John Zizioulas, Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1985) is a modern Orthodox treatment of related issues. Leonard Hodgson, The Doctrine of the Trinity (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1944), Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Life (HarperSanFrancisco, 1973) and Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom (Harper & Row, 1981) are also helpful.
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Notes
1. I have followed the NRSV margin in the second line, which represents accurately the Hebrew singular: Hebrew doesn't have an inclusive third person singular pronominal suffix. This is also true for the third person plural and the Hebrew plural in the third line -- "them" -- is also masculine, but "male and female" makes the meaning clear.
It also ought to emphasized here that interpreting these verses of Genesis as referring to a plural humanity does not depend on the popular but incorrect belief that the plural character of the Hebrew 'Elohim or of "Let us make ..." are indicative of the Trinity. Understanding these verses in a trinitarian sense is a result of reading them in the light of the New Testament.
2. E.g., Denis Edwards, Jesus the Wisdom of God: An Ecological Theology (Orbis, 1995) and Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Jesus: Miriam's Child, Sophia's Prophet (New York: Continuum, 1994).
3. G. Fohrer, "Sophia," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament; trans. G. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), p. 491.
Team Comments
Carter Shelley responds: George, I applaud your suggestion that preachers explore the community aspects of the Trinity and Christianity this Sunday. You offer a number of excellent and relevant examples that make it possible to affirm that which is best in humanity, our God-given capacity to meet, speak, and engage with one another in a positive, creative, and loving way. In June 2004, when much feels broken and out-of-control, it's important for us to hear and believe that we have within us the capacity for friendship, fellowship, peacemaking, and community because our Creator made us as relational beings: lovers, parents, friends, work colleagues, neighbors, citizens, Christians. As Christians we are called to be in relationship with both our Lord and our neighbor. Moreover, those relationships are based upon justice and righteousness, which need the fire of the Holy Spirit the love of Jesus Christ and the will of God the Father to keep us on course and faithful.
One of the strongest arguments for communal Christianity, community in dealing with hard problems (schools, towns, cities, nations) is the divine inter-related model placed before us in our Triune God. Our knowledge of God comes from three sources: an innate human awareness that there seems to be something, someone beyond ourselves; the Word of God revealed in scripture, and the life and love of Christ our Redeemer and Mediator. Our understanding of God recognizes three distinct and holy functions of God. Our own experience demonstrates that two, three, or forty heads are often far better than one. The very existence of this web site is a case in point. My own sermon preparation and composition is greatly enhanced by the collaborative work that occurs in preparing The Immediate Word. There are so many different ways of interpreting biblical texts, different ideas about what current events merit attention, and so many wonderful illustrations and worship resources provided here that I never could create on my own on a weekly basis. Moreover, the quality of work produced by my colleagues challenges me to work harder to produce good material myself.
Having occasionally honored a couple's desire to have their child baptized in the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, I appreciate your recognition of the terms "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" being descriptive rather than exclusive in their identification of God. Both scripture and reformers such as Luther and Calvin make it clear that our limited human language can never capture or contain all that God is. Thus, feminist biblical scholars, liturgists, theologians, and laity have done our church a great service in urging us to extend the language we use to describe our God who is never one without also being three. One analogy I've heard that at first seems to work is to describe a woman as one person who is simultaneously mother, wife, and employee. Yet that person cannot be divided into an incarnate person, a spirit, and a god in the way the Nicene Creed states that God has become distinct through the working of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The triangle as a symbol remains an effective image, because each side of a triangle can be removed and retains its particular properties. Putting the three sides of the triangle back together does not diminish those properties but puts them into dialogue and mutual support with the other two sides/aspects of God.
I can almost hear the following conversation occurring within the Godhead:
"Don't worry Dad, I won't let you down. I'll show them how to live and love, then I'll show them how to die and live again."
"Don't worry you Two, I know how hard a nut to crack these humans are. After all, I was there with Jephthath and he still made that foolish vow. I was there when they were weeping and wailing over Christ's departure. I'm there every time they let their guard down at a weekend retreat, actually stop to ask the hard questions, and are still enough to hear my answer. I'm persistent and ever present to exploit that divine spark within whenever they let go of their own fears and control long enough to let me in."
"Never fear my Dear Ones, I've been at this for centuries, millennia, in fact. I know what you're up against. Frankly, if it hadn't been for the companionship and fellowship and unity of purpose, space, time, and infinity that we share and reveal, well there'd be no mortals left with the capacity to fear us, know us, worship us, love us, and depend upon us. It's because they need us, all of us, that I/We must continue to reach out to them with love and hope and a vision they cannot sustain alone on their own."
In Christianity we recognize our total dependence upon God, because we cannot do for ourselves what God in Christ does for us. Our total dependence upon God makes us human enough to recognize our dependence on others as well.
"Poem for Trinity Sunday"
by George Herbert, seventeenth-century metaphysical poet and English clergyman
He that is one,
Is none.
Two reacheth thee
In some degree.
Nature and Grace
With Glory may attain thy Face.
Steele & a flint strike fire,
Witt & desire
Never to thee aspire,
Except life catch & hold those fast.
That which beleefe
Did not confess in the first Theefe
His fall can tell,
From Heaven, through Earth, to Hell,
Lett two of those alone
To Them that fall,
Who God & Saints and Angels loose at last,
He that has one,
Has all.
Roger Lovette responds: George, another dimension of the Spirit, which is a spin-off of Pentecost, is John 16, where the author talks about the Spirit of Truth. In a world where words don't always mean what they think they do -- and we wonder which of these political ads are telling the truth -- if any -- we seem to be in a crisis of truth. John says the Spirit of truth (1) guides us; (2) speaks whatever the Spirit hears (like it or not); (3) declares the things to come; and (4) glorifies Jesus.
Frederick Buechner asserts that the central task of the preacher is to tell the truth.
George Cladis has a fine book on leadership, Leading the Team-Based Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999). In his first chapter he talks about "Learning the Circle Dance of God." On pages 4ff. he mentions John of Damascus, a Greek theologian of the seventh century, who describes the relationship of the persons of God (Trinity) as perichoresis. The author quotes this John as saying that a perichoretic image of the Trinity is that of the three persons of God in a circle that implies intimacy, equality, unity yet distinction, and love.
Shirley Guthrie says that this image of God is a "lovely picture" that portrays the persons of the Trinity in a kind of "choreography" similar to a ballet. In this circle dance of God is a sense of joy, freedom, song, intimacy, and harmony. He says (in Cladis' book), "The oneness of God is not the oneness of a distinct, self-contained individual; it is the unity of a community of persons who love each other and live together in harmony."
Cladis' book talks about how members of the church staff should take their cue from this icon instead of hierarchical triangle. The icon stresses a circle as the way we should relate to one another, an interesting concept for a book on church leadership.
Dorothy Sayers in The Zeal of Thy House (p. 339) says, "For every work of creation is threefold, and earthly trinity to match the heavenly. First: there is the Creative idea; passionless, timeless, beholding the whole work complete at once, the end in the beginning; and this is the image of the Father. Second: there is the Creative Energy, begotten of that Idea, working in time from the beginning to the end, with sweat and passion, being incarnate in the bonds of matter; and this is the image of the Word. Third: there is the Creative Power, the meaning of the work and its response in the lively soul; and this is the image of the indwelling Spirit."
Worship Resources
by Julie Strope
CALL TO WORSHIP (based on Proverbs 8)
Leader: A day for rest! In the midst of global chaos, Wisdom is calling out. To every nation and tribe, she is coaxing: grow up; don't bicker and retaliate like feisty playground children.
People: Wisdom invites us to be wise -- it's better than having a large bank account! To be wise means we think and act in ways that honor the Holy and affirm the best in humankind.
L: Wisdom attended creation when God was at work making the universe.
P: Wisdom was like a midwife, joyful in the creative process and happy with the results of holy imagination.
L: A day of rest and a day when we experience God as One -- Creator, Lover, and Sustainer! Today we are eager for God's wisdom to make peace on earth.
P: Yes! We hear wisdom calling to us from crossroads and gates; we are learning to listen; we are learning to discern divine activity in and around us.
L: Let it be so.
PRAYER OF ADORATION (Based on Romans 5:1-5)
God of Wind and Fire:
We've experienced your love and grace.
We've received peace deep within our beings.
We marvel at the mystery of hope while our world is full of despair.
Thank you for your dependable presence among us and through all the universe.
During this hour, we give you our undivided attention as we sing and pray, listen and speak.
Amen.
OPENING HYMN
"O God the Creator." TPH 273. Tune: Kastaak
CONFESSION (John 16:12-15)
Lover of our Souls:
Everyone and everything clamors for our attention!
We long to quiet the noise and hear your clear voice.
We yearn for the Spirit's unmistakable presence.
From your wholeness, make us whole;
Reveal truth for our daily living;
Manifest love and mercy through us;
Create wisdom and harmony with the skills assembled in this place.
Set us free from the past and empower us for today and tomorrow. Amen.
WORD OF GRACE AND ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
The good news for us today is that God hears our prayers and gives us new life in Christ. Receive this good news and be at peace with yourself and your neighbor. Amen.
CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE
(note the inclusive language changes in TPH 223; stanza 3 from Psalm 103)
Far as east from west is distant,
God has put away our sin;
Like the pity of a parent
Has our God's compassion been.
MOMENT WITH CHILDREN ideas
One God: God has many names, as we describe one another or use nicknames.
One God: eggs have several colors, three parts, and are used for many purposes
HYMN AFTER THE SERMON
"Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove." Tune: St Agnes.
AN AFFIRMATION
Many names we call God:
Father, son, mother, spirit, Holy One!
God of the Mountain, God of the Sparrow, God of you and me!
Christ, Spirit, Lover, Breath -- gifts to Creation and to you and me!
One God -- Spirit, Parent, Christ --
Invites us to live boldly, experiencing Divine affirmation;
Challenges us to use inner wisdom making the outer world a safer, hospitable place;
Lives through us making peace in our neighborhoods;
naming arrogance and offering gracefulness;
modeling options to replace grandiosity, greed, and retaliation.
We seek to comprehend God whose ways are beyond our understanding. In spite of our fears and troubles, we live toward peace that supports and empowers us to manifest God's compassion. Amen!
INTERCESSORY PRAYER
Holy One,
we have gathered in this place again, to enjoy you and one another. Thank you for your Word and your love. Thank you for the wholeness you demonstrate for us and offer us: Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Creating God,
We imagine that you grieve as you look at Creation and see how it is being mutilated. Like men and women before us, we pray for peace in our homes, in our country, and in all the world. We hold before you and one another the reality of war and it's destruction.
Grant a way out of the chaos in Iraq. Sustain the families whose loss is great. Bring together the world community to wage peace among Jews, Christians, and Moslems, in Israel, Iraq, and America.
Healing God,
We name before you those who seek your touch: (pause for people to say names aloud or silently)
Grant them fresh awareness of your blessing. For all of us as we move from the cradle to the grave, keep us in your care, faithful and thankful all our days.
Living God,
For the enthusiasm of Spirit, we are grateful.
Thank you for Jesus the Christ who walked this human pathway before us. Make new for us the ancient words of Jesus:
Our Father....
OFFERTORY INVITATION
We have so much! Let us share who we are and what we have.
DOXOLOGY Tune: Nicea.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, Blessed Trinity!
OFFERING PRAYER
Thank you for inviting us to be co-creators with you, One God, friend of all creatures. Use us and our resources here and wherever they are needed. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN Tune: Geneva. TPH 136.
"Sovereign Lord Of All Creation."
BENEDICTION/CHARGE
Our service here is ended;
Go from this place aware of God guiding you day by day;
Be aware of Christ serving others through you;
Be enthused with Holy Spirit to give hope to all you meet.
Amen.
Children's Sermon
by Wesley T. Runk
Text: v. 13 -- When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (John 16:12-15)
Object: flash light, set of directions for assembly of toy, a guide dog
Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever been out at night when there is no moon or streetlight to help you see in the dark? (let them answer) How would you like to walk in the woods when it is dark? (let them answer) You might walk into a tree or the branch of a tree or stumble into some sticker bushes. Walking in the woods when it is dark is not a good thing to do. But if you had a big flashlight like the one I am holding in my hand, everything should be pretty good. The light would guide you very safely.
Have you or your dad ever tried to put together a toy without directions? (let them answer) It is pretty hard to do, isn't it? (let them answer) But if you follow the directions clearly it is pretty easy to put it together and it will last a long time without breaking. The directions are your guide.
I guess the best guide that I know is a guide dog for blind people. A guide dog is not only a great friend but also very careful to guide the blind person across streets, around holes in the sidewalk, and up and down steps. A blind person can completely trust the guide dog.
The Bible talks about another kind of guide. It is a spiritual guide and this guide is a guide for the truth. Sometimes we are not sure about the truth. One person says this and another person says that and we don't know whom to believe. But Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will only ever guide us into truth. The reason is that the Spirit is not going to make something up but instead the Spirit will only repeat what God has shared with him.
Let's imagine that we have a very difficult decision to make about telling the truth. We don't always want to tell the truth because we are afraid it will get us into trouble. We don't think it was our fault anyway. Lots of people did the same thing that we did and they are not going to tell the truth to their parents or the teacher. Why should we tell the truth and be the only one to get into trouble? Sounds like a good time to talk it over with Jesus. Some people call this prayer but it can be just your own conversation with Jesus. You ask Jesus the same questions that you have asked yourself. ''Jesus,'' you say, ''Why do I have to be the only one to tell the truth? Mom and Dad may never find out and I didn't mean to hurt anyone; it just happened. No one else is going to tell the teacher that they did it too, so why must I tell the teacher?'' Jesus is a very good listener and he promises us an answer. As a matter of fact Jesus says that he will send an answer with the Spirit.
While you are waiting for your answer, you might think about how you would feel if people did not tell you the truth. When the answer comes from the Spirit it will guide you to the truth just like the flashlight would guide you on a dark night, or the directions would assist you in putting together a toy. Imagine how much a person has to trust their guide dog to give them the true way to safety. So it is with the Spirit, if you ask God for guidance he will only guide you in the truth. But it is the best way, the only way, and the right way. Follow the Spirit and you will know the truth. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, June 6, 2004, issue.
Copyright 2004 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
