Holy Trinity Sermon - 2013

Sermon – May 26th, 2013 Holy Trinity Sunday @ Bethany Lutheran Church

What You Believe Matters

Preacher: Pastor Paul Cannon

Good morning Bethany Lutheran Church! Today is Holy Trinity Sunday! Yes! I’m excited! Or in the minds of people going to churches all across the country, today might be more appropriately called – What-the-heck-is-the-pastor-talking-about? Sunday!

Because even as a seminary graduate, a pastor at this church, and somebody who spends a fair amount of time thinking about these things, I have to tell you that I’m really no closer to understanding the Trinity than anybody here. I even had to go to YouTube this week to figure out more about the Trinity – which makes me wonder why I racked up so much student debt…but I digress. And I’d love to play the clip for you, but it turns out that our video system is as hard to figure out as the Trinity itself. **Note to any readers - This video contains content that isn't suitable for young children.

So here’s the truth of the matter – nobody understands what it means to have a Trinitarian God. There are three persons of the Trinity, but there’s really only one God. All three persons of the trinity are distinct, yet you can’t really separate them. In seminary they had to make up words just to describe what the Trinity is supposedly like. Have you ever heard the word “Perichoresis” before? No? Be glad.

In order to think about the Trinity, you have to walk this proverbial tight rope where one wrong word here or there makes you a Lutheran heretic! To prove my point, I’m going to put you all on the spot here a little bit. I am going to give you three analogies for the trinity – and I’m going to make you pick the analogy that you think is not heretical. Okay?

#1: The Trinity is like the Sun (S-U-N) because you have the actually star (the sun), which gives off heat and light that come from the star.
 #2: The Trinity is like ice, water and vapor because it has three different forms even though it is all made up of the same substance.
#3: The Trinity is like a three leaf clover because there are three different aspects that make up one God.

 So let’s vote. If you think the Trinity is like the Sun (S-U-N) raise your hand. If you think the Trinity is like ice, water and vapor, raise your hand. If you think the Trinity is like a three leaf clover, raise your hand.

Are you ready for the answer? You are all heretics. Congratulations! And before you get offended, please remember that Martin Luther himself was a heretic so us Lutherans come from a long, proud line of religious rebels.

If you are anything like me though, you’re probably wondering if any of this matters. Just think of everything that’s gone on in the last week – we had the tornadoes in Oklahoma; there was the terrorist attack in London. There is a war going on in Syria. People are dying of preventable diseases like malaria in Africa. And what difference could a Trinitarian theology possibly make to you all in your daily lives? What difference could it make in the lives of these baptizees here today? Does it make any difference at all?

I’m here today to say “Yes,” I think it does matter. And I'll tell you why I think it's important, but first I want to share a story with you all.

I went down to Nashville two weeks ago to go to a nerdy pastor convention called the “Festival of Homiletics.” For those of you who don’t know, the festival is a preaching convention where pastors like myself go to listen to some of the best preachers and thinkers in the country. And one of the speakers was this little unassuming 80 year old southern woman named Phyllis Tickle.

 During this talk, shee told a story that really stuck with me about a lecture that she gave a number of years ago about whether or not Mary, the mother of Jesus, was really a virgin. After the lecture she somehow wound up in the kitchen of that church and she noticed a young boy staring at her. And so she went up to this youth and said, “Excuse me young man, can I help you?” And the boy kind of sheepishly looked at her and said, “I think that the story about the virgin Mary is so absolutely beautiful that it has to be true – whether it happened or not.”

Those words were ringing in my head this week. The story is so absolutely beautiful – that it has to be True. And that’s a capital “T” truth. It’s a truth that’s bigger than cold, hard facts and figures. It’s truth bigger than doctrine. It’s truth that goes down to the roots of who we are and who God is.

It’s the truth that Jesus says to his followers in our gospel today when he says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” Jesus doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit is going to come and answer every question we have, but that through the Spirit we will know the capital “T” truth about our God.

And that’s exactly how I’ve come to think of the Trinity, because brothers and sisters in Christ, I cannot – for the life of me – explain to you exactly what the Trinity is or how it operates, or how it makes sense without somehow committing a heresy by mistake. But there is something so beautiful about our Trinitarian God – there is something so awe inspiring about a god that loves so deeply that oneness wasn’t enough – that I think somehow it has to be capital “T” true.

Can I get an Amen?

Well this all sounds really nice, but again I ask,  "How does it matter in the face of tornados and terrorism and war?" and "What does this mean for the families that are about to baptize their little babies?"

I always tell my confirmation kids this: what you believe matters. More specifically, what you believe about God matters.

So if the god you believe in is a judgmental, wrathful God, - why you might become a little judgmental and wrathful yourself. And if the god you believe in is a clock maker that wound up time at the beginning of everything and watches indifferently as events unfold, then you might become a little bit indifferent yourself.

What you believe matters.

And I believe that the Trinity matters because I think that if you knew the depth and beauty of God’s love, in the way that we see each person of the Trinity loving, that you couldn’t help but rush to the side of the tornado victims in Oklahoma.

 If you started to dig into the Bible and realized how passionate each person of the Trinity cares for the entirety of creation – you might be able to pray not just for the victim in London’s recent terror attack, but for the perpetrators as well.

I believe that it matters today for the families who are going to baptize their little ones – not in the sense that they need to memorize Trinitarian doctrines and raise their kids to conform to doctrine. It matters because if they only knew the truth – if they only knew the capital “T” truth – that knowing and being in a relationship with this Trinitarian God brings overflowing life, I believe these families couldn’t help but usher their children into a life of faith.

And to the congregation of Bethany Lutheran, I believe that it matters for you too, because if you could encounter the beautiful, self-giving, agape love of the Trinity, that you too would be willing to give more and more of your time and energy to make sure that Mason, Deangelo, Emily and Jake (our baptizees) were raised in the faith.

 Brothers and sisters in Christ, what you believe matters – not in the sense that you need to be in line with church teaching – but in the sense that your conception of God will form who you are and what you do in this life.

And fortunately, our Trinitarian God, is a God of love. Our Trinitarian God is a God of passion and conviction. Our Trinitarian God is a God that gives everything for us.

Thanks be to God. Amen.