Trinity Sunday

The existence of the universe raises the question, is there a Creator. If one says, "Yes," then the next question is who is this Creator?

The Christian doctrine of the Creator begins with the Jewish Bible and its two accounts of creation. In Genesis 1, God speaks into the formless void; each time He says, "let there be..." we read that "it was." Before His Sabbath rest, God concludes by making man and woman in His image and likeness. Genesis 2 reverses the order somewhat, beginning with the creation of man. God starts with clay/adamah and, in a clever pun, forms the adam/man. God breathes His ruah/breath/Spirit into the man's body and he becomes a nefesh/living soul. The Hebrew word (nephesh) also means: appetite, emotion, desire and passion. If humans are in the image of God, then living and desiring are possible insights into God.

The Gospel of John reframes Genesis 1, focusing on the noun Word, rather than the verb said. This is consistent with the Jewish prophets who describe their encounter as "The Word of the Lord came to me and said" (e.g. Zechariah 1:1), John sees that the Word of God is "with God" and the Word "is God" through Whom and for Whom all things were made. The Word becomes human flesh, so that we can become one with God in love through grace. In Jesus, God bridges the gap between Creator and creature. The Holy Spirit is frequently mentioned as God's own Spirit, the creative power of love at work within sinful humanity. There is one God, but Christians and Jews (cf., Jewish New Testament, p 544 "Divine Beings") recognize the mysterious plurality and multiplicity of God in our encounters and in the Scriptures. Christians use the term Trinity (Three in One, One in Three) to express the unfathomable mystery. If the word Trinity is not in the Bible, the Trinity is, over and over.

Trinity means that God is community, or, as the Elder John said, "God is love." Not just that God loves, but that God's ontological core, His very essence is Love. Loving relationship Father-Son-Spirit) is who God is, love pouring out of God is what creation and redemption are. Love is the primary cause of all things, love is the ultimate destiny of all things. Love.

We celebrate the Trinity, because God reveals Himself as One in Three. In Jesus, God shares His Triune heart with us and shows us what love truly is. Love creates. Love forgives. Love empties Himself into human flesh, for us. Love dies on a cross to save us. Trinity is not about me, though it includes me, Trinity is about us. This sacrificial love calls us together to trust, to obey, to change the world with our message about God's self gift in Jesus. Humanity is communal, so salvation is communal and salvation's goal, theosis (one with God), is communal...

One such example is human marriage. However, any human relationship would be similar. While obviously, marriage is a process where two individuals merge into one couple, a very different sort of thing than God's essence, one could say that the human need for such coupling is reflective of our being made in the image and likeness of God. Human love unites the male/female and the bond is productive as the couple live together in creative unity. The creativity, including reproduction, is the work of making the world a better place. Christian marriage is meant as self denial and self gift, it is a place where theosis is lived out. The purpose of marriage is to make us holy. The world asks, "what is in it for me?" but the truth of love is found in dying to self. As God does in creation and salvation, so must we all in our creative and salvific efforts to be His image and Likeness.

I cannot explain the Trinity, but I can say that it makes sense as the core truth of all reality. The mystery of Three Persons yet only one God helps me understand why I can only really be me when I love and care for others. We are created in the image of the Triune God. May we live accordingly.