Back Together! Trinity Sunday

Genesis 1:1-2:4
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians  13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20

The world has changed quite a bit in three months: Corona virus, business failure and unemployment, protests, murders and riots. The great divide within our society threatens the fabric of every church. Who can you trust? Who tells the truth? What should we do?

We are told to stay six feet apart and wear masks, so we do, but we can worship together! It is the feast of the Holy Trinity: The One and Only God is Three Persons! The Three Divine Persons are One God! Each and every one of us is made in the image of the Triune God and so we were created for community. This is why we need to come together!

Each human is unique. We are all different, yet despite our diversity we share a common human nature. There is a great power at work in all the things which divide us. We separate into our various “tribes,” but the power of God is greater. God created us with one human nature in His image. So, if God is love, we, too, must become love.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians ends with some wonderful imperatives. The first word "farewell," chairete, also means "rejoice," (which I prefer). Joy is a function of hope and gratitude. Friends we must rejoice in all circumstances, even in dark days.

“Mend your ways,” Paul says next. This word first appears in the Gospels, where the apostles were mending their nets. This is deep symbolism. Christians must constantly mend our ways. We mend both our lives and the world. This mending is a healing work, a holy work; but mending requires patience and gentleness. God must dwell in our heart to mend us if we are to mend anything else.

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The next Greek word is 'mind,' to agree is to have one mind. The Holy Three God has one mind. We are many diverse believers sharing one mind. But be clear, our agreement is not the goal. Nazis and communists, racists and anarchists share a single mind, but they pursue evil. Even the shared mind of more benign groups like a sports team or a business are not what we need. We must have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is the one mind which we share. His mind is our unity.

Paul ends with the beautiful promise that “the God of Love and Peace will be with you.” We know that "God is love." The Trinity is a communion of love—the love of the Father, Son and Spirit which is poured into us. Human nature is love; we love God and we love others who are made in God's image. The reality is, the cost of love is always death, figuratively, and sometimes literally. If God suffers the incarnation and dies on the cross to redeem us, so, too, must we die in love to cooperate in the work of redemption and enter the Kingdom Peace of God.

Fear not friends. Trust God. Love God. Unite with God.