Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Sermon 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 June 11, 2017 Trinity Sunday

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

I’ve been told more than once not to try to explain things I don’t understand. So, I promise you I will not bother letting you know how electric circuits work. I failed to figure it out. But, I do know when I flip the switch the lights come on. I do not fully understand the mechanism but I fully enjoy the benefits of light and I trust it’s ability and value.

Today is Trinity Sunday.

It is an important day in our church calendar. It is the day we remember that we worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Whenever we say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we call that the Trinitarian formula.

It sounds like a magic potion. But, it’s not.

It is something the early church struggled with.

People lost their lives over the efforts made to bring understanding to this strange relationship that Jesus tells us about in his prayer in John 17:22 “The glory that you have given me, I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one. 23 I in them, and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Unity is the key of this prayer Jesus prays to the Father.

And unity is what we discover in the benedictions offered by Paul to the recipients of his letters.

And perhaps that is all we need to know about the Trinity.

We are grateful to the early church parents for their hard work of discerning the faith doctrines for us.

Even if they leave all of us future generations scratching our heads and saying: 

      “Thanks a lot. I’m glad you figured it out.”

We are taught there is One God.

We are taught-The unity of this One God is an absolute.

We are taught-The Scripture describes this One God as three persons and their roles for our salvation. Each has a distinctive role with creation.

We are taught-The whole church affirms these roles.

And so, we leave it at that.

On this Sunday, I find the final words of Paul in this last letter to the Corinthians to be challenging as well as comforting as well as confirming/affirming.

I find this set of final verses to be filled with grace.

In this second letter to the Corinthians, Paul sets the record straight for these church people who have manipulated and maligned him. He has provided for them and offered all of himself to them and they have challenged every ounce of his being. This second letter to the Corinthians is a letter that is full of defense. Paul has had to prove who he was and to prove his position to them in order to get them to listen to him, let alone follow his leadership. It was a difficult time for these church people to learn to live as a church and to learn to be united in Christ as his body. They had been through the tough times and were not doing so well in the good times.

The most difficult time for folks, congregations, communities, and countries, is following a crisis. During the crisis, people pull together and work and make things happen. But, holding it together following the crisis is more challenging than ever.

We saw that in the town where we did tornado clean up. Once the major companies had done their work, the town was left to sort through the rubble and rebuild. It was here that confusion and discord prevailed. Even though the churches did their best to hold it together, it (like so many other places) struggled as the unity of Christ became more and more fractured.(1) The complaints became many and the demands were beyond measure. That community was not alone for there are other examples such as life after apartheid in South Africa, after WWII in Europe; and after the Civil War in the United States.

No matter what, God draws all people together through the power of grace. Whether we want to admit it or not, our lives are dependent on grace. Paul knew that as he opened and closed all his letters with words full of God’s grace.

 

Cluny

These few verses from Paul’s farewell to the Corinthians are a powerful benediction for all those who hear and read these words. He offers his words not as a conclusion that we here at the end of church as we think, ‘whew, it’s finally over.’ (2)

But, he offers them a charge-something they must take with them and seek to do as the body of Christ within the walls of their church and beyond the walls in their world.

1.     1.   Put things in order. 

       Presbyterians love this one. Order, decency, a framework of understanding, communicating, and commitment. And in the order of things there is always the grace of Jesus doling out forgiveness. Our faith life depends on our willingness to live in the order of grace-which as I tell those about to marry depend on the gift of God in Christ which is: commitment, communication, and forgiveness.(The three legged stool that cannot be stable without all three legs.)

                           The job of the church is to witness the grace of Christ to the world and it can only be                              done when her house is in order. “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved,                              you and your household.” Acts 16:31

2.      2. Agree with one another. 

      This was a tall order from Paul to a group who he had just been down in the mud getting them to hear him and to sort out their differences. He had to make some extraordinary commands with them just to get through a simple worship service-(1 Corinthians offers us our first glimpse at worship in the early church-and some of it was not very pretty). Paul had to help them understand that Communion was for everyone and no one had more prestige than another…and now to ask them to agree with one another…goodness.

-Yet, the charge to agree was (and is) very important for the church. The church had to learn to wrestle with the challenges they faced. To discuss. To disagree. To debate. To do all that was necessary to come to agreement in the Lord.

Any discussion that the church had or has starts with the agreement of who we worship and in whom we believe. Once agreement is made in that department then the unity of the Spirit finds a way to bring accord among the people.

3.     3.  Live in Peace. 

      Paul hopes to find the church seeking to live in the peace that is given to them through the love and peace of God who promises to be present with them. It is clear the presence of God with the church is the most important part of faith. When we are able to acknowledge the power of God present with us then it becomes more convincing to our minds that we are capable of the impossible-to like each other and love each other in the way of God’s love and grace.

4. 4.   Greet each other with a holy kiss. 

       This is not a comfortable exhortation for Americans. But, a holy kiss-a peck on the cheek is less invasive than a hug. It is the social manner of making sure everyone acknowledges the other. We are to be sincere in our manner of greeting.

Paul’s blessing offered is one you hear often. And it is the sending for this church as a reminder again of the unity of the God who loves us, sustains us and offers himself for us.

As Christ’s church, we are offered his grace and love at every turn.

May we receive his love.

May we commit ourselves to him.

May we say yes to grace.

May we be ever mindful wherever we go to live as witnesses of a loving God.

May we do all this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen. 

Resources: NIB Volume XI J. Paul Samply (1), (2).