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). 

“Blessed Are You.”

Sermon Luke 6:20-31 November 6, 2013 All Saints Day service

“Blessed Are You.”

Blessed are you! Blessed are you!

As I walk down the aisle and say to each of you, “Blessed are you! When is the last time you’ve heard that said to you? Or that you’ve said it to someone?”

It is a powerful art and an incredible opportunity to offer someone the promise of God through a blessing.

We are all capable of blessing one another each day and perhaps several times a day if we get really excited. It’s an ancient tradition blessing those who come and go from the home. It’s an Old Testament tradition for a father to bless his children just before he passes from this life to the next.

On this day of celebration of All Saints. We think of those in our congregation and in our family who have died this past year. We lift them up and we remember the blessings they brought us.

We remember the holiness within them.

We remember the goodness of their nature and their gifts.

We rejoice in the remembrance of their lives and their witness.

And we whisper in our heart, “Blessed are you!”

For in our memory we can only draw the finest moments.

We can only recall the times that brought joy and the moments that stir our hearts with good thoughts.

And so the hard times and the difficult experiences melt away.

Yes, the one we have lost was a dear saint.

Perhaps a diamond in the rough, but in the promise of God, a saint.

Our churches’ story is filled with curmudgeons turned saints.

None of us is perfect.

But all of us are perfected in Christ.

And it is often their story that inspires us to continue to be the church for the next generation.

Not only does their story inspire us, but it also convicts us to go on and to do and to live out the gospel message.

We receive a message of hope when we think about the hard work done by those who passed away this year.

And thinking of them brings us to the question we face as we read and listen to these from Jesus-as we hear about the blessed and the woes. What is the kind of living that these beatitudes are saying we should have?

Luke’s beatitudes are described as the sermon on the plain and we find the beatitudes in Matthew as well and there they are known as the Sermon on the Mount. Luke, being a physician and a cut to the chase kind of guy, is much more straight forward than Matthew as he shares the words of Jesus for us. A lot more literal and less ‘spiritualizing’ one might say. He doesn’t beat around the bush about what way of life will be blessed and the kind of life that will be a life of woe.

Jesus makes it clear that the poor, the hungry, the outcast, the sad, and the persecuted are rather special to God. God throughout the Old Testament has been proclaiming the freedom of captives and the blind receiving sight and the lame walking.

So, as we hear these proclamations again from Jesus what does it propel in us?

It is to remember those who God loves and for us to love them too.

The kingdom already belongs to those Jesus has just told us about.

And so we wonder where do we fit in the kingdom?

We fit in the kingdom through the way we live our lives.

The foundation for holy living is to have the blessed relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

Holy living begins when we open ourselves up to the opportunities to be led by God to care for those God has placed in our path. We are freed from selfishness and greed when we are willing to put ourselves at risk for the sake of another.

My son in law had a traumatic experience on his way to work this past week. As he was crossing the prairie swamp in Florida a car flew past him at a very high speed. The speed there is 65 and he is one who obeys the speed and even drives under the speed. So he was not surprised for a car to overtake him. The next thing, however, he saw was the car flipping over into the swamp and quickly engulfed in the water.

He pulled over.

Before he could think clearly he was calling 911 and diving into alligator infested waters to try to save this individual from his submerged vehicle. Officers and rescue crew were on the scene in minutes, however despite their efforts they were not able to save this person.

I share this with you this morning because I’m sure that all of us would also without hesitation jump into deep waters to seek to save a life.

The beatitudes are a foundation of faith and life in which we are to seek to live without hesitation.

We are to be willing to dive in to care for the poor and the downtrodden without judgment. Judgment is God’s job. If we’ve been bamboozled, or played, God will take care of it. But, we can know we’ve done the right thing.

We find all kinds of excuses not to live the foundational living that Jesus calls us to live.

We are busy. We really are busy-too busy. We are taking care of our own bills before we get in debt caring for someone else. We have a few dreams to fulfill before we can offer our time to help others.

Jesus gets it. Jesus gets us. Jesus gets it-he really does!

And so he turns out the woes to remind us of the risks of not living in relationship with God. If you are laughing and making fun of others now-you best look out-because you are the ones who will be suffering next.

These are some pretty harsh words coming from Jesus! Jesus is not meek and mild here-he’s telling it like it is!  

He doesn’t stop there either.

He goes on to put in some tougher rules to live by.

“Love your enemies,” he says!

“Pray for those who abuse you,” he says! Jesus should know better than to ask those who’ve been abused to pray for their abusers-but he does! How can this be possible? These prayers are possible when we are absolutely secure in the love of God for us-because nothing can separate us from God’s love.

And when we live in that security-then even the powerful can’t hurt us and we have the strength to pray for them.

Jesus finally finishes his talk, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

No matter what the risk you face-care for others with the kindness and love you expect to receive.

Which brings us back to the powerful gift of blessing others.

Parents can offer their children as they leave home each day, a blessing to send them off with God alongside.

Coworkers, neighbors, care givers, attendants, service workers, all can be recipients of blessings as we offer God’s peace to them.

You will be amazed at how much strength and nourishment comes to you as you offer and as you receive a blessing.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Blessed are you!

Amen.

Resources: Feasting on the Word; NIB