MESSAGE: TRINITY SUNDAY 12 June 2022
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK – Drawn into relationship with the Triune God
We have journeyed with Jesus from Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and Easter as part of the Liturgical Calendar begins to draw to a close—God’s Story”. Now we are prepared for the second half of the year – the “Our Story” part which happens in Ordinary Time in the week’s after Pentecost. And that preparation is in the form of a gift – the Pentecost gift of God’s Spirit, God’s community and God’s call.
Perhaps the oldest mistake we make with the Pentecost event is to speak of it as the Spirit’s “coming” – as if God’s Spirit was absent from the world before this. Jesus gives us a clue to a different understanding, though, when he says that “the world cannot receive him because it isn’t looking for him…” Pentecost is essentially a breakthrough in our human capacity to apprehend and experience God’s activity which is (and always has been) active in all of creation (including us).
At Pentecost we learn to look for God’s Spirit – and the readings for today make it clear that God’s Spirit can be seen and found anywhere and everywhere we look. In receiving the new awareness of God’s Spirit we find that we all speak a common Spirit-enabled language – the language of God-imaged, Spirit-filled, humanity.
Once our eyes are opened to see God’s Spirit in all things (including those who are different from us, who are hostile toward us, and who are most repulsive to us), everything changes. We know ourselves (and all creatures) willingly share Christ’s suffering (as Paul says) to bring God’s creation into awareness of this unity and community in God’s Spirit.
May your eyes be opened and your heart be filled as you celebrate the ever-present Spirit of God this week, and as you receive the empowerment of God for the journey ahead.
The theme this week is clear – the nature of God as Triune. The very mystery of this doctrine – and of the texts that are wrapped around it this week – provide a wonderful array of options to explore in the Trinity playground!
There is the opportunity to acknowledge again the limitations of our language and thinking about God, and to embrace God’s glorious, infinite mystery.
There is the chance to recognise how God has chosen to reveal God’s self to humanity in flesh and Spirit, and how Jesus and the Spirit really do show us what God is like.
There is also the chance to recognise the work of all three Persons in the life of every woman and man.
There is also the opportunity to explore God’s nature as community, as Love, as relationship, and what this means for us.
Ultimately, though it is wise to bear in mind Richard Rohr’s words: “Trinity leads you into the world of mystery and humility where you can not understand, you can only experience.” And perhaps the heart of that experience is ‘mutuality’ – of God within God, and, miraculously, of God with humanity.
May you be inspired as you prepare, and transformed as you worship this week!
In Proverbs, Wisdom calls out like a wise woman, warning and encouraging us at the crossroads of life. In Psalm 8, the call is about the nature of creation, while in Romans 5, the Lord calls out to us about faith, grace, and salvation in Christ. In John 16, the Holy Spirit beckons us into the path of truth. Wisdom is spiritual enlightenment, and in each of these readings, we find that she is calling us to a deeper understanding of and relationship with God.