Trinity Sunday

Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you." John 16:12-15

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, where we celebrate the mystery and the reality of God as one in three, God who is demonstrated and realized through three distinct persons who are knit together yet never consumed or lost to the others. Preachers often struggle to find words for the mystery. Many ignore it entirely or excuse themselves by diverting attention elsewhere. They often use this day to celebrate graduations and the like. But we are invited into the mystery, into the divine related unknowing and it is a privilege to attempt to find ourselves within that holy mystery.

Jesus tells his disciples that there is much more to share with them but it is not the time. They have been through so much and are not strong enough to enter fully into the mystery and power they have experienced. But Jesus does not leave them bereft or incomplete. There is the promise of great power and understanding, and an entrance into the heart of the divine. We are invited into that same complex relationship of understanding, and we are promised that we will understand more and more day by day through God's love for us. And we are invited to hold each other close understanding better the mystery of divine love as we live in the complexity if our unique communities.

Today I ask God to help us all cling to one another as we seek to know more deeply the divine mystery of God's love for us, manifest in the multiplicity of relationships. May we not isolate ourselves from community but rather find a deeper sense of God as we hold fast to one another. May our diversity help us know God more fully day by day.




The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.