Genesis
1:1-2:4a
1 In the beginning when God created the heavens
and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of
the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God
said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that
the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called
the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and
there was morning, the first day. 6 And God said, "Let there be a dome in
the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from
the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky.
And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 And God said,
"Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let
the dry land appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and
the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was
good. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants
yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the
seed in it." And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants
yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the
seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there
was morning, the third day. 14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the
dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs
and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome
of the sky to give light upon the earth." And it was so. 16 God made the
two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule
the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light
upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the
light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening
and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And God said, "Let the waters
bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth
across the dome of the sky." 21 So God created the great sea monsters and
every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm,
and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God
blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the
seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 And there was evening and
there was morning, the fifth day. 24 And God said, "Let the earth bring
forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild
animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild
animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and
everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was
good. 26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to
our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27 So
God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male
and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over
the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing
that moves upon the earth." 29 God said, "See, I have given you every
plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with
seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the
earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the
earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant
for food." And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and
indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the
sixth day.
2: 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
2: 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
2
Corinthians 13:11-13
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put
things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace;
and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a
holy kiss. All the saints greet you. 13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
Matthew
28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to
the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they
worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have
commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all
of you.
·
Trinity Sunday is an odd
day. Most Christian festival celebrate events in the Scripture or Christian
history – Easter, Good Friday, Christmas, Pentecost, Reformation. Others
celebrate certain people – Peter, Paul, Mary, John the Baptizer, or John the
Evangelist to name a few.
·
We can get a handle on
all those things. We can place ourselves at the Last Supper. We can see
ourselves among the disciples at the Sermon on the Mount. We can imagine
listening to Paul preach in Athens or see John the Baptizer in our mind’s eye
with his camel’s hair tunic and his lunch of bugs and honey.
·
What we can’t do is
comprehend the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What we can’t
understand is the nature of God. And that is what we celebrate on this Trinity
Sunday. A doctrine of the Christian Church is what is laid before us today, one
we can never hope to exhaust or fully understand. What fun! So, have you made
your traditional Trinity cakes and puddings for today? If you haven’t, that’s
fine because so far as I know… there
aren’t any such things! I suppose it is just not that sort of festival.
As pastors and preachers, we are often warned about preaching on the Trinity
because it is VERY easy to spout heresy if we try to explain or expound on the
Trinity. One comedic posting suggests we say nothing and put up pictures of
kittens instead.
·
The idea of God as one
and three is beyond us. Many great minds have pondered this and have gotten no
further than you or I might on our best days. There are some who have done this
and have given up, knowing that the nature of the Almighty is beyond them.
·
I don’t think it could
be said better than in the words of St. Augustine, “We are talking about God. What wonder is it that you do not
understand? If you do understand, then it is not God.”
·
With God, there is
always more to say. God is always beyond our understanding, let alone our
expressing.
·
However, the experience
of God is not beyond us. Once again, we need to proceed cautiously, being wary
of things that appear miraculous and aren’t, things that appear to be
reverential, but are often blasphemous. Easy solutions and simple explanations
will not cut it. More complicated answers will leave just as confused and frustrated
as the original thought. The truth is the God who cannot be understood can be
experienced, both in our own lives and in the lives of our sisters and
brothers.
·
This is hard to do at
times for all of us fail. Failing or not, we are all continually called to live
a life that reflects the Trinity – loving, forgiving, hopeful, faithful,
united, and in relationship with one another.
·
The Trinity actually
invites us to enter ever more deeply into the inexhaustible relationship we
have with God. We can never understand, but we can believe… and we can love…
and we can humbly see ourselves as part of God’s creation. Genesis tell us
something about God’s relationship with God’s creation, doesn’t it? What is
said after each day of creating in that book? God saw everything that he had
made, and indeed, it was very good. And it remains good, blessed,
and awesome in the best sense of that over-used word. In those ways, creation
itself reflects the Creator if you know where to look.
·
The same hold for our
redemption in Christ Jesus; because of that none of us will ever meet someone
Jesus did not die for.
·
As mysterious and
confusing as all this can be, there remains our belief in God as Trinity.
Because of that, even invoking the name and the presence of the Trinity becomes
a blessing for us. So we can say…
The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all
of you.
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