The Trinity? Well, it's like...........

Well, we have survived another Trinity Sunday in those faith communities who are prone to naming Sundays and following a set order for scripture reading.  Trinity Sunday, in these traditions, always comes the week after Pentecost, which is 50 days after Easter, which is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox.

In other words, it's a bit complicated unless you simply go with the flow and know that the rhythm of our worship life together mimics the evaporation, condensation, precipitation cycle of water, that is, it flows on in endless stream.  Ergo, we have just experienced another Trinity Sunday.

Which, of course, at some level is a silly designation.  It is similar to saying, 'We have just experienced another Jesus Sunday."  Of course we did.  Along with a God the Creator Sunday, and a Holy Spirit Sunday.  Every time we gather to worship as Christians we gather to worship a Triune God...........as defined over the ages by serious theologians and deep thinkers. 

Lest you think I mock, you try to explain the Trinity - or better yet, please don't.  Please leave it to the poets and mystics, plus all those talented writers and composers and artists who can open us to the possibilities of realities beyond our grasp, beyond our sight, beyond our comprehending.  Let's leave it to those who can invite us into a deep mystery which is not for our solving but rather for eternal exploration and discovery.   Let's leave it to those who don't attempt to explain but rather lead us to experience such unfathomables as love and truth and beauty.  And let us give thanks for the ways in which God speaks through them.

This is what Frederick Buechner (one of my favorite writers) wrote

     "THE MUCH-MALIGNED doctrine of the Trinity is an assertion that, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, there is only one God.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit mean that the mystery beyond us, the mystery among us, and the mystery within us are all the same mystery. Thus the Trinity is a way of saying something about us and the way we experience God.  

       The Trinity is also a way of saying something about God and the way [God] is within himself, i.e., God does not need the Creation in order to have something to love because within himself love happens. In other words, the love God is is love not as a noun but as a verb. This verb is reflexive as well as transitive. "  from his book Wishful Thinking

There is so much to like in this description, right up until the reflexive and transitive verbs.  Once English grammar comes into play, the playful creativeness of our God begins to fade.  

The Trinity is either a deadly doctrine (and frequent question on Systematic Theology exams) or it is a life-giving experience.  I'm going with the deep mystery and joy-filled experience.  How about you?

Hungering and thirsting......

There is a popular song playing on the radio right now with this line of lyrics "I didn't know that I was starving 'till I tasted you."*  This song might go places that I don't want to highlight, but this line is a powerful image of that deep longing that rests in our secret places.....that we cannot even put a name to.....until it finally finds its satisfaction. 

In the Old Testament, it is the psalmist who shares these same sentiments.

O God, you are my God, I seek you,

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land

where there is no water.  Ps 63.1

In the Sermon on the Mount, (Mt. 5.6) Jesus teaches "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

Augustine of Hippo, a theologian of the early church, wrote "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."  (Confessions)

Throughout the ages, writers and poets have searched for the perfect  combination of words which describe the wholeness accomplished when one finds God ....and thus finds oneself.  Like water to a thirsty soul; food for the starving; a place of perfect rest.

*lyrics by Hailee Steinfeld and Grey

Can't see beyond the border.....

It shouldn't surprise us that there was some kind of competition between Capernaum and Nazareth.  We humans are always comparing ourselves to one another and, of course, wanting to come out on top.  We have this terrible tendency to treat everything in life......even life itself.....as some kind of contest.  (That, in fact, might be a good definition for original sin.  I'll think about it.)

This, often hidden, tendency to want to be the best pops right up when (after an outpouring of the Holy Spirit) Jesus takes on God's mission as his mission - to mend and heal the world, i.e. "to preach good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, release to the captives."

There was amazement that day.  The Gospel of Luke tells us so.  I also think there was that giddy kind of nervous laughter mixed with joy that occurs when something GOOD and TOTALLY UNEXPECTED comes your way.  Wow!

And, just think.  It's Joseph's boy.  One of our own.  From here in Nazareth.  Wow!  This is going to be something.

And it will be something.....something for the entire cosmos.....those who live in Nazareth and those who live in Capernaum.  Those who follow Torah and those who do not.  Those who do dastardly deeds and those who are faithful and obedient.  Jesus' mission is to mend and heal the entire world.  Not just Nazareth. Not just you.  Not just me.

Seems reasonable to you and me, but apparently there were a bunch in the crowd who were truly unhappy with this turn of events.  Jesus was their homeboy.  He owed it to his village to take care of them - if not exclusively, then at least well ahead of everyone else.  Otherwise, how are we going to one-up Capernaum, the next village over?

Healing belongs here, they might say.  Charity begins at home.  Take care of our own people first.  Use your talents and gifts and time right here.  If anything is left over for those other folks, fine.  But us first.

Which of course is another definition for original sin.  Us first; them maybe.

Know why I call it original sin?  Because we all do it.  Perhaps not all the time; but we all do it.  We all secretly believe that there is only a limited amount of Jesus to go around.  Forgiveness is limited.  Healing is limited.  Reconciliation is limited.  Heaven is limited.

So we will build walls, put up fences, set up check points, have secret passwords, stare down the outsiders, stand our ground when a stranger appears at our pew, never wear our name tag (because everyone knows us) nor introduce ourselves to new people (because it is their job to get to know us)....and a thousand, thousand other things to keep US and THEM separate.

Of course, Jesus gets lost in all of this.  The Jesus who loved all in the face of hate and forgave all in the face of death.  The Jesus who died at our hands yet blesses our hands again and again.  The Jesus who invites YOU to the table as he moves in this world, mending and healing and loving.  The Jesus who is Good News for us.

I can't decide if I should cry at my own stupidity or rejoice at Jesus' overwhelming love.  Or maybe both.

That, and try to refrain from building walls.

Why should I feel guilty?

We have arrived at the other side of the guilt coin.
One side is burdened with guilt; this side has no burden at all.

Notice I didn't say they didn't have stuff to feel bad about.  A little digging into their day alone will give us a few things we could put on the table.  Then we move to the larger issues of justice and ethics and family relations and paying taxes.  None of us can stand up to that kind of scrutiny and come away pristine.

Now, I'm not a sackcloth and ashes kind of gal (although they too have a useful place in our spiritual and mental health)....but it is really hard to convince me that your life has been without fault.  You have harmed others, in what you've done and what you haven't done, and you have been harmed by the broken parts of this world. This is most certainly true.

This is true about everyone.  We are all paddling this boat called imperfection.  We are all marked with the signs of selfishness, greed, pride, arrogance...[add your own here]...because that is who humans are.  We get it wrong.  We do wrong. Other humans have done wrong to us.

Now, either you write all of that off as just the cost of being human....which leads to little effort or desire or reason to live a more community minded life.........

or you rank the nastiness of this world.  You place the kind of nastiness you do way down on the bottom of the list of wrongs. Like this. Killed anyone?  No.  Robbed a bank? No.  Discriminated against anyone? No

With those at the top of the list, then Yelled at my children, or Failed to report that minor dent I put in someone's car, or Ignored urgent requests from the local food pantry... are really not important.  They don't really count.

Both paths end up here:  I've done nothing wrong. I don't owe anyone anything.  Why feel guilty?

If that is where you end up, then you are seriously out of touch with yourself and the human community.

Just the same, the Divine Creator who gave you life loves you.

Faith: origins

If faith is a relationship, then faith is about trust.  That in which you put your trust is the God in which you have faith, so says Martin Luther.  This applies to lower case 'gods' as well.  Some of the stuff we trust is nothing more than the ephemeral trappings of life, status and money.

So where does this trust come from?

If we talk in human terms, we learn about trust from our first relationships, generally with our parents.  We cry; we are comforted.  We are hungry; we are fed.  They are bigger than we are; we look to them for safety and protection.

That is the most basic of trusting relationships and it is forged right out of the womb.  But it grows.  Don't worry, this won't hurt.....and it doesn't.  Come on, jump!  I'll catch you....and they do.  I wouldn't tell you something if it wasn't true....and well, most of the time that one works out as well.

As we grow, and our relationship with parents and friends and strangers grows, we learn about the depth and limits of trust.  Humans are not all powerful; they are not perfect.  Not all humans are to be trusted.  Into every life comes some disappointment, hurt, loss, anger.

Our relationship with God begins in a different way.  God is reflected to us - we watch our parents' interaction with this unknown 'God'.  We listen to the stories about how God has acted throughout history (Bible) and how God is active in the lives of folks around us (testimony or witness, generally over coffee). We participate in faith rituals (worship, sacraments, service projects, funerals) where the rituals help shape us and our understandings.

We begin to ask questions. The questions grow as we do.   Is God bigger than the tallest tree?  How does God know when I am praying?  Where is God when I am hurt - physically or emotionally?  Lord, why do you feel so far away?

We begin to listen for answers.  Not just the answers that others around us offer, but we begin to listen for God's voice in our life - leading, correcting, assuring...even weeping with us.  We begin to understand that the answers are not always easy.

The witness of others is critical to our growing relationship with God, a relationship that has all the usual ups and downs.  Without the witness of the saints, we wander and wonder looking for a framework for our decisions and our lives. Some find that framework in the NFL, some in fashion, some in industry, etc.  For Christians, Christ crucified is the frame by which we lead our lives.

Luther teaches that it is the Holy Spirit who calls us to faith.....through the witness of faithful saints all around us.  We become the reflection of God to others, their guide to this God we have found....or should I say, who has found us.

I'd love to hear the story of how God found you.  Stop by for a chat....and some coffee.

For Luther references, check out the Small Catechism, Apostle's Creed, article 3 and the Large Catechism, Ten Commandments, Commandment #1.