Two brothers worked together on a family farm. One was unmarried and the other married with children. They shared what they grew equally as they always did, produce and profit. But one day the single brother said to himself, “You know, it’s not right that we should share the produce equally, and the profit too. After all, I’m all alone, just by myself and my needs are simple. But there is my poor brother with a wife and all those children.” So in the middle of the night he took a sack of grain from his bin, crept over the field between their houses and dumped the sack of grain into his brother’s bin. Meanwhile, unknown to him, his brother had the same thought. He said to himself, “It is not right that we should share produce and profit equally. After all, I am married and I have my wife and my children to help me bring in the harvest for years to come. But my brother has no one, and no one to help me and he is doing all of the work himself. So he too, in the middle of the night, took to taking a sack of grain from his bin and sneaking across the field to deposit it in his brother’s bin. And both were puzzled for years as to why their supply did not dwindle. Well, one night it just so happened that they both set out for each other’s house at the same time. In the dark they bumped into each other carrying their sacks. Each was startled, but then it slowly dawned on them what was happening. They dropped their sacks and embraced one another. Suddenly the dark sky lit up and a voice from heaven spoke, “Here at last is the place where I will build my Temple. For where brothers meet in love, there my Presence shall dwell.[1]
Acts 2 gives us a glimpse of the earliest moments of the church. Our text reads, “Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having to goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” It is a beautiful picture of what church looks like: People praising God with a glad and generous heart, all who had need were satisfied, communal ownership, eating together, and sharing goodwill. It wasn’t long before this ideal community was met with persecution, inward fighting, theological debate, and how specifically they were going to share their money. Two thousand or so years later we’re still figuring this out.
In addition to Father’s Day, in the life of the Church today is Trinity Sunday. It is a day set apart to live into what it means to understand God as Father, Son, and Spirit. I’m not sure which is more difficult, sharing all things in common, or understanding the Trinity, but it would be good for our souls to meditate on both for a few moments. What does it mean for us to understand God as Father, Son, and Spirit? For starters, the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, and that’s simply because the name for what God was doing didn’t enter the vocabulary until after the Bible as we know it today was put together. It’s like a total eclipse that most of the world experienced this week. The word “eclipse,” as is the case for most if not all natural phenomena, entered the language long after eclipses were observed. An Eclipse didn’t happen after we named it, and neither did the Trinity (and when I say “Eclipse” I’m not talking about vampires and werewolves fighting over human love, even though that has been going on for ages . . . kidding). So, “Trinity” is a word developed by the Church to help the Church understand how God was working, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s not biblical.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 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. And God said, “Let there be light.” Here, in the very beginning of our story we have God, a wind (or spirit) of God, and the word of God all working together to bring about creation. Further to the point, when God created humanity, God said, “Let us make humankind in our image.” Us. Our. It’s plural. There is God, the word of God, and the Spirit of God in mutual relationship, bringing about humanity.
How is it that God can be three and one at the same time? There’s been lots of ink spilled on this question. Some explain it by using water. Water can be a solid, a liquid, and a gas, sometimes at the same time, but it’s still H2O. Some explain it by looking at a triangle. A triangle has three points and three sides, but it’s still the same shape. What I have found helpful is to think about my dad. My dad is my father. He is also my uncle’s brother. He is also my grandparent’s son. All at the same time. Now, when he was with his parents they saw him as their son. When he was with my uncle, he saw him as his brother. When he is with me, I see him as my dad, but he’s still Rick Rawle. God is God, but sometimes we understand him as creator. Other times we experience God as redeemer in the person of Christ. In the church we understand God as Spirit, the one who teaches us and guides us to the God’s will. It’s all God all the time, but depending on what God is doing we see God working in different ways.
Confused yet? I’m beginning to think that it’s easier to share everything in common than to understand the Trinity. I do think that Saint Augustine nailed it. He said that the Trinity is “The lover, the beloved, and the love they share.” The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father and the love their share in mutual affection is what we call “The Spirit.” This is to the point because we can see this made manifest in the early church. People coming together, loving one another, breaking bread with one another, sharing what they have, is a manifestation of the Trinity. John Wesley often talked about Means of Grace, the channels whereby we receive God’s grace: Bible study, prayer, worship . . . etc. The means of grace, specifically the sacraments of baptism and communion, are outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace. These means of grace are outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace. In other words, when you feed the hungry, the outward and visible sign is the food you are sharing. The inward, spiritual grace is your heart undergoing a transformation as you break bread with someone, as Christ calls you to do. When we gather for worship, when we sing songs and give gifts and pray and listen to the word, these are outward and visible signs of an inward spiritual grace. These outward and visible signs represent what’s happening in the life of God. As Saint Augustine said, the Trinity is the lover, the beloved and the love they share. It is God and Christ in mutual adoration. So, when we as the body of Christ, the church, gather in adoration of God, we are embodying the action of the Trinity. When someone asks you what the Trinity looks like . . . look around you. Here it is. It is God and the body of Christ in mutual adoration. This, right now, is a holy moment, but as holy as it is, it is only practice.
Worship is practice. Sometimes we think of worship as “The Game,” when our hard work and preparation come together, but this holy moment is only practice. We are to come to this place to become equipped for the “Monday’s” of our life. We are to leave this place filled with grace so that we can share our experiences to the world. We are to gather to hear this story of the early church so that we can go out into the world with the courage and conviction to share our gifts, break bread with one another, care for those who cannot care for themselves, praising God with glad and joyful hearts, and this is what the power of the Holy Spirit allows us to do.
I remember my first solo I ever sang. It was a few measures of music from the children’s summer musical at First United Methodist Church in Slidell, LA. Camp Goolamakee was it’s name. I sang, “My daddy is a super man, standing 6’11’’ with a million dollar grin. He’s my biggest buddy, and I’m his biggest fan. That’s because my daddy is a super man. What better way to honor our fathers by looking into the heart of the Trinity—meditating on the mutual adoration of the Father and the Son . . . “Where brothers meet in love, there I shall dwell.”
[1] William J. Bausch, Storytelling, Imagination and Faith (Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 1984), pp. 68-69.