Gracious God, our help in ages past, accept our worship as a living sacrifice so that we may be transformed by the power of your Holy Spirit, to be one in the body of Christ.  Fill our mind with the wisdom of saints so that we may not conform to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  Pour out your Holy Spirit upon our students and teachers.  As they begin a new semester of learning, may this year be fruitful in gaining wisdom, character, and friendship.

Holy Father, Father of Christ who put on flesh that we might be redeemed, give us the courage to follow Christ’s teachings.  By the power of your Spirit help us to go into the world confident of your saving work in Christ.  Help us to be witnesses of your grace through word and deed, action and abstention, so that as we have been transformed, we may transform the world.

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name.  We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, as we continue to pray saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?  It’s an ancient question.  It seems that each individual of each and every denomination has an answer.  For some gaining this inheritance is as rigorous as a monastic life of solitude.  For others it’s as simple as a confession of Jesus’ Lordship on the way to the baptismal pool.  Whether by hook or crook or confession or penance, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” is a question of ultimate concern, on which restless souls await a single answer.  Thomas Merton, reflecting on his baptism wrote:

When, with the sting of salt in my dry mouth,

Cross-crowned with water by the priest,

Stunned at the execution of my old companion, death,

And with the murder of my savage history,

You drowned me in the shallow font

My eyes, swimming in unexpected infancy,

Were far too frail for such a favor;

They still close-kept the stone shell of their empty sepulcher:

But, though they saw none, guessed the new-come Trinity

That charged my sinews with His secret life.

What must I do to inherit this secret life, this eternal life God offers through Christ in the power of the Spirit?  I can’t decide if the answer is hardly simple or simply hard, but in reading scripture we find this question asked time and time again, and the answers to this question are as diverse as those who ask it.

In Luke 10 a Lawyer asks our question to Jesus, and as Jesus is prone to do, Jesus answers with a question.  “What is written in the law?” he asks.  Jesus isn’t so much an innovator as much as one who remembers the story well.  “What is written in the law?  What do you read there?” he asks.  The lawyer answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  “You have given the right answer,” Jesus replies.  “Do this, and you will live.”

This would have been a suitable ending to the conversation, but the lawyer, wanting to justify himself . . . what a brief and powerful picture of the human condition.  The lawyer wanted to justify himself.  Jesus has already given the answer.  Jesus has already given the command to “go and do this and you will live,” the justifying grace of God through Christ has already been accomplished, and yet we still feel the desire to justify ourselves, to assume the role of Jesus in our life instead of allowing Jesus to be our life.

Wanting to justify himself the lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor,” and Jesus responds with the story of the “Good” Samaritan.  Following the parable Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”  “The one who showed him mercy,” the lawyer says.  Jesus answers, “Go and do likewise.”  Do this, and you will live.  Lift up those in need.  Care for those who have been abused.  Bind up the wounded.  In other words, do justice and you will live.

The justice of God is a peculiar thing.  God’s justice is not fairness, in which both sides of the scales are balanced.  Deuteronomy 10:15 (and following) contains the heart of God’s Covenant with humanity—“The Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendant after them, out of all the peoples as it is today.  Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer.  For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice . . . for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.  You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”  You shall love the stranger because you were once strangers in a strange land.  “Do this,” Jesus says, “and you will live.”

Later in the Gospel of Luke Jesus is asked again, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments, you know the story (is this sounding familiar?).  You shall not commit adultery; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.”  The man replied, “I have kept all these since my youth,” or in other words, “Wanting to justify himself the rich man said, ‘I have kept all these since my youth.”  Jesus replies, “There is still one thing lacking.”

There is a new covenant group here at Broadmoor.  Well, it’s not a covenant group, per se, but it is a group that meets regularly, almost every afternoon.  It’s the Kroger group.  I see church members at Kroger almost every afternoon and we all have one thing in common.  We are at the store because we forgot that one thing we came to get yesterday.  How often do we head to the market and we fill our baskets with stuff and when we get home we realize we left the one thing at the store that we went to the store to get.  How true with our life with God.  We fill our lives with stuff and schedules and obligations, yet we too often forget that one, good thing, that it’s all about loving God and loving each other.  “You lack one thing: Sell all that you own and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then, come and follow me.”  In other words, know generosity, love kindness and you will live.  Isaiah 58 reads, “Is this not the fast I choose?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help and he will say, ‘Here I am.’”  Twice the question has been asked with two answers given.  First, do justice, and second, love kindness.

On the day of Pentecost Peter addresses the crowd saying, “Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”  When the people heard this they asked Peter a question: What should we do?  Peter replied, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”  In other words, humble yourself.  Seek forgiveness.  Turn toward God.  Fall in love with God.  Do this and God’s promise will be yours.  Three times the question in asked with three answers given.  First, do justice.  Second, love kindness.  Finally, walk humbly with God.

As I said, Jesus isn’t so much an innovator as much as he is one who remembers the story well.  In Micah the people are asking God, what must we do?  With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?  Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the Lord be please with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

What must we do to inherit eternal life?  Well, the question is misleading for we cannot do anything to earn eternal life.  Salvation is a gift given to us through Christ in the power of the Spirit, but the act of receiving, of recognizing this gift is a life long journey.  How are we to recognize the kingdom which is at hand unless we are doing the work of the kingdom.  It’s like the PBS show, “Antiques Roadshow.”  I love seeing people bring in items they have inherited that have been collecting dust in their attics and realizing that what they have is worth thousands of dollars.  What are we doing with the gift God has given us?  Doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God are not ways in which we earn our inheritance as a child of God; however, without doing justice, loving kindness, and humbly walking with God we fail to recognize the priceless gift God has given us.  Jesus, looking into the lawyers hearts says, “In order to recognize eternal life, you must recognize the Samaritan as a brother.  You must do justice.  Do this and you will live.”  Jesus, looking into the heart of the rich ruler says, “In order to understand the gift of eternal life, you must give away the wealth which has captured your heart.  You must know generosity.  You must love kindness.  Do this and you will live.”  Peter to the early church looks into their hearts saying, “In order to see the gift of eternal life, repent and be baptized.  Seek and know forgiveness.  Walk humbly with God.  Do this, and you will live.”  What must we do to inherit eternal life?  Let us do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God so that we may recognize the inheritance of eternal life with which God has blessed us through Christ in the power of the Spirit.  Do this, and we shall live.  Amen and amen!

Jacob has come to a “certain place,” an unnamed place in the midst of darkness on the outskirts of town.  He has come to this certain place because he’s on the run.  From the day he was born Jacob was a trickster.  When he and his twin brother, Esau, were born, Jacob was clutching Esau’s heel, trying to be the first born.  Later in life, Jacob was preparing a fine stew and his brother, who had been hunting all day, was famished.  Esau demanded some food, and Jacob obliged, but not before he asked for his brother’s birthright.  Esau said, “What is a birthright to me?  If I don’t eat, I’m going to die,” so Jacob handed over the stew and Esau handed over his birthright.  Not long after this dinner fiasco, Jacob tricked his father, Isaac, into giving him his brother’s blessing,  leaving Esau with no birthright and no blessing.  Needless to say, Esau threatened Jacob’s life, which sent Jacob fleeing his brother’s wrath out in the wilderness, out into the darkness.  Jacob is not a fine, upstanding gentleman.  This trickster and deceiver is on the run and he finds himself in this unnamed, certain place.

                Two weeks ago, Sunbright, TN was a certain place.  Sunbright was the destination of our Appalachia Service Project team.  We knew where it was and how to get there, but it held little significance.  It was a certain place.  Our church divided into two teams.  One team built a deck in the back yard, and this was nothing less than a miracle.  I felt like Isaac asking his father about the lamb.  “There’s the wood.  There’s the tools, but father, where’s the person who is going to tell us how to put it together.”  And then there was a voice from heaven saying, “The Lord will provide, my son.”  Well, it didn’t exactly happen that way, but for our team to build a deck where there was no deck was a beautiful thing to see.  The other team from Broadmoor repaired flooring in a trailer.  This woman’s home had holes in the floor throughout.  When the team was finished, the woman’s daughter begged her mother to go to the store and buy a mop because she wanted to keep the floor beautiful.  By the end of the week we realized that this wasn’t simply a construction project.  By the grace of God we were transforming lives, and not just those whom we helped but our own lives were changed.  In the midst of sawing, nailing, leveling, and tiling, we experienced the presence of God in the faces of our brothers and sisters of Sunbright, TN.  Before we left on the trip, Sunbright, TN was a certain place, but after this experience of the grace of God, the mention of Sunbright has eternal value.

                Jacob came to a certain place and lied down for the night, and while he was sleeping he had a vision of God.  He dreamed there was a ladder connecting the earth with heaven, and on this ladder angels were ascending and descending.  Then God spoke saying, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac . . . Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”  God’s desire to be with us and to hold us close resonates throughout scripture.  The Lord says to Moses, “The Lord bless you and keep you.  The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.  The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26.  Psalm 121 reads, “I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.  He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.  The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forever more.”

                We could talk about what Jacob’s ladder looked like or what Jacob saw, but the point is God’s proclamation, that God says to Jacob, “I will be with you and keep you.”  Keep in mind that Jacob is a rascal.  The only time he mentions God is when he is tricking his father out of his brother’s birthright.  Isaac asked his son Esau to go find some game and prepare a meal.  While Esau was away, Jacob and his mother whip something up in the kitchen, and when Jacob returns with food, his aging father asks, “How did you find food so quickly,” and Jacob replies, “Because the Lord, your God, provided.”

                Jacob had no idea of the truth he was proclaiming.  It certainly wasn’t a faith statement on his part, but it was truth nonetheless.  It’s like the high priest Caiaphas in the Gospel of John when he says in chapter 11, “You know nothing at all!  You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.”  Caiaphas was concerned that Rome would burn Jerusalem to the ground if one among them was proclaiming to be king, but the author of John’s Gospel provides some great commentary saying, “Caiaphas did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

                Isn’t this the true mystery of Jacob’s ladder?  God proclaims that he will be with us.  The name for “God is with us,” is Immanuel—Jesus.  This ladder, this vision Jacob sees of the divine presence being connected to the earth is a vision of Jesus himself.  Fully human, fully divine who gave his life so that we might have life and live it abundantly.  You see, God has an unshakeable resolve and an unwavering desire to be with us.  Looking at the cross, we can see that God is dying to be with us.

                When Jacob, this unsavory character awakens he says, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.”  God is no longer “your Lord,” the Lord of his father’s house.  “How awesome is this place,” because this Lord has accepted a wretch like me.  It is certainly a moment of Grace, and if you want to be Methodist about it, it is a moment of Prevenient Grace, the grace God blesses us with even when we did not know God.

                Jacob rose early in the morning­—for God’s sake don’t miss that resurrection imagery!  Jacob rose and took a stone and built a pillar and anointed it and named that certain place, Bethel—the house of God.  After having an experience of God, that certain place now had meaning and purpose.  It’s kind of like Sunbright, TN.  This certain place we knew little about became a place we experienced God, a place which will forever remain in our hearts.  What is your “certain place?”  Where is that place in your life in which you need to be reminded that God is with you, that God is dying to be with you?  Jacob was running away from everything and found the only thing.  God is with us, and God is calling us together as God’s children to transform the world, from Shreveport to Sunbright to Russia and beyond.  God is with us.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Gracious God, you care for us with compassion and firmness, urging us to grow in love for you.  Teach us your way and your truth.  Root us in you alone, that we may fulfill our role and our work in righteousness, mercy, and compassion.

            Holy Father, Father of Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life, reconcile us in your Son with the helpless and the needy, with those who are ignored or oppressed, with those who are in need of hope.  Inspire us with your Spirit to serve all people as the hands and feet of Christ.

            Sovereign Lord, Father of all in the power of the Spirit, we pray for our brothers and sisters across the world who daily struggle for peace and justice.  We pray for a peaceful end to the conflict in Libya.  We pray for compassion for those dying of AIDS in Kenya.  We pray that our leaders are filled with holy discernment as they represent us around the world.

            Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking:  Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not and for our blindness, we cannot ask.  We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, as we continue to pray saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven 

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil 

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

                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.”

                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.”