Trinity: A Nifty Attempt

Trinity: a Nifty Attempt
Trinity Sunday, June 7, 2009
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Romans 8:14-17 Matthew 28:16-20

To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]

Second reading from Romans

Brothers and sisters: Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. And so we should not be like cringing slaves, but we should behave like God’s very own children, adopted into the bosom of His family, and calling to Him, “Father! My Father!”For His Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts, and tells us that we really are God’s children. And since we are His children, we shall share His inheritance, and all that Christ inherits will belong to us as well! Yes, if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw Him, they worshiped Him, even though some of them doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Introduction
Liturgical cycles

The nation’s liturgical cycle begins with Memorial Day summoning us to memorialize our war-dead and to initiate the summer season with picnics in parks. The cycle peaks with the Fourth of July celebrating our freedom. It wanes with the falling leaves of Labor Day. It finally ends with Thanksgiving Day giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest.

The church’s liturgical cycle begins with the Father sending the Son at Christmas. It continues with the Son returning to the Father in Ascension. The cycle peaks with the Father and the Son sending the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. So today (the Sunday after Pentecost), the church positions a feast dedicated to the mystery of a one God who is a trinity of persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

A tug of war

We call it the “mystery of the Trinity.” In theology mystery does not mean something that’s incomprehensible or meaningless. On the contrary, mystery in theology refers to a reality so rich in meaning that we humans can never adequately get our arms around it and fathom its depths. Though that’s true, we humans still keep trying to fathom God. So there is Islamic theology – that’s Muslims trying to fathom God. There is Jewish theology – that’s Jews trying to fathom God. And there is Christian theology- that’s Christians trying to fathom God. The theology of most Christians is encapsulated in the formula “The one true God is a trinity of persons -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

There’s obviously a tug of war between mystery and theology. Mystery says God cannot be fathomed. On the other hand, theology says, “That might be true, but I’m going to try anyway.” St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the church’s most renowned theologian, trying to fathom the mystery of God, wrote volume after volume about the ineffable God. But at the sunset of his life, he looked upon his pretentious writings and exclaimed, “Nihil est!" “It‘s nothing!” Karl Barth (1886-1968), a renowned Swiss Reformed theologian, trying to fathom the mystery of God, wrote volumes about the ineffable God. But at the sunset of his life, he, too, made sport of his theological pretentiousness and said, "The angels are laughing at old Karl Barth."

Having God down pat

God is mystery. That is to say God’s reality is so great we humans can never adequately put our arms around it and sound its depths. I Timothy 6:16 says that God “lives in light so terrible that no human being can approach Him. No mere man has ever seen Him, nor ever will.” The best thing God has going for Himself (and the best thing we’ve got going for Him) is His mystery. But when we have God down pat, when we have Him neatly figured out, then we have destroyed His mystery. What’s more, we have tamed our God and now have Him doing our bidding. How convenient and what awesome power it is to have God doing our bidding! We cherish such a God, as we cherish an obedient child.

Osama bin Laden, the world’s most notorious Muslim, is an ardent Islamic believer. He daily recites his Islamic profession of faith that “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” For bin Laden that’s the one only right answer about God, and anyone who does not profess it is an infidel. At the end of the day, it was that one only right answer about God which conspired bin Laden and other Islamic extremists to drive two 747s into the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, bringing down two towers and three thousand innocent infidels.

Bin Laden has his God down pat and has destroyed His mystery. What’s more, he has tamed his God and has Him doing his bidding. How convenient it is, and what awesome power it is for him to have his God doing his bidding! Bin Laden cherishes his God, as he cherishes an obedient child.

Not only Muslims but Christians, too, sometimes (and perhaps often) have their God down pat and have destroyed His mystery. Christians, too, know how to tame their God and have Him doing their bidding. The Rev. Mr. Phelps is one such Christian. When two skinheads beat Matt Shepard (a gay man) to a pulp and chained him to a wooden fence out in the country, leaving him to die in his tears and blood) the Rev. Phelps inflamed with homophobic hate picketed Shepard’s funeral with a sign which had God down pat. It read, “God hates fags and buries them in hell—Romans 9:13.” How convenient and what awesome power it is for Phelps to have his God doing his bidding! Rev. Phelps cherishes his God, as he cherishes an obedient child.

Phelp’s case is extreme, and is easily recognizable for what it is. There are less obvious and more refined cases. When preachers claim that AIDS is God’s pay-back upon immoral sinners, they have their God down pat. When the church magisterium claims to know that God prefers male priests over female priests or celibate priests over married priests, or when it definitively spells out God’s position on issues like birth control, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, etc., then the church has God down pat and has destroyed His mystery. What’s more, it has tamed its God, and now has God doing its bidding. How convenient and what awesome power it is to have God doing your bidding! You cherish such a God, as you cherish an obedient child.

The one who does not love….

In simple words St. John writes, “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (I Jn 4:8b). Bin Laden religiously recites his Islamic profession of faith that There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. He faithfully falls to his knees in ritual prayer five times daily. At the same time, he gloats over the horrific event of 9/11 which his hatred of the West inspired. Bin Laden does not know God, for Scripture says, “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Phelps quotes the Bible (especially Romans 9:13) and recites the Nicene Creed with its clear Trinitarian profession of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At the same time he luxuriates in homophobic hate as he pickets the funeral of Matt Shepard and buries him in hell. Preacher Phelps, like bin Laden, does not know God, for Scripture says, “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

The one who loves….

John’s words, however, are a two-edged sword. He also writes, “The one who loves knows God, for God is love” (I Jn 4:8a). Years ago we buried Sister Barbara Ann Kutchera (of the BVM Order) who died of ovarian cancer at the young age of sixty-six. People came from all directions. The parking lot was full. The church was packed. Absolutely nothing about the event had “God down pat.” Her own religious Order came -- fifty sisters strong. None of them were dressed “like sisters,” and some of them even wore earrings. Then came a real shocker at this remarkable event which didn’t have God down pat in any shape or form: the preacher wasn’t a he! The preacher was a she -- the Rev. Linda Hansen! What’s more, the preacher wasn’t a Trinitarian! The preacher was a Unitarian![3] Born and raised a Catholic Hansen left the church for various reasons and became an ordained Unitarian minister. Rev. Linda was chosen to be the homilist for the funeral because of her warm personal relationship with Sr. Barbara. Her homily was carefully crafted, and it softly alluded to the strange twists and turns of the human journey. Rev. Linda spoke also about the warm, human side of Sr. Barbara.

At the end of the day, we ask which one of these two ladies knew God? Sr. Barbara, the Trinitarian? Or Rev. Linda, the Unitarian? Answer: they both knew God because they both loved much, for Scriptures says, “The one who loves, knows God.” Likewise, the Muslim who loves knows God, and the Jew who loves knows God.

Be at peace!

At Mass we recite the Nicene Creed with its Trinitarian profession: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And we believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, begotten not made. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.”

As we recite that creed, most of us feel we don’t know what the words mean. Be at peace! The person in the pew beside us also doesn’t know what the words mean. Be at peace! As long as we are loving human beings, we are children of God and know God.

Conclusion
Trinity: a nifty attempt

At the end of the day, Trinity is a nifty attempt of Christians to fathom God. It says that God is love. But loving requires more than one. So there’s more than one in God. God is never alone or lonely. God is a family of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and all of them are busy loving one another. What’s more, God, who is a family constantly loving each other, invites you and me to join His family of love.

Again, Trinity is a nifty attempt of Christians to fathom God. It has rich overtones. It speaks of God as a loving Father who forgives His wayward children. That lays an axe to the mean and revengeful god whom the Rev. Phelps has invented to hate sinful gays. Trinity also speaks of God as an obedient Son who in the fullness of time was born into the human condition and became Emmanuel – God with us. That lays an axe to a distant god who is high above or beyond us or unconcerned about us. Trinity also speaks of God as an abiding Holy Spirit who dwells within us. That lays an axe to an uncaring god who sends us forth as solitary wayfarers on the human journey without Viaticum[4] – without Someone to be with us on the way.

[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!

[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24

[3] Unitarians don’t subscribe to Trinity.

[4] Viaticum means “With you on the way.”