In the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
When I first met Shannon, she was teaching English at an all-girl Catholic prep school. One thing became immediately clear: given the work she did and the hours she devoted, she was not being paid nearly enough. In addition to grading an endless stack of essays, every lesson plan she created required strategies to meet the different learning styles of her students. For kinesthetic learners, she added hands-on experiences. For visual learners, she prepared charts and graphs. For auditory learners, she gave traditional lectures. She learned to accommodate all those different learning styles, because as we all know, one size never fits all.
The same holds true in our spiritual lives. For some, the awesome power of God the Father reaches us through the magnificence of mountains or the majesty of a sunset. For others, the sacrificial love of God the Son melts our pride and opens our hearts to this way of unconditional love. For yet others, the energizing emotional force of God the Spirit stirs our emotions through the pull of music or the warmth of community. The God who made us knows that we don’t all respond in the same way. To accomplish the divine purpose of drawing us all ever closer, God reveals God’s self in multiple ways.
The manifestation of God in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus forced the early church to develop the doctrine of the Trinity. The first disciples realized that Jesus was more than a wise and devoted human being. In him, the fullness of God also dwelt. This was a new revelation of God’s presence, and the faithful early disciples, being good Jewish monotheists, struggled to find words to describe what they had experienced. Add to that their further experience of the Holy Spirit, animating them with the presence of the risen Christ, inspiring them with the power of God’s love, equipping them to enter into the very life of God– and invite others to do the same! Multiple manifestations of God’s glory. One God. Trinity of Persons. Unity of Being.
Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. We marvel at the mystery of the Christian doctrine that God is three and God is one. Three “persons” in eternal, ongoing, unreserved, mutual, reciprocal loving relationship. In the perfect love of the inner workings of the Triune God, the Three are forever One: eternally joined by love, always united in purpose. The glory of the Holy Trinity is in this mutual outpouring of love and inclusion of the “other” – a love so vast thatit expands to includes us. As Paul writes, “we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” (Romans 5:2b)
It is important to meditate on the mystery of the Triune God because of its implications on our lives and relationships. Who God is, how God acts, and what God is doing, shows us who we are to be, how we are to treat one another, and what we are to do. As God exists in relationship (fully sharing, fully giving, fully receiving) so should we live harmoniously with those who differ from us. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father. Yet all are God. These distinctions—this diversity—is cause for celebration, not division.
The inner life of the Trinity rests on an eternal outpouring of love. God the Father withholds nothing from the Son. God the Son withholds nothing from the Spirit. God the Spirit withholds nothing from the Father. There’s a selflessness in this way of being in relationship that informs our call to relate to one another with mutuality and reciprocity; willing to fully give to the other and fully receive from them; being both generous and receptive. Think of a water wheel where each bucket gets fully filled and then fully emptied. In that process energy is generated; no one is left out.
But perhaps the most important lesson for us on this Trinity Sunday is what we should be doing based on what the Triune God is eternally doing. In the equitable, non-dominating, sharing of glory, God also and always creates us a space for us to enter into this glory. There’s a shocking and radical inclusiveness not only offered, but part of God’s very nature. Two images come to mind. One is of the pull of a swirling vortex: the circular sharing of the inner life of God ever drawing all of us into that joyful glory. The other is of a rope, whose strength and pulling capacity is precisely because it is not one, but many united in purpose.
We witnessed just last week the power of coming together, united in purpose. We announced that the Generation to Generation capital campaign raised over $793,000. I’m deeply moved to tell you that as of Friday we now have pledges totaling over $800,000. (Our initial “stretch” goal was $516,000.) In the stunned delight of last Sunday’s “big reveal,” many people asked, “How did that happen? There must have been a few large donors?” While it obviously wouldn’t be appropriate to reveal individual names and giving amounts, here’s what I can tell you.
We have received 126 pledges from individuals, couples, and families. The pledges range from $12 to $50,000—most somewhere in between. We received commitments from current members, former members, new members, and long-time members. Gifts have come from families of members and former members, friends of members and in memory of deceased members, clergy and staff, former clergy and staff, and members of the Staunton community who appreciate the ministries of Trinity. How did this happen? We have done this. All of us…working together, not because we all vote the same, love the same, look the same, earn the same, or give the same, but because we have seen God’s generosity, we have witnessed Christ’s unconditional love, we are being guided by the Holy Spirit, and because we are united in the Triune God’s ongoing work of bringing all people into his equal and undivided glory.
Today, we see this glory, both as we meditate on the Holy Trinity, but also as we marvel at what God is doing here and now, through this community of diverse people including everyone and working equitably following the example of God’s very being. This is why it’s important to wrestle with the confusion and marvel at the mystery of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. As God is, so should we be: diverse, equitable and inclusive.
I recognize the sensitivity around that phrase. I regret that DEI has become such a divisive term. I confess that I have done my own share of eye-rolling at sensitivity commands from corporate headquarters. I pray we can reclaim it as a principle, rather than a workplace program, remembering that D-E-I – “dei” – is Latin for “of God.” Together, informed by the Trinity of Persons and Unity of Being, we can do the “opus dei” – the work of God. We can be the “populus dei,” – the people of God. And we can joyfully share in the “gloria dei” – the glory of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity of Persons and Unity of Being. God reaching out to everyone, inviting all of us into that eternal embrace.
