A Preternaturally Gifted Triune God
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
As we make our way into the 21st century, our world faces a host of challenges that potentially endanger the future of human civilization -- ranging from threats to our climate from global warming to threats to public health from pandemics such as AIDS, SARS, and avian flu to threats to political stability from terrorism. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Carter Shelley suggests these challenges are analogous to a three-headed monster -- a mythological archetype that suggests links with the three-in-one Godhead we celebrate on Trinity Sunday. Using the week's lectionary readings as a basis, Carter reflects on how God's infinite wisdom and strength can help us cope with such daunting problems. Team member Thom Shuman then draws on the Isaiah text to offer some thoughts on how God calls us to respond to these challenges by ministering to the world. The installment also includes the customary illustrations, worship resources, and children's sermon.
A Preternaturally Gifted Triune God
by Carter Shelley
THE WORLD
In Greek mythology, Cerberus is the three-headed dog who guards the gates of hell. In some accounts Cerberus is described as a "monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and multiple snake heads on his back. Cerberus guarded the gate to Hades, the Greek underworld, and ensured that the dead could not leave and the living could not enter" (Wikipedia). I like the idea of the snakes in addition to the three heads, because it adds to the danger and creepiness of the monster. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry, Ron, and Hermione must pass a three-headed dog called "Fluffy" (affectionately named, of course, by Hagrid the Hogwarts Gamekeeper) if they are to reach the sorcerer's stone promising everlasting life to its possessor. In typical, heroic Harry Potter fashion, Harry does not want the stone for himself -- he seeks it to prevent someone evil from gaining possession of it.
It is because this Sunday is Trinity Sunday that I thought about Cerberus and Fluffy. Where the former expresses God's preternaturally gifted nature and boundless breadth, I see the latter as a mythologized expression of the multiple dangers humans face on our journey through life. We live in a dangerous world. AIDS, perhaps the most catastrophic disease the world has ever known, celebrates its 25th year as an agent of death this week, and though there are now drugs that can slow down its progress, there is no cure. War and its many heinous aspects -- terrorism, rape, torture, genocide, and hate -- continue to prosper in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Congo, and the Sudan. In Indonesia this week an earthquake killed thousands, while the good people of the Gulf Coast states, whose lives are not back to normal yet after Katrina, now must brace themselves for the beginning of a new hurricane season. Disease, war, and natural disasters are some of the very real "three-headed monsters" people face today. Yet there are also other dangers lurking like snake heads on the back of Cerberus: poverty, child slave labor, sexual abuse, hunger, mental cruelty, murder, robbery, embezzlement, hatred, greed, and political or economic domination.
Sometimes the news at home and abroad is so overwhelmingly awful that we despair of anything good, kind, loving, or redemptive ever being possible. Sometimes the news at home and abroad is so overwhelmingly awful that I am deeply grateful we are not in this enterprise by ourselves. Sometimes the news at home and abroad is so overwhelmingly awful that I am deeply grateful there is a Triune God ultimately in charge.
THE WORD
This Sunday's lectionary texts offer an encapsulated journey through the stages of faith. First, in Isaiah 6:1-8 there is conviction, followed by repentance and forgiveness. Second, in John 3:1-17 comes the opportunity for ongoing salvation offered by God, in the form of God's Son, to all who would believe and follow the Son's example. Eternal life is promised while the present life is transformed. Third, Romans 8:12-17 assures the faithful we are not alone in our service to God the Father and God the Son. The Spirit is the glue that holds us together as we strive to live the Christian life in a monstrously challenging world, in which there is much to overwhelm and defeat us were it not for our God.
Traditional Trinitarian language is "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." For the sake of greater inclusiveness, many of us now also refer to the Godhead as "Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer." This alternative Trinitarian metaphor beautifully describes God's nature in this week's primary biblical texts.
The God Isaiah encounters in the Temple is known to Isaiah instantly as both Isaiah's Creator and as Isaiah's and his people's Judge. Appearing in intimidating glory, the Lord of Hosts utters no word of judgment or punishment to Isaiah. Being in God's holy presence is enough for Isaiah to convict himself and his fellow Israelites of their sinfulness: "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips." God then offers forgiveness. Guilt is removed and the sin blotted out. Thus redeemed, Isaiah is ready to serve: "Here am I; send me!"
John 3:1-17 opens with a dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus about Jesus' ability to perform signs, thereby revealing Jesus' righteousness as a man sent by God. Jesus redirects Nicodemus' thoughts from Jesus' person and nature to what matters most for Jesus: a change of heart and direction on the part of those seek the kingdom of God. Observing Jesus' miracles and being wowed by Jesus' teachings doesn't cut it: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. . . born of water and the Spirit." Jesus reiterates these points by repeating both again: "born from above. . . born of the Spirit." Because Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, doesn't understand, Jesus next makes the connection explicit between himself and God using the language of Daniel and the title the "Son of Man" who "descended from heaven." The phrase "so must the Son of Man be lifted up" alludes to Jesus' crucifixion, which is then followed with a promise of eternal life. After verse 15 comes the most popular verse in all of John, 3:16. In Jesus, God is doing a new thing, creating a new opportunity for humanity's life and salvation: "everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
Notice that in John 3:14-17 salvation comes not through the application of a hot coal or the sacrificing of a lamb, but through believing. Notice also that Jesus promises eternal life, but the Son does not promise that God will save us from the hardships and realities of the world in which we live. God doesn't save us from diseases, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis. God doesn't save us from our own government spying on us or from other governments who mean our nation ill. God doesn't save us from corrupt CEOs such as Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. Through believing in the love, grace, and salvation of God in Christ, we are redeemed and empowered to act as agents of redemption in the world in which we live.
The Holy Spirit's function, as outlined in Romans 8:12-17, is to make sense of our beliefs and to help us live up to them in our daily lives. The Spirit is the glue that holds the different aspects of our faith and call together. The Spirit affirms our Christian beliefs. Faith is always a leap into something that cannot tangibly be shown or proven. Faith is not fact. Faith is belief and trust without the facts. The Holy Spirit helps make faith a stronger reality than fact, but faith is not fact. The Holy Spirit also helps us control our baser human instincts and desires. It is easy for us to become debtors to the flesh -- the desire for more money, for alcohol, drugs, sex, a new car, a new spouse, the egotistic desire for recognition or power all come at a cost. Debts owed to this world have the potential to enslave us to this world. The Holy Spirit inspires us to loftier, less self-centered goals more in keeping with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The Spirit also transforms us into God's adopted children and heirs. The Holy Spirit merges with our individual spirit, strengthening us to inherit both Christ's suffering and glory. The suffering comes from the inevitable opposition we face when we challenge the ways of the world with the commission of Christ. The glory comes in being glorified with Christ. Such a feeling of exhilaration may come at times in this life, but its greatest fulfillment will be when we are "glorified with him."
CRAFTING THE MESSAGE
One might begin this sermon by exploring the fears young children often have of monsters and other things that "go bump in the night" in their imaginations. Frightful figures such as Cerberus, the hound of hell, are a part of human mythology because they offer a concrete expression of internal fears that cannot always be given a specific name or source. Yet we live in a world in which there are very real dangers and very reasonable fears of concern to Christians everywhere. I have listed some examples earlier. You and your congregation's life may offer some more.
The 8-year-old son of a friend of mine had a hard time riding in elevators, traveling to unknown places, being left alone in his room at night, riding in cars, and in experiencing almost anything new. After several visits with a child psychologist, the psychologist told the boy's parents: "There's nothing acutely wrong with your son. The fact is the fears he has are very real. If you stop and think about it, the things he's afraid of -- an elevator crashing 40 floors, something getting him in the night, car accidents and such -- are real possibilities. Everything in life is dangerous. We are surrounded by potential catastrophes all the time. The thing is, most of us don't think about all that's dangerous or life-threatening, because we would be paralyzed by fear and despair if we did. Your son is actually the one who's got it right. We live in a dangerous world. What we need to do to help him is teach him how to live in the same state of denial that the rest of us naturally adopt in order to live from day to day."
Christianity offers us a different perspective on the world. It's not the perspective of denial; it's the perspective of grace and hope and transformation. When as Christians we celebrate our Triune God, we are celebrating God's infinite possibilities, God's infinite ways of saving our world, God's infinite creative ways of saving us and using us as witnesses for God's redemption.
At this point I would discuss the different aspects of God's nature as each is expressed in the three biblical texts before briefly discussing the doctrine of the Trinity.
In many ancient religions there were multiple gods. There would be a god of the harvest, a god of war, a god of love, a god of fertility, and so on. These gods existed to meet specific needs and specific fears of the people who created these gods. Judaism offered an alternative understanding of God as One. Christianity came to understand God as one in substance yet possessing three distinct natures. In the novel and current movie version of The Da Vinci Code, the Emperor Constantine is given credit for making Jesus divine and establishing a Trinitarian concept of God. The fictional historian Teabing claims that the Council of Nicea came together in the 4th century to establish the doctrine of the trinity. Teabing also claims that Jesus had been understood to have been fully human, and not divine at all, until Constantine decided it would be good for him and good for the Roman Empire to make it so. This notion is not only heretical, it also ignores the history and writings of the first three centuries of Christianity. The purpose of Nicea was to address the Arian heresy. Arius believed Jesus was not co-equal to God the Father but one step down. Hence Jesus Christ was still superior to the rest of humanity, but he was inferior to God who created Christ as the first of all creation. It is true the Trinity is not a spelled-out doctrine of the New Testament.
The four lectionary texts for Trinity Sunday do not individually encapsulate the idea of the Trinity. God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit gets read back into these texts from the hindsight of the early Church. There is no single biblical text that explains or offers the Trinitarian formula. It takes the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. to determine how best to describe the distinctness, unity, and equality of the Godhead.
The Christian affirmation of the Trinity expresses our belief in God's mystery, creativity, majesty, and holy/wholly other-ness of nature from our own. The aspects of our "Lord of Hosts" that merit imitation by Christians are the opportunities to care for Creation, live by the Savior's teachings, and rely upon the Holy Spirit to support and inspire us in serving God as bravely and boldly as Isaiah did.
A three-headed monster, whether in mythology or in fiction, remains a pretty scary notion. A preternaturally gifted God who reaches out to us with limitless possibilities offers the possibility of us being agents of redemption in a world overburdened with fear, suffering, and hopelessness. All three aspects of God's nature are essential for us. It is a foundational belief of Christianity that the world cannot be saved by the world -- only God can save us. To serve by God's side, we need all the resources, all the support, and all the love our Triune God offers. We need God our Father/Creator, God our Brother/Redeemer, and God our Spirit/Sustainer.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Thom M. Shuman
Let's see:
* the hurricane season has started and there are neighborhoods in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama which are still littered with debris from storms from as long as two years ago;
* thousands have lost their lives, their loved ones, their homes, and their livelihoods from the earthquake in Indonesia;
* two top executives of Enron have been convicted for their roles in the fall of that corporation;
* former Vice President Al Gore has released a movie (An Inconvenient Truth) which provides a close-up look at the consequences of global warming;
* 17 people have been arrested for possible terrorism activities in Canada, a country which prides itself on diversity and tolerance;
* and this year marks the 25th "anniversary" of the discovery of the AIDS virus.
Woe is us! Woe is me! We are a people who look around and see great grief, daunting devastation, unbelievable suffering. And when we go to the sanctuaries of God, we hear God crying out, "Who can I send? Who will go?"
Send me? "I don't think so" is the response many of us who follow Jesus seem to say. Call it compassion fatigue, call it xenophobia, call it "focusing on our own before we reach out to others" -- a lot of people are talking as if we just cannot do it any more, we just are not able to serve others, we just don't have the time or energy or resources to respond to God's call.
But what makes us so different from all the other generations which preceded us? What gives us some sort of exemption, some "free pass" from having to respond with love, with hope, with reconciliation to a world that struggles to find its way? Every generation has faced tragedy, every generation has dealt with some sort of major crisis, every generation has had to decide how it would respond, not if it would.
On a cold, gray, grief-filled November Friday afternoon years ago, I walked with my family down to our Presbyterian church to hear what the preacher had to say to us, to hear what comfort the Word would offer, to hear what God might say to those of us numbed by the news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
And of all the passages he might have chosen, the preacher read from Isaiah 6: "In the year when King Uzziah died. . ."
It is in the years in which the king dies or the president's life is cut short that we see God high and lifted up before us, reminding us of who creates us and calls us.
It is in the years when the foundations of the world shake from the armies at war that the heavenly choirs sing of the One whose glorious peace waits to fill our lives.
It is in the years when people's ears are filled with the false promises of the politicians and the empty rhetoric of anger and hatred that God reaches out to touch our lips so we can speak the Good news of hope, of grace, of steadfast love for all people.
It is in the years when we seem most broken that God's healing power is poured out upon us; it is in the years when we seem most helpless that the Spirit is poured out upon us so we can help others; it is in the years when despair threatens to fill every crevice of our souls and our hearts shatter from the suffering we see before us that God makes Jesus most present in the world -- through us!
It is in these years, and every year, and this year that God most needs us to minister to the world. It is in these years, and every year, and this year that God cries out, in pain and anguish, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
Then I said. . .
ILLUSTRATIONS
"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once suggested that our nettlesome task is to bear the burden to redeem the soul of America. As the conscience of the country, we have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests."
-- The Covenant with Black America, edited by Tavis Smiley (Doubleday, 2006), p. x
Smiley related this comment in the context of an agenda for African-Americans, but could anyone better describe the task of Christians with respect to the crises that face us as a nation?
***
2 Kings 6:8-19 tells the story of Israel being surrounded by the army of Ar'am. Elisha was present, and upon seeing the huge army that surrounded them Elisha's servant cried out in panic: " 'Alas, master! What shall we do?' (Elisha) replied, 'Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.' Then Elisha prayed: 'O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.' So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (vv. 15b-17). Far too often we are so intent on seeing the magnitude of the problem challenging us that we fail to see the power of God that is working for us.
***
Socrates had it wrong; it is not the unexamined but finally the uncommitted life that is not worth living. Descartes too was mistaken; Cogito ergo sum -- "I think therefore I am"? Nonsense. Amo ergo sum -- "I love therefore I am." Or, as with unconscious eloquence St. Paul wrote, "Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love." I believe that. I believe it is better not to live than not to love.
-- William Sloane Coffin, Credo (Westminster John Knox, 2004), p. 5
***
Of God's love we can say two things: it is poured out universally for everyone from the Pope to the loneliest wino on the planet; and secondly, God's love doesn't seek value, it creates value. It is not because we have value that we are loved, but because we are loved that we have value. Our value is a gift, not an achievement.
-- William Sloane Coffin, Credo (Westminster John Knox, 2004), p. 6
***
I have to admit that I have never seen any seraphim in any sanctuary where I have ever worshiped. But I have seen a little girl cover her face to keep from laughing when I "stepped into" the hem of my robe and almost fell on my face. And I remember the little boy, with his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth in deep concentration, as he found his shoelace of far more wonder than the children's sermon I was doing. And there are always a couple of kids "flying around" the fellowship hall after worship, careening off older folks like pinballs.
And every time, I heard the refrain "the whole earth is full of God's glory."
***
without you,
Weaver of willows,
Spinner of sunrises,
i would have no place
to put my foot:
stumbling face-first
into the mud puddles
of my mistakes;
without you,
Retriever of the fallen,
Mediator of the sin-splattered,
i would have no place
to put my soul:
adrift on the stormy seas
of seduction,
at the mercy of
bedlam's blows;
without you,
Whisperer of wisdom,
gift-bearing Dove,
i would have no place to put my heart:
watching it shrivel
in despair's
bitter grasp;
in you
i find my place,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
Blessed Trinity:
in you . . .
***
Three women
at a table
hold the world.
One gets up
to stir the stars,
one makes the fire,
another blows on it
to keep it going,
and still they have time for play,
three women hunched over a cup,
hands open in invitation
as the table tilts
in Rublev's icon,
three angels
with the same face.
My mother is the tree trunk I climb,
my grandmother's hands
kneading bread
make the table shake.
Tell me the story
of three hungry angels
who appeared one day at Abraham's tent,
to make Sarah work
and laugh.
-- Kathleen Norris, "Kitchen Trinity"
***
Preachers tie themselves into knots trying to explain what all this means. Some explain that the Trinity is like a three-leaf clover. Others point to H20 in its three incarnations as water, ice, and steam. One Trinity Sunday I found a lumpy envelope on the hood of my car. Inside was a Three Musketeers candy bar with a note that read, "All for one and one for three! Happy Trinity!" All I know for sure is that if human beings are created in the image of God, then a) God is wonderfully diverse, and b) we are more alike than we think.
Meanwhile, I do not know why we hold ourselves responsible for explaining things that cannot be explained. Perhaps the most faithful sermon on the Trinity is one that sniffs around the edges of the mystery, hunting for something closer to an experience than an understanding. What, for instance, is the sound of three hands clapping?
-- Barbara Brown Taylor
***
It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behavior. Even on children. . . even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.
Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself, judgmentalism is back!
But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow, but the church got busy on this -- the leprosy of our age.
Love was on the move.
Mercy was on the move.
God was on the move.
Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet. . . conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS. . . soccer moms and quarterbacks. . . hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!
Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!
Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!
Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.
It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.
When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened -- and acted. When churches starting organizing, petitioning, and even -- that most unholy of acts today, God forbid -- lobbying. . . on AIDS and global health, governments listened -- and acted.
I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.
-- Rock singer Bono, in a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., February 2, 2006
***
Garrison Keillor, modern American prophet from the radio show A Prairie Home Companion, said of love: "We should not think that we have figured this out, because it is not a problem, it's a mystery and always will be."
"It is not a problem, it's a mystery and always will be." Doesn't that offend you just a little -- the suggestion that there are those things in life we have not, and furthermore, will not ever, figure out? Now that we've become so advanced that we can put fax machines in cars and can send ourselves messages back from Venus, we are not really open to the suggestion that there are those things that always have been and always will be mysteries to us. We assume that our only limitations are time and energy, and, given enough of the two, there is really nothing we can't ultimately know.
So when we come to a doctrinal matter like the Trinity, the temptation is to want one neat analogy that will make it all clear, one concise statement on the Trinity that will settle it for us and allow us to move on to the next problem. Well, I hate to disappoint you so early in my sermon today, but if that is what you are expecting I suggest that you join those of your friends who are already daydreaming this time away. You see, it's just not all that easy. It's not so simple to describe the Trinity in any meaningful way. The Trinity just isn't one of things we can settle in short order.
Maybe if we can't figure out the Trinity in these few brief minutes (and, given that the church in 2,000 years hasn't been able to get it straight, it's a fairly safe bet we won't have the last word on it today), if we can't settle the issue today, maybe we can at least try to point to what the doctrine of the Trinity is attempting to say about God and how we experience God.
-- James C. Leach, Sermon: "Naming God," in Pulpit Digest, January/February 1991, p. 55
***
One plus one plus one equals one. That is simply not reasonable. But then, the reality this day celebrates, the Triune God, is hardly reasonable. That is to say, the truth conveyed by the doctrine of the trinity is itself a mystery. It is an attempt to convey through the use of reason a truth that is beyond reason. That is how theologians use the term "mystery." A mystery is not something contrary to reason, but something above or beyond reason, knowable only to the extent that the mystery is revealed to us. In today's post-modern world, with the Age of Reason in eclipse, the concept of mystery once again has validity in and of itself. We know all sorts of things to be beyond reason, though we sometimes try to conjure reasons for them, if only to make ourselves feel more in control of the world around us. But not everything in the world is reasonable. That is not to demean reason. Reason is a most valuable tool, in its place. Don't try to build a bridge or a building without it! But today, we are learning that there is much in life which is neither reasonable, nor gives way to its science. What, after all, is reasonable about beauty, love, or life, for that matter? All are mysteries. Though each has reasonable elements within them, and is frequently quite predictable, still, there is something which is of the essence of the thing in question which transcends rationality. If you don't believe it, try and reason with someone who has just -- how do we say it -- "fallen in love."
-- Fred R. Anderson, "1+1+1=1," a sermon preached in Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City, June 2, 1996
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
One: God, who created the fields of Eden,
takes delight in all things, including us!
All: God of glory, God of grace,
your name is exalted in all the earth!
One: Christ, who walked the streets of our world,
gives hope to all people, including us!
All: God of glory, God of grace,
your Son is Savior of all the earth!
One: God's Spirit, who lives in our hearts,
bears truth and peace to all, including us!
All: God of glory, God of grace,
your love surrounds our every moment!
Prayer of the Day
Holy God,
seated high above creations,
painting everything with goodness,
you reach out to heal us with the touch of your fingertips,
so we may sing with one voice:
"Glory!"
Jesus Christ, Gateway to Grace:
when, in the middle of the night
we come asking our endless questions,
you do not grumble about losing sleep,
but hold our hands,
gently responding to our hearts' deepest yearnings,
until we simply believe.
Witnessing Spirit, Playmate of Justice:
you splash through the sea puddles in Eden's backyard,
tracking the mud into Kingdom's kitchen,
pulling out a chair for us at the Table of Grace.
God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray as Jesus taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Stewards of all creation, we know how we have failed to live faithfully.
We lack the stamina to follow Christ through the world,
and ignore Spirit's calls for justice.
Yet, God looks into our souls and sees the delight of God's heart.
Let us join in prayer to the One
who does not disappoint us with grace and mercy . . .
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
Glory enthroned in heaven:
you call to us, but we do not listen.
We trust in the world's emptiness,
and refuse to be filled with your Word.
We boast about our successes,
but ignore the suffering of those around us.
We demand justice for all who break the law,
but do not see it as a way of life for us.
Holy God, majestic Creator:
have mercy on us and be enthroned in our hearts.
Jesus Christ, Brother of the poor:
have mercy on us and be shown in our hearts.
Spirit of Holiness, Master Worker:
have mercy on us and touch our lips so we may proclaim the Good News.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
One: Poured into our hearts, God's love gives us new life and hope.
Touched by the fingers of God, we are restored to new life.
All: This is good news!
God loves us, God God forgives us, God calls us to service.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
One: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: People of God, lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them to the Lord, our Maker.
One: People of God, give thanks to the Lord.
All: We sing our praises to God our Creator.
It is our greatest joy to praise your name,
God whom we worship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is the Word you speak to shape chaos in creation's glory;
the Spirit is the breath of life,
filling us with your hope as living waters flow through our hearts.
Even when we rebel against you,
like a mother, you gently correct our mistakes;
like a father, you stand beside us in our suffering.
Therefore, we praise your name in all the earth,
with the faithful in heaven, and our sisters and brothers here with us,
who sing of your glory, for ever and ever:
Sanctus
Holy are you, God of majesty and glory,
and blessed is your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Coming to dwell among us,
he knew our suffering firsthand;
walking the streets of the world,
he endured our pain and grief;
wholly obedient to your will,
he journeyed to Calvary;
taking on death and sin,
he brings hope to those held captive by the ways of the world.
Remembering your gracious acts in Christ,
we take this bread and this cup,
giving thanks for his life, his death, his resurrection,
even as we hope in the joy of his return.
Christ is the bread of life:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out your Spirit into our hearts
and upon these gifts of the bread and the cup, Holy God.
Nurtured at the Table by your grace, may we go forth with your Spirit,
crying out for justice at the crossroads of poverty and oppression;
standing with our sisters and brothers in the midst of their suffering,
delighting always in the good earth you have given to us to care for.
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
one with the Holy Spirit,
all glory and majesty are yours, Almighty God,
now and forever. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Tri-unity
Object: a tricycle and a three-circle Trinity symbol
(Based on Romans 8:12-17)
Today is Trinity Sunday -- a Sunday set aside to honor God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are three persons, but just one God. That may be difficult for us to understand. One way I can understand the Trinity is by looking at a tricycle. How many of you have ever ridden one of these? (Let them answer.) I see that many of you have ridden a tricycle.
Do you know where we get the name "tricycle"? (Let them answer.) It comes from two words. The first one is "tri," which is an old word meaning three -- it even sounds like the word three, doesn't it? The second word is the word "cycle." Any guesses as to what that means? (Let them answer.) It means wheel. A "tricycle" is a vehicle with three wheels!
Now, there is another word I want to share with you this morning and that is the word "Trinity." It is a word that also begins with the word "tri." Remember what "tri" means? (Let them answer.) It means three. There is a second word in the word "trinity" and that is the last part, "unity." Does anyone want to guess what "unity" means? (Let them answer.) It means "together" or "one together." If we have unity, we are all together.
What does the word "trinity" have to do with God? (Let them answer.) It means that God has three persons and yet there is but one God! It is something like a tricycle. It has three wheels, yet it is but one vehicle! (Show them the Trinity symbol.) One of these circles represents God as our Creator. What does this person of God do? (Let them answer.) When we say that God is Creator we mean that God makes all that is made. Another circle represents God the Redeemer. Who would like to tell me about this person of God? (Let them answer.) That would be Jesus. He lived on this earth; suffered, died, and rose from the dead; and went back to heaven. He is the one we read about in the New Testament. He was a real person, like you and I are real. He helps us understand God's love and forgiveness. Then there is the last circle, which represents God the Spirit. Last Sunday we celebrated this person of the Trinity. Three persons yet one God.
Dearest Triune God: Thank you for giving us understandings of yourself. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 11, 2006, issue.
Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to TIW@sermonsuite.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
A Preternaturally Gifted Triune God
by Carter Shelley
THE WORLD
In Greek mythology, Cerberus is the three-headed dog who guards the gates of hell. In some accounts Cerberus is described as a "monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and multiple snake heads on his back. Cerberus guarded the gate to Hades, the Greek underworld, and ensured that the dead could not leave and the living could not enter" (Wikipedia). I like the idea of the snakes in addition to the three heads, because it adds to the danger and creepiness of the monster. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry, Ron, and Hermione must pass a three-headed dog called "Fluffy" (affectionately named, of course, by Hagrid the Hogwarts Gamekeeper) if they are to reach the sorcerer's stone promising everlasting life to its possessor. In typical, heroic Harry Potter fashion, Harry does not want the stone for himself -- he seeks it to prevent someone evil from gaining possession of it.
It is because this Sunday is Trinity Sunday that I thought about Cerberus and Fluffy. Where the former expresses God's preternaturally gifted nature and boundless breadth, I see the latter as a mythologized expression of the multiple dangers humans face on our journey through life. We live in a dangerous world. AIDS, perhaps the most catastrophic disease the world has ever known, celebrates its 25th year as an agent of death this week, and though there are now drugs that can slow down its progress, there is no cure. War and its many heinous aspects -- terrorism, rape, torture, genocide, and hate -- continue to prosper in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Congo, and the Sudan. In Indonesia this week an earthquake killed thousands, while the good people of the Gulf Coast states, whose lives are not back to normal yet after Katrina, now must brace themselves for the beginning of a new hurricane season. Disease, war, and natural disasters are some of the very real "three-headed monsters" people face today. Yet there are also other dangers lurking like snake heads on the back of Cerberus: poverty, child slave labor, sexual abuse, hunger, mental cruelty, murder, robbery, embezzlement, hatred, greed, and political or economic domination.
Sometimes the news at home and abroad is so overwhelmingly awful that we despair of anything good, kind, loving, or redemptive ever being possible. Sometimes the news at home and abroad is so overwhelmingly awful that I am deeply grateful we are not in this enterprise by ourselves. Sometimes the news at home and abroad is so overwhelmingly awful that I am deeply grateful there is a Triune God ultimately in charge.
THE WORD
This Sunday's lectionary texts offer an encapsulated journey through the stages of faith. First, in Isaiah 6:1-8 there is conviction, followed by repentance and forgiveness. Second, in John 3:1-17 comes the opportunity for ongoing salvation offered by God, in the form of God's Son, to all who would believe and follow the Son's example. Eternal life is promised while the present life is transformed. Third, Romans 8:12-17 assures the faithful we are not alone in our service to God the Father and God the Son. The Spirit is the glue that holds us together as we strive to live the Christian life in a monstrously challenging world, in which there is much to overwhelm and defeat us were it not for our God.
Traditional Trinitarian language is "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." For the sake of greater inclusiveness, many of us now also refer to the Godhead as "Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer." This alternative Trinitarian metaphor beautifully describes God's nature in this week's primary biblical texts.
The God Isaiah encounters in the Temple is known to Isaiah instantly as both Isaiah's Creator and as Isaiah's and his people's Judge. Appearing in intimidating glory, the Lord of Hosts utters no word of judgment or punishment to Isaiah. Being in God's holy presence is enough for Isaiah to convict himself and his fellow Israelites of their sinfulness: "I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips." God then offers forgiveness. Guilt is removed and the sin blotted out. Thus redeemed, Isaiah is ready to serve: "Here am I; send me!"
John 3:1-17 opens with a dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus about Jesus' ability to perform signs, thereby revealing Jesus' righteousness as a man sent by God. Jesus redirects Nicodemus' thoughts from Jesus' person and nature to what matters most for Jesus: a change of heart and direction on the part of those seek the kingdom of God. Observing Jesus' miracles and being wowed by Jesus' teachings doesn't cut it: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. . . born of water and the Spirit." Jesus reiterates these points by repeating both again: "born from above. . . born of the Spirit." Because Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, doesn't understand, Jesus next makes the connection explicit between himself and God using the language of Daniel and the title the "Son of Man" who "descended from heaven." The phrase "so must the Son of Man be lifted up" alludes to Jesus' crucifixion, which is then followed with a promise of eternal life. After verse 15 comes the most popular verse in all of John, 3:16. In Jesus, God is doing a new thing, creating a new opportunity for humanity's life and salvation: "everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
Notice that in John 3:14-17 salvation comes not through the application of a hot coal or the sacrificing of a lamb, but through believing. Notice also that Jesus promises eternal life, but the Son does not promise that God will save us from the hardships and realities of the world in which we live. God doesn't save us from diseases, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis. God doesn't save us from our own government spying on us or from other governments who mean our nation ill. God doesn't save us from corrupt CEOs such as Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. Through believing in the love, grace, and salvation of God in Christ, we are redeemed and empowered to act as agents of redemption in the world in which we live.
The Holy Spirit's function, as outlined in Romans 8:12-17, is to make sense of our beliefs and to help us live up to them in our daily lives. The Spirit is the glue that holds the different aspects of our faith and call together. The Spirit affirms our Christian beliefs. Faith is always a leap into something that cannot tangibly be shown or proven. Faith is not fact. Faith is belief and trust without the facts. The Holy Spirit helps make faith a stronger reality than fact, but faith is not fact. The Holy Spirit also helps us control our baser human instincts and desires. It is easy for us to become debtors to the flesh -- the desire for more money, for alcohol, drugs, sex, a new car, a new spouse, the egotistic desire for recognition or power all come at a cost. Debts owed to this world have the potential to enslave us to this world. The Holy Spirit inspires us to loftier, less self-centered goals more in keeping with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The Spirit also transforms us into God's adopted children and heirs. The Holy Spirit merges with our individual spirit, strengthening us to inherit both Christ's suffering and glory. The suffering comes from the inevitable opposition we face when we challenge the ways of the world with the commission of Christ. The glory comes in being glorified with Christ. Such a feeling of exhilaration may come at times in this life, but its greatest fulfillment will be when we are "glorified with him."
CRAFTING THE MESSAGE
One might begin this sermon by exploring the fears young children often have of monsters and other things that "go bump in the night" in their imaginations. Frightful figures such as Cerberus, the hound of hell, are a part of human mythology because they offer a concrete expression of internal fears that cannot always be given a specific name or source. Yet we live in a world in which there are very real dangers and very reasonable fears of concern to Christians everywhere. I have listed some examples earlier. You and your congregation's life may offer some more.
The 8-year-old son of a friend of mine had a hard time riding in elevators, traveling to unknown places, being left alone in his room at night, riding in cars, and in experiencing almost anything new. After several visits with a child psychologist, the psychologist told the boy's parents: "There's nothing acutely wrong with your son. The fact is the fears he has are very real. If you stop and think about it, the things he's afraid of -- an elevator crashing 40 floors, something getting him in the night, car accidents and such -- are real possibilities. Everything in life is dangerous. We are surrounded by potential catastrophes all the time. The thing is, most of us don't think about all that's dangerous or life-threatening, because we would be paralyzed by fear and despair if we did. Your son is actually the one who's got it right. We live in a dangerous world. What we need to do to help him is teach him how to live in the same state of denial that the rest of us naturally adopt in order to live from day to day."
Christianity offers us a different perspective on the world. It's not the perspective of denial; it's the perspective of grace and hope and transformation. When as Christians we celebrate our Triune God, we are celebrating God's infinite possibilities, God's infinite ways of saving our world, God's infinite creative ways of saving us and using us as witnesses for God's redemption.
At this point I would discuss the different aspects of God's nature as each is expressed in the three biblical texts before briefly discussing the doctrine of the Trinity.
In many ancient religions there were multiple gods. There would be a god of the harvest, a god of war, a god of love, a god of fertility, and so on. These gods existed to meet specific needs and specific fears of the people who created these gods. Judaism offered an alternative understanding of God as One. Christianity came to understand God as one in substance yet possessing three distinct natures. In the novel and current movie version of The Da Vinci Code, the Emperor Constantine is given credit for making Jesus divine and establishing a Trinitarian concept of God. The fictional historian Teabing claims that the Council of Nicea came together in the 4th century to establish the doctrine of the trinity. Teabing also claims that Jesus had been understood to have been fully human, and not divine at all, until Constantine decided it would be good for him and good for the Roman Empire to make it so. This notion is not only heretical, it also ignores the history and writings of the first three centuries of Christianity. The purpose of Nicea was to address the Arian heresy. Arius believed Jesus was not co-equal to God the Father but one step down. Hence Jesus Christ was still superior to the rest of humanity, but he was inferior to God who created Christ as the first of all creation. It is true the Trinity is not a spelled-out doctrine of the New Testament.
The four lectionary texts for Trinity Sunday do not individually encapsulate the idea of the Trinity. God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit gets read back into these texts from the hindsight of the early Church. There is no single biblical text that explains or offers the Trinitarian formula. It takes the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. to determine how best to describe the distinctness, unity, and equality of the Godhead.
The Christian affirmation of the Trinity expresses our belief in God's mystery, creativity, majesty, and holy/wholly other-ness of nature from our own. The aspects of our "Lord of Hosts" that merit imitation by Christians are the opportunities to care for Creation, live by the Savior's teachings, and rely upon the Holy Spirit to support and inspire us in serving God as bravely and boldly as Isaiah did.
A three-headed monster, whether in mythology or in fiction, remains a pretty scary notion. A preternaturally gifted God who reaches out to us with limitless possibilities offers the possibility of us being agents of redemption in a world overburdened with fear, suffering, and hopelessness. All three aspects of God's nature are essential for us. It is a foundational belief of Christianity that the world cannot be saved by the world -- only God can save us. To serve by God's side, we need all the resources, all the support, and all the love our Triune God offers. We need God our Father/Creator, God our Brother/Redeemer, and God our Spirit/Sustainer.
ANOTHER VIEW
by Thom M. Shuman
Let's see:
* the hurricane season has started and there are neighborhoods in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama which are still littered with debris from storms from as long as two years ago;
* thousands have lost their lives, their loved ones, their homes, and their livelihoods from the earthquake in Indonesia;
* two top executives of Enron have been convicted for their roles in the fall of that corporation;
* former Vice President Al Gore has released a movie (An Inconvenient Truth) which provides a close-up look at the consequences of global warming;
* 17 people have been arrested for possible terrorism activities in Canada, a country which prides itself on diversity and tolerance;
* and this year marks the 25th "anniversary" of the discovery of the AIDS virus.
Woe is us! Woe is me! We are a people who look around and see great grief, daunting devastation, unbelievable suffering. And when we go to the sanctuaries of God, we hear God crying out, "Who can I send? Who will go?"
Send me? "I don't think so" is the response many of us who follow Jesus seem to say. Call it compassion fatigue, call it xenophobia, call it "focusing on our own before we reach out to others" -- a lot of people are talking as if we just cannot do it any more, we just are not able to serve others, we just don't have the time or energy or resources to respond to God's call.
But what makes us so different from all the other generations which preceded us? What gives us some sort of exemption, some "free pass" from having to respond with love, with hope, with reconciliation to a world that struggles to find its way? Every generation has faced tragedy, every generation has dealt with some sort of major crisis, every generation has had to decide how it would respond, not if it would.
On a cold, gray, grief-filled November Friday afternoon years ago, I walked with my family down to our Presbyterian church to hear what the preacher had to say to us, to hear what comfort the Word would offer, to hear what God might say to those of us numbed by the news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
And of all the passages he might have chosen, the preacher read from Isaiah 6: "In the year when King Uzziah died. . ."
It is in the years in which the king dies or the president's life is cut short that we see God high and lifted up before us, reminding us of who creates us and calls us.
It is in the years when the foundations of the world shake from the armies at war that the heavenly choirs sing of the One whose glorious peace waits to fill our lives.
It is in the years when people's ears are filled with the false promises of the politicians and the empty rhetoric of anger and hatred that God reaches out to touch our lips so we can speak the Good news of hope, of grace, of steadfast love for all people.
It is in the years when we seem most broken that God's healing power is poured out upon us; it is in the years when we seem most helpless that the Spirit is poured out upon us so we can help others; it is in the years when despair threatens to fill every crevice of our souls and our hearts shatter from the suffering we see before us that God makes Jesus most present in the world -- through us!
It is in these years, and every year, and this year that God most needs us to minister to the world. It is in these years, and every year, and this year that God cries out, in pain and anguish, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
Then I said. . .
ILLUSTRATIONS
"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once suggested that our nettlesome task is to bear the burden to redeem the soul of America. As the conscience of the country, we have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests."
-- The Covenant with Black America, edited by Tavis Smiley (Doubleday, 2006), p. x
Smiley related this comment in the context of an agenda for African-Americans, but could anyone better describe the task of Christians with respect to the crises that face us as a nation?
***
2 Kings 6:8-19 tells the story of Israel being surrounded by the army of Ar'am. Elisha was present, and upon seeing the huge army that surrounded them Elisha's servant cried out in panic: " 'Alas, master! What shall we do?' (Elisha) replied, 'Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.' Then Elisha prayed: 'O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.' So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (vv. 15b-17). Far too often we are so intent on seeing the magnitude of the problem challenging us that we fail to see the power of God that is working for us.
***
Socrates had it wrong; it is not the unexamined but finally the uncommitted life that is not worth living. Descartes too was mistaken; Cogito ergo sum -- "I think therefore I am"? Nonsense. Amo ergo sum -- "I love therefore I am." Or, as with unconscious eloquence St. Paul wrote, "Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love." I believe that. I believe it is better not to live than not to love.
-- William Sloane Coffin, Credo (Westminster John Knox, 2004), p. 5
***
Of God's love we can say two things: it is poured out universally for everyone from the Pope to the loneliest wino on the planet; and secondly, God's love doesn't seek value, it creates value. It is not because we have value that we are loved, but because we are loved that we have value. Our value is a gift, not an achievement.
-- William Sloane Coffin, Credo (Westminster John Knox, 2004), p. 6
***
I have to admit that I have never seen any seraphim in any sanctuary where I have ever worshiped. But I have seen a little girl cover her face to keep from laughing when I "stepped into" the hem of my robe and almost fell on my face. And I remember the little boy, with his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth in deep concentration, as he found his shoelace of far more wonder than the children's sermon I was doing. And there are always a couple of kids "flying around" the fellowship hall after worship, careening off older folks like pinballs.
And every time, I heard the refrain "the whole earth is full of God's glory."
***
without you,
Weaver of willows,
Spinner of sunrises,
i would have no place
to put my foot:
stumbling face-first
into the mud puddles
of my mistakes;
without you,
Retriever of the fallen,
Mediator of the sin-splattered,
i would have no place
to put my soul:
adrift on the stormy seas
of seduction,
at the mercy of
bedlam's blows;
without you,
Whisperer of wisdom,
gift-bearing Dove,
i would have no place to put my heart:
watching it shrivel
in despair's
bitter grasp;
in you
i find my place,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
Blessed Trinity:
in you . . .
***
Three women
at a table
hold the world.
One gets up
to stir the stars,
one makes the fire,
another blows on it
to keep it going,
and still they have time for play,
three women hunched over a cup,
hands open in invitation
as the table tilts
in Rublev's icon,
three angels
with the same face.
My mother is the tree trunk I climb,
my grandmother's hands
kneading bread
make the table shake.
Tell me the story
of three hungry angels
who appeared one day at Abraham's tent,
to make Sarah work
and laugh.
-- Kathleen Norris, "Kitchen Trinity"
***
Preachers tie themselves into knots trying to explain what all this means. Some explain that the Trinity is like a three-leaf clover. Others point to H20 in its three incarnations as water, ice, and steam. One Trinity Sunday I found a lumpy envelope on the hood of my car. Inside was a Three Musketeers candy bar with a note that read, "All for one and one for three! Happy Trinity!" All I know for sure is that if human beings are created in the image of God, then a) God is wonderfully diverse, and b) we are more alike than we think.
Meanwhile, I do not know why we hold ourselves responsible for explaining things that cannot be explained. Perhaps the most faithful sermon on the Trinity is one that sniffs around the edges of the mystery, hunting for something closer to an experience than an understanding. What, for instance, is the sound of three hands clapping?
-- Barbara Brown Taylor
***
It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behavior. Even on children. . . even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.
Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself, judgmentalism is back!
But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow, but the church got busy on this -- the leprosy of our age.
Love was on the move.
Mercy was on the move.
God was on the move.
Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet. . . conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS. . . soccer moms and quarterbacks. . . hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!
Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!
Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!
Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.
It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.
When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened -- and acted. When churches starting organizing, petitioning, and even -- that most unholy of acts today, God forbid -- lobbying. . . on AIDS and global health, governments listened -- and acted.
I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.
-- Rock singer Bono, in a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., February 2, 2006
***
Garrison Keillor, modern American prophet from the radio show A Prairie Home Companion, said of love: "We should not think that we have figured this out, because it is not a problem, it's a mystery and always will be."
"It is not a problem, it's a mystery and always will be." Doesn't that offend you just a little -- the suggestion that there are those things in life we have not, and furthermore, will not ever, figure out? Now that we've become so advanced that we can put fax machines in cars and can send ourselves messages back from Venus, we are not really open to the suggestion that there are those things that always have been and always will be mysteries to us. We assume that our only limitations are time and energy, and, given enough of the two, there is really nothing we can't ultimately know.
So when we come to a doctrinal matter like the Trinity, the temptation is to want one neat analogy that will make it all clear, one concise statement on the Trinity that will settle it for us and allow us to move on to the next problem. Well, I hate to disappoint you so early in my sermon today, but if that is what you are expecting I suggest that you join those of your friends who are already daydreaming this time away. You see, it's just not all that easy. It's not so simple to describe the Trinity in any meaningful way. The Trinity just isn't one of things we can settle in short order.
Maybe if we can't figure out the Trinity in these few brief minutes (and, given that the church in 2,000 years hasn't been able to get it straight, it's a fairly safe bet we won't have the last word on it today), if we can't settle the issue today, maybe we can at least try to point to what the doctrine of the Trinity is attempting to say about God and how we experience God.
-- James C. Leach, Sermon: "Naming God," in Pulpit Digest, January/February 1991, p. 55
***
One plus one plus one equals one. That is simply not reasonable. But then, the reality this day celebrates, the Triune God, is hardly reasonable. That is to say, the truth conveyed by the doctrine of the trinity is itself a mystery. It is an attempt to convey through the use of reason a truth that is beyond reason. That is how theologians use the term "mystery." A mystery is not something contrary to reason, but something above or beyond reason, knowable only to the extent that the mystery is revealed to us. In today's post-modern world, with the Age of Reason in eclipse, the concept of mystery once again has validity in and of itself. We know all sorts of things to be beyond reason, though we sometimes try to conjure reasons for them, if only to make ourselves feel more in control of the world around us. But not everything in the world is reasonable. That is not to demean reason. Reason is a most valuable tool, in its place. Don't try to build a bridge or a building without it! But today, we are learning that there is much in life which is neither reasonable, nor gives way to its science. What, after all, is reasonable about beauty, love, or life, for that matter? All are mysteries. Though each has reasonable elements within them, and is frequently quite predictable, still, there is something which is of the essence of the thing in question which transcends rationality. If you don't believe it, try and reason with someone who has just -- how do we say it -- "fallen in love."
-- Fred R. Anderson, "1+1+1=1," a sermon preached in Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City, June 2, 1996
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
One: God, who created the fields of Eden,
takes delight in all things, including us!
All: God of glory, God of grace,
your name is exalted in all the earth!
One: Christ, who walked the streets of our world,
gives hope to all people, including us!
All: God of glory, God of grace,
your Son is Savior of all the earth!
One: God's Spirit, who lives in our hearts,
bears truth and peace to all, including us!
All: God of glory, God of grace,
your love surrounds our every moment!
Prayer of the Day
Holy God,
seated high above creations,
painting everything with goodness,
you reach out to heal us with the touch of your fingertips,
so we may sing with one voice:
"Glory!"
Jesus Christ, Gateway to Grace:
when, in the middle of the night
we come asking our endless questions,
you do not grumble about losing sleep,
but hold our hands,
gently responding to our hearts' deepest yearnings,
until we simply believe.
Witnessing Spirit, Playmate of Justice:
you splash through the sea puddles in Eden's backyard,
tracking the mud into Kingdom's kitchen,
pulling out a chair for us at the Table of Grace.
God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray as Jesus taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Stewards of all creation, we know how we have failed to live faithfully.
We lack the stamina to follow Christ through the world,
and ignore Spirit's calls for justice.
Yet, God looks into our souls and sees the delight of God's heart.
Let us join in prayer to the One
who does not disappoint us with grace and mercy . . .
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
Glory enthroned in heaven:
you call to us, but we do not listen.
We trust in the world's emptiness,
and refuse to be filled with your Word.
We boast about our successes,
but ignore the suffering of those around us.
We demand justice for all who break the law,
but do not see it as a way of life for us.
Holy God, majestic Creator:
have mercy on us and be enthroned in our hearts.
Jesus Christ, Brother of the poor:
have mercy on us and be shown in our hearts.
Spirit of Holiness, Master Worker:
have mercy on us and touch our lips so we may proclaim the Good News.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
One: Poured into our hearts, God's love gives us new life and hope.
Touched by the fingers of God, we are restored to new life.
All: This is good news!
God loves us, God God forgives us, God calls us to service.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
One: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: People of God, lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them to the Lord, our Maker.
One: People of God, give thanks to the Lord.
All: We sing our praises to God our Creator.
It is our greatest joy to praise your name,
God whom we worship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is the Word you speak to shape chaos in creation's glory;
the Spirit is the breath of life,
filling us with your hope as living waters flow through our hearts.
Even when we rebel against you,
like a mother, you gently correct our mistakes;
like a father, you stand beside us in our suffering.
Therefore, we praise your name in all the earth,
with the faithful in heaven, and our sisters and brothers here with us,
who sing of your glory, for ever and ever:
Sanctus
Holy are you, God of majesty and glory,
and blessed is your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Coming to dwell among us,
he knew our suffering firsthand;
walking the streets of the world,
he endured our pain and grief;
wholly obedient to your will,
he journeyed to Calvary;
taking on death and sin,
he brings hope to those held captive by the ways of the world.
Remembering your gracious acts in Christ,
we take this bread and this cup,
giving thanks for his life, his death, his resurrection,
even as we hope in the joy of his return.
Christ is the bread of life:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out your Spirit into our hearts
and upon these gifts of the bread and the cup, Holy God.
Nurtured at the Table by your grace, may we go forth with your Spirit,
crying out for justice at the crossroads of poverty and oppression;
standing with our sisters and brothers in the midst of their suffering,
delighting always in the good earth you have given to us to care for.
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
one with the Holy Spirit,
all glory and majesty are yours, Almighty God,
now and forever. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Tri-unity
Object: a tricycle and a three-circle Trinity symbol
(Based on Romans 8:12-17)
Today is Trinity Sunday -- a Sunday set aside to honor God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are three persons, but just one God. That may be difficult for us to understand. One way I can understand the Trinity is by looking at a tricycle. How many of you have ever ridden one of these? (Let them answer.) I see that many of you have ridden a tricycle.
Do you know where we get the name "tricycle"? (Let them answer.) It comes from two words. The first one is "tri," which is an old word meaning three -- it even sounds like the word three, doesn't it? The second word is the word "cycle." Any guesses as to what that means? (Let them answer.) It means wheel. A "tricycle" is a vehicle with three wheels!
Now, there is another word I want to share with you this morning and that is the word "Trinity." It is a word that also begins with the word "tri." Remember what "tri" means? (Let them answer.) It means three. There is a second word in the word "trinity" and that is the last part, "unity." Does anyone want to guess what "unity" means? (Let them answer.) It means "together" or "one together." If we have unity, we are all together.
What does the word "trinity" have to do with God? (Let them answer.) It means that God has three persons and yet there is but one God! It is something like a tricycle. It has three wheels, yet it is but one vehicle! (Show them the Trinity symbol.) One of these circles represents God as our Creator. What does this person of God do? (Let them answer.) When we say that God is Creator we mean that God makes all that is made. Another circle represents God the Redeemer. Who would like to tell me about this person of God? (Let them answer.) That would be Jesus. He lived on this earth; suffered, died, and rose from the dead; and went back to heaven. He is the one we read about in the New Testament. He was a real person, like you and I are real. He helps us understand God's love and forgiveness. Then there is the last circle, which represents God the Spirit. Last Sunday we celebrated this person of the Trinity. Three persons yet one God.
Dearest Triune God: Thank you for giving us understandings of yourself. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, June 11, 2006, issue.
Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to TIW@sermonsuite.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
