The Difference of Three in One
Year A, Pentecost Sunday • Sermon • Submitted
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What difference does it make?
What difference does it make?
Today is Trinity Sunday. It is the Sunday in which we celebrate the doctrine of God as Three Persons-God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is a doctrine that most of us believe but if I wonder how many of you could explain how God can exist as three person but still be one God. This happened to Debbie Thomas. A young man peaked over her fence who was Jewish asked her a very deep theological question. The conversation went something like this.
You are Christian right?
Born and raised.
Why do Christians believe in three gods?
We don’t. Actually, we believe in the same God you do. Just differently.”
No I mean, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost thing. That’s Christian, isn’t it? I don’t get it?”
Debbie tried to use several analogies to explain this deep theological question. God exist like water—liquid, solid and gas. Or God is like an egg, there is the shell, the eggwhite and the yolk. Or a three leaf clove, or a tree. The tree requires roots, a trunk and branches to grow but the three parts make up one tree. Or how about a triangle. It requires three sides by definition.
The look of bewilderment and confusion on his face indicated that he was not convinced by her answers. He offered a slight pause while he thought about the idea. Then he blurted out the inevitable.
What’s the point of believing in three gods? Why three? What difference does it make?
How many of you would like to offer Debbie some advice on the subject.
How many of you could provide an adequate answer to that young man?
I offer this sermon in hopes that you glean some ideas the next time you interact a Jehovah Witness or Mormon or a member of another sect that does not believe in the Trinity.
Before I begin I must offer some preliminaries. You will not find the word Trinity in any Hebrew or Greek text. The concept of the three in one was developed during the 2nd AD and crystalized with the Nicene Creed. It developed in response to teaching that the Father and the Son were not of the same essence but two distinct persons. With the confirmation of the Nicene Creed, this view was declared heretical.
Since I have just condensed almost 300 yrs of theological reflection into a few sentences, some of you may have some questions. If you would like to explore that further I would be delighted to meet you for coffee.
Begin at the Beginning
Begin at the Beginning
With a subject so vast and complex I struggle to know where to begin. A Franciscan priest writes that when trying to understand the Trinity
Do not start with the one and try to make Three. Start with the Three and make One.
https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=1785
No sooner do I conceive of the one than I am illumined by the splendor of the three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one. When I think of anyone of the three I think of him as the whole, and my eyes are filled, and the greater part of what I am thinking escapes me.
Gregory Nazianzen, Orations 40.41, as quoted by Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity, 378
While that is a truly beautiful and profound quote upon which to meditate, it does not solve the perplexing questions of the Godhead.
Scriptural Affirmation
Scriptural Affirmation
Several years ago an interesting book was published that tried to open the church’s stagnant view of God. I enjoyed reading the book. It presented a large black woman who was outgoing, warm hearted and kind as God the Father. An Asian woman who wore bright clothes and darted in and out of rooms in a Tinker-bell manner for the person of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a handyman dressed in jeans, flannel shirt and toolbelt. Each had special qualities and roles to play.
It was a great book that was marred by its underlying heresy. God does not exist as three persons but, as one. The Christian church has never authorized a creed that has said anything different.
Scriptural Affirmation
Scriptural Affirmation
A Franciscan priest writes that when trying to understand the Trinity do not start with the one and try to make Three. Start with the Three and make One.
https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=1785
Our understanding of the Trinity—God as three persons—was not created by breaded pipe smoking theologian on a cold wintry night. It is based upon the activity of God throughout history.
The opening verse from Genesis captures the first activity of God.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Later God would choose a nation that would be a blessing to all other nations
“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
God goes by many names throughout the book of Genesis—Elohim, Yahweh, El-Shaddai, Adonai. Each name represent a particular character of God. One name that is absent is “Father.” Israel never formally called God Father. That does not mean that they did not consider him there Father.
But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
or Israel acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
This changed with the come of Jesus. The writers of the Gospel accounts were quick to describe the God who was present and involved in the birth, life and death of Jesus, Father. The Holy Spirit even becomes involved in his baptism.
This changed with the come of Jesus. The writers of the Gospel accounts were quick to describe the God who was present and involved in the birth, life and death of Jesus, Father. The Holy Spirit even becomes involved in his baptism.
and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened
Throughout his ministry Jesus refers to God by one name only “Father.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
Je
As his death was approaching, Jesus told them that he would ask the Father to send them the Spirit who would come along side them to give them strength and the words to say in defense against their accusers.
John
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
https://chuckwarnockblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/sermon-what-is-the-trinity-and-why-should-we-care/
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
In our morning Scripture lesson we see all three persons of the Godhead at work. Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless a person is born both of water and Spirit then will not see the kingdom of God. They passage also gives us a fantastic description of the function of the God and his son.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
john 3:
In the Book of Revelation, God the Father, Son, and Spirit are all present, each featured in a way that is both consistent with the Old Testament, witnesses to the New Testament, and brings fully into being the Kingdom of God in its closing chapters.
This has been a rather brief presentation of the activity of each person of the Godhead. So why do Christians adhere to the belief in one God
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
https://chuckwarnockblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/sermon-what-is-the-trinity-and-why-should-we-care/
This is the importance of the Trinity. It holds all three persons—Father, Son, and Spirit—under One umbrella.
What difference does it make?
I have tried to do just that. I have described how each person of the Godhead was involve in the history of God people.
https://www.journeywithjesus.net/lectionary-essays/current-essay?id=1785
I have tried to do just that. I have described how each person of the Godhead was involve in the history of God people.
There are two important facts from this review of Scripture. First we will not find a concise state that identifies God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. However, since all three are mentioned with divine roles we may conclude that they are equal person.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Dt6:4
What difference does it make?
What difference does it make?
Two
The God of the Shack
The God of the Shack
The God of the Shack
Several years ago an interesting book was published that tried to open the church’s stagnant view of God. I enjoyed reading the book. It presented a large black woman who was outgoing, warm hearted and kind as God the Father. An Asian woman who wore bright clothes and darted in and out of rooms in a Tinker-bell manner for the person of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a handyman dressed in jeans, flannel shirt and toolbelt. Each had special qualities and roles to play.
It was a great book that was marred by its underlying heresy. God does not exist as three persons but, as one. The Christian church has never authorized a creed that has said anything different.
What difference does it make?
What difference does it make?
First without a proper understanding of the Trinity we can misinterpret the activity of God in the world. Charismatic prophets come and go. They raise up a small contingent of loyal followers who support their ministry. They make bold predictions about the end times. More often than not they have a distorted view of the Godhead and since their message is built on sand these self appointed prophets self destruct leaving huge debt, broken promises and disenchanted ex-followers.
Secondly we learn from the Trinity the nature of community.
As God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit relate to one another, demonstrate love for each other, and work in concert to accomplish the purpose of God in the world, we get the idea of community.
https://chuckwarnockblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/sermon-what-is-the-trinity-and-why-should-we-care/
The third reason that we must preserve this profound truth is to keep our mission ever before us.
“As the Father has sent me, so send I you.”
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
john 20
Just as God the Father sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world to do the Father’s work, equipped and accompanied by the Spirit of God.
Just as God the Father sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world to do the Father’s work, equipped and accompanied by the Spirit of God.
God’s work involves more than taking individuals to heaven when they die. God’s work is to bring in his kingdom on this earth, so that God’s creation can know the shalom of God — the peace that says all things are as God has intended them to be.
So, God sends Jesus to bring the shalom of God — also called salvation — to the nation of Israel and to all who will respond, whether Jew or not. Which is why Jesus teaches his disciples to pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The Father and Son then send the Spirit who equips, empowers, and emboldens the early apostles as well as us today.
And, salvation itself — the idea that we are right with God — proceeds from God, is incarnate in Jesus, and is made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever work we have to do in this world, we do from the standpoint of the Triune God — Father, Son and Spirit — who created, redeemed, and enabled us to do so.
Three in One
Three in One
Personally, I believe that an ancient spiritual doctor of the church explains it most eloquently.
No sooner do I conceive of the one than I am illumined by the splendor of the three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one. When I think of anyone of the three I think of him as the whole, and my eyes are filled, and the greater part of what I am thinking escapes me.
Gregory Nazianzen, Orations 40.41, as quoted by Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity, 378
While that is a truly beautiful and profound quote upon which to meditate, it does not solve the perplexing questions of the Godhead.