Year C

John 16:12-15

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Triune Life of God

When you observe the vastness of the night sky you cannot help but wonder with the psalmist, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them”? If simply looking up at the sky was not enough to cause you to wonder, the reality about the place of humans in the universe is certain to leave us with the feeling that human life does not count for much in the broad scheme of things. After all, humans are living on a small planet in a universe so vast that when we look out with our telescopes and modern equipment to what we think are the edges of the universe, we are actually looking back in time billions of years. What would make us think that we matter at all?

Today, on this Trinity Sunday, when we celebrate the one God in three, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the texts are but a small selection of scripture texts that demonstrate God’s great love and concern not only for human beings but also for the planet we inhabit. Proverbs tells us that God rejoiced in his inhabited world and delighted in the human race. Yet, the universe did not come into being by blind chance as some would have us believe. It is the work of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we read of this work in the beginning of the book of Genesis where God is present in the beginning with the Word – Jesus, and the Spirit, working in perfect unity out of love to give form to what was formless. And if that wasn’t enough, the Triune God then created human beings, created them in the image of the Triune God, and invited them to share in the life of God.

Unfortunately, we humans have chosen to listen to the voice of the deceiver and abuse the creation that was lovingly created and given into their care. However, God does not abandon God’s work. Out of great love for humanity and creation, God chose to become part of the creation in his Son, Jesus, in order to restore it back to God. Because of Jesus and the sacrifice he made on the cross, we are once again invited to share in the life of God through the Holy Spirit who now lives in those who believe and who fills them with the truth of the love of God. This life of God is no more evident than in the gospel today.

It plainly address this love relationship between the Father who is said to have all that belongs to the Son, and the Son who is said to have all that belongs to the Father, and the Spirit (of truth) who takes what belongs to the Son and declares it to the disciples. The Spirit of God declares and guides us into the truth of the life of God. Yet, this sharing is gradual. Have you ever been stumbling around in your house in the dark when suddenly someone turns the lights on? Your eyes, accustomed to the darkness, struggle in flutters against the light. Truth is like that too. Too much light too soon would be overwhelming just as if God were to enlighten us all at once. This guiding by the Spirit is a process we call a spiritual journey. It is a journey we are on our whole lives.    

In our spiritual journey, we grow in our knowledge of God as the Holy Spirit gradually teaches us God’s truth about the Bible, prayer, evangelism, holiness, love and so much more. When we study the New Testament, we can follow the Spirits teaching ministry in the lives of the apostles, Paul and others. And God the Holy Spirit teaches us that we are children of God’s promises through our baptism into Christ. Paul assures us of the promise of God’s love being poured into our lives in his letter to the Romans, when he writes that God’s promises are fulfilled though Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection, as well as through the Holy Spirit.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to teach us again and again the things of Jesus and our job is to keep on learning and growing into the life of the Triune God. Albert Schweitzer, in his book The Quest for the Historical Jesus, writes about our relationship with Christ, he writes, “He comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old by the lakeside he came to those men who knew him not. He speaks to us the same word, “Follow me,” and sets us to tasks which he has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey, whether they be wise or simple, he will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the suffering which they shall pass through in his fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience who he is.”

We are all in the school of the Holy Spirit and we will never graduate as we learn and relearn the ways of God in Christ Jesus. For the Spirit of truth that lives in each of us will guide us into all truth and is our connection to the Trinity. Therefore, on this Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the one God; God the Father who loves us and keeps us safe in his life, God the Son who loves us and laid down his life for us, and God the Holy Spirit who loves us, helps us and keeps us connected to the Father and the Son. The Spirit literally breathes into us our being as the Spirit did in the beginning and we produce a multitude of lovely fruits, such as love, joy, and peace. May this truth be a constant source of comfort and guidance to us. And may we accept the challenge today: to bring forth these realities in our lives and in our world.