The first course that I took when I started my undergraduate degree was introduction to social work and there was much information about social systems theories. That was years ago, and I’ve forgotten many of the finer points of the theories, but what remains in my memory are diagrams with circles, overlapping circles of individuals and groups representing how we all intersect with each other. Being a visual thinker, I tried to create the image I had in my mind of this, so I created a very simplistic diagram to share--simplistic because my computer skills have obvious limitations!
People, while individuals, don’t live in isolation. Many aspects of our lives interact, overlap and impact others in multiple ways. Think about that for a minute—it makes sense! You come from a family you interact with your family members. If you are married, you have interactions with your spouse, your spouse`s family, your children, your grandchildren, and these all interact with each other too, so multiple overlapping connections. And then you are a part of other social circles, like church, various friends and maybe a service club or two. So, we move in multiple circles or social systems. The circles are a way to show relationships that we have with others, and where the circles overlap, is where the relationships overlap. For example, you, your sister and your friend from school and your friend from church overlap with each other. You are in relationship with each other. You are part of many social systems. So, you’re probably by now asking yourself: ‘What is the purpose of all this drivel?’
Well, look at this diagram of the Trinity—and the similarities with the other diagram. This is a very commonly seen image of the Holy Trinity. When humanity tries to grasp a concept that is challenging to the intellectual mind, we often try to find visual constructs to help us understand. It is a helpful way of getting a sense of the doctrine of the Trinity, one God, yet in three aspects, sometimes referred to as the three persons of God. It truly is one of those very difficult theological conundrums that is nigh on impossible for us to fully wrap our intellects around. This image of the Godhead, of course, is not perfect, how could we as humans come up with a perfect image of God?! Yet on Sundays most Christians say the Apostle’s Creed; we regularly say that we believe in One God, the Father, the Almighty, ... and we believe in the one Lord Jesus Christ, son of God... and we believe in the Holy Spirit. Meaning that as Christians we believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are manifestations of the One God, although if asked to explain how it can actually work, we’d be hard pressed to do so! The Trinity is one of those beliefs that over time, if you really spend any time considering this at all, you do get a sense of it -- kind of within yourself, in your heart, your soul, but to rationally explain it—well according to one commentator: we shouldn’t feel bad about it if we don’t really ‘get’ it completely, or are not able to explain it, because the church fought about it for over a century before they came up with an agreed upon Doctrine of the Trinity.[1] I also recall reading somewhere that preachers who try preaching on the Trinity are just asking for trouble, because it is such a challenging concept. Plus there is no explicit doctrine of the Trinity In the bible per se; this was developed by the church years later, after decades of many scholars diligently working on trying to figure out and explain how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are actually one God!
This particular image appeals to me in that it shows the interrelatedness between the three aspects or personas of God, who all together are God, they are within themselves a ‘social system’. It kind of shows that there is an ever flowing relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who together are the fullness of God. They are by their very nature relational, and invite us into that relationship with them.
And God wants nothing more than for us to be in relationship with God. How do we know that? Just even the briefest look at the bible, shows us a book full of writings by many people’s experiences with God over thousands of years, how God affected them and their lives. Over and over God calls God’s people back into relationship with God. God gave Moses the laws to guide the people to live in God’s holy ways, so they truly could be God’s holy people. However over the centuries people fell away from living in God’s ways, changing and adapting the laws to suit themselves. So what did God do? God sent prophets to bring God’s word to the people, reminding them to return to God’s way. And people still didn’t fully turn to be with God, to live God’s ways. So God became incarnate, became human and walked among God’s people as the person of Jesus to once again show us, to teach us—this time literally in person! And when Jesus left the earth, he sent the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Comforter so that we would not feel lost without him; so we would not be without God’s presence.
Our reading from Paul today alludes to the Trinitarian aspect of God and the relationship between them. And it is through our faith in God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit we are drawn into that relationship -- with all three aspects of God. Typical of Paul’s writing, it can be difficult to understand, especially in the NRSV, the version of the bible we read in church. So let’s now hear this same passage in a modern translation:
By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. 2 Christ has also introduced us to God's gift of undeserved grace on which we now take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. 3 But that's not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. 4 And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope 5 that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with (God’s) love. (Rom 5: 1-5 CEV)
You can see in there the foundations of a Trinitarian theology bubbling up here, the relationship of the personas of God, and the reassurance that we invited into that relationship.
The scripture from John’s gospel has Jesus describing to the apostles about the Holy Spirit which was to come to help them understand the truth.—for John the truth was the understanding of Jesus as the Son of God. John says the Spirit speaks Jesus words to them, and that all that Jesus has is from the Father. Again we see the close relationship between the three aspects, the three persons of God, and how we, in faith, are invited into that relationship.
God wants to be in relationship with us; it is why we were created. We will have trials in our lives, yes. But God is with us, that is the hope we carry within us. We are never abandoned by God, by the Father who created us, the son who walks alongside us, especially in those challenging times of our lives. And we live empowered by the Spirit of God, filling us with God’s grace to live as God’s people.
Our belief, our faith in our Creator’s love for us is the very grace of God. We have within us God’s peace because of what Jesus, God’s son, came to earth to do for us. Even in death is life. And the wondrous creative Holy Spirit, the activating presence of God fills our hearts with God’s love. We are loved by God in all three aspects, all three personas—the creative force, our Father-Mother God, Jesus the Son, God incarnate, the saving presence of God, and the Holy Spirit, the activating, enervating force of God. We are in relationship with all three, because it is what we were truly created for!
Why does God do this, why does God even bother with humanity with thousands of years of history of us turning away from God and living lives according to our own wills and desires?
Well, because “God so loved the world....”
And, you know-- that’s a lot of love!
Amen
[1]David Lose: Dear Working Preacher column: http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3254 ACCESSSED May 22, 2018