John’s Gospel is a “tough gospel” to preach on… Holy Trinity is a “tough celebration” in the life of the church to rap your head around…it is after all, “a doctrine” of the church.
In John, Jesus is talking about “when the Spirit comes.” It is still “anticipated,” it is “longed for”…but “has not yet come…”
Somewhere in our heads “today” we are to be thinking, God our Heavenly Father, Jesus his son and the spirit that is yet to come…We are supposed to “make the leap” and come up with “Trinity.” Ta Dah!
It has been said that the Early Christian Writings possessed a “triadic” understanding of God. Which is a scholarly way of saying “three,” they saw God in three persons.
Now as you well know, “Trinity” is never mentioned in the scriptures. It is “OUR perception” of “the various ways” that we “encounter” or “know” our God.
We know him as Father, Son and as Holy Spirit. The “top dog” the “kid-JC” and “his presence with us” even now…
But, and this is a very important BUT we “are not limited to only those three ways”…of knowing or encountering or acknowledging God.
People encounter God in art, in music, in the birth of a child, in the beauty of creation itself…in a sunrise or in a sunset…in a leaf…and in a kazillion other ways…For many, God is simply their “higher power” … or their “highest good!” Or maybe even, “the first cause”…the great “I AM.”
I am “no one” to condemn what others “believe” and neither are you! Their beliefs are, well, “their beliefs…”
I am quite aware of a survey done by Baylor University Sociologists. Their concern was about “HOW” Americans view their God.
What they found from their rather “extensive research” was that while ninety-five percent of Americans believe in God…they “may not worship regularly” or “at all,” but in their heart of hearts, they do believe in “God.” We Americans also have “vastly different conceptions” of “the divine” and “the role that God plays” in our “daily lives.” And that’s ok.
The “good news” from this research is that for all the attention paid to the “radical few” who would “burn Qurans” or “disrupt military funerals” with “anti-gay hatred,” there is “a powerful force for civility” at the core of nearly “all Americans’ faith life” – that being, “love sweet love.”
Besides God being “a God of love,” their research indicated that “we view God” quite differently…even as Americans…
There is…“The Authoritative God” – God is like “a literal father,” both “engaged” as a “positive force in the world” and a “judge of the behaviors of humankind”. “Suffering” they went on to say, can be the result of “social and individual sins.”
Then, there was…“The Benevolent God” – God is mainly “a force for good” in the world, “a being” who “answers the prayers” of individuals and “comforts all the suffering.”
But the study did not stop there…God was also viewed as being…“A Critical God” – God is “less likely” to be concerned with “moments in the lives of individuals”, but will “mete out judgments” in the next life. This is a “popular image” especially among “the poor and the oppressed,” the authors stated.
Then finally there is…“The Distant God” – God is “a cosmic force” that sets “the laws of nature” in motion, but “does not get involved” in the day-to-day events or cares. God is remote. Uninvolved…
Find out a person’s “image of God,” the authors said, and you can tell “far more” about that person than knowing “the individual’s religious group” or “the house of worship” he or she attends.
And then there is that “crazy little thing called love…” Eighty-five percent of Americans say that the term “loving” describes God well. 85 % of us believe our God is a loving God, and that is a GOOD THING! This “overwhelming appreciation” of God’s love cannot be underestimated.
The survey did not deal with the Trinity or the Triune God per se or care about OUR Trinitarian Creeds…Its concern … was “God and God alone,” now we know there is a lot of divergence…we all do not agree and that is ok…But for you, yourself on this weekend when the Holy Trinity is celebrated, how do you “view YOUR GOD?”
Is he (or she) Authoritative or Benevolent? Is your God Critical or Distant…and to what extent? Personally, I like to keep things simple. I know what works for me and you know what works for you.
My God is a God of love…and that would include (for me) Father, Son and Holy Spirit. My God is an awesome God and I hope yours is, as well.
Amen.