Lectionary for Trinity Sunday
Jesus said: ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me; remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ Matthew 28:18, 20
Collect. Almighty and eternal God, you have revealed yourself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Enable us to live by the Spirit, that, walking with Christ and rejoicing in your fatherly love, we may become partakers of the mystery of your divine being; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, three persons in one indivisible God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13. The Corinthian church seems to have been one of the most spiritually gifted churches in the New Testament. At the same time it seems also to have been one of the most wayward of all the churches. Thus as Paul writes his final section his thoughts turn to the good ordering of the church in Corinth. Much of the letter has been addressed to the leadership of the church, but now he deliberately addresses each member with the request to “put things in order!” Despite the many differences they are to live in peace and harmony with each other. No matter how divided, no matter how estranged they were from one another, their first duty was to Jesus Christ, the one who had redeemed them and called them into being the church at Corinth. Christ has made them new and as new people they had to put differences aside. As they lived and worshipped together in harmony the love and peace of God would surround them. Paul would not suggest that because they were in harmony the love and peace of God would come but rather once they stopped their squabbles they would recognise the love and peace that God continually provided. Enfolded in this love and peace they were linked in relationship with all other Christian leaders and congregations, one great family together under God. Jesus calls us all to be disciplined enough to allow differences to be overcome in order that we as Christian congregations live in loving harmony.
Following his request, as an epilogue, Paul writes this amazing benediction which has blessed not only the Corinthians but the whole Christian Church down through the centuries. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you”.
It is of course a fitting reading to reflect on as we celebrate Trinity Sunday yet more than that, this cluster of phrases remind us of the all encompassing love of God which surrounds each Christian. Furthermore it is this love which is so complete that it allows and at the same time compels us to live together in love and harmony regardless of differences.
Prayer. You Holy Spirit are the true source of harmony and love among all believers; so today we pray for your coming among us day by day, bringing that change of heart and mind which allows for all to work together in agreement. Though we may be different, help us each to recognise that it is by your grace that any of us are included in God’s family. So help us to rejoice in the privilege, rather than debate the differences. Help us to recognise more and more that truth, honour and glory belong to you. We pray through Jesus Christ the only Saviour. Amen.
Reading. Matthew 28:16-20. Many words have been used unpacking this reading, often referred to as “The Great Commission”. Today as it is the Gospel reading for Trinity Sunday let us pay some attention to the Trinitarian aspect of the reading, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Because Matthew records the words that Jesus used this helps us recognise that from the very beginning the Christian Church has regarded the Trinity as the accepted way towards belief in God. Some have argued that because the word “Trinity” does not occur in the bible we should not use or consider this formula. However everyone who believes that the bible is the word of God can clearly read that the description of God falls within these three eternal persons. In the first chapter of Genesis we read that God was the Creator, the Father of all that is. Directly involved in this creation was the Sprit of God brooding over the formless darkness anticipating the coming creation.
We read that God spoke the word and it came into being. John in his opening chapter reminds us that God’s Word was Jesus and as the Son, Jesus was also directly involved in the creation of all things. (Colossians 1:15) Thus at the very beginning of our scriptures a description of God as Trinity is already in place. Scattered through both the Old and the New Testaments we find reference to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is with this Trinitarian formula that Christians have traditionally been baptised as this was the stated direction of Jesus.
The New Testament makes it perfectly clear that God is one. The God whom the Christian church believes in is the God spoken of in the Old Testament. We do not worship several gods. As Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, “there is no God but one”. (1 Corinth 8:4) Christianity is essentially faith in a monotheistic God. This God is the creator of all that is and also a God who reaches out to humankind in order to reconcile them to himself, through a New Covenant. (2 Corinth 5:19)
The passage we are reading today confirms that God is one and yet Jesus names three persons within that oneness. God comes to us as three persons which is for us most important. It is because God is three persons that we can even begin to relate to God in a personal way. Without the relationship within the Trinity God would be obscured in mystery.
John says in the opening of his Gospel that the Word of God who was with God and in God was also God. We recognise the Word as being no other than Jesus. Then John goes on to say that the Word became flesh, that is to say Jesus became a human being. It is because Jesus became a human being that we can even begin to have some knowledge of God. In Jesus, God and humanity became coupled together and we as human beings could see, hear, and understand something of God’s essence and nature. That is why John in his first letter names Jesus as the Word of life. (1 John 1:1) Jesus came, we can know him and by knowing him we can receive true life.
Jesus came from the Father, revealing himself to humanity so that we could love him and also be loved by the Father. (John 14) The Holy Spirit comes to us from the Father and the Son so that we can know more of the truth about Jesus. God gives us faith in order to believe and it is the Holy Spirit who is with us who helps and guides us in that faith.
The authority we have to go out on mission comes from Jesus and the ability to be effective as missionaries comes from the equipping of the Holy Spirit. Recognising the Trinity is more than trying to understand a doctrine it is recognising the very nature of the God whom we love and adore, the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Prayer. You O Lord are a good and gracious God; your ways are perfect and through the power of your Holy Spirit your commands are always possible. Forgive us that we hear your commands so faintly; forgive us when we are neglectful of your call. Help us to hear again your words of command. Thank you for giving us the gifts we need to fulfil all that you desire. Help us to be ready to receive good news and then be prepared to share good news with all those that we meet on the journey into life. In all that we do may we give praise and honour to you, for you are, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Collect. O God, in you we live and move and have our being. You have taken flesh in Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit you give yourself to us; gratefully, we bow before you, and offer our thanks and praise in Jesus name. Amen.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:13
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