The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

   Critics of Christianity have scoffed over the very notion of "threeness" in God, that we do not merely believe in a singular God, but in Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  It might appear that theologians overindulged their philosophical fancy and made the simple God needlessly complex.

   But Jesus' first followers from the very beginning knew from experience that God wasn't some kind of monolith, an impregnable lone divinity.  There was something in God that was relational; love lived within God, and God leaves enough space inside God's love for us to find our place.

   Given the Scriptures, early theologians had no choice but to speak of God as three, as relational.  When Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17), God the Father spoke from heaven; then the Spirit descended.  Jesus was from the very first worshipped as divine, but Jesus clearly prayed to God his Father.  Then he promised to send the Spirit, no less divine, to teach about God the Father and remind them about Jesus.  In his last words, Jesus spoke of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).  At Pentecost, the Spirit births a new community that follows the Son in obedience to the Father.

   But how can we make sense of this?  God by definition must be simply one (Deuteronomy 6:4), unlimited, all-encompassing.  The framers of Nicene creed were faced with a story that happened among people who spoke Hebrew; it was translated into Greek; then they reflected on the Greek in Latin, the new emerging language of the Western world.  Their best stab at the Trinity was to say God is three persons, but one substance.

   Gregory of Nazianzus, when extolling the wonder of the Trinity, used the image of perichoresis, which may be translated "dance."  Dancers move, but together.  Dancers allow space, but relate happily to one another.  Dancers aren't static, but dynamic, delighting in their mutual, respectful, artistic, concerted movements.  God's three persons are like a dance; they are one in beauty, action and love.

   The mystery of the Trinity has always been grasped in praise and prayer more profoundly than by theological formulas - as God intended.  Andrei Rublev painted Father, Son, and Spirit, sitting at table, with the fourth side open toward the viewer.  We are invited, drawn into their fellowship.

   Lord, let me in to the mystery of You, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

James

james@mpumc.org

Sunday's sermon (the first in our summer Camp Meeting series) on Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) may be heard by clicking here - or you can download a podcast!

The full eJesus'FirstFollowers series (thus far) may be found on our web site.