May 26, 2013 – John 16:12-15
John 16:12-15
Trinity Shaped Lives
The Holy Trinity [Confirmation Sunday] – May 26, 2013
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
On Trinity Sunday, we celebrate a doctrine, and it is the only Sunday we do so.
On other Sundays, we might celebrate a person or an event, but today is different.
Today, we celebrate that we experience the one true God in three distinct ways.
As the Creator of all that is.
As the One who came among us in person and died and rose again.
And as the Spirit or energy at work in that one who will bring the creation to fulfillment.
Three persons, or masks, one God.
These three, this Holy Trinity, live a life in perfect love, and perfect equality.
They live a life of giving to one another and receiving from one another.
Within God’s very life, we affirm on Trinity Sunday, is perfect relationship, perfect love.
Where mutuality and the giving and receiving of gifts are what life is all about.
God’s very life is community.
Since we are made in this God’s image,
we should not be surprised to know that that, too, is what we are made for:
mutuality, relationship, community, giving and receiving gifts in love.
That is what our lives are all about.
This morning, Jesus gives us a little glimpse of
the kind of life he shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
He describes a life of intimacy, and of giving and receiving,
of respectful listening and purposeful sharing.
Whenever the Spirit comes, the Spirit speaks what he hears from me.
I will give to the Spirit what I have received from the Father and the Spirit will give it to you.
For what the Father has, the Father gives to me, and I will give it to the Spirit,
and the Spirit will give it to you.
Many people tell me that they believe in God.
But I always want to know what God it is they believe in.
Describe your God to me, I ask, and then I will describe mine to you.
And when I describe my God,
I tell them what any one of our confirmands can tell you this morning:
God is most like a loving community of three persons.
A perfect community, where there is mutuality, listening, giving and receiving.
This is the life that Jesus invites us into.
Jesus comes and opens a door for us into this life and invites to come on in.
When we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
we are baptized into the very life of this God who is most like
a loving community of three persons.
In Confirmation Class we learn about the life and purpose and intentions of this God.
We learn about this God’s story in scripture, a God of manna and mercy,
whose deepest desire is for the earth and its peoples to reflect the life of the triune God.
Within God there are no big deals and no little deals.
There is no domination and there is no exploitation among these three.
Within God, rather, there is mutual delight, genuine sharing, and deep, deep love.
That is the life this God of manna-sharing and mercy-giving would have us reflect.
And so this generous giving God gives us that life in Jesus,
and in the Spirit pours it in into us, that we might live it and share it.
Our relationship with this God, it turns out, is not a spectator sport.
Just as the three participate with one another with one perfect intention –
the fulfillment of God’s desires for this creation –
so too we are invited to participate with this God in those intentions.
We are created to live life within this Triune God’s life.
We are invited to join the dance which is this God’s life.
Theologians have a fancy word for what life within the triune God is like: perichoresis.
It’s the Greek word for “dance” or “dancing around.”
The pastor and writer Eugene Peterson invites you to consider the kind of dance
the Holy Trinity is involved in.
Imagine a folk dance with three partners in each set. The music starts up and the partners holding hands begin moving in a circle. On signal from the caller, they release hands, change partners, and weave in and out, swinging first one and then another. The tempo increases, the partners move more swiftly with and between and among one another, swinging and twirling, embracing and releasing, holding on and letting go. There is no confusion, every movement is cleanly coordinated in precise rhythms, as each person maintains his or her own identity. To the onlooker the movements are so swift it is impossible at times to distinguish one person from another. (quoted by Alyce McKenzie at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2010/05/atrinity-shaped-life/ )
This is what the life of the three persons is like.
It is true that we celebrate this doctrine today.
But it would be a mistake to hold it up, put it on a stand, and sit down and
admire it like a piece of Waterford Crystal.
Rather, in our baptisms, what happens is that a hand reaches out to us – and it is Jesus’ hand –
and invites us to join the dance.
Life in the triune God is always a participation in the life of the Triune God.
This is a participatory sport.
Hey: as I never tire of telling people these days:
I’m a dance competition winner: I think I’d know!
I didn’t win the Dancing with the PaSTARs competition by sitting back and
watching my instructor do the dance.
Rather, when Deborah held out her hand to me, I joined in the dance.
God, writes Peterson, is never a nonparticipant in what he does.
Therefore, there are no nonparticipants in a Trinity-revealed life. (ibid.)
The confirmands are publicly saying yes to the dance this morning.
A hand is graciously being extended to them – and it is Jesus’ hand – and they are saying yes.
And, with them, so are we.
This is a community thing this morning.
This isn’t just about the confirmands.
This is about us, and about the kind of community we want to be.
And that is a community that reflects the life of the God whom it worships,
the triune God who is most like a loving community of three persons.
A God who is never a nonparticipant.
A God whose deepest loving desire is to bless, heal and set free this whole world and
every person in it, including you.
A God who this morning invites you to take that hand and join in that dance and
participate in that mission.
A God who has given us the gift of one another so that we can reflect that God’s life.
So that we can listen to one another, give to and receive from one another,
and purposely share the gifts we’ve been given for the life of the world.
So that we can reflect the life of the Triune God in our lives together.
So that as a Christian community we can live a life that is shaped by the Triune God,
so we can live Trinity-shaped lives.
Trinity shaped lives are lives that seek, from within Christian community,
to share and expand that quality of community life.
The Triune God’s life is expansive, right?
The Triune God is love, and it seeks more and more people and plants and animals and
rocks and trees and hills to love.
Just so, a community that reflects this Triune God will seek to participate in this God’s
expansive dance by never tireing of extending a hand to a potential partner.
A community that reflects this Triune God’s life will by its very nature be expansive and
inclusive, wondering together as it shares its gifts how it can share its gifts more widely.
There was a moment in confirmation class this year when the dance took shape,
when you could see lives shaped by the Trinity take shape, and it was really beautiful.
It happened right after our Annual Meeting.
Part of the confirmation process is to attend the Annual Meeting –
since one of the things you’re committing yourselves to today is
annual attendance at the Annual Meeting! Did I forget to mention that?
In any case, after the meeting – believe it or not – we had a great conversation.
The students were very taken with discussion around the budget at the meeting.
It was obviously very good for them to see our members struggle to figure out
the most faithful missional way of spending its offerings of money.
Clearly that was the case because one student asked a question that was truly great:
Pastor, he asked, what would you do for the church if you won a million dollars?
Well, I’ve been teaching confirmation for some time and I didn’t just fall off the
confirmation teacher truck.
So, in classic style, I said: That’s a great question:
what would you do for the church if you won a million dollars?
Well, that prompted a lot of conversation, a lot of listening and a lot of sharing.
At first, it amazed me at how all the suggestions related to the building.
We could put new doors here, or paint this, or do that, or maybe
install a moat of water around the worship space
(okay: full disclosure: that was my suggestion. . . .)
So I had to say: hang on a mo’.
Remember the story. Remember the story of Manna and Mercy in the Bible.
Remember when Solomon and the people wanted to build God a fancy temple,
so God wouldn’t have to be worshipped in the tent anymore?
What did God and the prophet Samuel say?
They said, It’s fine. It’s okay. The tent is totally cool. We’re down with it.
But the people were all like, No, no, it’ll be great, it’ll be gold and shiny.
And God and Samuel were like, Really: it’s fine, you’re not listening. We don’t want a temple.
And the people were like, Don’t be so modest. Really. We don’t mind. It’s no trouble.
Well Solomon and the people went ahead and did it anyway and, in fact,
it was a lot of trouble: it cost a lot of money, and it impoverished a lot of people.
And the society became a society of big deals and little deals and
the life of the people began to no longer reflect the life of God so much.
So: we remembered the story, and the story kept us grounded in the life of our God and
in our role as stewards.
So then I asked: what do you see on your way to worship on Sunday morning?
And the kids responded: we see poverty, and poor housing.
And then we talked about the reasons for that: someone mentioned lack of education,
others mentioned poor health, a lack of stability,
and a lack of safety in the neighbourhood.
And then someone said, Well, what if we purchased a hotel, and turned it into
safe, stable housing for the poor.
Great idea!
And then someone said What if, then, we put a restaurant in the hotel where
people who lived there could be trained as chefs and servers and kitchen staff so that
they could get better jobs.
Amazing idea!
And there was great excitement, and the Triune God was smiling:
there was listening and sharing and mutuality for the sake of the Triune God’s
expansive mission.
There was so much excitement that we didn’t want to be constrained by our lack of
a million dollars.
So someone said, You know, in the West End, there are never any block parties.
But block parties contribute to neighbourhood safety because people get to know one another.
So then there was more talk, and more listening, and more ideas: hot dogs and hamburgers,
face-painting and balloon animals, bouncy-castles and skateboard ramps.
The kids took their community-generated idea for the benefit of our neighbourhood community
to the custodians of our faith community’s ministry – our council – and said:
Can you help us move from idea to reality? We’re all willing to do our part and join the dance.
Everyone of us is committed to this project.
Will you take our hands and dance this dance with us?
And the council said yes.
You should all know that we are in the planning stages of the
First Annual Fall Launch Victor Street Block Party for September 8.
These youth’s lives are Trinity-shaped lives.
And our community is a Trinity-shaped community:
You should know that the before First Lutheran Church was called First Lutheran Church
it was called Trinity Lutheran Church, which is kinda cool.
In any case: that day in confirmation class was a day we stopped talking about the Trinity,
and started living it. As a community of faith. As a church.
After class, one of the students said, “That was the best class we ever had!”
And he was so right.
We are all invited into the dance together, and we can only participate in the dance and
reflect the life of the Triune God together – we can’t do it alone –
a life of respectful listening, genuine sharing, of giving and receiving gifts for
benefit of all and our common mission,
To reflect the life of a God who is most like a loving community of three persons.
So come: incorporate yourself again into the life of this Triune God at this table.
Receive a gift of life, a gift of love, a gift of forgiveness, a gift of manna,
so that you may give a gift of life, and love, and forgiveness and manna.
Reflect in the giving and receiving of communion the life of the God we name a Holy Trinity.
And together, let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
