Good...very good!
The Holy Trinity / First Sunday after Pentecost - May 18, 2008
|
Please note: The following sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him. |
|
[P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In light and darkness, in morning and evening, in seas and plants, in sun, moon,and stars, in birds, animals, and every living creature... [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In mankind as male and female, and in time for rest and refreshment, [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In giving us the ability to praise his Name, in setting up the church as a place for us to stand against God's enemies, a bulwark strong and true, in giving our children a voice also in this important work, [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good. In sending us persons with the wit and wisdom to speak your Word clearly and forthrightly, In blessing us with speakers from of old such as the apostle Paul, in raising up strong and faithful thinkers such as Athanasius, In surrounding us with the whole company of the church so that we may remember, and learn, and be encouraged and challenged. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In sending us, even regular, ordinary people such as we are to make disciples for him, in giving us the gift of memory, so that we will know and recognize his continuing presence with us, [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In enabling us to confess boldly that What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit. In guiding us to use words in the Creed such as Uncreated, infinite, eternal, almighty, one, and Lord to describe Father, Son and Spirit. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In the wonder of Christmas, that God is born in human flesh, fully God and fully man at one and the same time, without confusion. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In the wonder of Easter-tide, that our Lord Jesus Christ submits to crucifixion for me, for us, and is resurrected by the Father for me, for us, so that his promises can be kept for me, for us. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In the wonder of Pentecost, that the Father breathes the Spirit of the risen Lord Jesus into hearts and minds grown cold with fear, so that life that begins now is brought to perfection in the life to come. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In teaching us the true nature of love, so that no longer will “I love you” mean “I love me and I want to use you to love me even more.” But rather the mutuality of the Father loving the Son, the Son being the Beloved of the Father, and the Spirit being the love between them sets up a new pattern for our lives; where the Son loves the Church, and the Spirit breathes us to life so that the Church is the beloved of the Son, and even further, that husband loves his wife, and the Spirit breathes his presence into the relationship so that the wife is the Beloved of the husband as well as of the Lord. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In revealing to us that it is of the very nature of God to be conversation: the Father is always talking to the Son, the Son forever talks with the Father, and it is Spirited conversation. And so our prayer is conversation with the Father, in the name of the Son, and by means of the Holy Spirit. It happens in and because of those relationships. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In this way, the Holy Trinity has set us on a particular path, in a set of relationships with the Trinity and, through the Trinity, with each other. In some religions, one might make up one's own spirituality through detached meditation, but the Holy Trinity builds us up in relationships, even as Father Son and Spirit are relationships. In the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about living relationships: I am the vine and you are the branches, he says. [John 15:5] 1Peter speaks of us as living stones being built into a spiritual house. and then he piles up the descriptions: your are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people...all of them being terms of relationship. [1Peter 2:4,9] [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In using this particular format for the sermon today, we are making it clear that it is part of a divine conversation: there is one preacher getting things underway, and then we are all preaching to one another; and the content is a Spirit-breathed word of faith and hope in Jesus Christ. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good.
In speaking Christ, --some words will be prayer, conversation with the Father; --some words will be admonition, words that convict us of our sin, --some words will be encouragement, what can or should we do now that we know that Jesus is God's love to us, --and some words will be praise of the Trinity, words that mirror the song of the hosts in heaven. “Holy, holy, holy,” they sing. [Isaiah 6] “Holy, holy, holy,” we echo. [P] And God says “Good...
[C] Very good. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good. [P] And God says “Good... [C] Very good. Amen.
|