Trinity Sunday:

Then they worshiped him

Luke 24:52

The Gospel of Luke ends with Christ’s followers worshiping him. Our Creed concludes: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified” (Nicene).

This Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, is called “Trinity Sunday” when the church dares to call the Trinity “blessed”: “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity” (Holy, Holy, Holy by Re­gi­nald He­ber, 1826). Can that be true? Can we think of the Holy Trinity as blessed? Let me suggest a few blessings.

1)  Trinity is Strange. It’s so strange that a number of our revered national fathers like Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson opted for a more rational non-Trinitarian understanding of God called “Deism”—the idea that God created the universe and then left it alone to run, like clockwork, by the mechanisms provided by its Designer. But if God is God, we would expect him to be different—that’s the meaning of “holy”. Holiness, to be holy, must be inexplicable. If we could explain God by our own rational powers, he wouldn’t be holy. God reveals himself to us in Scripture and in his Son, Jesus Christ, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit because that’s just who he is. He can’t help himself. The non-Trinitarian God of Deism losses holiness—becomes a bland god of our own creation. There’s something strange, holy and blessed about our triune God.

2)  God is Love. That’s what the Bible tells us: “God is love” of and within himself. It’s just the way God is eternally—before creation, God is love. Only a triune God can love within himself. Within the vast eternal spaciousness of the Trinity there is plenty of room for vibrant, eternal love between the Father and the Son and the Spirit. Authentic love gives space and honor to the beloved. Love and Glory careen eternally with in our triune God: As Jesus prays “The hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (Jn 17:1); while the Spirit brings glory to the Son (Jn 16:14). Only a triune God is big enough and spacious enough to radiate such glory and love within himself.

3) Trinity marks Us. When our triune God decided to create humankind “in our image”, the “us” of God created a “them” of humanity. God creates us with space to love and honor others. Without space, there’s no room for love, beauty and glory. Cults close out the space between us while our triune God set us free to rollick in creation’s vast wonders. The boundaries of the garden are vast. It’s just that tree in the middle of the garden hems us in and robs us of creation’s spaciousness.