Union Church

May 18, 2008
2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Paul gives us the first Trinitarian formula. We know it. We have heard it so often.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Countless books have been written on this topic.

Today I want to simplify it with a few images.

There was a TV documentary series call Millennium, 9 years ago featuring the American anthropologist Houston Smith.
Did any of you watch it or hear of it?
It was an exploration of religious traditions and meaning systems all over the world: From the rain forests to the inner cities.

The final episode was summarized this way.
All religions and belief systems, all world views and systems of human organizations must answer 3 fundamental questions:

Where do I come from?
Whom do I belong to?
Where am I going?

The doctrine of the Trinity is the Christian attempt to answer these three questions.

Where do I come from? Christianity says, “We come from a Creator God.”
It is not an accident. It is a meaningful Creation.

Whom do I belong to? Christianity answers, “We belong to the humanity of God revealed in Jesus. We belong to a personal, relational, God who calls us into community.”

Where am I going? Christianity says, “We are going on a journey inspired and guided by God’s Spirit.”

Now picture yourself at a family gathering.
You are probably hanging out in the kitchen or around a table.
In that room you look around and notice your parent, your partner and your child. You are just yourself, one person in that room, but your parent sees you as a child, your partner sees you as a mate, and your child sees you as a parent.
There is just one of you but you are viewed in three different contexts, three different ways.

Let’s link this to the Trinity and the Millennium questions.
The one God is seen and experienced in three very different contexts as reflected in the questions: Where do I come from? Whom do I belong to? Where am I going?

Now, some of you might be thinking, so what?
Does this really matter today?
Maybe, maybe not.
But what I have been trying to do these past few weeks is give some vocabulary, to give some images with which to engage the world outside these walls if you so chose.

When we look up into the skies at night and see the stars, or wander in the beauty of nature, we think to ourselves, “This is not an accident. There is a creating God.”

When we struggle with relationships and look for our place in the world, we are drawn to the intensified humanity revealed in the life of Jesus.
A life revealing the human face of God.

When we wonder, “What’s it all about Alfie?
Where am I going?
What is really important to do?”
Then we hear the whispers of the inspiring Spirit of God, urging us to get on the journey towards compassion and deep respect.

Three human contexts.
And the one God looks, and sounds, and feels different in each context.
Kind-of-like, when you are at a family gathering with a parent, a partner and a child interacting with you at the same time.

We know the Trinitarian formula of the apostle. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the holy Spirit.
But how about the Christian experience of God, as Creating, Revealing and Inspiring.

Out not In
Matthew 28:16-20

Many of us know this passage, the Great Commissioning. Even if it is not completely familiar we have all heard the Trinitarian formula; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In fact, the official baptismal formula in all United Church baptisms is “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

This passage is also Matthew’s version of Pentecost.
“Go into all the world in the power of the Holy Spirit ... and lo I am with you to the end of the age.”

Remember Luke’s version. The Holy Spirit comes in the sound of rushing wind and the vision of tongues of fire. A little more flashy.

Matthew’s Great Commissioning and Luke’s Pentecost Sunday have the same motion.
Did you catch the motion, the direction?
The Spirit sends them out. It drives them out into the world.

The Moderator of the United Church of Canada visited Montreal last week. In response to questions he reminded those gathered that when the Spirit came upon the believers in that room at Pentecost, they were not led to say, “How can we get more people to come in here and join us?”
The Spirit sent them out into the streets.”
The Great Commissioning in Matthew’s gospel sends us out as well.

The future of the Church is that we go out into the world in such a way, that people will follow us back into church.

When we go out knowing:
Where we come from: Whom we belong to: Where we are going: people will see something different.

When we go out into the world, seeing God’s creating goodness in all things, we offer others the benefit of the doubt.

When we go out into the world with the intensified humanity revealed to us in Jesus, we take compassion and deep respect into every relationship.

When we go out into the world inspired by the Spirit, we can live fully, gracefully in the present moment.

That is, we can be aware of the Creator and therefore respond to how precious people are in any given moment.

We can be aware of the Risen Christ, revealing the intensified humanity the situation calls for because we know it is not about us.

We can be aware of the Spirit inspiring us to move the situation to where the situation needs to go.

What I am talking about is becoming aware, in the moment.
Becoming aware in the moment in order to bring God’s blessing into every situation we encounter.
When we go out into the world like this, people will follow us back into church.