June 11, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Trinity Sunday

This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday.  This is the only day of the year when we specifically honor the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And while our Collects, Creed, Prefaces, Blessings, and some other parts of the service all often reference the Holy Trinity, this is the only day specifically dedicated to our understanding of God.

The concept of the Trinity is not specifically stated anywhere in the bible.  Instead, it is the result of years of study and revelation that led to people developing the concept of a God who is three-in-one and one-in-three.

As Christians we see evidence of the Trinity in the story of creation when God began to create, the Spirit swept over the waters, and the Word of God spoke.  We see it when Abraham was met by the Lord (singular) appearing as three men.  We see it in John when Jesus says he is in the Father and the Father is in him, and that the Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus from the Father.  There are other places, but you get the idea.  It was Tertullian (160-225) who first developed an early Trinitarian theology and was the first to use the term “Trinity.”  Over many years and several conflicts, Trinitarian theology won out and left us with the understanding that the eternal godhead consists of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one-in-three and three-in-one, co-equal and co-eternal.

That’s a lot to wrap your head around.  It’s been said that if you don’t want to commit heresy, stop there and don’t try to explain any further.  It’s also been said that if you don’t want to commit heresy on Trinity Sunday, have someone else preach.  But since that’s not an option, I’ll see what I can do.

In the meantime, when thinking about the Trinity think about God in a perfect triune relationship of love, communication, and existence.  Proceeding from that, then, should cause us to contemplate how we, as humans made in the image of God, can work to include all of our diverse fellow humans equally in bonds of love, communication, and existence.

Blessings,