It’s over a thousand years since
the Church set aside this day, this particular Sunday, to be a day in which the
whole Church could think in a special way about the Trinity - the living God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Yet, is there a reason why the
Church today still invites us to think about the Trinity - the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit ?
After all, in Sunday School, we came to know Jesus – to hear of the things He
did, the people he Healed, the parables He told,
we
come to know His love and kindness………..
Isn’t that enough – a simple
faith in Jesus ?
Well, of course it is……
So why might the Church today
still invite us to think about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ?
Well, already in the gospel of
John Jesus speaks of God, as a loving Father,
He teaches us to come to God
as a loving Father.
One day Philip, one of the disciples asked Jesus “Lord show us the Father; that is all we need” and Jesus answered – whoever has seen me has seen the Father… I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
Here, Jesus
revealed to the disciples that to trust, and to rely
on Him, to live with and in Him is to come to the living God, the Father of
life.
Jesus - in
loving oneness with the Father in heaven, has opened the way for us, invited us and
brought us, even us, into that oneness with His Father in heaven.
Already in the gospel of John
Jesus speaks of God, as a loving Father,
teaches
us to come to God as a loving Father,
And already in the gospel of
John, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit,
teaches
us about the Spirit and what the Holy Spirit does,
Already in the Gospel, then,
Jesus Himself, the Son,
teaches us of His Father and our Father,
and
about the Spirit……
so of
course simple faith in Jesus is enough,
but
already in the Gospels Jesus reveals to us the very highest things
of
God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit………
so
though our faith in Jesus might be simple,
our
vision, our understanding can always be wider and deeper
as our faith broadens, and deepens in Him.
This is the reason why the Church today still invites us to think about the Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
It was just a day like any
other day, the day that Isaiah went up to the
It was probably just a day
like any other day
but
that afternoon, in the
Isaiah met the Lord, heard the
angels, the seraphim singing, heard that great hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord Almighty is Holy, His glory fills the world
!
and
he was overwhelmed by that glory,
realising his own inadequacy and sinfulness……
Now right there, is the very
moment when Isaiah was given new vision,
new
understanding,
a new
broadening,
a new
deepening in faith.
In the Gospels Jesus reveals
to us the very highest things
of
God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit………
and though
our faith in Jesus might be simple,
there
is always the possibility of new vision,
new
understanding,
a new broadening, new deepening of our faith.
I am sure you have been to the
New Museum of Scotland
many
times. It’s a beautiful building, on several levels.
On level 1 you can see the
exhibits from Medieval Scotland,
on a
higher level, exhibits from industrial
but my favourite floor after looking around in the museum, is level 7, the Terrace.
Once you have climbed the
stairs or taken the lift up there,
you
find yourself standing with the whole of the city around you,
you
can see east to Aberlady, north to
South East to the Lammermuirs,
South West to the Pentlands,
you
have this wonderfully wide view of the city spread out around you……
Isn’t that something like the
Church’s experience in the New Testament ?
As the years passed, as the
Spirit guided the Church,
so
the apostles, the believers,
came
to understand Jesus more and more deeply.
They came to have a
wonderfully wide view of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit……..
And when we look across the
whole great landscape of the New Testament, we find revealed there that the
living God, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The testimony of the New
Testament is that
in
love God created us men and women for communion with Himself,
that
we would share that fellowship, and life with Him.
And it is in fellowship with
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit that we find our true being.
In Jesus, the Father has given
us that gift of fellowship,
and
through the Spirit, He gives us life ….
drawing
us together and uniting us in the Church.
Yes, yes, these are high
things, I know
- the
Scriptures reveal to us the very highest things
concerning
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit………
these
are high things………. indeed.
It is on this day that the
Church lifts its vision, its gaze to these things,
lifts
its praise and its praying and its thinking,
to
the God of grace and love and the fellowship we have
with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
These are high things……….
indeed
but…. our prayer is this;
May God grant to us,
new understanding,
new broadening,
new deepening
a new vision
of His glory as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
AMEN.