Our Trinitarian God

Trinity Sunday (Year B)

Isaiah 6.1-8; Romans 8.12-17; John 3.1-17

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 22:35)

 

Today we ponder, we commemorate, we celebrate, that most sacred, yet most bemusing, of mysteries: the Trinity. The day on which many clergy struggle to find ways to explain the unexplainable, and parishioners walk away with a headache from trying to do the mental gymnastics of comprehending the Trinity as what we often hear referred to as Three in One and One in Three. So, we might as well bite the bullet and dive in. According to the doctrine of the Trinity, we believe in one God who is comprised of what theologians oh so confusingly refer to as three “persons”—albeit a misleading label. These “persons” are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And yet, despite being three distinct “persons,” the three are of one substance or essence. Despite being distinct, each “person” is wholly God. So we’re good with the idea of worshiping one God. And we’re good with the idea of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But it is in the reconciling of these two seemingly disparate concepts, these two conflicting and yet integral parts, where we run into trouble. More often than not, devolving into a variety of ancient heresies. With the legalese out of the way, I will attempt to explain at least something of the Trinity without the use of lame and heretical analogies, and hopefully without giving you a headache in the process.

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Our Customized Connection to God

 Day of Pentecost (Year B)

Acts 2.1-21; John 15.26-27, 16.4b-15

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 28:00)

 

A number of years ago, I did some work with the Kaleidoscope Institute, an organization affiliated with the Diocese that focused on issues of diversity and helping congregations to live more fully into our Baptismal Covenant to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.” One of the exercises we regularly did as part of our training programs was to have groups study today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles—the account of the Pentecost event and the coming of the Holy Spirit. One of the questions Eric Law, the director of Kaleidoscope, would always ask individuals and groups to consider was whether what occurred on that day in Jerusalem was a miracle of the tongue or a miracle of the ear. In other words, were people able to communicate because they were able to speak languages other than their own, a miracle of the tongue; or were they able to communicate because whatever language was spoken was somehow translated into their own, a miracle of the ear. Participants at the Kaleidoscope Institute training were to discuss this question, along with why they thought the miracle was one or the other—a miracle of the tongue or a miracle of the ear.

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Between Times

Seventh Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Acts 1.15-17, 21-26; John 17.6-19

The Rev. Michael K. Fincher

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 21:35)

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

Liturgically speaking, right now we find ourselves in a “between time.” A time between one event signaling the end of an old way of being and an impending event demarcating the beginning of a new way of being. We celebrated the feast of the Ascension this past Thursday. This event—the resurrected Christ ascending into heaven—signaled the end of a way of being for the disciples. In the 40 days after Christ’s resurrection, they had enjoyed time with their beloved friend and teacher, almost like old times. All appeared to be right in the world after the horrors of Jesus’ crucifixion. But that all changed with his departure, with his ascension to heaven. Prior to his ascension, Jesus did give his disciples an indication of what is to come. In the account of the Ascension in Acts, Jesus tells them, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1.8). They may not have been completely clear on what Jesus was talking about, but we know that he was referring to the impending Pentecost event. And while we know it was a mere ten days to Pentecost, the disciples had no idea how long they would have to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. If there was anything they had learned from Jesus, God operates on his own schedule.

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Abide in My Love

Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year B)

1 John 5.1-6; John 15.9-17

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 5:45)

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

One of the benefits of us now live streaming our Sunday worship services is that, even when I am not here, such as last Sunday, I can still keep tabs on what is going on in my absence. At least, at the 10:15 worship service. I particularly enjoy listening to the supply priest’s sermons. Most priest do not have the opportunity to hear their colleagues preach, so it is nice to hear different voices and sermon styles. Besides, I have to make sure Fr. Gary is not filling you all with heretical ideas.

 

In his sermon last week, Fr. Gary started off with a string of one-liners about love, primarily from the Epistle reading from the First Letter of John. He went on to talk about how such one-liners, along with other aspects of our church experience, such as our liturgy, are formational for our lives of faith. How, over time, these hopefully become ingrained in us, hopefully become part of our identity, and hopefully provide us with words to live by. That is, after all, why we do what we do in this place.

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