Intergenerational Communion Service June 07, 2009
Isaiah 6:1-8 Matthew 28:16-20
Communion Meditation “The Trinity”
PRAYER
In the church calendar, we are now moving into the ordinary time, meaning
that as we have celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the
church is now ready to respond to its call to mission in the world.
In Matthew, Jesus is the final actor in this scene; and gives the disciples
their commissioning:
“First, Jesus announces the premise on which the Great Commission rests.
Jesus stands on the divine authority given to him by God. Jesus now has the
right to command the Eleven to “make disciples” because “all authority in
heaven and on earth” has been given to him. His authority is also a notion of
power …the disciples are given the credentials for their mission, but more,
than that they are promised the potency to carry it out.
Second, Jesus confronts the disciples with an awesome commission. They
are to “make disciples of all nations.” Let’s remember that earlier in the
ministry of Jesus the charge was to avoid the Gentiles and the Samaritans
and to go “to the lost sheep of Israel.” (10:6), now in light of the death and
resurrection, the scope of the mission is universal. Two significant things are
mentioned. (a) “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit,” implying that a new belonging, a relationship is established that
marks them as a peculiar people. (b) “teaching them to obey everything that
I have commanded you” adding a further dimension in the calling of the
nations. The intent is to nurture a community that does not take God’s
goodness lightly, but lives out in the world the discipleship of Jesus’
teachings.
Third, Jesus promises the divine presence to the church as it responds to
the commission. For the church, Matthew reminds us that Jesus’ name
Emmanuel, means God is with us (1:23). Through Jesus’ live he promised to
be present among us. (18:20), and now at the end of the story, Jesus said:
“And remember I am with you always, to the end of age.” (v.20)
“And see, I am sending you what my Father promised…” (Luke 24:49) the
Holy Spirit.” (Brueggemann, Text for Preaching, Year A, pg. 344-345)
Let’s take a closer look at the Trinity.
“When we visualize the Trinity, we visualize three separate entities, as if
pointing to three, discrete human beings.
To employ the traditional Trinitarian form for a moment, we may note:
God is Father, god is Son, God is Holy Spirit. Conversely the Father is God,
the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. But the Father is not the Son, the Son
is not the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is not the Father.”
(Prayers for the Gathering Community, by: Don Skinner, pg.136-137)
Get the picture!
In the William Young novel “The Shack,” that several of us are reading and
discussing Mackenzie, the main character, is having breakfast with the three
characters representing the Trinity, he is just as confused as some of us.
Mack, at one point turns to Jesus saying: “I love the way you treat each
other. It’s certainly not how I expected God to be.”
“How do you mean?, asks Jesus.
Well, I know that you are one and all, and that there are three of you. But
you respond with such a graciousness to each other. Isn’t one of you more
the boss and Jesus as the one following orders, you know being obedient.
And I am not sure how the Holy Spirit fits in exactly. The Spirit always seemed kind of… “A free spirit.”
“Exactly - a free spirit, but still under the direction of the Father. Does that
make sense?, asks Jesus.
Mack was a little frustrated. “I am talking about who’s in charge?
Don’t you have a chain of command?
Jesus answered: “Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among
us, only unity. We are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command…
what you are seen here is relationship without any overlay of power. We
don’t need power over the other because we are always looking out for the
best. Hierarchy would make no sense among us… Once you have a hierarchy
you need rules to protect and administer it, and then you need laws and the
enforcement of the rules, and you end up with some kind of chain of
command or a system of order that destroys relationship apart from power.
Hierarchy imposes laws and rules and you end up missing the wonder of
relationship that we intended for you.”
“You really don’t understand yet. You try to make sense of the world in
which you live based on a very small and incomplete picture of reality.”
(WM. Paul Young, “The Shack”, pg.123-125).
Later, Jesus clarifies for Mackenzie: “That the beauty that he sees in Jesus in
his relationship to God and the Holy Spirit is one, where, “we are indeed
submitted to one another and have always been so and always will be.
Papa (God) is as much submitted to me as I am to him, or Sarayu (the Holy
Spirit) to me, or Papa (God) to her… and Jesus ends by saying:
Submission is not about authority and it is not obedience; it is all about
relationships of love and respect… I want brothers and sisters who will share
life with me.” (idem,147-148).
Inviting the children forward…
So, have you been following the sermon?
I wanted to explain to you what I was saying about the Trinity with a few
example to seeing if you get the picture.
This is a tripod and it is used to hold the camera. Does anyone know why it
is called a tripod? because it has three legs…
How many wheels does a tricycle have?
How many sides does a triangle have?
You need the three legs that are the same length to hold up the camera.
Each leg is as important as the other two. Without all three equal legs the
tripod is not complete. It cannot do its job.
God is like this tripod. We worship one God. But God is made up of three
equal parts. We believe in God, who created the world and everything in it.
We also believe in Jesus, who came to earth to teach us about God, and
God’s love for us. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, who lives in our hearts
and helps us to be better people.
Without all three parts - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God is not complete.
God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are called the Trinity. The word trinity starts
with the letters TRI, just like tripod, tricycle and triangle.
Trinity means three in one. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, get the picture!
Kristy would like to take a picture, ready, say: “TRINITY!”
(A Time with Children, Year A, by Dianne E. Deming, pg.74-75)
BENEDICTION
May the hands of God uphold you.
May the hands of Jesus, the savior enfold you.
May the hands of the Spirit surround you.
And the blessing of God;
Trinity of love, peace and justice.
uphold you for evermore. Amen!
