Trinity Sunday

Many people today are hearing a sermon about the holy Trinity – understandably, as this is what we call “Trinity Sunday.” A lot of congregations are listening to some theological discourse on the inseparability of the three distinct persons of the Trinity – about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit being one God. And good priests and preachers all over the world are trying desperately to make sense of the creation story while encouraging us all to go forth and make disciples of all people.

Now, Biblical study, or philosophical discourse, and theological inquiry are all fine things. But we can miss the greater reality to which they point.

For instance, we Christians argue about whether the God we proclaim as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit really must be referred to only as what some jokingly call “two boys and a bird.” We proclaim sometimes-helpful insights, such as the notion of a God who exists in relationship – not alone or apart from everything and everybody else, but in conversation, both serving and being served, accountable. And we come across delights of Trinitarian theology over the ages, like the idea that the three persons of the Trinity loved each other so much that they became one. To Christians who have any sense of tradition, the doctrine of the Trinity is undeniably an integral part of our faith.

One God in three persons: we can debate and discuss and reason, trying to understand more of this mysterious paradox. Yet there is another strand of thought, one that follows from the likes of Justin Martyr, that seeker for the truth who died in about the year 167. Justin tells us that anyone who thinks God even can be named is “hopelessly insane.” And, just so you don’t think he’s hopelessly insane, consider this: no less venerable an authority than St. Augustine of Hippo in his own treatise on the Trinity, cautions against those who “allow themselves to be deceived through an unseasonable and misguided love of reason.”



So, instead of the usual treatise on the foreshadowing of the Trinity in the Old Testament – you know, those three men who appeared to Abraham under the oak at Mambre, and whom Abraham invited in and entertained in the plural, but went on to speak of as one, in the singular – instead of that kind of thing, let's focus on perception.

When we try to sort out things like the holy Trinity, when we try to establish and fix exactly what it means – we forget that our thoughts are but theories, mere projections of what we would like God to be. “No one has ever seen God,” the Apostle tells us – but that does not stop us from trying, does it? And in our determined search to understand the ineffable, to find out the truth, to know all things – we tend to fall prey to a spiritual kind of blindness. We miss seeing that which is right in front of us, the full presence of God.

There is not one meaning of the Trinity, or one means of describing that reality – but a great wealth of meaning. That assertion also comes from Augustine. And the doctrine of the Trinity, the very human idea of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” and all our language about God – these are but symbols of a greater reality. Augustine reminds us that when we think about the Trinity, “we are aware that our thoughts are quite inadequate to their object, and incapable of grasping him as he is; even by men of the calibre of the apostle Paul, [God] can only be seen … ‘like a puzzling reflection in a mirror.’” Our thoughts and words mean nothing in themselves, if we cannot look through them, beyond them, and because of them – to something else.

That something else is a vision of peace and harmony that Jesus proclaimed is very near us. That something is a place of rest and refreshment the likes of which we have not dared to imagine. That something is a time of joyful reunion with all our departed loved ones – and indeed, all the company of heaven. A house with many mansions, a lamb that was slain and who reigns forever, a death unto eternal life.

This is the meaning of the holy Trinity: that there is a God, who made us and loves us and cares for us, who beckons us all home to live with him for ever, who calls us now to a new life of justice, freedom, truth, peace, and – above all – love. In our human state, we are subject to a chronic bout of blindness, in which we sometimes focus our attention elsewhere, and miss seeing the vision of heaven that God has placed right in front of us – each of us, and every day.

May God the holy and glorious Trinity grant that the scales may fall from our eyes, that we all may see what lies in front of us with the eyes of faith. Amen.

Water. John 4:5-42

This sermon was preached on Sunday 24th February 2008 by Ann Batchelor who is a member of Saint Martin's and is training for the Ministry of Reader in the Church of England.

Water.

We can’t live without water.

In the children’s hymn Water of Life it tells us how important water is.

The first verse is easy to identify with. Anyone with a conservatory which has a glass or plastic roof can easily imagine the sound of the rain falling. We seem to have had more than our fair share of rain over the last year so the sound of rain for some produces the re-action O not more rain! However come the summer we will probably be told to save water in case of a drought.
The second verse could easily describe the work of water aid. A charity which is dedicated to help people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation.
The well shaft would be similar to that which the Samaritan would have been visiting when she met Jesus. That such a meeting would have taken place is astonishing. A Jewish man would not have allowed himself to be alone with a woman let alone talk to her. In doing so he would have laid himself open to the risk of impurity, the subject of gossip and being drawn into immorality. The woman was also a Samaritan and the Jews would have nothing to do with them. What was even more surprising was that Jesus asked her for a drink. A complete no no.

Finally the women had a bad character. Jesus was obviously aware of this when she told him she had no husband as he told her that she had had 5 and the man she was currently with was not her husband. This would have been the reason why she visited the well at that particular time of day. She was unlikely to meet anyone who knew her, her past or her immoral lifestyle. This also explains the disciples reaction when they returned.

Any encounter with Jesus has an element of surprise. The woman was eqully surprised when Jesus asked her for a drink. Jesus’ reply that if she knew who he was SHE would have asked him for a drink and he would have provided her with living water.

It was being offered living water which puzzled the woman. During Jesus time living water referred to running water in a stream or river. Not from a well or pond. It’s water that is fresh and clean rather than water that’s been left standing and getting stagnant.

Jesus makes it clear that the living water he is talking about is something quite different. He is talking about a signpost, a guide. The water he is offering will not only quench the thirst but will refresh you with new life which his coming to the world brings. A life that will change, with God’s help.

The woman doesn’t know exactly what Jesus is talking about but she wants to know more. The woman comes to realise that because she has heard Jesus herself she knows that he is indeed the saviour of the world. He provides the living water.

Nobody can live who hasn’t any water.
When the land is dry, nothing much grows.
Jesus gives us life, if we drink the living water
Sing it so that everybody knows.

This last verse explains how the Samaritan woman must have felt. Her life did not amount to much. She met Jesus and realised what he was offering. She gained a new life through him. She went away and told others. IT changed all areas of her life.

When we accept the living water we must be prepared that it will change every area of our lives.
Without Jesus in our lives we can not live life fully. We need to nurture this in ourselves and others. We don’t need to sing out loud but by our thoughts, words and actions we can show Gods love for us.