THE HOLY TRINITY

In the Fullness of the Year, We Celebrate The Eternal Presence of the Triune God

     At the end of World War II, the Nazi war machine developed a terrible weapon that almost restored its failing fortunes. This was the flying rocket or buzz bomb, which was launched under its own power across the English Channel, causing tremendous damage. Occasionally, one would fall without exploding. Then it was up to teams of heroic individuals who would, with great deftness, disarm and dismantle the bomb.

     One of these teams, known throughout Britain for its courage and devotion, was made up of an elderly duchess, her chauffeur, and the vicar of a local Anglican parish. In typical British self-effacement they called themselves "The Unholy Trinity." Their bravery and skill were truly amazing. When the emergency call would come they would stop whatever they were doing, don their khaki jumpsuits, and rush to the site of the unexploded bomb. Unfortunately, just before the war ended, one of the bombs they were working on exploded and they were all killed.

      In this Trinity Season, we celebrate the Holy Trinity in the Christian Church. The understanding of God revealed to us in the Bible as the Father, the great Creator; the Son, the Redeemer of the world; and the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the hearts of the faithful; is called the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. This doctrine names the one God in three persons whom we commemorate today.

     The Trinitarian understanding of God, which is essential to the Christian faith, has always been at the center of Anglicanism. One of the earliest stories of the Church is that of Saint Patrick who, as you know, was an English saint, showing the Irish the truth of the Trinity by plucking a shamrock and explaining how three and one can be co-equal, and yet distinguishable. The Irish, who adopted wholeheartedly the Trinitarian faith, were to send missionaries a few hundred years later back to Britain to reconvert vast areas of England, which had been overrun by barbarians. Trinity Church in Dublin, to my surprise when I visited it years ago, is an Anglican Church.

     The Holy Trinity is the doctrine held by all faithful Christians -- Catholics, Protestants, and independents. This doctrine is the revealed truth of God. We, in the Church, did not think up this doctrine. We could not. No human mind could have developed a doctrine such as this. It is supra-rational; it is beyond the mind's comprehension, and in the end we must only kneel and adore.

Book of Common Prayer First Published on Trinity Sunday

     Trinity Sunday has another significance. Today marks the anniversary of the publication of the first Book of Common Prayer in the English language. It was on Trinity Sunday in 1549 that the Book of Common Prayer was authorized for use by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in the Church of England. It is through the Book of Common Prayer that the Biblical faith and the Catholic order of Christendom have been transmitted for more than 450 years to us as Anglicans and as Episcopalians. The Trinity season, which is made up of the Sundays following the Feast of the Holy Trinity, reinforces in our unconscious minds this sacred doctrine.

     Let us never forget that the heart of this teaching about the Holy Trinity is the Incarnation. The redeemer of the world, the Son, Jesus Christ, came down to earth from the Father, and by the Holy Spirit became man. Jesus Christ is fully God as well as being fully man; and in Him salvation is offered to all mankind.

     It is not surprising that today we have so many religious cults burgeoning throughout the land. Everyone needs to have power in their lives to deal with their daily problems. We all need to have hope for the future and solace for our sufferings. We find these things through some charismatic person who reveals the power of God to us. The cults that are multiplying are all formed like little cells around a charismatic person who claims to be God. Examples of this are Sun Myung Moon, the founder and the source of meaning for the Moonies, or the late Jim Jones, or Maharishi Yoga.

     . These cults are flourishing in a time when the mainline churches are denying the divinity of our founder, who is meant to be our charismatic person. The Christian Church exists around the person of Jesus Christ. A great spiritual and moral crisis exists today because many of the traditional churches and their members have lost faith in this person.

     A few years ago, the national Episcopal Church Headquarters released the contents of a poll that they had taken of the membership of the Episcopal Church. It was a reliable study by a responsible polling organization dealing with a number of matters. Most significant, in my opinion, was the result of the question asked, "Check the statement about Jesus Christ which you consider to be the most accurate."

     Only 57% believed that Jesus Christ was God Incarnate. Some 20% said that He was an inspired religious leader. Another 20% said He was a religious teacher sent by God. The remainder checked "None of the above." It is not surprising, since such a small majority believe in the essential doctrine of the Incarnation, that we are having so many difficulties in our own denomination.

     To disbelieve in the truth of the Incarnation, to not accept the historic creedal affirmation that Jesus is fully God and fully man, is comparable to an engineer saying he does not believe that two and two make four. The Incarnation is a necessary premise for the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and one cannot doubt it without destroying the whole fabric and structure of the Christian community. Would you fly in an airplane that had been designed by aeronautical engineers of whom only 57% believe that two and two make four?

     There is a story of a gambler who was shot during a poker game. He was carried by friends upstairs to rooms above the saloon where there was a doctor's office. Wounded and needing help, he glanced at the sign on the door, which read "Dr. Jones, 9 to 5." He refused to enter saying, "I'm not going to any doctor with odds like that." Would you entrust your spiritual life to some group against such odds? Would you want to be a member of a church that has such doubts, such hesitancy about the absolute essentials of the Christian faith? Of course not. Why should you?

     On the other hand, the Creed affirms as doctrine that Jesus is fully God and fully man. The Bible teaches this doctrine and the traditional Book of Common Prayer makes emphatic this truth.

      Jesus Himself, in response to Nicodemus, declared His divine origin. Nicodemus was a leader of the Jewish community. He was not only a religious figure of high importance; he was also a political one. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, which ruled the city of Jerusalem. He came to Jesus by night to ask Him who He was.

     He began his conversation by saying, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God." His statement fits right in with the 20% of Episcopalians who also believe the same thing. They have only gone as far in the faith as Nicodemus did 2,000 years ago.

     He continued by asking, "Who art thou?" And Jesus said to him, "Only one who has come down from Heaven will ascend to Heaven, even the Son of Man." Jesus affirmed here that He is God who has come to earth.

Christianity Is not a Self-Help Fad

     Jesus said to him, "Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." This means that our whole pattern of acting and of thinking has to be redirected. The new life of grace is what Christ brings to us. Christianity is not some good advice on how to get along with our neighbors, as a teacher might offer, or how to change society so it will function more justly, or even a means to give us some temporary inspiration. Jesus is God and He offers us a new life, a new existence

     Of course, Nicodemus did not understand this. This truth is is new reality that must be believed in. Then Jesus proceeded to illustrate the meaning of this revelation. He said, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man" (meaning himself) "be lifted up" (in other words, be crucified) "that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." The cross of Christ makes this new birth possible.

      That which keeps us from eternal life is our own inability to break out of our self-centered self. Our love of ourselves leads us to deny God and to alienate ourselves from everyone else. Only a divine miracle can break our imprisonment of sin. Only a superhuman sacrifice can destroy sin and reconcile us to God. If Jesus were not God, His crucifixion was a waste. He was just one more deluded person put to death for some failed ideal.

     But that is not the case. Jesus is fully God and His sacrifice is an eternal offering to remove the barrier of guilt and sin between God and all of us. This is what we commemorate and celebrate every Sunday in the Eucharist. This truth is what we hold onto in moments of great guilt and trepidation as we face danger and even death. Christ died for you to redeem you, to save you so that you would not perish but have everlasting life.

      This is the glorious gospel that is enshrined in the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity. God the Father, who is God, sent His Son, who is God, to redeem us, and now sends us His Spirit, who is God, to sanctify us, to encourage us, to inspire us ever to believe and follow Him. To be born again really means to have a whole new outlook on life and a new quality of living.

Hardening of the Attitudes

      As we grow older, along with hardening of the arteries within our physical selves, our viewpoints and our feelings become constricted and become more difficult to change. We develop hardening of our attitudes. This is what sin does. It confirms us in our prejudices, our hostilities, our fears, and our doubts. To be born again of water and the Spirit means to have all that negativity washed away. Belief in Jesus Christ brings a whole new set of attitudes about life. The spirit of Christ's love can begin to flow in us. Where we once had prejudice, we now have tolerance. Where we once had hostility, we now have compassion. Where we once had fear, we now have faith. Where we once had doubts, we now have certainty. Being born again really means to have a new attitude toward living, made possible by God through the sacrifice of Christ and mediated to us through His Holy Spirit. That is the miracle of Christianity. There is nothing magic about it. Christ comes to redirect us, to put us on the course of life rather than on the course of death.

Rise Above Your Limitations

     I was sitting next to a salesman the other day as I was flying home across the country. He had just been to a big pep rally for his company in which the authorities were trying to stimulate all of the salesmen to do a better job. The speakers were outstanding individuals who mixed a lot of good solid Christian religion in with their teaching. One of the things they told him, which is similar to what I have just been saying, is that in order to be a successful salesman, you need to have a positive attitude in order to transcend your limitations. You need to reverse all downward trends in your thinking and rise above and beyond them. This is, of course, what the Christian faith provides for us in our regular daily living by giving us a positive attitude toward life. Then we begin to transcend those limitations that are holding us back

     Secondly, they told him that when you adopt a positive, outgoing, constructive attitude towards the things that are holding you back, you have to change your habits as well. You cannot keep coming late to calls on your customers. You cannot leave all your bookwork until late Saturday night in order to bring your orders up-to-date. You cannot continue to do all those sloppy things you used to do and be a good salesman.

     In a similar fashion, you cannot be a good Christian unless you change your habits as well as your attitudes. You must give up the aspects of your life that are self-destructive and counterproductive. Worshipping is the way Christians express their love for God. Worship is a habit. Prayer is a habit. Reading the Bible is a habit. Doing good is a habit. You cannot expect, all of a sudden, to become a transformed saint overnight if you continue the habits of a fallen sinner, no matter how you feel inside. You must replace bad habits with good habits.

     Our Lord calls us to a new life in Him and transforms our whole attitude toward Him and our fellowman. He gives us a discipline to follow -- a discipline of worship, of prayer, and of doing good. He encourages us to reach out to others who need our help. This is the most important habit of all. You learn to be good by doing good. You learn to love by loving. Gradually, this new spirit of salvation that God has offered to us in His Son becomes a reality for us.

     Let us rejoice in this glorious day in which we commemorate both the publication of the Book of Common Prayer, and the salvation of the world expressed in the Holy Trinity. St. Augustine taught us that the best way to understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is through the analogy of love. The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and the love between them is the Holy Spirit.

     The Trinity is the fullest expression of the love of God. The best way by which we come close to and more knowledgeable of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is to live a life of humble service. Then God's love becomes real to us.

     A perfect example of sacrificial love is what we see in those heroic three, "The Unholy Trinity," the elderly duchess, her chauffeur, and the Anglican vicar. Following the teachings of our Lord, they laid down their lives for the benefit of their fellows. The greatest act of love is also the truest knowledge of God. Praise to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit one God who has created us, redeemed us, and sanctified us for an eternal life of love.