Today the church celebrates the Trinity. The unimaginable Unity of 3 almighty beings, Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit as separate and yet 1.
Our first hymn describes and we sang praises to the Trinity in a song that has been sung by Christians for over 200 years.
In the collect for today we heard that God gives us grace through our faith to be able to acknowledge the glory of the Trinity and that if we stay true to that faith we will see the three-in-one at our end.
Wasn’t the Psalm powerful? We read aloud with Sharon about the power of God. As is often done, God’s power is described in terms of nature. “The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire” and “makes oak trees writhe” and yet he gives strength to his people (that’s us) and gives us the blessing of peace.
The Old Testament lesson tells the story of a man who saw the Lord and was terrified because he knew he had “unclean lips” and was unworthy to see the Lord. One of the seraphs in attendance touched his lips with a live coal and declared his sin blotted out.
The most important part of this reading for me is the last line (as I try to build my life on it):
God asks “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” The man replies (as I do) “Here am I; send me!”
The reading from Romans reminds us to live our lives led by the Spirit. We are all drawn away from the Trinity by human failings – lust, greed, fear, arrogance, etc. But if we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit- trust in the Trinity- we are children of God.
The Gospel reading is a story about the Pharisee named Nicodemus who was trying to understand Jesus’ saying “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water & the Spirit”. We are born from above through Baptism and our acceptance of the Holy Spirit.
Once I quit talking, we will sing about trusting the Trinity to guide us in all we do and to give us strength to handle all things.
We are SO blessed! On the bleakest day we can reach out and there is love- maybe family, maybe friends, maybe strangers or fellow Faith church goers- but DO reach out. Give love a chance AND when you are feeling and doing better “pay it forward” (loved that movie). We will be the arms, voices, listening ears for the Trinity. Here we are. Send us.
Ellen Green, Faith Episcopal Poulsbo