I am because we are

I am away for the next two Sundays. So I am not preaching this Sunday - Trinity Sunday. Which is sad. I like trinity Sunday and wrestling with what difference the trinity makes. My deep suspicion is that most Christians are not Trinitarian, or even monotheisitic. We slide into being tritheisitc, believing in God, the Son and Holy Spirit. 

Trinitarian theology is faith in God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And it grew out of peoples shared experience of God,  and helped them both make sense of that experience and find ways to live in response to that shared experience.

For me that means that in the gospels we meet the Eternal Word (Son) who comes among us in Jesus. In his life, teaching, death and resurrection we are shown God the Father. We meet the character of the Father - Source of All Being - a character of love, generosity,  and mercy. And just as the risen Jesus breathed the Spirit into his followers, so the crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ breathes the Spirit into us, so that we might be reminded that we are made in the image of God - Source of All Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit enables us to to see the footprints of the ascended Christ in our world today. The Spirit enables us to join that work, bringing in the reign of justice and peace.  The Spirit reminds us that through the Ascension the crucified and risen Christ, the Eternal Word, is closer than our breath. We are never alone in this work. 

I am because we are. This is not about me, but us as God's people living in the Trinity

We are because God is.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Get those PSA Blood Tests Done Boys!

I had a strange conversation a few months ago. I was lying back in a chair, naked from the waste down, holding a nappy over my bits while I waited for the skin under my bits to go numb enough from liquid nitrogen or some such thing, so that they could inject the local anesthetic and then punch a couple of holes through to the prostate. All in all a fun experience. And while I waited the nurse made small talk and asked what I did. "I'm retired", I replied. "Oh, what are you planning to do now you are retired? any travel?" "Turns out not" I said, "It seems I'm just keeping my dairy open for dealing with health things." And I am still keeping my dairy open and still dealing with them. This journey began last year. I was already dealing with two other things, including a lump in my parotid gland which has been slowly growing there for about 3 years. When I got back from being overseas on sabbatical my doctor called me in to talk about that an
Read more

What a Ride! - Thankyou and Goodbye!

Image
You can listen to this sermon here   Gate Pa - Ascension Sunday and Easter 7 Year B, 2024 Readings: Palm                            Psalm 1 First Reading:             Acts 1:1-11, 15-17,21-26                     Bible Page 884 Second Reading:        1 John 5:9-13                                       Bible Page 991 Gospel:                         John 17:6-19                                        Bible Page 879 What I want to say: A sermon to say thankyou -           To explore the process we are all going through – and that it is ok -           Use the ascension to invite us all to trust God in all this -           Offer some thoughts about what the future might be What I want to happen: People to embrace all that the liminal space might offer with thankfulness, hope and trust. The Sermon 1.      Introduction: Pancake Monday in 2012 – nearly 12 ½ years ago Bishop David Rice installed me as vicar of Gate Pa Telling everyone I didn’t know much about vicaring -          Outraged some
Read more

"Just Enjoy The Coffee"

I was just sent this on Anglicans All. Being a coffee enjoyer and a Franciscan I enjoyed it. I hope you do to: Even if you are not a coffee drinker...Have a good day!!!! A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain ,plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the simple and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more ex
Read more