The Trinity - Huh

Holy Trinity Sunday

Matthew 28:16-20

"The Trinity - Huh"

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."" Matthew 28:16-20, RSV.

Grace and Peace to your from our Lord and Savior, Jesus who is part of the Trinity. Amen

Today is another festival of the church year which is even more forgotten than last Sunday’s festival, the Day of Pentecost.

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday.

You might say what is that, the Trinity. Well it is not a event like Christmas or Easter, it is not something you might find in the Bible. There is no mention of the Trinity as such in the Bible.

But it is a doctrine of the church that we believe in whole hardly.

Maybe the following will help, maybe it won’t.

Parent (Dad)

Child (Son)

C: Dad, I got a question.

P: What is it, Son.

C: Well, today in Sunday School, we talked about God.

P: God, huh. Maybe you should talk to your mother.

C: Come on, Dad.

P: Okay, Son, what is your question?

C: Well, our teacher was trying to explain the Trinity, you know, God in three persons?

P: Son, I REALLY think this is a Mom question, don’t you?

C: Dad....

P: All right, what is your question?

C: Well, I guess it is just confusing. I mean, I have never met a Trinity before.

P: What do you mean, Son.

C: Everyone I know is just one person, not three.

P: I see. And this worries you?

C: It’s just confusing, Dad. I mean, who is this Trinity God supposed to be?

P: That is a good question, Son.

C: (PAUSE) Well...

P: Well, what?

C: Don’t you have some wonderful parental insight to help me out, here?

P: Right, well, let me think. God is like H2O, you know, Ice, liquid and steam, all H2O,

but different make-ups...

C: So God is like water?

P: Well, not exactly. Oh, okay. Let’s try this...your Mother, for instance... She is one person,

but she is a mother, a wife and a daughter...

C: So Mom is God?

P: Let’s not go there, Son. Let me think....

C: What about the beauty of a flower, or the smile of a baby?

P: What? How is that like Trinity?

C: I don’t know, but when I see something like that, I know that God must

have had a hand in it.

P: I would agree with you there, Son.

C: But, which one?

P: Which one what?

C: Which God is involved in something like that?

P: I am not following you here, Son.

C: Well, if God is three persons, which person makes the flowers bloom?

Which person breathes new life into a baby?

P: Now wait, remember we have a rule in this house. Mom answers all

questions about babies, okay?

C: Not just babies, Dad, everything. Which person paints the colors of the sunset? Which

person listens to me when no one else will? Which one?

P: Wow. These are good questions, Son.

C: Which one is it? And how do we know? And who decides? And do they ever argue with each other?

Do they live in the same place? Can you see them all, or just some of them?

How can you tell them apart? Are they identical? Is it just three, or could it be four, or five, or more?

P: (LONG PAUSE - staring at Child) Son, the Trinity is like an apple, it has a core, the meat of the apple and the skin...

C: Dad?

P: Or maybe, like a three-leafed clover?

C: You don’t know do you?

P: Or a triangle?

C: I’ll go ask Mom, or whoever she is!

P: Or three interlocking circles....? 1

The concept of the Trinity can be confusing. But I think if we look at in its parts, that might help explain what it is and isn’t.

We say at the beginning of each worship service, In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen.

We said last Sunday that is our calling upon the name of Jesus. But it is more than just Jesus whom we call to our worship, it is the Holy Trinity, God in three persons who comes to our worship an abides with us.