“Trinity Sunday; 2009
The Sermon Notes of Father S. Peter Donatelli
(All Biblical quotes from the New King James Version)
JOKE:
Stephen Wright has some great one liner. Here is one. I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it on all the beaches of the world. Perhaps you’ve seen it.
INTRO:
I like when people take truth and manipulate it to be funny. Truth is difficult. In 1997, Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student at Eagle Rock Junior High School in Idaho Falls won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair by showing how conditioned we have become to alarmists spreading fear of everything in our environment through junk science. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical “Dihydrogen monoxide” because:
1. It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.
2. It is a major component in acid rain.
3. It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state.
4. Accidental inhalation can kill you.
5. It contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
6. It decreases the effectiveness of automobile brakes.
7. It is found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.
He asked 50 people if they support a ban. 43 said yes; six were undecided; and only one knew that the chemical is … water. A website was established DHMO.org. It looked official, a real action committee feel to it. You can even buy the T-shirt with your MasterCard or Visa. The page reads: “You can help us to continue spreading the word about Dihydrogen Monoxide by purchasing one or more of these high-quality, 100% Cotton T-shirts. They make great gifts for yourself, co-workers, friends, family and that geek, nerd, dweeb or chemist in your life!” Then it assures the customer: “Our T-Shirts are DHMO FREE.” Ever try wearing a T-Shirt made of water?
People are so easy to believe in causes and feelings and fairy tales but when the truth is standing right in front of them, they ask questions until they can convince themselves that absurdities, abnormalities, and attitudes are more acceptable then truth, devotion, sacrifice, consequence, and faithfulness. People judge truths based on how they feel so we hear arguments like “it is not really a baby in the womb.” One lady argued with me recently that she did not think it was a real baby because the baby was unwanted and one cannot possibly bring an unwanted baby into the world. Well location aside, I wonder if we can say that about the millions of unwanted people of the world? I wonder who should determine who is unwanted and when the appropriate time to terminate the unwanted is. It is hard to believe that we live in a world where people can justify believing that some babies are unwanted in order to justify sin. I can go into a whole diatribe about how we have perverted sexuality to the point where saying anything or believing anything like something so simple as marriage being between one man and one woman as defined by Jesus Christ in Matthew 13, the founder of our faith, gets business owners, pastors, and ordinary people in trouble. One man in California was fired by the theater he worked at because it was discovered that he believed in marriage as defined by our Lord, (the only truthful way to define it). Imagine a time in the United States of America where Christians are hunted down, attacked, and attempts to destroy us are not only legal but glorified by the popular media.
So folks; here is the truth; God manifested Himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to billions of people in a real, tangible, physical way. The miracles keep coming and we are the recipients of the only truth, the only way, and the only life. I will not argue that being a Christian is easy and will make you feel good. But I will tell you the absolute truth that being a Christian will lead you into a Kingdom of eternal love, eternal peace, and eternal life! So here on Trinity Sunday let’s take a look at three aspects of truth that I just mentioned through our readings this morning.
POINT ONE:
Truth involves tangible realities that interact with your everyday existence in a way that transforms you and everybody you interact with. Oh that we could have been the people to walk through the Red Sea! Imagine if you saw the waters floating up and around you. The cartoon version of the Prince of Egypt had a real cool version of this. As the people walked through they could see silhouettes of large and small fish. Not only did they see the power of God, they felt His breathe, heard His voice, and experienced His unrelenting power. This historical event that millions of people saw, heard, felt, smelt, and even tasted was passed down from generation to generation as real as believing in formation of the United States, the journey of God’s elect was truthful. All God asked from His people was to live the truth in action. Deuteronomy 4: 32 “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. 36 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
POINT TWO:
The truth not only reveals itself to us in a physical way but we are the only faith tradition to bring unity to the divine. God is fully human as in the man of Jesus Christ, but God is also fully divine. That’s why living in a world where our physical lives can be filled with trials and tribulations yet the more we participate in the Divinity of our God, the less likely we are to be discouraged, anxious, or hopeless. People spend way to much time trying to get in touch with their inner selves. They use exercise devices like yoga or tai chi or meditation to replace a relationship with God. Whereas church attendance has gone down by yen percent, these new age devices, that try to get people calmed down or relaxed or in touch with God knows what, have gone up ten percent. The truth is that our desire to reach our souls comes from the desire to have a relationship with the divinity. This relationship cannot be formulated or concocted or even humanly conceived. The relationship with the Divine comes from the mind of God when He commanded that we exist. Our existence comes from the mind of God so naturally counting on our own devices cannot possibly result in a truthful relationship with God. Paul knew this in today’s second reading. Romans 8: 2 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
POINT THREE:
Therefore the Trinity teaches us the most important aspect of the Trinity; our God exists in community; our God exists in relationship; our God exists as the perfect triad of community, relationship, and unity. It is this friendship that enables us to be perfect disciples, perfect Christians, perfect people. As we read in today’s Gospel; Matthew 28: 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Even though they doubted they still worshipped Jesus. Even though they were fallible men, Jesus still gave them all authority. Even though the world is not perfect and some people are hostile against the way of the Lord, the people of Christ still went into the world saving souls and baptizing as many people as they could. Even though people attacked them, and killed them, and went after their families and friends, Jesus was with them always even to the end of the age. The Trinity teaches us that we are never alone and not only can we count on our relationship with the Divine Relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we have a relationship both physically and spiritually with billions of people, billions of saints, living on earth and in Heaven, and billions of angels acting on our behalf. I suppose it is cool to be popular! So I will end this morning’s sermon with a little theology.
CONCLUSION:
I will end quoting a great sermon by Father Fred Anderson. The Father is not the Son or the Spirit, but the Father, Creator of heaven and earth. The Son is neither the Father nor the Spirit, but God in human flesh, sent as the Savior to redeem the world through divine love. The Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, but God’s present tense with us now, the means through whom you and I come to experience and know God, and who initiates within us the desire and ability to call out to God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit-three distinct means of God being over and above us, with and for us, and in and among us, and three distinct relationships with one another, who are nonetheless one in essence, will, purpose and work. What one wills all three will, what one does all three do–they work in concert, the three playing their different parts-three voices emerging from the same string at the same time, forming a trio of melodies that harmonize into one glorious sound, in order to accomplish the same purpose–as indivisible in their work as they are in their being–One God in three co-equal persons. This is the mystery of God we celebrate today: God over and above us, God for and with us, God in and among us, One God, the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ, the God who in the waters of baptism makes us his own, the God who meets us at table to give us the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation, the God who is in us and among us, using us to share the good news of his love and purpose for us all.
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