Asserting mysteries [Trinity Sunday]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 6:1-7
• Romans 11:33-36
• St. John 3:1-15

Jesus speaks to you today in His Gospel, saying,

“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

It is easier to tear something down and destroy it, than it is to build up something good and beautiful. "Stay home, save lives," the politicians and media demanded. And Americans stayed home for months and lost their jobs and their mental and physical health. If you go out, they said, you will kill people by passing on the virus. But all of a sudden these same politicians have turned on a dime in the aftermath of the killing of a Minnesota man in police custody - all of a sudden they are not only encouraging but joining mass public protests. Social distancing has given way to the demands of social engineering. Meanwhile a large part of the US is in smoldering ruins.

In fact, in these high-coronu-active-cities you are required to socially gather with less than 12 people, even outside, which includes churches. However, you are allowed to protest with up to 100 people. So will you die from the virus or will you die if you can’t protest?

Today and every day in the Church we build up beautiful things, albeit slowly. More slowly than the destroyers of society. Today we celebrate the blessed Trinity and the undivided unity that is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Though this has not been our first stop, when going through the Church’s Lectionary. the reason the Church does not begin Catechism or the church Year with the Trinity is because it is a mystery. In fact, it is the very first of the mysteries of the Church.

The word mystery is used by the historic Church to refer to the Sacraments, primarily, and then it is used to describe those areas of the faith that defy reason. Among these secondary mysteries, we count the Virgin Birth (the Incarnation) and the Resurrection of Jesus. 

The Trinity is counted as first among them, because He is the first we encounter in the entire Bible. He is the one before Creation, the One Who created all things, and the One Who sustains all things. He is also the God we encounter in each mystery. In the Incarnation, the Father sent the Spirit Who overshadowed the blessed virgin Mary, and conceived the eternal Son.

He is also at the Resurrection where the Father raised the Son (Rom. 6:4) by the Spirit (Rom. 8:11) of holiness and glory. so it is that we are presented with 3 persons in the Bible: the Son in Psalm 2:7, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”, the Spirit in John 15 of Whom we heard two weeks ago, and the Father in Gal 4:6, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit Who calls out ‘Abba, Father’”. And yet the Bible is adamant is repeating “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut 6:4).

It has taken us 190 days of church Year to get to Trinity Sunday. It has taken 190 days of catechism: going through Advent and Christmas, Epiphany and Gesimas, Lent and Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost to prime us to finally engage in what the Trinity is. And the best explanation for it is to say, “I don’t know”.

It is important to say “I don’t know” to explaining the doctrine of the Trinity first to comfort yourself by understanding that your mental capacities do not make God. A lot of attack on Christianity comes at these spots of mystery, because it can be turned against you. When you say you don’t have to prove the Trinity exists, you just have to believe. Someone can say, you don’t have to prove God doesn’t exist, you just have to believe. Who is right, then?

It is also important to say “I don’t know”, when talking about the Trinity, to remind yourself that there is depth to your faith. If you can explain the Trinity and everything about God matter-of-factly, then it becomes not-so-great. The first time you saw your mother whip up a birthday cake, it was miraculous. When you figured out she used a recipe and then you had to make birthday cakes for all your own children, it became a chore.

Mystery is important.

It is also important to not say “I don’t know”, when talking about the Trinity. But how can we do that with something we don’t understand? If nothing else, this present virus hullabaloo should have taught you that the world “wants to know”. They want to know so much, that they are willing to accept a lie before the truth. Then they will go to great lengths to make sure the lie stays truth, even tearing down and destroying everything in their way; the good and the bad.

Repent. We must be able to give an answer to those who ask us, in season and out of season. The world demands an answer, even though it will betray us whatever we say. And here once again we discover our fear. It is a small doubting of God’s Word that grows instantly when poked. Did God really talk about the Trinity? Did Jesus even tell us any mysteries? I don’t have to have all the answers, do I?

This is easy to counter and easy to answer. In the face of a mystery you can’t explain or rationalize, you simply assert it. In fact, Jesus gives us 5 assertions we can make about the Trinity, from Scripture, instead of explaining it as we would a math problem.

the first assertion is to reaffirm that there is only one God, not three. Moses preaches in Deut. 4:35 that “to you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other beside Him.” You proclaim what you know, instead of speculating on what you do not. We know, from Jesus, that there is one God.

The Second Assertion is that the Father is God. Yes, God reveals Himself as a Father, not a mother. He reveals Himself as the one and only God Who is Father and of Whom are all things (1 Cor. 8:6). They even knew He was Father in the Old Testament, as Isaiah says, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father;” (64:8).

The Third Assertion is that the Son is God. God also reveals Himself to be a Son, not a daughter. Not just any son, but Jesus Who was crucified; Jesus Who is our blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. (Titus 2:13)

The Fourth Assertion is that the Holy Spirit is God, as we have already gone through before Pentecost. Basically, what these first four assertions mean is that in the holy Bible, as we read and study for ourselves, we will definitely, no matter what, come into contact with these assertions. None of these say “Trinity” verbatim, but so far they imply this Trinity that we can not explain.

Though, we would only make these assertions if we believe, because so far they are not making sense, on their own, which is why we need the rest of the Church Year to catechize us. So that, when we get to our fifth and final assertion, we get to the heart of the Trinity. That is, that the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. 

These five assertions are the sum total of all that we can say about the Trinity. No more, no less. This is not a weakness of Christianity, because this is not what the Church stands or falls upon. All does not depend on us explaining the Trinity, but confessing the Trinity as the Bible gives Him to us.

So we build up this beautiful confession and painstakingly take the time to get it right. We do not seek the easy way, because there is none. Though the world may sprint by us, headlong into the future, we take our time to confess and assert the mysteries.

Two mysteries have become promises for us, in Christ: the mystery of the resurrection of all flesh (1 Cor. 15:51) and the mystery of Christ’s one-flesh union with His Church (Eph. 5:32). We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. As Jesus was changed on Easter morning, we too are baptized into a resurrection like His.

A man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great, but through Jesus, by the means of the Spirit, the unknowable, inexplicable Trinity is simply given to us. 

Our hot-heads do not need to burn with anger or frustration at how no one is woke enough or no one is understanding our beliefs. They need to burn with faith. Faith to confess the Trinity, faith to take time and patience to build up, and faith to love our neighbor enough to give him the same confession. It is our Lord’s Church and He has, He does, and He will continue to build us up in Him, until the end of the age.