Preaching the Big Questions:3 Wonderings about the Nature of God

EvilTrinity

Incarnation

3 Wonderings about the Nature of God

The Rev. Dr. Catherine Faith MacLean

The Rev. Dr. John H. Young

Tuesdays

October 29, November 5, and 12

TrinityThe Triune God

A Wondering about the Nature of God

Part 1 The doctrine at hand

Why?

Mystery

The profundity, consolation, beauty, of the liturgy

Deep - not dry

Balance

Trust in God is more than a concept. Trinitarian faith – reflection on the nature of God - requires something from us.

Why?

The Triune God, is a community, not a binary intimacy nor a solitary being.

This is the Christian faith, the model for living.

Earl Reaburn:

One is solitary; two is intimate; three makes a community.

God’s self is our model

Immanent Trinity:

God’s relationships within God’s self

Economic Trinity:

God’s relationship with the creation and creatures

Creeds

The Apostles Creed (late 2nd century) concise; in our hymnals & service books

The Nicene Creed (4th century) is the most widely used of all creeds. In 589, a phrase was added, asserting that the Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as the Father. The Nicene Creed affirms one God in three distinct persons.

The Athanasian Creed (5th century) is the earliest creed to state the equality of the three persons of the Trinity. It sealed the deal by articulating Christ as essential to the timeless holiness of God.

Believe = Trust

“I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son our Lord. … I believe in the Holy Spirit …”

I trust in God …

Creeds & Statements of Faith

Since 1968 …

We are not alone … we trust in God

A Song of Faith

With the Church through the ages, we speak of God as one and triune:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We also speak of God as

Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer

God, Christ, and Spirit

Mother, Friend, and Comforter

Source of Life, Living Word, and Bond of Love,

and in other ways that speak faithfully of the One on whom our hearts rely,

the fully shared life at the heart of the universe.

We witness to Holy Mystery that is Wholly Love.

…. we witness to Holy Mystery who is Wholly Love.

Heterodoxies

Arianism - the Father is superior in the Trinity

Modalism – the functions only of the Persons

But rather

Perichoresis:

The Trinity is an unending flow of giving and receiving among the Three Persons.

Call it “the dance” if you like

More Voices # 49 “When We Seek Language”

Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation

Douglas John Hall

… what I am doing here involves an intentional application of the principle of divine unity in trinitarian thought or at any rate an insistence upon the unity of God’s work, as in the dogma of coinherence or perichoresis. That is, what we posit of the second person of the Trinity cannot be reserved for the Son only but applies in some quite definitive sense to the Father and the Spirit as well – no matter how radical the consequence. … If Jesus Christ is the Revealer of God and not merely a subordinate who, finally, submits to the will of his superior (the Father Almighty), then the cross must be understood to apply to God’s own being and acting and not only to that of the Christ.

IonaScotland

The Mediaeval Shield of the Trinity

The Trinity is an unending flow of giving and receiving.

True of God’s very self; true of God’s relationship with us and our subsequent orientation in the world.

Feminism

the potent question of hierarchy or relationship

Celtic Christianity

The mathematical analogy holds:

the Trinity is singular, as a clan or a team is singular

Trinity knot

Ivan Gregan

The Trinity leads to and reflects concepts of community and relationship. It’s not that everything is God, but that in everything you can see God.

The Holy Trinity

also known as

The Hospitality of Abraham

Andrei Rublev15th century Russian monk

Part 2 Passage for Preaching

II Corinthians 13:13

Occasions for Preaching on the Trinity

• Trinity Sunday

•On any occasion you might choose, e.g., you could do a summer series, looking at some key aspects of a United Church statement of faith or a creed

•Other possible passages• Matthew 28:16-20• John 16:4b-16 (One could choose to read verses 1-16)

Why Choose This Text

•Probably the most frequently used expression of the Trinity in United Church worship during our history.

•Closest expression of the Trinity in Paul’s letters.

• Focus in this text is on relationship.

Part 3 Pastoral concerns

What makes this doctrine an important, living concept?

Where do you see it in your practice of ministry?

Love your neighbour as yourself.

relationships

political witness

ecological witness

Preaching against the wrath of God.

Part 4 Homiletics

How might it preach?

What motivates you to action?

Some Expressions

the lover, the beloved, and the love that binds

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; One God, Mother of us all

Source of Life, Living Word and Bond of Love

Father, loving source of all that is; Son, who came into our midst in Jesus born of Mary; Holy Spirit, who breathes renewal and strength in the journey of faith

God, the Source of love, Jesus Christ, the love incarnate, and the Holy Spirit,

love’s power

Part 5 a sermon

“Living in the Public Square”

or you might choose

“A Cure for Isolation”

For further reflection

Celtic Benediction: Morning & Night Prayer, Philip Newell

Three Ways of Grace: Drawing Closer to the Trinity, ed. Rob Fennell & Ross Lockhart

Celebrate God’s Presence

The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation, Richard Rohr

Douglas John Hall: Collected Readings, ed. David B. Lott

On Christian Doctrine, Augustine

Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, World Council of Churches

What Does the Bible Say? A Critical Conversation with Popular Culture in a Biblically Illiterate World,Mary Ann Beavis & HyeRan Kim-Cragg

What’s Theology Got to Do with It? Convictions, Vitality, & the Church, Anthony B. Robinson

Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes, ed. Serene Jones & Paul Lakeland

Faith Seeking Understanding, Daniel L. Migliore

Essentials of Christian Theology, ed. Wm Placher

Holding Faith, Cynthia Rigby

The Theology of the United Church of Canada, ed. Schweitzer, Fennell, Bourgeois

May the light of God illumine the heart of your souls

May the flame of Christ kindle you to love.

May the fire of the Spirit free you to live

This day, tonight, and forever.

Philip Newell

Topic next Tuesday:Incarnation

Have a great week!

Thank you and good night