Clergy frequently joke that nobody wants to preach on Trinity Sunday. Our central theological doctrine stretches even the most able mind to the point of breaking. And let’s face it, doctrinal sermons rarely leave congregations rolling in the aisle laughing or reaching for the kleenex.

And yet, when they’re talking seriously about their craft, most of the preachers I’ve talked to about preaching on Trinity Sunday admit that they actually like it. That goes for me, too.

Edvard Munch’s “Three Girls on the Jetty”

 

So it is with some regret that I find myself not preaching this Sunday. But those of you who read along with me on a regular basis know that I’m not likely to let a thing like that stop me from posting something as the Church gathers to ponder the nature of the Triune God.

So here’s the plan. I’m going to give you a couple of excerpts from past posts with links to the whole piece. Then, I’m going to share some links to blogs that I find helpful.

Of all the Sundays of the Church Year, there is no more appropriate day to reflect on Christian belief than Trinity Sunday. Along with the Incarnation, the Trinity is our central, non-negotiable belief. Now you might think that I’m about to explain the doctrine of the Trinity. And you would be mistaken.

Instead, I’m going to remind us that the Trinity and the Incarnation are Mysteries. We root our lives in and bank our lives on Mysteries. And yet some of us erroneously approach Christian belief as if it could conflict with natural science. We are mystery people, and yet some of us treat belief as if it were a kind of scientific knowing.  (from “Mystery and Belief”, May 31, 2015)

That’s what being one amounts to in this life. Sticking with each other when we inevitably let each other down, drag the people we love into messes of our own making, and stumble together into obstacles placed in our way by forces beyond our control.

The holy seamlessness of the Father and the Son is the gift that Jesus offers his followers. We will know it perfectly in eternity. In the meantime, our oneness will be a work in progress. Our hearts will be stretched and broken and mended and stretched again. By each other. And that is precisely where God will do his most magnificent work. (from “One Day at a Time”, June 1, 2014)

Paul Gauguin’s “Three Breton Girl’s Dancing”

 

Many of colleagues teach me new ways to see things theologically in their blog posts. I’m going to share a few of those blogs below. I’m not sure what they’ll say about the Trinity or even if they’ll post this week. But they’re always worth a look:

An Odd Work of Grace (Bishop Matt Gunter)

Bishop Dan’s Blog (Bishop Dan Edwards)

Entangled States (Bishop Nick Knisely)

Tending the Vine (Bishop Rob Hirschfeld)

Bishop Fisher (Bishop Jeff Fisher)

My final (and meager) thought for this important day is this. God is all about relationship. Since God created us in the divine image, it stands to reason that we are all about relationship. Not achievement. Not status. Not material comfort. Not being right. God created us to be about relationship. With God. With one another. And God knows that this is easier said than done. That’s why God doesn’t expect us to do this whole life thing on our own.