Trinity Sunday

Today is Trinity Sunday.

I was taught that Trinity Sunday is the only day on the church calendar which is given over to a theological concept rather than an event or person in the Story. That is sorta' true. However, I want to suggest that the Trinity is not so much a theological concept as it is the relational foundation for the rest of the story.

Trinity Sunday always follows Pentecost Sunday in the Western Church calendar. Pentecost is when we encounter the confusing events surrounding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church -- rushing winds, dancing fire, and preachers doing their thing in languages they'd apparently not ever spoken before. It is as though the church fathers, who over time developed the calendar as a means to draw people into the Story, are saying to us -- Yes, Pentecost is a bit over the edge. But if you pause for another day and consider the relational context of the Trinity, it makes a lot more sense. Pentecost has a relational context and that is the Trinity.

You see, Trinity Sunday reminds us of the communal nature of God. God is one in essence (will, nature) but three "persons" living in community make up that being. IOW, at the core of God's single essence is his relational nature.

Some think of the mystery of the Trinity as having to do with the issue of one God existing as three "persons." And that is a bit of a mystery. But the greater mystery has to do with how it is that through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ we become participants in the divine community of the Three-in-One.

How is it that the God of the universe has set for us a place of fellowship at his Trinitarian table and welcomed us to the meal as family? How is it that he sends his Spirit to summon us to the meal and empowers us to share in it? Mystery. Wonder. Grace.

Certainly a day on the calendar isn't enough to do the Trinity justice. But it is a starting point.

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." ~ 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NLT)