Sermon: “In Spirit and Truth”
The Rev. Mark Moline
Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth: “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face.” I sometimes wonder if the ink had even begun to dry on that letter before men started reaching for the bottle of Theological Windex in an attempt to try to clear up Paul’s hazy window to God. But alas, Paul’s words hold true to this day, “Now we know in part; then we will know fully…..”
Today we celebrate an unusual feast day, Trinity Sunday! Most Church Holidays celebrate a person, such as the Feast of St. Francis or the Feast of St. Andrew. Or they celebrate an historical event such as Christmas or Easter. Trinity Sunday does neither; rather it primarily commemorates a theological concept. It commemorates the concept of the Trinity which in large remains a mystery to us today, until someday we will know fully the Triune God – the One God in three persons. Well what is that all about? How does it work? How can that be?
A church leader by the name of Nicodemus asked Jesus, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” So immediately, human understanding is amplified by faith – by believing. In Christ learning and faith begin to meld together. The spiritual incorporates the historic. No one can see the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit; the tangible and the intangible. The word made flesh. That is God, God Incarnate and God Spirit.
Much of our faith remains mystery. These are mysterious spiritual things, or as Christ says, they are “heavenly things.” It is sometimes difficult to understand things from above. I’ve cautioned in past sermons, If you meet a man or a woman who has God all figured out for you down to the slightest procedural detail, run away as fast as you can for that person wants to control your mind. He or she is probably doing this in the interest of shoring up their own weak faith. You see, if I am questioning my own faith, if it seems so fragile and tenuous, then I might want to get everyone to agree with my thinking, for if I can just get everyone to agree with my thinking then surely my thinking is correct, and thus my faith is correct. Avoid those self-concerned folks; rather pray you encounter people like St. Paul who would say to you, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God is at work IN you! Pray God sends Folks into your life who will give the Holy Spirit some breathing room – that is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead and inspire you in the way of truth and spiritual freedom.
Truly understanding the traditional Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John requires more than a mere intellectual exercise. Anselm said, “I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but I believe in order to understand.” He added, “Faith seeks understanding.”
We do seek to understand; that is a crucial part of our salvation. We need to grow in our understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In faith we need to study – we need to understand all that we can understand about the gospel. We need to study what our Episcopal Catechism refers to as the “Word of God,” as it claims that God still speaks to us today through the Bible. Yes it actually uses the “B” word. Believe it or not, the Episcopal Church is a “Bible Believing Church.”
It must be very frustrating to try to understand the Gospel absent faith. Of course there are those who try, and they almost inevitably find Matthew, Mark, Luke and John woefully inadequate for their purposes. They set out to save the Church from the Christian Canon. I’ve not personally known any of those faithless who would save us from God’s written word. I must guard against being judgmental here, but I’ve read their work which causes me to at least honestly question their faith.
I am a graduate of Candler Seminary at Emory University in Atlanta. Long before my time at Candler, back in the 50’s and 60’s, Emory had a professor on faculty by the name of Thomas J.J. Altizer. Altizer insisted “We must recognize that the death of God is a historical event: God has died in our time, in our history, in our existence.” My beloved school found itself the home of, the center of and the origin of the infamous “God is Dead” movement of the 60’s. Well as it turns out – God didn’t die; that so call modern or post-modern theological movement did die a rather obscure death; it went the way of, paisley shirts, bell-bottom trousers and very wide side-burns.
Oh they will be back. Paisley, bell bottoms and side burns will be back in style in due time. And like bad clothing styles, the great heresies will always return, brought to us by well intentioned men and women who lack faith and yet still try to out-think God. And as has been the case in the past, the church will probably react poorly getting all frightened, exercised, threatened and weak-kneed as though someone – someday might actually say or write something that would truly disprove Christ as the Messiah. Oh ye of little faith, that ain’t gonna happen! – My apologies to the English teachers among us.
There will always be people who try to save the Church from the Gospels. But it is not for the Church to save the Gospel – Rather the Gospel will save the Church. John Spong, who I think has done much good for the Episcopal Church, wrote a book he entitled, “Why Christianity Must Change or Die.” John, don’t hold your breath. Because of its sins and faults which are many – you misjudge the church – you misjudge us – you under-estimate us. We are an Easter people. We are the extended Body of Christ on earth and no faithless deep thinker is going to put that body back in the grave. It’s been tried before.
The heresies are coming! The heresies are coming! But Fear not. There are several very practical things you can do to protect your faith. Very specifically you can read, think, pray and believe. There are a lot of Good books out there about Scripture. But do me a favor, don’t read a good book about the good book until you’ve read the good book. Read the Bible & don’t think three lessons read aloud here in church on Sunday morning will suffice. We fear criticism of the Bible because we don’t know the Bible. Find the time to study your Bibles. 15 – 20 minutes every other day is a good start. Then in conjunction with that study, read the other good books. Read, Think, and Pray privately by yourself – do these necessary little things and God will give you the faith to believe.
We are now offering three great classes on Wednesday evenings; two at five o’clock and one at six o’clock. Come to one or both, read your Bible ahead of time, be all “prayed up” as the evangelicals are wont to say, and don’t be surprised if you hear something with which you disagree. We are still the Episcopal Church – we are free to think, question and disagree. As George Patton said, “When everyone thinks alike, someone isn’t thinking.” God doesn’t make two snowflakes alike, why would he want to clone believers? As Isaiah said, “Come let us reason together.”
We may not understand the doctrine of the Trinity. But we need to understand why we believe in it. And more importantly, we need to understand why, in Christ, it is Okay to believe in mystery!
