Sue's Musings

Steward of the mysteries of God – that is one of the descriptions of ministers in the Book of Order. That is a fair description of the Trinity, isn’t it? A mystery of God! It is a difficult concept to explain -how can God be three and yet one? How can Jesus be God and yet on the cross say “why have you forsaken me?” to God? And what is the the Spirit – God and yet in a way, separate from Jesus who says after he goes, another will come to be with us? Well, enough said about the mystery – logic cannot adequately explain it.

When we look at the Trinity in terms of relationships, we release ourselves from the need to logically make sense of God. Bruce Chilton says “Divine will, divine character, divine expression are all aspects of a single God, whom I am invited to know as intimately as I might know any neighbor. What is truly mysterious about the Trinity is not that it is intellectually complex, but beneath all its complexity it voices a simple call to know God as directly as we can know any person.” In a way, the trinity is an invitation to get beyond the “acquaintance” stage with God, knowing God only on Sundays, and to enter into an ongoing discovery of who God is, and of who we are with God. Each of the “aspects” of God in the traditional trinity show us something of who God is, and of God’s fierce love for us – as “Daddy”, to use Jesus’ term instead of the more distant “Father,” as Jesus, brother, who gave up his life for us, and as Holy Spirit, with us always.

As you prepare for Trinity Sunday, consider this question – who is this God who makes God’s own self known to us, or at least available to those who want to know God – in so many intimate ways?