“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
This -- and our Gospel message for today, the last lines from Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus says, “Go, baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” -- are closest references we have from Scripture to the Holy Trinity. One God three persons. Our creed comes from a time where there was fighting going on among Christians in the the 4th century and Constantine ordered the bishops to gather at his lakeside palace to work it out. That’s where we get our creed -- an ancient synod assembly!
Christians couldn’t agree on whether Jesus was actually God the Father, and whether Jesus was above all other lords of the lands, especially the imperial lord who also was also commonly said to be the son of God. So the newly converted Christian emperor calls these theologians together and says in 325AD, “Work it out!” And they came up with this trinitarian formula and wrote a creed for all Christians to say and unite together.
Isn’t it amazing that -- given this very human way that our creeds came to fruition -- we still say them today, and confess this trinitarian formula?! That we believe in one God, three persons? That God Almighty who creates the cosmos, who was there at the very beginning...is also Jesus the son who redeems the world...is also the Holy Spirit who comforts and challenges, who rushed in like a mighty wind and appeared like flames of fire on the disciples’ heads and in our hearts even still today?!
I am struck by that! How a holy, sacred, timeless creed like the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed can come from imperfect humans. How that confession of faith stands at the center of our worship even still in 2014!
Why do we need these creeds? Do you believe them every week you come and we gather together and stand and speak them after our Hymn of the Day? I once heard a pastor say he honestly didn’t believe the creed on most Sundays he was leading it -- there was just too much either distracting him or making him doubt and question too much to swallow the words of the creeds whole -- but that’s exactly why he needed to gather with others who did believe when he could not. [pause] Just like in the baptism of an infant, we understand that faith is something we share with each other, something we borrow from each other like flour for our bread:
“[Lois], I don’t have enough faith today, can I borrow some of yours?”
“Sure here, here’s this creed our people have been saying since the early centuries of the church. Take as much as you want.”
“Thank you. If you’re short on faith sometime, let me know and I’ll see what faith I can come up with for you to have.”
This creed, this faith, is what we celebrate ALSO on this Father’s Day. It’s fitting that Father’s Day falls on Holy Trinity Sunday: fathers too ought to share what they have, when someone comes in need of not having enough. And so often they do. The great fathers among us love to share advice, and stories, and humor. They love to share food and drink with neighbors and friends. I think, the great fathers share their faith -- with their words, but even more importantly with their actions. And fathers ought to ask for help when they need it. This one is debatable if we fathers are honest. Sometimes we need to work on that. I think the great fathers also know when to say they need something, when to reach out for help. None of us can go it alone.
I love how Father’s Day has become a day in our culture about bbqing and being together, having fun... That’s community.
We are made for community! We express and confess God as a Divine Community -- a Father, a Son, a Holy Spirit (some icons picture the trinity as three beings at a table) -- God who we express as Divine Community creates us for community. “Let us make human kind in our image,” did you catch that? The earth and the human was created from a divine community! None of us can go it alone.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
From the Divine Community to our broken and fallible communities: God is with us!
Go and share that Divine community, that Holy Trinity, with everyone you meet. The fathers among us can be examples of that...
Man, Micah’s baseball coach modeled that for us this season! This guy, Coach Chris, he was always tying baseball, into strong community life. It was about a lot more than a great game. We had the year end party last Sunday after Mr. Ron’s celebration, and I got to witness him do this again -- as he praised everyone for not just being ball players and supportive dads and moms, but for being committed to community. He fed us all with this lavish spread, the thanked everyone, he praised and lifted up the children. It’s like that council of Nicea, man! I’m sure there’s lots of pain and brokenness in Coach’s life. I’m sure he’s not a perfect person. I don’t know him that well. But out of that human imperfection comes a glimpse of God’s love.
Community has got to be connected to experiencing God’s love. I don’t think we get that isolated. I don’t think we get the whole picture of God, just experiencing a beautiful sunset in solitude. The Christian life is a life...together. Bearing one another’s burdens, lending and receiving a dose of one another’s faith, sticking it out, not walking away and just taking care of “number one”. Community is God’s gift to us.
Say a prayer of thanksgiving today for the community you’ve experienced in your life. Maybe your experience of community isn’t a traditional one, but it is a gift. Your community is who shows up for you, who’s there in your dark moments, and who celebrates with you too. This is how we know God. I know we’ve all had these experiences -- just don’t forget to name them as God, the Holy Trinity, working and moving among us. “Lo Jesus is with us always!”
Our Hymn of the Day this Father’s Day is “Eternal Father Strong to Save”. And I do love this hymn. It was first made popular by the British Navy, the Queen’s Royal Navy Hymn. The United States Navy also claims this song.
The third verse is such a vivid picture of this first Chapter of Genesis:
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
God was there at the very beginning. God takes the chaos of our world and of our lives and “[gives], for wild confusion, peace.” May that peace be yours this day, and every day, in your life and in your community. AMEN.
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