St. John’s Episcopal Church
Tallahassee, FL
Today is Trinity Sunday.
I know you had that marked on your calendar.
You probably already went and picked up
all the Trinity Sunday greeting cards
from the Hallmark section of Publix, right?
No? Just me?
It’s easy to miss,
but Trinity Sunday falls every year
on the Sunday after Pentecost.
And whether you knew it or not,
it’s actually one of the seven
Principal Feasts of the Church year,
right up there with
Christmas,
Epiphany,
Easter,
Ascencion,
Pentecost,
and All Saints.
Today is the one Sunday of the year
when the Church sets aside a whole day
not for an event in Jesus’ life,
not for a saint or miracle,
but for the mystery of who God is.
One God.
Three Persons.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Now I know . . .
that sounds abstract,
like a chalkboard equation in a dusty classroom.
But today I want to suggest
that the Trinity is not just some abstract idea.
Instead, the Trinity is the most beautiful truth we have.
The fact that God is Three in One and One in Three
means that at the very heart of God
is relationship.
Not distance.
Not isolation.
Not a lone cosmic power doing everything solo.
Not multiple gods capriciously working against one another.
But relationship.
Joyful, generous, flowing love.
The Father loves the Son.
The Son loves the Father.
The Spirit is the love that flows between them
and dances into the world.
Which means this:
You—yes, you—
were made
by love,
in love,
for love.
If we were made in the image of God Almighty,
then that means we were made in the image of the Trinity,
which means we were made for relationship,
which means we were made for love,
which means we were made for God,
which means we were made for one another.
This is precisely why,
when we find real connection,
something in us lights up inside us.
When a friend remembers your birthday.
When a child grabs your hand.
When the Bread and the Wine are lifted up
and we all say, “Amen.”
It can be something even bigger than that,
but also something smaller.
Like the way your dog waits at the door
every single time you come home,
tail wagging,
as if you are the greatest person in the world.
Or how your neighbor brought you soup
when you did not even know
they knew you were sick.
Or someone saving you a seat
when you walk in a little late.
They don’t say anything;
they just pat the cushion next to them,
as if to say,
“You’re not too late.
I have a place for you.”
That is not just emotion you feel.
That is the image of God
stirring in your bones.
* * *
The Trinity—just by being who the Trinity is—
is a constant pouring of love
into and through and out of one another.
Their love is a humble and selfless love,
which means they don’t try to
outdo or outpace each other.
They live, and love, and dance in perfect equilibrium.
Somehow that always reminds me
of eighth grade science class.
When I was in the eighth grade,
our teach taught us about atoms.
She said,
“You’ve seen the little diagrams
with electrons in perfect little circles around the nucleus,
but that’s not how it actually works.
“The movement of electrons,” she said,
“is more like a swirling,
a dancing,
and moving together
in constant motion
and perfect balance.
It’s like a cloud.”
And I remember thinking,
“That’s beautiful.”
That perfect harmony—
that flow, that balance, that rhythm—
that is the Trinity.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
dance together in perfect love,
always giving, always receiving, always in balance,
which means they are free
from the need to outpace one another,
impress one another,
or defeat one another.
Therefore, we too, are free
from the need to outpace one another,
impress one another,
or defeat one another.
Instead, we can simply belong . . .
to God
and to one another.
* * *
The good news is
you do not have to understand the Trinity
to live it.
You do it every time
you forgive someone.
You do it every time
you laugh around a dinner table.
You do it every time
you kneel down next to someone at church.
You do it every time
you show up for someone who needs you.
Every act of love,
every small mercy,
every moment of grace . . .
that is the Trinity,
moving through you.
* * *
So today, my friends, is not about explaining God
(as if we even could.)
Today is simply about adoring God
and rejoicing in what is true:
That God is not just some faraway being
sitting on a cloud.
God is the Love behind all love.
The Joy behind all joy.
The Relationship that gives life to every other.
And you . . .
you are caught up in it.
You are surrounded by it.
You are part of the dance.
* * *
So today, the grace for us is this:
You get to live with joy.
You get to love without fear.
To forgive with abandon.
To create beauty.
To build belonging.
And none of these
are because you have to.
But because it just is who God is,
and therefore, it is who you are, too.
Made in the image
of a God who is Relationship,
a God who is One,
a God who is More,
and most of all . . .
a God who is Love.
Happy Trinity Sunday,
and amen.