The Mysterious Trinity

Dear congregation, I invite you this morning to go with me on a journey through time beginning with early Christianity. We are on the lookout for the Trinity. We have come to know the Trinity, not only as the teaching of the church, but as a living truth that meets us right where we are. The God we worship is made known to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three are fully God, sharing the same divine nature and essence. No one person is greater, lesser, or came before the others. How did we come to know about this? Not exactly spelled out this way in scripture.
We start our expedition in North Africa apparently a hotbed of early Christian thinkers. It was Tertullian who in the early 2nd century after Christ coined the term Trinitas, Trinity, as well as the phrase “one substance in three. St. Athanasius, a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria was the first to write about the equal and different roles of the Trinity.
At the Council of Constantinople in the late 4th century (38) the Nicene Creed was expanded (225 origin) to declare that the Holy Spirit is “the Lord and Giver of Life,” worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son. This is written down. Now that its in a creed, the concept of Trinity becomes church doctrine. OK? In the late 4th century.
Shortly later, also from Africa, mid 4th to early 5th century came Augustine. He maintained that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share one divine essence (ousia), yet are three distinct persons (hypostases) made different by their eternal relationships to one another. This is pretty much where we are today and Yep, I don’t quite get this either. It helps me to think about the Trinity as three facets of God. That’s likely why Augustine wrote that “faith comes before understanding.”
About a thousand years later (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) another church thinker, Martin Luther started the Reformation. You may know this already, but Martin Luther was a monk in the Order of Saint Augustine which strongly shaped his understanding of the Trinity.
And 500 hundred years later, that same spirit still speaks to and in the church today. Pope Leo XIV has described himself as “an Augustinian, a son of Saint Augustine.” Last November In an Apastolic Letter marking the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, Pope Leo had this to say regarding the whole of Christianity.
“what we have in common is much stronger, quantitatively and qualitatively, than what divides us. Together, we believe in the Triune God, in Christ as truly human and truly God, and in salvation through Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures read in the Church and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”
Now all of this brings us to an important question: what does this truth mean for us right now, in our faith, in our worship, and in our life together?
UCC pastor the late Walter Brueggemann reminds us that the Trinity shapes the way God’s people live together. Martin Luther reminds us that the Trinity is not some distant doctrine with no bearing on daily life. For him, it matters because it shows us the mercy of God and the certain hope of our salvation.
If we look closely can catch glimpses of the Trinity from the very opening pages of Scripture, when God says, “Let us make humankind in our image.” We see it more clearly at the baptism of Jesus: the Son standing in the water, the Spirit descending like a dove, and the Father speaking from heaven. Later, Jesus tells his followers to baptize in the one “name” of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he declares, “I and the Father are one.”
The New Testament indicates us that our salvation is the work of this three-in-one triune God. The Father chooses us, the Son redeems us, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us and leads us day by day. Listen to these scripture verses.
Ephesians 1:4 states that the Father "chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him."
In Ephesians 1:7: "In [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace." [1, 2, 3, 4]
Jesus’ divinity is clear in passages like John 1:1, 14, “the Word was God” and “the Word became flesh.” Paul wrote in Colossians 2:9 “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily”). And because He is fully God, he is strong and holy enough to save us.
And thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit does not leave us alone. The Spirit teaches us, strengthens us, comforts us, intercedes for us, and patiently shapes us into the likeness of Christ.
 "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)
The Trinity helps us understand how God could “be love” before the world was ever made. Love did not begin when creation began. Love was already full and perfect in the eternal life shared by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. God is not three separate beings standing apart, but three persons sharing one divine life in perfect unity, joy, and self-giving love.
We may not understand the Trinity, but it is at the very center of the Gospel we preach. And if and when we begin to see that through faith, we are led to experience wonder, gratitude, and worship.
So, to summarize, the Trinity, the God we worship is a God of perfect spiritual union. Our God, with grace, invites into a life of God’s love, peace, and companionship. That means that right now and at every moment, we are never beyond the reach of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How awesome and amazing is this. Thanks be to God.