By Rev. Fr. David B. Tabo-oy
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 KJV
God willing this Saturday I will be with the newly ordained EDNCP Bishop Nestor Poltic in Lidlidda, Ilocos Sur to be with the congregation of Trinity Episcopal Church for their fiesta celebration. This Sunday is Trinity Sunday in most Christian churches worldwide.
The verse above concludes the Gospel reading assigned this Trinity Sunday. This verse is the most translated, printed and circulated portion of the Bible worldwide and is called by the great reformist Martin Luther as the “Gospel in miniature.” I am very sure that most if not all who have attended Sunday school in their childhood days have committed this to memory. However, I doubt if the same are also aware of the context when these were purportedly uttered by Jesus. Popular as it is the verse was spoken clandestinely in the cover of darkness. The account in the gospel written by John, narrates that Nicodemus a member of the powerful Jewish political party, seek audience with Jesus at night. Nicodemus is a member of the Sanhedrin and of the Pharisees, the most devout among the Jews. Hence, He is a leader and a member of an elite group. There have been many assumptions as to why Nico came at night. It may be that he feared being seen with Jesus because of his social status.
The purpose of the visit is to consult with Jesus on ethereal matters. This esteemed Jewish leader expressed his awe and admiration to Jesus as a teacher and miracle worker and conjectured that Jesus is sent by God. The ensuing dialogue proved that Nicodemus despite being a religious teacher of Israel knows so little about matters pertaining to God’s realm. And Jesus lovingly mentored this esteemed teacher of Israel. The Kingdom of God is entered, not by moral achievement, but by a transformation wrought by God. Birth into the new order is through water (referring to baptism – Ephesians 5:26) and Spirit (Ezek. 36.25-27), the Lord revealed in John’s writing. Spiritual rebirth is necessary to entering God’s kingdom. Being born again is the beginning – a baby step in the process. The hard part comes each subsequent day as we submit our stubborn heart and will to the control of God’s Spirit.
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This Trinity Sunday, I am reminded of an anecdote told by one of my Roman Catholic clergy during one of our so many nights scheming for a better world thru an ecumenical cooperation. It’s about his fellow priest who is always sickly and lacked motivation in his apostolate. But during his latest visit my friend said that this lethargic cleric has become alive, alert and enthusiastic. When asked what transformed him to a lively fellow he confessed that since ROSARIO and TRINIDAD came to his life he was made alive! My friend thought that his friend has made a new way of seeing the mystery of the Holy Trinity and praying the Holy Rosary which led him to such new state. But my friend’s impression was totally changed when his friend shouted, “Sayong, Idad! Mangyeg kayo man kape ditoy!” (Sayong (Rosario) Trinidad (Idad) bring us some coffee here”). And two angelic faces and perfectly curved figures appeared bearing coffee, sugar and cream!
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I must admit that even after 36 years in the ordained ministry and preaching about the Holy Trinity every year, I still have difficulty of delivering a simple homily that could make this Christian doctrine more palatable to the mind of a simple person in the pew. This piece is another attempt. Lest I be construed of ignorance on this topic, let me assure the reader that I passed the one year Seminary course of Christian Doctrine which included a through academic and theological dissection and debate on this topic.
Trinity Sunday is celebrated right after Pentecost Sunday which was the focus of this column and for sure churches in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and mainline Protestant traditions last week. Pentecost Sunday celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person in three Godhead of the Holy Trinity. There goes the mysterious and cryptic description of the God that we believe in. Third person? Three Godhead? What in Abraham’s beard are those? So there are three Gods then in the Christian religion?
Traditionally those in the catholic and Anglican churches begin and end their prayers in the Name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, right? Taken as it is without reading church history and doctrine, we end up concluding that there are three gods we are praying to. Wrong. There is only ONE GOD. Explore with me.
The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to the Christian faith. It is crucial for properly understanding what God is like, how he relates to us, and how we should relate to him. But it also raises many difficult questions. How can God be both one and three? Is the Trinity a contradiction? If Jesus is God, why do the Gospels record instances where he prayed to God?
While we cannot fully understand everything about the Trinity (or anything else), it is possible to answer questions like these and come to a solid grasp of what it means for God to be three in one.
I could agree no less with the synthesis of Matt Perman on the Trinity doctrine:
“The Trinity is not belief in three gods. There is only one God, and we must never stray from this.
This one God exists as three Persons. The three Persons are not each part of God, but are each fully God and equally God. Within God’s one undivided being there is an “unfolding” into three interpersonal relationships such that there are three Persons. The distinctions within the Godhead are not distinctions of his essence and neither are they something added onto his essence, but they are the unfolding of God’s one, undivided being into three interpersonal relationships such that there are three real Persons.
God is not one person who took three consecutive roles. That is the heresy of modalism. The Father did not become the Son and then the Holy Spirit. Instead, there have always been and always will be three distinct persons in the Godhead. The Trinity is not a contradiction because God is not three in the same way that he is one. God is one in essence, three in Person.”
The Trinity is first of all important because God is important. To understand more fully what God is like is a way of honouring God. Further, we should allow the fact that God is triune to deepen our worship. We exist to worship God. And God seeks people to worship him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Therefore, we must always endeavour to deepen our worship of God — in truth as well as in our hearts.
The Trinity has a very significant application to prayer. The general pattern of prayer in the Bible is to pray to the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). Our fellowship with God should be enhanced by consciously knowing that we are relating to a tri-personal God!
Awareness of the distinct role that each Person of the Trinity has in our salvation can especially serve to give us greater comfort and appreciation for God in our prayers, as well as helping us to be specific in directing our prayers. Nonetheless, while recognizing the distinct roles that each Person has, we should never think of their roles as so separate that the other Persons are not involved. Rather, everything that one Person is involved in, the other two are also involved in, one way or another.
v6A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. v7Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again.b v8The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:6-8). That’s how it is on the Trinitarian doctrine. Just like Nicodemus, as we learn more about God’s realm the more we learn how limited we have learned. That is how minuscule our understanding compared to the vastness of God’s complex divine nature. Still in the dark? Don’t lose heart, take courage and read this:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8 NIV)**
