WHAT'S IN A NAME?

SERMON PREACHED ON TRINITY SUNDAY 2007

"We beseech thee thou would keep us steadfast in this faith and worship"

(Collect for Trinity Sunday)

On this the first Sunday after the Easter Season the church designates I as Trinity Sunday. At first sight it seems to be the celebration of a doctrine rather than an event - which makes it an unusual type of celebration…….and a doctrine that most people find difficult.

The observance of this day goes back to the 8^th century, when the British monk Alcuin composed Votive Masses for each day of the week. Thursday was to commemorate the Eucharist, Friday the Holy Cross, Saturday Our Lady - and Monday was designated in honor of the Holy Trinity. By the 11^th century some monastic congregations in France were celebrating a Mass of the Holy Trinity on a Sunday. Various popes were hesitant at a Sunday observance of the Trinity. They argued that the Trinity was honored in every Mass - and especially in the doxology of the Eucharistic prayer: "Through Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom, with whom and in whom in the unity of Holy Ghost, all honor be unto Thee, Oh Father Almighty, world without end. Amen."

Let me divert for a moment and refer to the words: "world without end." These words are similar to the Gloria Patri – the words at the end of the psalms: "as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

Many people think these words mean that the world is not going to end. World without end seems to suggest that we believe the world has no end. But it does not mean that - for the world will end one day, and our Lord Jesus told us so. The phrase 'world without end' means that God should be praised and given honor and glory as long as the world goes on. And to be specific, it is the Holy Trinity which is to be given glory and honor to the end of the ages.

This leads us to the first 2 readings today from Isaiah and Revelation. At first glance these 2 readings seem to have overly romantic images. There is God seated on a throne of precious metal and jewels. There is lots of noise and smoke - obviously incense! - and there are hosts of angels praising and singing. This is the image of heaven in both Isaiah and Revelation, and it seems too fantastic for words. At the heart of these images of heaven is the assembled company of saints and angels, and this assembled company is singing the familiar refrain: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are full of his glory." This refrain is at the heart of our worship every Sunday in the Eucharistic Prayer - the words of the Sanctus, often sang to most beautiful music.

When we consider that the heart of the worship of heaven is the angelic hosts singing these words that we know so well, it is clear that these readings tell us that the feast of the Holy Trinity is primarily about worship - about giving glory and praise to the Holy Trinity.

When we get to the gospel, however, we come to one of the most complicated things our Lord ever said about himself and the Trinity. Who can possibly understand John 16? It is an intricate unveiling of the relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The heart of the matter is that here we see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all referred to as a unity. They have a deep relationship with each other, and they work together, even though they are different. It is difficult to comprehend what Jesus is saying. He says that when the Holy Spirit comes he will prove the world wrong about himself. The spirit will convict the world about who Jesus is, and will guide his disciples into all truth. And the Spirit comes straight from the Father.

This intimate relationship between the 3 is almost beyond comprehension. It is a doctrine about the Trinity, and it is rather complicated. In fact for many people, it is easy to reject the doctrine of the Trinity. Some say it makes Christianity hard to swallow. And certainly other religions find the whole concept bizarre. Others say you won't find the word Trinity in the bible - and they are correct, for the word Trinity is not in the bible. But you cannot avoid what Jesus says about himself in relation to the Father and the Holy Spirit, as he does today in John 16.

More significantly, nor can you avoid Jesus' final command to the apostles at the end of the gospel, where he says: "Go to all the world and baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." You can't get any more explicit than that!

Nevertheless, people do find the doctrine difficult. One of the more recent ways in which Christians get around the doctrine of the Trinity is quite prevalent in the Episcopal Church. In some Episcopal churches instead of using the traditional words: "In the name of the father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" some clergy say: "In the name of God: Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier."

Now there is a truth here. God the Father is the Creator. God the Son is the Redeemer. God the Spirit is the Sanctifier.

But in reality it is a subtle way of undermining the traditional catholic teaching of the Holy Trinity. We can't get away from the fact that the Father and the Son are definite masculine terms - and some people are uncomfortable with those terms because of that. By avoiding the terms "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" those who want to revise the Christian faith are advancing their agenda. The problem is the words: "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" are the words Jesus used.

But there is something more serious here than a different thinking about God. Jesus instructed the apostles to baptize in the name of the Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the names of the Trinity - just like my name is Father Tony. You can call me the Rector - but that's not my name; it's my job; it's what I do.

Similarly, the words creator, redeemer, and sanctifier are the functions of the Trinity. That's what they do. The father creates, the Son redeems and the Spirit sanctifies. This replaces the names of God with the functions of God. Those who avoid using the names of the Trinity have replaced the names of God, as he has revealed himself, with God's functions.

Do you like to be referred to by your function - or by your name? I don't like to be referred to by anything other than my name, and I'm sure you're the same.

The mistake that the liberals are making here is by referring to what God does. We are taking away the fact that we can know God personally, and by name, as we are known by name. That is the whole point of today's celebration. Three persons in one God. God is not some distant ethereal spirit or some judgmental creator. God is three persons who we can know and call by name.

We know God by name, as we ourselves are known by name. For our God is a personal God - who loves us personally, as an individual person. He is a God who we can know personally.

The Athanasian Creed, one of the three great creeds of the church, declares that in the catholic faith God reveals himself as three persons - named as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Named as three persons, so that we may know that God's love extends to us as persons, and not things, nor creatures just with functions.

We are people with names who are loved as we are, and because of who we are.

And so I preach, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.