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Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2003

”You Still Do Not Know Me?”

Psalm 29
Isaiah 6:1-8
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17


In this day of high-tech everything, most of us have given up on the question “How does it work?” in favor of “Which button do I push?” I am afraid that is also true in our relationship with God. Of course, there is no harder question to ask than “How does God work?”; but there was a time when Christians took it on with zeal. Trinity Sunday is a tombstone marking that past. It is a good time to stop looking for the right button to push and just meditate on God.

How does God work? At a distance, a very great distance -- and at the highest level of power: “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.” (Ps. 29:10)

Then what of the divinity of Christ? "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son . . . ” (Jn 3:16) Is that as close as God can get, to send someone? Is that how God works? Islam and Judaism say “yes.” Christianity says “no.” The meaning of “only Son” is revealed later in John: "Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?’" (John 14:9) Paul points us to the identity of God in Jesus with these words: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us." (2 Cor 5:18﷓19)

Utterly powerless, Jesus hung on the cross. Strangely forgiving, he prayed for his torturers. Is this how God works? Or, is this just one of God’s strange prophets at work? If we don’t say “This is God, and this is how God works,” we have nothing to say about God -- nothing that other religions can’t say just as well.

So, how does God work? At the highest levels of power and the greatest distance from us -- yes. Personally entering history in the person of Jesus, who was fully human and fully God -- yes. And, personally encountering us in our ongoing history: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1) “When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God . . . ” (Rom 8:15-16)

I believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the Christian confession of how God works. No one else bears this witness. The world will hear it from no one else, and yet we are strangely silent about the Trinity, even in our worship -- too busy pushing buttons.
Roland McGregor, Pastor
Asbury United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

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