31 May 2026 Trinity Sunday

Exodus 34.1-8   Song of the 3YoungMen   2 Corinthians 13.11-14   Matthew 28.16-20

I have always tried to avoid the metaphors for the Trinity, like ‘apple skin, flesh, seed’; ‘three leaf clover’; ‘ice, liquid, steam’ for water,. And I probably will continue to avoid them, but while on our tour of Ireland, our tour director spoke about ‘Saint Patrick’ who came to Ireland and tried to convert the king of the time to Christianity, and in trying to explain God, Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit, he was struggling until he noticed a three leaf clover which he picked up and said to the king, see, here is a leaf, but it has three elements to make it one, that is what God is like.  And with that, the king, and Ireland, converted to Christianity.

Now I am not about to tell you it is as simple as that, and I acknowledge that at least some of that story may be more ‘folklore’ than fact.  So how do you speak about or explain God – Trinity - to someone who has not be raised within the church, no matter which brand of church that may be.

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians and Matthew make some sterling efforts in speaking about the Trinity, the incarnational presence of God.  Matthew reports Jesus ‘sending’ the disciples to share the good news to ‘all nations’, and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

But the question remains, what does it mean, and why does it matter, that God is ‘three’, yet ‘one’.  Richard Rohr, in his book The Divine Dance tells us - ‘don’t start with the One and try to make it into Three’, ‘start with the Three and see that this is the deepest nature of the One’.

And if we can do that, we might see that God is dynamic.  God is not ‘static’.  God cannot be ‘put in a box’ and ‘looked at’.  God is always on the move, God is constantly creating and recreating around us.  And if we ever have a moment when we might say – ah yes, I see it now, it will have moved or changed as soon as we say it.  So the God you knew yesterday is not the same God you will encounter today.  And that is important.  And because God is always moving and changing, flowing and dancing, and we need to be ready to do the same.  We are challenged to continue to change, continue to move and dance with God as God changes and moves and dances with us.  And in this way, we will evolve.

We might also see that God is diverse.  The three ‘persons’ of God each have their own way of expressing, and embodying love, goodness, beauty, and rightness.  God has a plurality that shows us depth and contrast and tension.  We encounter God in different ways at different times of our lives.  Sometimes we find God as rule maker, sometimes as loving sibling, sometimes as responsive nurturer.  All these different ways remind us that we can express ourselves in different ways too.  We need to not fear difference but embrace it gracefully and peaceably.

We might also see that God is communal.  We know that God values community and shows us that living in community is good for us.  But this is different.   God is communal, God is relationship, intimacy, connection and communion.  And we find evidence of this all through our Scriptures.  When God the Son is baptised, God the Spirit descends in the form of a dove, and God the Father speaks from the heavens.  It is the Spirit that drives the Son into the wilderness for a time of testing.  Before his arrest, the Son of God cries out to the Father for solace and strengthening.  It is the Father who raises the Son, vindicating his death through resurrection.  All through our Scriptures we see the Three working interdependently, leaning and relying on each other.  And because God is interactive, we need to ensure we remain active and engaged in our world.  God is Relationship, and we will only experience and embody God’s nature through relationship – with God, with ourselves, with each other, and with the world.

We might see that God is hospitable.  The icon by Rublev, known as ‘The Trinity’, shows us the Father, Son and Holy Spirit sitting around a table, sharing food and drink.  They look similar, but not the same, they look at each other, as they are looked at by the others.  The icon epitomises adoration and intimacy, three persons around a table respecting and enjoying each other.  And it also beams openness.  There is space at this table for ‘me’, for ‘you’, for ‘us’.  It depicts radical hospitality.  The point of the Three is always to add one more, to invite others to join, to make the holy table more welcoming and expansive. And we will find that the closer we approach the Three, the wider and more hospitable our hearts must grow into the world.

And we might also see that God is sacrificial love.  At its heart, the Trinity is an expression of unfaltering, deep, life-giving love between Father, Son, and Spirit.  This relationship is not one of domination, power, or manipulation, it is a relationship of sacrificial, unselfish love.  And this begs the question, if God’s very being is grounded in love, and we are created in God’s image, then who are we?  Are we like the Triune God whose imprint is on us?  Are we motivated by love first and foremost?  Are we known for our love?  And if not, why not, what are we doing with our lives.

We are encouraged to remain ‘flexible’ in our understanding of the Trinity.  We can never fully understand it, no matter how hard we try we will never be able to ‘wrap our heads around’ the dynamism that is the God we know.  So we continue to be amazed, to be in awe, to search for beauty and the commitment to love and create in the spirit of this Dynamic God.

Today, and every day,  let us celebrate the God who is still creating, the God who speaks to us in many and varied ways, whose creativity and redemption embraces all creation, and who challenges us to move beyond rigid and limiting theologies and affirm the wonders of God’s creative love.