Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ~ Matthew 28: 16-20

“God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” We’ve been singing those words since the days of Martin Luther – and for the most part wondering, “What the heck does that actually mean? And how many gods do we believe in? Is it just the one God, or do you add Jesus and the Holy Spirit in there and get three gods? To be honest, Stewardship Sunday is easier than this!”

Athanasius, the noted fourth-century church father and Bishop of Alexandra, said about the doctrine, “the Trinity is wholly incomprehensible and by us embraced.” Well, I think he got the “incomprehensible” part right.

To a lot of people, the doctrine of the Trinity almost sounds like there are three gods out there competing with one another – or, at least, operating more or less like a C.E.O, C.O.O., and C.F.O. But, if we believe in three gods, then we are “polytheists.” And we’re not. Instead, Christians have always been “monotheists,” which means “believers in one God.” So, what gives with this historic and seemingly odd doctrine that, as Athanasius put it, feels almost “wholly incomprehensible?” The bottom line answer is this:  We are monotheists. We do believe in one God and one God only – but we understand or interpret that one God in three different ways.

Think of it like this. You are one person. Some people primarily know you as Mom. One person primarily knows you as Wife. And a couple of other people primarily know you as Daughter. You are just one person, never more than that. But, you are understood and known and interpreted in a variety of ways. I am preacher, husband, and dad. You may be author, friend, and partner. You may be school teacher, Board member, and sailboat enthusiast. We can create a limitless list of illustrations. But, in this life, it is virtually inevitable that all of us are interpreted in a variety of ways. All of us are multi-faceted. And what we are to one person, what is important to them and they cherish, may be the exact opposite of what we are to somebody else.

I recall a woman in a church I served years ago. She was a third grade school teacher. In one week I heard her described by a child in her class as “the meanest woman on the planet,” and by a homebound member of the church as “that kind lady who stops by every week to pray with me.” She was one person, but the ways she was perceived varied widely, depending upon who it was that perceived her.

That’s how it is with the doctrine of the Trinity. There is one God, but we see Him in a variety of ways dependent upon our individual perspective.

For example, some people think theologically. That being the case, their primary understanding of God is Creator – the one who builds and manages the whole Universe.

Others find that concept too big to get their minds around. They think relationally. They need a personal God, a God with a face. They need to listen to His words, to determine what He thinks and what He is like. So they primarily think of God as Jesus – the person who most clearly revealed God to us. William Barclay said that for those who practice the Christian faith, “all we can know of God is what we see revealed in Jesus Christ.” He was speaking about those who think relationally, who need a God with a face.

Still others think emotionally. They feel, they dream, they want to sense nearness and attachment and mystery. So they primarily understand God as Spirit – the divine presence who is with us “always, even unto the end of the world.”  For them, God must be more than a distant Sovereign, an unattached Architect of the Universe who created people and then left us to our own devices (like the Deists of old believed). Likewise, God must be more than just a Person from ancient history who lived two thousand years ago but is no longer visibly present. They need to feel Divine nearness.

The point is, we are always just talking about one God who is interpreted or understood in three different ways.

Okay, by now I know there is at least one person in the congregation thinking, “Au contraire! I beg to differ! The Bible says that Jesus prayed to God, right? Well, if we worship Jesus, and if we worship God, and if Jesus prayed to God, then there have to be at least two deities, right? Otherwise, Jesus would have been praying to himself.” In a word, No. Orthodox Christian doctrine has never taught that. Instead, for two thousand years it has taught that Jesus was a man who lived to be about thirty-three … and was so righteous and so stainless and so virtuous that God was able to live in Him more fully than He ever had in anyone else. Paul said it this way: “God was in Jesus, reconciling the world to Himself.” Jesus was the man; Christos (or Christ) was God’s Spirit that dwelled within that man and was visible through Him.

Illustrating that is not easy. Let me give it a try, admitting that this dogma can’t be captured in a tidy little word picture. Even so:  Suppose I were to show you an empty Coca Cola bottle and ask what it is. Everyone would say: “It’s an empty bottle.” Correct! It’s a container. It’s something Coke is held in. But, if I filled it with cola and asked what it is, everyone would say:  “It’s a Coke.” The bottle is the container. The cola is what resides inside it and is revealed in it and tasted through it.

Jesus, the human, was the container through whom the Christos (or God) was revealed and made available to the world. The miracles – the power – the preaching – all that was God working in and through the form of a Man from Galilee.

That’s what the Trinity means: one God – only one – whom we interpret and know and understand by looking at Him from three different perspectives.

Okay, the next question you are silently asking is, “So what? What does any of this have to do with my life in my world?” Let me offer two answers to that question.

1. Because God lived in the man Jesus, He understands what we feel and what we experience.

The New Testament says: “He was tempted in all things, as we are.” Properly understood, that means: “He experienced all things as we do.”

Thus, when we pray, God does not listen as one who has no clue what we’re talking about. Instead, God listens as one who has been there, as one who has walked where we walk and has felt what we feel.

Several years ago I sat in a surgeon’s office for a consultation prior to an operation. The procedure was pretty involved, and I was worried about what my recuperation would be like … what I could or could not do … how much pain there would be … how long before I would be able to drive to local buffets … all the normal worries people face before surgery. In the doctor’s office before I entered the hospital, I guess he sensed my anxiety. So he stopped speaking clinically, and he said to me: “I can tell you exactly what to expect. Here’s how it was for me when I had the same surgery.” And suddenly I listened to him in a new way, and my confidence in him deepened. He knew what I was going through because he had been there himself.

When I cry out to God from the darkness of my life … from guilt or grief, from sin or sadness, from despair or depression … He knows what I’m going through because He has been there himself. By living inside the man Jesus, the Bible says, “He experienced all things as we do.” And because of that, He listens with an understanding ear, so that when we fear wrath and judgment, instead He offers mercy and grace.

2. Because God is Holy Spirit (a comforting presence), it means that whatever we face in life, we do not face it alone.

Not only has God walked where we walk, but He chooses to walk the same road all over again beside us, for us, with us. That was the promise of our morning lesson: “I will be with you, always, even unto the end of the world,” or, as it says in some paraphrases, “even when it feels like your world is ending.”

Family members and friends of 447 people who lost their lives in the tragic French Airlines crash recently are walking “through the valley of the shadow” this morning. Their hearts are broken, and, in truth, there are no words right now to ease their pain. But, there is a promise that in the midst of their pain, they are not alone. God is present with them and for them and will hold them up when on their own they do not have the strength to stand. And someday, not yet, but someday they will attest to that.

Many of you have been there, haven’t you? Of course you have. You thought you were going to die in a moment of tragedy or loss. But now you say, "There were Arms wrapped around me that I couldn't see. And just when I needed Him most, God was there." “I will be with you, always, even when it feels like your world is ending.”

When Jeremiah Bailey suffered a head injury in an automobile accident at age six, his mother (who was also injured) would hobble down the hospital hall each night on her crutches and sleep in a recliner near his bead. But before sleeping she would sing to him his favorite song, “The House on Pooh Corner,” she would say The Lord’s Prayer, and she would kiss him good-night. He never moved. He never opened his eyes. He never made a sound. When she had recovered sufficiently to be discharged, she would still come to his room every night … most nights still sleeping in the recliner, but sometimes staying till 10:00 or 11:00 and then going home. But every night, she would sing his song, pray the prayer and give him a kiss.

Jeremiah didn’t respond to much of anything for four full months. Then one morning, he opened his eyes and made a statement that I think proves he will someday become a preacher. He simply said, “I’m hungry.” Just like that, he was awake and alive again. The doctors, nurses, and physical therapists asked if he had been aware of anything during those long four months in a coma, and the little boy answered:  “I knew Mommy was here. She sang to me and said prayers, and that stopped me from being afraid.” Something about the presence of a loving parent with him in the darkness gave him the calm and the courage required to survive.

Because God is a loving Presence (Spirit), He is with us in the darkness. “I will be with you, always, even unto the end of the world.” And the knowledge of His presence gives us the calm and courage required to survive.

How many gods do we believe in? Just one – the one God who made us, who took on human form for a while to show us what He is like, and who promises that wherever we go and whatever we face, He will be “with us always.”

One God made known in many ways,
Whose presence with us never strays,
Holds fast and dear the ones He made,
And walks beside us all our days.
And walks beside us all our days.
~ M.B.B. 6/3/2007

Let us pray.

O loving God, we offer You thanks for creating us … for revealing Yourself to us in Jesus… and for being the ever-present Spirit who holds us fast and walks beside us all our days. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.