Trinity Sunday - Rev. Aimee Baxter

One of my favorite assignments in seminary was around the Trinity. We were told to take particular passages and ask the question, “How do we see the Trinity at work?”

One of the passages was Jesus’ baptism. This one is actually pretty easy. God, the Father, proclaims from heaven that this is God’s Son and God is pleased with him. The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove. And well, Jesus is there in the flesh.

There are other places in Scripture that the Trinity is not so neatly defined for us. For example, in the story of creation we see glimpses of the Trinity. The Spirit of God hovers over the waters. God says, “Let us make humankind in our image and likeness.” The plural use of the word us gives some indication that there is some working of the Trinity as early as the very beginning.

Today is Trinity Sunday on our liturgical calendar. If you ask any minister what it is like to preach on this Sunday, you may hear some groaning. It’s because the mystery of the Trinity is difficult to explain in about a 10 minute homily. This struggle is nothing new.

Did you know that there is a great controversy between the Eastern and Western church over how to articulate the Trinity in the Nicene Creed? They couldn’t agree on how to explain the Holy Spirit. It’s called the filioque controversy. Filioque is a Latin term meaning, “and from the Son” that is the basis in the Nicene for the line, “who proceeds from the Father and the Son”. They still don’t agree and have two versions of the creed.

Our words fall short when trying to define the beauty that is Trinity. We know the Trinity as God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Oftentimes, these persons can be referred to as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Three distinct persons is important because the Trinity is not one person with three different roles. The Trinity is not a split personality.

Instead, the Trinity is God at work so fluidly as Father, Son and Holy Spirit that they become one. The Greek term for this is perichoresis. (You’re welcome for all these five-dollar words I’m giving you today.)

Perichoresis means “dancing in a circle” and has been used a way to once again try to articulate the mysterious working of the Trinity. Jonathan Marlowe explains it this way,

If you have ever been to a Greek wedding, you may have seen their distinctive way of dancing . . . It’s called perichoresis. There are not two dancers, but at least three. They start to go in circles, weaving in and out in this very beautiful pattern of motion. They start to go faster and faster and faster, all the while staying in perfect rhythm and in sync with each other. Eventually, they are dancing so quickly (yet so effortlessly) that as you look at them, it just becomes a blur. Their individual identities are part of a larger dance. The early church fathers and mothers looked at that dance and said, “That’s what the Trinity is like.” It’s a harmonious set of relationship in which there is mutual giving and receiving. This relationship is called love, and it’s what the Trinity is all about. The perichoresis is the dance of love.

The Trinity is a dance of three people moving in such harmony that they become one. C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity puts it this way, “ In Christianity, God is not a static thing – but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.”

The life of the Christian is a dance with the Trinity. What a beautiful way to understand the work of God in the world!

Here’s the even better part: We are part of the dance. This mysterious relationship of the Trinity invites us to join in as dance partners. We are carried and swept into the dance by our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

I love this idea that we are part of the dance. Dancing has upward and downward movements. The music can be soft and slow, or fast and exhilarating much like life. Paul reminds us in our epistle reading that there is a path from suffering to hope. He names for us how life ebbs and flows with the horrific and the beautiful.

Somehow through the mystery of the Trinity those things all work so closely together that we don’t know where one ends and the other begins. Think about your life. In many ways, the highest and lowest points have this seamless connection and fluidity to one another.

I was thinking about my seminary assignment and wondering if I could look at my own life and point to where I saw the Trinity at work. And I could. Some look a little bit more like the Creation story where you just know the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were there. And others I can see the work of Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

One such occasion is at the beginning of our foster care journey. We submitted the final pieces of our paperwork in the middle of July and headed out of town on vacation. We had been told to expect a phone call soon after the paperwork was in DFCS hands but had no idea we would get it three days later.

DFCS called with a long-term placement need for a sibling group of a one year old little boy and two year old little girl. We wanted to say yes, but we were five hours away. We asked if we could come get them at the end of the week. We considered leaving vacation and coming home early.

I’ll never forget what our DFCS worker said to me. “Mrs. Baxter, don’t you worry. These aren’t your babies. But again don’t you worry, your baby will come.”

While it softened the blow, it didn’t keep me from crying the rest of the day and being devastated that we had to say no.

Two weeks later, that same worker called about a four day old little boy who needed to be picked up from the hospital that day. Shannon was out of town, but I was there and we said yes. Seven years later that baby is my son with whom I am well pleased.

The Trinity was at work in this situation. The Father and Creator with words of comfort and re-creation that came from a DFCS worker. The Son and Redeemer with the gift of a phone call and my baby two weeks later. The Spirit and Sustainer that ushered in such peace in the midst of the unknown.

Friends, the Trinity is at work all around us in this dance that we call life. Ask yourselves, where do I see God sweeping me up in perichoresis yesterday, today and tomorrow? When you see it, put on your dancing shoes and let yourself be twirled and dipped by your Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.