© Rev. Lance Carrithers, all rights reserved.  Permission required to copy any portion of this message by any means. Email for permission: lance@firstchurchdc.com

Questions of Faith #7 How Can God be Three Persons?

Matthew 28:16-20

           Today we arrive at the last of our series, “Questions of the Journey.”  This has been quite an adventure, and I thank you for your questions, and for your patience through these sermons.  I know we have not been able to deal with all of your questions, but over the past 7 weeks have been able to discuss the most prominent of the questions you asked.

            I’m keeping the cards, by the way.   From time to time I may return to one or two.    But I’ve enjoyed this process, and judging from the many comments I’ve received, there are a number of you who have enjoyed this series as well.

            Today, we tackle the Trinity.   More specifically, the idea that God is known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   We sing about it, we participate in baptismal services that proclaim it, we come to the Lord’s Table each month with the blessing invoked in the same of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the almighty Father now and forever.   Many of us grew up with the Apostle’s Creed which reinforced the Holy Trinity as primary doctrine of the church.

 I believe in God the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right had of God the Father Almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.   I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.

           But for all of our Trinity talk, questions remain as to just how this can be?   Here are some of the questions members of our congregation asked: 

·   Explain how the church views the difference in Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Do you believe they are the same, or three different parts of the Heavenly family?

 ·   Would you explain the Trinity?   Explain what each does that impacts our lives?

 ·   Explain the Holy Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

 ·   Why don’t we say the apostle’s creed anymore?   Is it because we don’t believe in the Trinity anymore?

            Let’s start with that creed, because it’s the beginning of the standardization of the doctrine of the Trinity in the Christian faith.   The early church fathers and bishops met in 325 and formulated these “I believe” statements about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.   The Nicene Creed in 381 created a more fully developed statement of faith proclaiming that the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and that the Holy Spirit along with the Father and the Son is to be worshipped and glorified.

             The Athanasian Creed  of the Roman church around the turn of the 6^th century more clearly articulated that Father, Son and Holy Spirit were of the same substance, co-eternal and co-equal of praise and worship.

            This history is important because while there are many differences in doctrine between various Christian denominations, there is not a great deal of difference among Christian faiths about the Trinity.   What differences there are centers around whether there are three “parts” of God, and whether or not one part proceeds from another.   Some may talk about God the Father as first, Jesus the Son as second, begotten by the Father, and the Holy Spirit third, sent by the Son.   However, as United Methodists we hold to a more historic understanding of the Trinity.

            The three persons are not “parts” of God.   For God is one whole.   The three persons do not proceed one from another.   For the Son and Holy Spirit are co-eternal with the Father.   We follow John’s gospel as it describes the Word of God being from the beginning, from God and that the Word is in fact, God.   “All things came into being through him,” John says, suggesting that the Son, Jesus, the “Word” of God has been from the beginning of and with God.   Likewise, the Holy Spirit, in the book of Job, is a part of the creative force of God in the beginning.   Job 33 tells us, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”  And in Job 26, we learn, “By God’s Spirit or wind, the heavens were made fair.”

            Let’s look at the UM Statement on Faith in the Holy Trinity from the very first article of our Doctrinal Standards in the Book of Discipline.   This is what the Methodists believe about the Trinity taken from a sermon of John Wesley, and included in the Discipline since 1808:

"There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible.  And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power and eternity: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

 What’s most important in this statement?

1.       One living and true God.   Without body or parts.

2.      Maker and preserve of all things.

3.      Three persons

4.      One substance

5.      One power

6.      Eternal

7.      Known as: Father, Son and Holy Ghost

            This diagram explains it best, I think.    

            One God at the center.   The substance of God remains unchanged.   But is known through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.   Yet, the Father is separate from and is not the Son.  And the Son is separate from and not the Spirit.   You get the picture. 

            The problem occurs when we over think this.   How can one God be three?   And aren’t we just doing mental gymnastics to make it all work?   And didn’t I read somewhere the Trinity isn’t biblical?

            Well, you might have read that, if you were reading watchtower tracts from the Jehovah’s Witnesses or pamphlets from the Church of Latter Day Saints.   They claim the Bible never tells us that God is known as three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   Technically, the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible.   However, Jesus commands that baptism be performed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in John as I mentioned, talks about the roles of all three in relationship with the Disciples.

            In fact, there are a number of places where Paul, Peter and John each in their letters, uses the Trinity address when writing to their followers.  These too are included in the Bible.   (1 Peter 1:2; Galatians 4:4-7; 2 Corinthians 13:13-14)  

            Finally, the church, from some of its earliest origins, were teaching the doctrine of the Trinity, in some instances before the Scriptures themselves had been collected and settled upon.  (Remember when we talked about how the Bible came to be?)

            The role of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit furthermore are clearly referenced throughout Scripture, in more than 60 various passages from Genesis to Revelation.  Never let someone tell you the idea of the Trinity isn’t biblical.   That is simply not true.  

            Remember, all Christian faiths embrace the doctrine of the Trinity.  For United Methodists it is article one.   The first one.

            But…we still haven’t gotten to how this can be.   One God.   Three Persons.  

            Can I ask you to approach it like a child? 

            You heard Sarah talk with the children about the different roles we each hold in relationship with others.   Sarah the Mother, Sarah the Wife, Sarah the Daughter.  And so, God.  One unchanging substance of God.   Three manifestations, or relationships through which God is known.   Father.  Son.   Holy Spirit.

            Let’s try another way.   Two molecules of Hydrogen combine with one molecule of Oxygen and what is the result?

            Water?   Well…in it’s liquid form.   But those very same molecules, at a certain temperature result in Ice.   And at another certain temperature, steam.   But all are the same substance.   Two molecules of Hydrogen with one molecule of Oxygen.  Yet ice isn’t water, not in how we know it.   And water is not steam, not in how we recognize it.   And steam is not ice.   Yet all are H2O.   Not one is a part of H20, but all ARE H20.  Correct?

           One more.   Time.   We know time.   But time is known to us in three very distinct manifestations.   There is past.  There is present. And there is future.   But all are time.  The same substance.   But different forms, or manifestations.  Not one is a “part” of time.   All are time. 

           God is one.   The substance of the almighty.   We know God in the Father.   We know God in the Son.  We know God in the Holy Spirit.   Not one of these is a “part” of God.   God is not known in “parts.”   God is not incomplete when we know but one person of God.   God is the substance of the Father.  God is the substance of the Son.   God is the substance of the Holy Spirit.   All are God. 

            I learned something this week.  The entire DNA of a chicken is contained in an egg.  All of it.   Break the egg and you see yolk, white, and shell.   Yet, the chicken’s DNA is the same, and complete, in each.   How is it the same DNA is hard shell, yellow yolk, and gooey white?   I dunno.  I believe God figured that one out.   The same God, I know, I believe, and I trust, is my Father Creator, my Lord Son Jesus Christ redeemer, and my Advocate and Counselor Holy Spirit.  

            Thanks be to God.