John 16:12-15
Today is Trinity Sunday
It is the climax of the festivals: Good Friday and Easter, Ascension and Pentecost
It is what all those feasts are pointing to
The revelation of the fire of love that is at the heart of God
And the life changing encounter with the three in one.
And now, for the next 20 or so weeks of the church’s year, we have the opportunity to live out the Trinity.
Trinity Sunday is when we reflect on the revelation of the mystery at the heart of God.
It is a mystery – not in the sense of a puzzle to be solved (I love a murder mystery) or an ignorance to be overcome.
Rather it is a mystery of awesomeness, a reality that is so profound that we will never understand it and so big that we can never encompass it. Indeed the more that we encounter this mystery, the bigger we realise it is, the more we discover that there is to explore, and the greater will be our wonder.
There is so much, especially in John, about the relationship of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has sent the Son. He glorifies the Son. The Son loves the Father, listens to the Father and only speaks what the Father speaks and does what the Father does. He glorifies the Father. The Spirit comes from the Father, and we see in our verses from John 16 that he is all about Jesus, the Son. He speaks the words of Jesus and he glorifies Jesus.
And when we read John, I have found it helpful to have this icon of the Trinity in my mind.
It is helpful because it shows three persons. Not leaves on a shamrock, not water – ice – steam, not three overlapping circles, but three persons.
And that ties in with the biblical revelation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We can think of this as a visual mind map of the Trinity.
We are invited to join in the dance and become part of the tapestry. We are invited to become part of the life, the mystery, the joy, the glory of the Trinity.
Today is Trinity Sunday
It is the climax of the festivals: Good Friday and Easter, Ascension and Pentecost
It is what all those feasts are pointing to
The revelation of the fire of love that is at the heart of God
And the life changing encounter with the three in one.
And now, for the next 20 or so weeks of the church’s year, we have the opportunity to live out the Trinity.
Trinity Sunday is when we reflect on the revelation of the mystery at the heart of God.
It is a mystery – not in the sense of a puzzle to be solved (I love a murder mystery) or an ignorance to be overcome.
Rather it is a mystery of awesomeness, a reality that is so profound that we will never understand it and so big that we can never encompass it. Indeed the more that we encounter this mystery, the bigger we realise it is, the more we discover that there is to explore, and the greater will be our wonder.
There is so much, especially in John, about the relationship of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has sent the Son. He glorifies the Son. The Son loves the Father, listens to the Father and only speaks what the Father speaks and does what the Father does. He glorifies the Father. The Spirit comes from the Father, and we see in our verses from John 16 that he is all about Jesus, the Son. He speaks the words of Jesus and he glorifies Jesus.
And when we read John, I have found it helpful to have this icon of the Trinity in my mind.
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| Trinity Icon. Andrei Rublev. c1425. Trinity Cathedral, Sergiev Posad. |
It is helpful because it shows three persons. Not leaves on a shamrock, not water – ice – steam, not three overlapping circles, but three persons.
And that ties in with the biblical revelation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We can think of this as a visual mind map of the Trinity.
There are three angels representing the three persons of the Trinity.
There is difference between the figures.
Father on the left is in gold (behind him is a house);
The Son in the centre wears a red stole (behind is tree);
The Holy Spirit, the life giver, is dressed in green, and behind him is a rock, a wilderness.
They are different, different persons in different positions with different roles.
The Father begets the Son. The Son is ‘eternally begotten’ of the Father (i.e. He has always been the Son of God). The Father sends the Spirit.
But the three angels have similarities because the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. They have one source, origin – the Father. They have been from eternity (they are shown as being the same age), they have one nature (they all wear blue, and have the same face and hair style); they have one authority (they each hold a scepter), and they have one desire, one longing, one love.
And the reason that many find this a far more useful mind map of the Trinity than the illustrations of the shamrock etc is that it demonstrates the relationship that exists between the three persons.
There is the Father, the source of the Trinity, who blesses the Son and Spirit. The two fingers, understood as representing the two natures of Christ, are a sign of blessing. Alison and myself did an assembly this week at the Primary School, and Alison pointed out how the sign of blessing can also look like a victory sign. When you bless someone you want them to shine. The Father wants the Son to shine.
There is a circular movement with the hands, and there is also a circular movement with the heads. The Son and Spirit bow their heads to the Father, as if listening to him. The Father is their source and their destination, their unity.
There is so much more which can be drawn from this icon which I will not touch on today: the three symbols in the background, the shape of the Father and Son which makes the shape of a chalice, a communion cup, and at the centre of the three figures is a chalice with a lamb’s head.
But if we look at our reading, we see how this image can help us.
Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit. He calls him the Spirit of Truth.
There is difference between the figures.
Father on the left is in gold (behind him is a house);
The Son in the centre wears a red stole (behind is tree);
The Holy Spirit, the life giver, is dressed in green, and behind him is a rock, a wilderness.
They are different, different persons in different positions with different roles.
The Father begets the Son. The Son is ‘eternally begotten’ of the Father (i.e. He has always been the Son of God). The Father sends the Spirit.
But the three angels have similarities because the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. They have one source, origin – the Father. They have been from eternity (they are shown as being the same age), they have one nature (they all wear blue, and have the same face and hair style); they have one authority (they each hold a scepter), and they have one desire, one longing, one love.
And the reason that many find this a far more useful mind map of the Trinity than the illustrations of the shamrock etc is that it demonstrates the relationship that exists between the three persons.
There is the Father, the source of the Trinity, who blesses the Son and Spirit. The two fingers, understood as representing the two natures of Christ, are a sign of blessing. Alison and myself did an assembly this week at the Primary School, and Alison pointed out how the sign of blessing can also look like a victory sign. When you bless someone you want them to shine. The Father wants the Son to shine.
There is a circular movement with the hands, and there is also a circular movement with the heads. The Son and Spirit bow their heads to the Father, as if listening to him. The Father is their source and their destination, their unity.
There is so much more which can be drawn from this icon which I will not touch on today: the three symbols in the background, the shape of the Father and Son which makes the shape of a chalice, a communion cup, and at the centre of the three figures is a chalice with a lamb’s head.
But if we look at our reading, we see how this image can help us.
Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit. He calls him the Spirit of Truth.
And the Holy Spirit is Father and Son faced. His head is inclined to the Son and Father.
He will only speak what he hears. “He will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears”
And the Holy Spirit wants to give glory to the Father and to the Son: “He will glorify me”.
But the Holy Spirit is also outward focussed: “He will speak to you”, “He will declare to you”
And if his head is inclined to the Father, his blessing is pointing down – to the place where we stand.
And Jesus continues, “There is much that I want to tell you, but you can’t take it now. So the Spirit of Truth will teach you and guide you into all truth”.
He will tell us of what is to come
He will speak of Jesus’ love and sovereignty
He will speak of the coming suffering, not just for Christ but for those who follow him – the suffering of rejection, of living in a world that is basically hostile to God.
And he will speak of the coming glory – of the future glory that awaits those who put their trust in him.
The Holy Spirit spoke as the disciples wrote the scriptures. He speaks as we receive and read the scriptures. He speaks through the whole people of God. He speaks personally in our hearts and minds. He gives us assurance. He changes us and fills us with love, joy, peace. He shows us our need for God, for forgiveness, for righteousness and he gives us that longing for God and for God’s kingdom.
And the Spirit glorifies Jesus.
‘He will take what is mine and declare it to you’.
He will only speak what he hears. “He will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears”
And the Holy Spirit wants to give glory to the Father and to the Son: “He will glorify me”.
But the Holy Spirit is also outward focussed: “He will speak to you”, “He will declare to you”
And if his head is inclined to the Father, his blessing is pointing down – to the place where we stand.
And Jesus continues, “There is much that I want to tell you, but you can’t take it now. So the Spirit of Truth will teach you and guide you into all truth”.
He will tell us of what is to come
He will speak of Jesus’ love and sovereignty
He will speak of the coming suffering, not just for Christ but for those who follow him – the suffering of rejection, of living in a world that is basically hostile to God.
And he will speak of the coming glory – of the future glory that awaits those who put their trust in him.
The Holy Spirit spoke as the disciples wrote the scriptures. He speaks as we receive and read the scriptures. He speaks through the whole people of God. He speaks personally in our hearts and minds. He gives us assurance. He changes us and fills us with love, joy, peace. He shows us our need for God, for forgiveness, for righteousness and he gives us that longing for God and for God’s kingdom.
And the Spirit glorifies Jesus.
‘He will take what is mine and declare it to you’.
And that is everything.
“All that the Father has is mine. For this reason .. he will take what is mind and declare it to you”.
I love that ‘all’. In the Orthodox liturgy, the people give thanks to God ‘for everything, concerning everything, in everything’.
And the Holy Spirit teaches us that God is God of all of life.
At first, we think he is the God of church – for certain times and certain places. As the Holy Spirit speaks to us we meet him in our own prayer times. And we begin to realise that God is for our relationships, for our friendships, for our earning and spending and giving, for our work and hobbies, for how we browse, for what we listen to, for our moments of intimacy, for how we use our home and garden, for shaving or peeling carrots.
It is all of God, given to Jesus Christ (and so it is all of Christ)
And the Spirit of truth opens our eyes so that we see God in all that we are and do.
It is a bit as if our life is a house. We allow God into the reception room: that is suitable for God – and slowly we allow him into every room in the house, even the cupboard under the stairs or the attic where all the junk is stored. And we discover that God is the one who built this house, who owns this house, who knows this house better than us (he knows where the secret passages are) and who gave this house to us.
The Trinity is about the revelation of how God works
We see in our reading and in our icon the dance between Father and Son and Holy Spirit
We see the weaving together of the threads of Father and Son and Holy Spirit, like the weaving we see in Celtic jewellery.
But the Trinity is also about encounter. As we listen to the Spirit we are pointed to Jesus and through him to the Father.
“All that the Father has is mine. For this reason .. he will take what is mind and declare it to you”.
I love that ‘all’. In the Orthodox liturgy, the people give thanks to God ‘for everything, concerning everything, in everything’.
And the Holy Spirit teaches us that God is God of all of life.
At first, we think he is the God of church – for certain times and certain places. As the Holy Spirit speaks to us we meet him in our own prayer times. And we begin to realise that God is for our relationships, for our friendships, for our earning and spending and giving, for our work and hobbies, for how we browse, for what we listen to, for our moments of intimacy, for how we use our home and garden, for shaving or peeling carrots.
It is all of God, given to Jesus Christ (and so it is all of Christ)
And the Spirit of truth opens our eyes so that we see God in all that we are and do.
It is a bit as if our life is a house. We allow God into the reception room: that is suitable for God – and slowly we allow him into every room in the house, even the cupboard under the stairs or the attic where all the junk is stored. And we discover that God is the one who built this house, who owns this house, who knows this house better than us (he knows where the secret passages are) and who gave this house to us.
The Trinity is about the revelation of how God works
We see in our reading and in our icon the dance between Father and Son and Holy Spirit
We see the weaving together of the threads of Father and Son and Holy Spirit, like the weaving we see in Celtic jewellery.
But the Trinity is also about encounter. As we listen to the Spirit we are pointed to Jesus and through him to the Father.
We are invited to join in the dance and become part of the tapestry. We are invited to become part of the life, the mystery, the joy, the glory of the Trinity.
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