Sermonette: Doctrine of the Trinity

Growing up in the church, I learned very early on that our loving God is both one and three. There is one God and God is three: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each is God separately, and all are God together. In Sunday school, my teachers read this wonderful book called "3 in 1" to me. Perhaps you too remember this book. It had a bright green cover and on the front was a drawing of an apple with a bite out of it. The book taught how in an apple, there are three parts – the skin, the core, and the flesh part of the apple that we eat. All three parts are apple. And just like there are three parts of the apple that are all the apple, there are three parts of God that are all God. As a child, this was a wonderful way to understand God. Later, I learned that we can also think of God like water. Water comes in three forms: ice, water, and steam. Three forms and all water. Neither of these analogies describes God perfectly (for if we could describe God perfectly, it would not be God), but both do a good job of helping young minds grasp the concept of what is called the Doctrine of the Trinity. In the first centuries of Christianity, the nature of God, and how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit fit together and interact with one another was a huge point of debate.

The first issue to be worked out was whether or not God the Father and Jesus were both God. Was the Father greater than the Son? How could Jesus be equal with God and also be human? That was the issue that brought church leaders together in the year 325 for the Council of Nicea. The emperor brought together 319 men for an entire month for the purpose of coming to a consensus about the questions above. They concluded that God the Father and Jesus were both equally divine. This consensus resulted in the first version of the what the church calls the Nicene Creed. But this early creed failed to include the Holy Spirit.

Including the Holy Spirit was the task of the Council of Constantinople convened in 381. This group of men made changes to the Nicene Creed to include the Holy Spirit, adding that the Holy Spirit is worshipped and glorified along with the Father and the Son. From this came what we now call The Doctrine of the Trinity. (See diagram). The three are individual and separate from one another, yet of the same God substance. One God in three persons. So, why did God, in all God's wisdom, manifest God's self in three? Doesn't that just make God more complicated?

The answer is no, and here is why. Our Triune God, by God's very 3-in-1 nature is relationship. God is relationship and God is in the business of relationship. God created us for relationship with the divine, with creation and with each other. As we look to the Trinity we see a model of self-giving love for the other. In the Trinity we see a model for loving community.

This is the nature of our God – a loving relationship that always invites us in. Thanks be to God!