Text Source:
Proverbs 8:1-4 and 22-31
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 At the highest point along theway, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3 beside thegate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O people, I call out;I raise my voice to all humankind.
“God brought me forth as the first work,before God’s deeds of old; 23 I was formed long ages ago, atthe very beginning, when the world came to be. 24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,when there were no springs overflowing with water; 25 before themountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth, 26 beforeGod made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. 27 I was there when God set theheavens in place, or when the horizon was marked on the face of thedeep, 28 orwhen the clouds were established above and the fountains of the deepfixed securely. 29 when the sea received its boundary so thewaters would not overstep God’s command, and when the foundations of the earthwere marked out. 30 Then Iwas constantly at the side of God. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in God’spresence, 31 rejoicing in the whole world and delighting in humankind.
Romans 5:1-5
5 Therefore,since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our SovereignJesus Christ, 2 throughwhom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Andwe boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; andcharacter, hope. 5 Andhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into ourhearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
John 16:12-15
12 “I have much more to say toyou, more than you can now bear. 13 But when the One I told you about, the Spirit of truth,comes, you will be guided into all the truth. The Spirit will not speak independently;the Spirit will speak only what has been told, and will tell you what is yet tocome. 14 theSpirit will glorify me because it is from me comes what will be made known toyou. 15 All thatbelongs to the Creator is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive fromme what will be made known to you.”
Message:
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday in the lectionary and inchurch tradition. It is also the Sundaybefore Memorial Day. Both topics presentchallenges for me. I do not identify asa Trinitarian and I struggle with how we recognize and celebrate the sacrificesof those who have served in the military, particularly those who gave theirlives in that service, while still holding to account those who have sent ourmilitary into harm’s way.
My denomination affirms its belief in the Trinity and so Iprofess to believe but my belief is that God is manifest in the Creator, theRedeemer, the Sustainer, and in many more manifestations. I believe God was manifest in the life andteachings of Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed,and many more spiritual guides. Thedoctrine of the Trinity is a creation of the church to explain theunexplainable nature of God. These earlytheologians sought to explain how there could be God the parent to whom Jesusprayed and God the Holy Spirit that Jesus said would come to guide thedisciples after Jesus ascended. I do notbelieve God ever intended for humankind to perceive God in these distinctpersonas. God was quite clear in thedeclaration that the Sovereign, your God is One. My thinking and theology is likely as flawedas that of the ancient theologians who crafted the Doctrine of the Trinity butit works for me and I am keeping it and sharing it with you for yourconsideration.
God is One. Our humanlimitations make it impossible for us to comprehend that which is God and soGod is revealed to us in ways we can comprehend. In the beginning, humankind had a veryintimate relationship with God and then humankind became aware of good and eviland began to judge each other and themselves. This desire to do God’s work of judging distanced them from God and itall became more difficult, more complicated, life became work. I have no quarrel with the creation story butI also believe this is informative for each one of us in our walk withGod. As infants we fully trust withoutreason. We expect someone to be therewhen we are hungry, uncomfortable, or injured. As we “mature”, we become more critical of the behavior of others andeventually we become critical of ourselves. This sense of things not being as they should be and our not being as weshould be creates a distance from God because we begin to question God and welose trust in God. God became for thepeople and for us something to be served, feared, and manipulated to our owndesires. Throughout history God hasrevealed God’s self to humankind as being a source of wisdom. God wanted the people to give up the judgingand the fear and live in harmony with all of creation and with God but we justcouldn’t get it. God then created Jesus,so that Jesus might live God’s Word for us, as an example of how to live infull trust of God. Jesus did not come tobe God, Jesus came as a bridge to our understanding of God. Jesus lived the example we are tofollow. Jesus knew people would losetrack of the teachings and so he told us we didn’t need to be able to seeJesus, we needed to open ourselves up to hear God speaking to us just as Jesusheard God. The Spirit was alwayspresent, the Spirit has always revealed God to creation. The Spirit was not a third God, the Spirit isanother way we connect to God. I supposeI could be Trinitarian in that I believe these to be the primary ways God isrevealed to us, that it is the Spirit that spoke to the spiritual leaders ofevery age. It is the openness of someparticular persons to living out God’s way that have shown us that it ispossible to live out what God tells us. The important fact for me is that God is one, and our desire to divideGod is the source of so much of the conflict in the world that God abhors.
Speaking of conflict God abhors brings us right to theMemorial Day and how to balance service and rejection of war as theanswer. I recognize it is not possibleto survive as a nation without the ability to defend ourselves and thisrequires a military and weapons of war. I do believe this is not God’s will for the world. God wants us to create a world where we cantransform our weapons of war into implements to feed and nurture theworld. I believe there is no greaterlove than to be willing to lay down our life for others. Love enough to die to protect those we knowand care deeply about, but een greater to offer your life to defend totalstrangers, people who do not know you and people you might find difficult totreasure. Those who serve in the armedforces must always be honored and thanked for their service. One of the best ways I believe we honor andthank them is to hold those who have the authority to deploy them to do so onlywhen there is no other way to prevent greater evil happening to those whocannot defend themselves. We seem tohave come to the place where using military force is seen as diplomatictool. We send in the military when wefail to convince other governments to see things our way. There does not need to be clear threat to ourcitizens or citizens of other nations for us to conduct a military intervention. Political leaders have used our military todemonstrate the power of the United States to control the world. Other countries have also brought out theirmilitary might to prove they don’t have to do things our way. I would try to convince you that this is aresult of the human need to judge and control the behavior of others. We use our military might and our sense ofmoral authority to force others to behave in ways we think right. We fail to listen for what God has to say, toseek to live as Jesus and every other spiritual leader has told us is God’s wayof peaceful coexistence. There are thosewho insist Islam is not a peaceful religion but the truth is Islam teachespeace as much as Christianity and Judaism do. And Christianity and Judaism also have histories of violence perpetratedin the name of God and this is what God abhors.
It is my hope and prayer this Trinity and Memorial DaySunday that we understand that God is one and respect the path others take tounderstand and live out God and that this understanding of God will lead us topeaceful coexistence where we will only use force and sacrifice lives in thedefense of the defenseless when all other solutions fail. Amen.
