Sermon for Trinity Sunday – May 18, 2008
“ After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. ”
THE shutter on a camera is a small black door. We hear it's opening and closing, a snap-click, and feel the tiny movement in our hand. In a film camera, we must await the development and printing process, but in the newer digitals, the picture is right there onscreen for us to look at. Whatever we were pointing at is now captured in our camera, one still frame, a work of art, a memory, visual information.
That tiny shutter only opens for a fraction of a second. The amount of light allowed in on the film or electronic imaging device is determined by this speed as well as the aperture, the size that the lens is open to. All this is done electronically with newer cameras. We used to have to take a light reading, calculate how open the f-stop needed to be, then dial in the exposure, 200 th of a second, less or more, and all based on the rating of the film.
I got into photography during my university days when my architecture courses encouraged our buying a 35mm camera, getting rolls of Tri-X black and white film, and going about snapping local buildings, making a study of shadow and light, and developing our own film, making prints in a darkroom, and mounting them for projects. Highly grainy black and white images, or photos with extreme contrast were very in at the time. A tiny door opened, and something was captured, an image, a glimpse at the world.
Other kinds of imaging have been developed before and since then. X-rays give a photographic image of things unseen by our eyes. Today MRIs and CAT scans finely detail in three dimensions what is going on inside our bodies so doctors have the information to treat disease. The Hubble Space Telescope sends photos to earth of the most phenomenal sights in the far reaches of our universe. The electron microscope and a bell jar may tell us of atomic physics once invisible. A door opens and we see what was never before seen by man.
Such a door has been opened for us into heaven itself. Our film is the Bible, where the fantastic images that flooded out were recorded for all time. As St. John described his staggering sights in his Revelation, “ a door was opened in heaven… And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” Our Lesson for the Epistle today details a sea of crystal, four creatures with four faces, the elders bowing low and praising God: Holy, holy, holy. The Father and the Spirit are seen, as the Son reveals them to John. The Son later appears as a lamb slain yet not dead. These living symbols are not the first revealed clues to the Christian mystery of our Triune God. That door has been opened before.
But Trinity is a word coined in the 2 nd century to describe our belief that God is one and only one, that in Him are three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are distinct from one another, and that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the Son and not of the Father or Holy Spirit. The Son alone experienced crucifixion for us. The Father is the source of all things. The Son is begotten of the Father, while the Spirit proceeds from Him. Now, how did we arrive at such a rich yet almost unimaginable idea of God? One yet three? A door was opened for us and we are witnesses.
“God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Gen 1:26 “And one angel cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:3 “Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:34-35 “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matt 3:16-17
This Son, so described, went on to show Himself distinct from the Father, who heard Him pray and answered Him out of heaven. Jesus was more than a man, much more. Even life and death obeyed Him. Satan got down and begged. The wind and waves made peace at His coming. The earth upset itself at His death. At His parting from the world, He instructed His apostles: “ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Matt. 28:19 He had told them, “The Father is greater than I.” Jn 14:28 He had told them that the Father and He would send the Holy Spirit to them. Jn 15:26 It was an opened door. We were to understand God is Trinity.
What do you do with such information? Remember the men with the talents from their king. Knowledge of God is a gift, and a test. The first man and woman walked and talked with God in the garden. That was taken from them when they sinned, and from us ever since. It wouldn't be good for us to have too much knowledge of God in our sin. It would inflate our pride and presumption. God knew this and He only slowly and gradually opened that door to select ones who would treasure what was revealed. At Pentecost, AD 30, thousands wondered at the sight of 120 disciples loudly praising God in dozens of known languages. Seeking an explanation, they heard Peter tell the history of Israel, the prophesied coming of Messiah, and of the outpouring of God's Spirit on all. He said, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.” Acts 2:31-32 Three thousand believed and were baptized.
The door opens and we see what was never before seen by man. What do we do with that sight? How are we to incorporate the knowledge? It isn't enough for us just to have good theology. What is commanded of us? Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and spirit. You can't love someone you don't know. Knowledge of God makes love of Him possible. Learn more of Him and love Him.
I said that our film upon which the images from heavenly places are captured is the Bible. Now from that Bible the words create mental pictures and bestow impressions on us of the character, the awesome power, the very nature and the will of God on high. Your lens, our aperture, your exposure time all determine how much of that image comes inside of you. You can overexpose, perhaps, but most of us are not in danger of that. Our dim little images testify that we have not spent enough time looking into this. Repent. What do you think you know?
He is, yes. But He also wants something of us. Wisdom says, “I love them that love me; And those that seek me diligently shall find me.” Prov 8:17 “But without faith it is impossible to please him : for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Heb 11:6 Believing in Him is not enough. He rewards those who will diligently seek Him . Diligence is not just a glance. I am confused by those who blandly say they believe in God , and yet do nothing about it. That's a lie. They hope there's a kindly deity out there somewhere, and trust that he won't be hard on them, for they are going to live their lives any way they please. But they don't believe in Him.
Were we to devise a god in our own image or imagination, it would be Buddha or Allah or The Force from Star Wars. In fact, we've done that. But the fact we even want a God indicates that man was made for Someone higher than we are. God does exist and He has made many efforts to show the faithful Who He is. Our eyes can't see Him as He is, or they would scorch. Our minds are too small to take Him in all at once. But He has made every effort and He has opened the door. “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, the deep things of God. Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Cor 2:6-16
A door was opened upon our world, and from that door came our Savior. He did not distain us, but became one of us to show us Who God is and how we might return to Him. He may have come in wrath, but rather He came in love. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Heb 1:1-2 Such a door was opened to the chiefest opponent of the early Church on his way to arrest as many as he might in Damascus. In a blinding light, Jesus appeared to Saul and changed his course forever. He told him, “ I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness.” Acts 26:16
And so He has. 2,000 years of Church history have carefully, lovingly molded for us a way of knowing God that is trustworthy, tried and true. As we recite this amazing and instructive Creed Of St. Athanasius , let God speak to you in this way. “I love you. I am showing you things no man ever saw before. This is Who I am, and it should begin to show you who you are. You never knew this before, but now the door is opened. Look! Don't look away! See what I show you and trust in Me. There is no other. There is only One God. He has revealed Himself to you, and that is a very serious matter. I call you to myself. I seek you for myself. Know me better. This is your beginning. Come to me and let this knowledge be planted deeply in your heart. Let it grow in you and change you. This knowledge is life to you. Without it, you will not survive. The knowledge of your God is called faith …”
The Athanasian Creed.
PFH+