Understanding the Unexplainable

Genesis 1: 1-2:4a

Matthew 28: 16-20

The words in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are so much a part of Christian services that we don’t realize how strange and precious they are or maybe even fully understand their significance. Today is Trinity Sunday, where we celebrate the declaration that only Christians can make –we believe in a God that is three persons and yet still one God. What a strange and bold statement we make every week!

This passage we read today in Matthew, the one we call the Great Commission is where we read for the first time about our Trinitarian God. Jesus tells us, “Go therefore making disciples of all nations baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Up until this point, we knew that Jesus was God’s son and we knew that when Jesus went up to heaven he was going to send the disciples an Advocate he called the Holy Spirit. It is here, at this moment that we are given a true glimpse into the essence of the one we call Lord.

To baptize a person in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could only mean that these are three separate names of the One God and we know that God is one because we’re told back in the days of Moses while receiving the Ten Commandments that there is one God and we are to worship only that one God. But even while we have grown up knowing there are three parts to our one God, it is hard to understand when we really try to think about it and very confusing to explain to a nonbeliever. This is something that is truly about faith because the essence of God is unexplainable. I had a professor once tell me that we make the statement and then we don’t try to explain it because we don’t even fully understand it.

But of course, throughout history people have tried because to nonbelievers the idea that we say such a strange thing makes them think we’re crazy and so we try to rationalize our faith. However, faith is not rational and God is never going to be fully explainable because we’re just not up to God’s speed! However, there’s an old Abbot and Costello sketch that tries to explain the Trinity that I’ll share with you.

Costello goes up to Abbot and says, “Bud, you’re a very smart man and you know many things. I bet you know a lot about religion.” Abbot: Well, yes Lou, I do. What would you like to know about religion? Costello: Last weekend I went to the park and there was a church group having a picnic and they had a big sign the said “Holy Trinity Church”. Well, Bud, I’ve driven around town and I have seen churches named St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Joseph, St. Thomas, but I never heard of this St. Trinity. Who is this St. Trinity? Abbott: Trinity is not a saint, Lou. Trinity is one of the ways that all Christians have come to understand God as revealed by Jesus Christ when he came to earth to live among us. The Trinity is God, One God – Three Persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Costello: That sure sounds like three gods to me. Abbott: No, Lou, one God, three persons – It’s a mystery Lou. Costello: Well, Bud, come to think of it, this is a very big world and universe and there are lots of people for God to watch. So probably the Father works the day shift, the Son the night shift and the Holy Spirit the graveyard shift.

Abbott: No, Lou. No shifts. God’s working all of the time. Costello: O.K. so if God’s working all the time, it’s still a very big world, so maybe God divides it up in thirds – a third for the Father, a third for the Son and a third for the Holy Spirit. Abbott: No, Lou, no thirds, no divisions, God is undivided. Lou scratches his head for a minute and then says to Costello: Well, Bud, let me ask it to you this way. I think God must be a baseball fan – after all the first words of the bible say “In the Big Inning”. Abbott: No, Lou, it’s “In the beginning” not “In the big inning”. Costello: Any way, Bud, you know how I like baseball. So let’s say that God’s team was playing a baseball game and God’s team was up to bat. The Father hits a single – Who’s on first? Abbott: God. Costello: Then the Son comes up and hits a single. The Father goes to second base and the Son goes to first base. Who’s on first?

Abbott: God. Costello: I thought God was on second base. Abbott: That’s right. Costello: O.K. – then the Holy Spirit comes up and lays down a perfect bunt. The Father goes to third base, the Son goes to second base and the Holy Spirit beats out the throw – Safe at first. Who’s on first? Abbott: God. Costello: I thought God was on second and third. Abbott: That’s right Lou. God’s on second and third. God is on first too. God is on all the bases. Costello: I don’t get it, Bud. Well, Bud can’t explain it and Lou can’t get it. And I can’t explain the mystery of the Trinity and we can’t get it. It is beyond our human comprehension to grasp the concept of the Trinity – three persons in one God, each fully God.

Abbot trying to explain the Trinity to Costello is a perfect example of the Great Commission and the Trinity if you think about it. Whenever you play a sport, the only thing you are concerned about is winning. If God has created a baseball field for us and God is on all three bases as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who does that leave on Home Plate for the swing? It leaves us. God is trusting on us to bring everyone home. This is why Jesus sent out the disciples, why Jesus continues to send us out.

We’re a called people and God has asked us to share God’s love with everyone we meet. That means understanding a little bit better the nature of our God and that means trying to understand the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is pure love and unity, and we are made in God’s image. It means while there are different parts to each of us that we show the world, we’re still just one person and yet we’re also a part of a whole community. We are called to work together, to love one another, to help each other, and to seek to know God by being more like Jesus every single day. We become more like Jesus by listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice and remembering the sacrifice of the Father in giving us His Son, a part of God’s self that lived and died and was raised from the dead for our salvation.

When we understand the true depth of God’s sacrifice for us, then we can share the Gospel with others with humility and awe which holds great power for someone that has never heard of our Lord and Savior. The point about the Trinity is not that we have the perfect illustration, the point is that we learn about relationships, covenants, love and sacrifice by recognizing God has three distinct parts while still maintaining God’s oneness. We understand that Jesus is God and that means God died for us. We recognize that the Holy Spirit which we claim is in our hearts means that God is in our hearts. God, the unknowable and almighty is inside of your heart and will always be a part of you.

It’s a miracle we carry inside of us. And once we recognize that, how could we not behave and think differently? How can we not have joy and peace? God is truly with us and will always be with us because God loved us enough to make us a part of God. We are blessed beyond measure.

Amen.