Greetings to you on this Trinity Sunday!

I’m sure it will come as no surprise that when priests and other ministers are preparing their sermons, homilies or talks they use a wide variety of resources to guide and structure the message they want to share – and this can be really useful when the ‘topic’ or theme is a difficult one to try to explain. From great theological tomes by learned fathers and mothers, to snippets of thought in an online blog – all can find their way into a Sunday sermon.

Today, The Feast of the Holy Trinity, is often a day thought to be particularly challenging and in preparing for this sermon I was doing a bit of research and came across an article: ‘The Top 10 ways to explain the Holy Trinity’.

Now I won’t bother you with all 10, but here are the top 3.

At number 3 – The Holy Trinity is likened to Battery, Wire and Electricity. God is the power source, the battery. The Son is the mediator, the wire which conducts God’s love to us and The Spirit is the power itself, the love of God which comes to us through Jesus.

Now this explanation has some strength in that it differentiates the three persons of The Trinity and puts them in relationship with one another BUT the downside is that it uses inanimate objects to try to explain something that should be something fundamentally living and dynamic.

So to the 2nd most popular way to explain The Trinity – a Dance. God is the dance, the energy, the movement at the centre of creation and the trinity is our way of saying God does the dance perfectly with all of the dancers in harmony.

Now this explanation is better at describing a living, moving relationship, but it is a bit abstract and isn’t great at helping us identify the three persons of the Trinity.

Finally at Number 1 – the most popular way of explaining the Holy Trinity comes from Ireland and good old St Patrick himself – The 3-leaved clover. Each leaf on the plant appears whole and independent, but they are indivisibly part of a single stem. But then questions like ‘Is the stem then a different source from which the three persons of the trinity emerge?’ spring into the mind.

And so on and so on.

I haven’t been able to find any explanation or representation of the Holy Trinity that doesn’t conjure up a raft of questions.

So what I am about to say to you on this Feast of the Holy Trinity may sound a bit strange. It might even sound as if I am being unfaithful and even inappropriate. But I think it’s important and maybe even necessary.

Are you ready?

Stop thinking about God.

You probably didn’t expect to be reading a sermon that told you to stop thinking about God, but before you pick up the hotline to the Bishop, let me explain what I mean.

I suspect that many of us spend too much time and effort thinking about God. Now that’s not just an observation, it is also a confession of one who loves thinking about God. But maybe, just maybe we should spend a little bit less time thinking about God and instead simply be with Him. Here’s what I mean. Would you rather be with the one you love or think about the one you love? Would you prefer your relationships to be defined by love for another or information about another?

There is a sense in which thinking about God keeps us from being present with Him. In some way thinking about God can distance us from Him and set up a kind of ‘subject – object’ duality and that is actually the very opposite of trinitarian life!

We think about other people when we are not with them. Some of us think about our children who have grown up and moved out. Some think about our partners when we are away from each other. We think about our friends when we are apart. We think about our loved ones who have died. But in that moment when we are really present, when we have truly shown up and offered all that we are and all that we have, we’re not thinking about the other person, we are one with them. It is a moment of love, intimacy, and union. It’s not defined by life or death, distance or geography. It is defined and made possible for us by the eternal life and love shared by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Who is the person with whom you have or had the closest, deepest, most intimate relationship? Picture him or her and your relationship. When you are with that person you are not thinking about him or her. In moments of ecstatic love, you look at him or her and see yourself in his or her life and he or she does the same with you. We open ourselves to each other. We give ourselves to the other and receive the other into ourselves. That is the trinitarian life. It is the choreography of love and it’s happening all the time.

In the midst of an honest, real, and meaningful conversation we’re not thinking about the other person. We are with them and they are with us. A single life envelops and flows between us. We don’t make that happen, it just does. That’s trinitarian life.

When we are rolling on the floor, laughing, and playing with our child or grandchild we are not thinking about them, we are completely open and present to their life and they to ours. The line between their life and our life gets blurry and there is only love. That’s trinitarian life.

Sometimes we see the world through another’s eyes and their joys or sorrows take root in us as if they were our own. When that happens we are not receiving news or information about another, we are sharing a common life. We are loving our neighbour as our self. That’s trinitarian life.

Every now and then we are immersed in prayer and no longer conscious that we are praying. We no longer see ourselves talking to or thinking about God. Rather, our life is one with His and we are participating in the life of the Holy Trinity.

Each of these are moments when we can honestly say, “I love, therefore I am.” These and a thousand others just like them are trinitarian moments. Love for one another and faith in the Holy Trinity are integrally related. You cannot have one without the other.

The Holy Trinity is not a concept to be explained, numbers to be calculated, or a problem to be solved. It is a life to be lived, a love to be shared, and a beauty to be revealed.

Stop thinking about God. Live the life, share the love, reveal the beauty. Amen.

God bless you and those you hold dear this coming week.

Fr Simon

There is a beautiful traditional analogy that describes worship in the Episcopal Church as that of a symphony orchestra. The members of the congregation are the players in the orchestra, with many different instruments represented among them. The musical score is the particular liturgy we are using and the conductor is the celebrant or officiant, who leads and helps tie everything together. And who is the audience at this joyous performance? Well, the audience is God!

This analogy illustrates the basic truth that our worship in the Episcopal tradition is participatory. There is a lot of action on the part of the congregation making them active participants in what is going on. I think this musical image is also a helpful one for understanding the church’s mission. The ideal of our working together in unity can also benefit from an illustration from classical music.

My own favourite metaphor for the church at its best, is the 4th movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It is beautiful and stirring. Everyone knows the central melody, the “Ode to Joy.”

Anyone who has experienced the great pleasure of attending a live performance of this wonderful work might agree that it can indeed provide a symbolic vision of what the church can be at its best.

The Ninth Symphony builds magnificently toward its final, 4th movement. Beethoven’s masterpiece grows, with gradually unfolding themes of deep beauty. Finally, having gone through every form of instrumental expression, the composer calls forth the human voice. Singing is required to bring ultimate expression to the composer’s vision.

As the symphony ends in a spectacular climax, the conductor, the orchestra, the quartet of lead singers, and the full chorus are all working feverishly. Every orchestra member is playing with inspired fervour. The quartet of soloists and the chorus are singing at full volume. The conductor, beating time with baton in hand, works exhaustively to tie the pieces of the musical whole together into one intricate, moving entity. She urges forth every last ounce of spirit left in the performers. All work exuberantly together to bring about a great piece of musical love.

Yes, the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony may well be an ideal expression of God’s kingdom. It is certainly my own vision of how the church can act — that is, with everybody working together to produce the greatest expression of love, and with no one standing idly by:

with everyone involved, doing his or her part
without discord
with no in-fighting
with everyone focused on one purpose
with everyone inspired, exuberant,
working feverishly to love God
with all their being and to love God’s
children as themselves
with everyone following the will of the leader.

This is the example set by Jesus. His whole life was one continual effort to work to produce love, healing, happiness, and salvation among all people. Certainly, that was the example the early church sought to emulate.

Remembering the first Pentecost Day, the day when the disciples were set on fire with the Holy Spirit, it is natural to think of the finale of Beethoven’s great symphony. The glory of the finale is my idea of what that first Pentecost was like. That first day of the church’s reaching out to the world, spreading the joy of the good news of God.

On that day, the early followers of Jesus received the power of the Holy Spirit and were enabled to go out working together, pooling their resources, caring for the community and the common goal, providing generously for the needy, following the lead of their Lord.

On this Pentecost Sunday, we find ourselves emphasising our responsibilities as members of the Body of Christ to go beyond this service and beyond our community to act out the truths of our faith: to work together; to make our best effort to follow the direction of our Lord Jesus Christ; and to do so with the same feeling of commitment as that of the participants in a fine performance of Beethoven’s Ninth.

For thirty years Beethoven thought about, worked on, and developed an idea to use a chorus based on a work by the German poet Johann Schiller. Near the end of his life, in the maturity of his artistic expression, Beethoven finally made use of the Schiller poem in the incomparable fourth movement of the Ninth Symphony.

The poem used in the chorus, often called the “Ode to Joy,” is based on the theme of joy, love, and, perhaps above all else, the unity of humankind.

One of the central stanzas reads this way:

Let thy magic bring together
all whom earth born laws divide.
All mankind shall be as brothers.

Indeed, all humanity shall be as brothers and sisters, because of God’s action in Christ.

I don’t know about you, but this week I have been worried by the ‘preparing for war’ rhetoric spread across our media outlets. We need to pray fervently for peace, for the Holy Spirit to breathe into the hearts of world leaders.

The great vision of Beethoven, revealed in the final movement of his final symphony, is one with our vision of the Kingdom of God. The vision that is the same as the goal of our faith in God that all humankind will live in harmony – impossible as that might seem right now.

So, let us dedicate ourselves on this Sunday of Pentecost, to live into this vision — to begin anew acting in concert, in harmony, and with love, so that we may treat all those around us as sisters and brothers, so that, together, following the lead of our Lord, we can produce a great act of Christian love, bringing peace to this world in a time of fear and growing tensions.

Come Holy Spirit, and lead us into peace.

Amen

* Acts 16:16-34 * Psalm 97 * Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 * John 17:20-26

I wonder if you are able to identify where these well known phrases come from?

i) “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”

ii) “We’ll always have Paris”

iii) “Kiss me Hardy”

iv) “How lucky I am to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard”

(See the end of this sermon for the answers)

Saying goodbye –

Be good. Take care of yourself. Have fun. Mind your manners. Work hard. Make good decisions. Learn a lot. Be careful. Call me if you need something. Remember, I love you.

Those are the kind of things we say when we are leaving, when we are departing. We often give our last minute instructions for what the other should do after we have left. When I was growing up I heard some of these from my parents. I have said some of these to other people and I suspect each of you has said or heard these or similar words. They are our departing instructions to one we love. With those words we entrust the future well-being of that loved one to himself or herself.

It would be easy to hear today’s gospel as Jesus’ departing instructions to his disciples. It would make sense. After all, we are back at the night of the last supper. Jesus knows he is leaving. He will soon be crucified and the disciples will have to find their own way without his physical presence. So why not give some last minute instructions about how to act, what to do and the way they should treat each other? That’s what we might do, but that is not what Jesus is doing. That is a misinterpretation of the text.

Jesus is not entrusting the future of the disciples to themselves. He is entrusting their future to God. His words are not departing instructions but a departing prayer. The disciples are God-entrusted not self-entrusted.

Today’s gospel is not a conversation between Jesus and the disciples, but a prayer from Jesus to his Father, and our Father. Today we overhear Jesus’ prayer for us. His prayer isn’t for our benefit only, but for the life of the world, so that the world may believe the Father sent Jesus. Our unity becomes the sacramental presence of God in the world. Our oneness continues the embodiment of God in human flesh and life.

But this unity is not something that we do or create. Jesus does not tell the disciples to be nice to each other, to get along, to eliminate their differences or to agree upon a common plan or purpose. He doesn’t prescribe tolerance, uniformity, unanimity, or consensus. We are not the recipients of instructions but the subject and beneficiary of Jesus’ prayer.

Jesus prays three times for oneness. “That they may all be one.” “That they may be one.” “That they may become completely one.” The oneness for which he prays is modelled on the unity of the Father and Jesus, their shared life. He prays that we would be completely one as he and the Father are one. Jesus’ prayer echoes the ancient Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael, “Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one (Deut. 6:4).

That Jesus is praying to the Father for our oneness, rather than giving instructions, means that unity is of and from God. It is not something we do or create. It is the very life and being of God. We do not establish unity, we participate in and manifest to the world the already existing oneness that is God.

Now this doesn’t mean we can just sit back and wait for God to answer Jesus’ prayer. We too have a part to play. Our oneness must take tangible and visible form if it is to show the world the invisible and spiritual life and presence of God. In some way our lives in relationship to God and one another become the answer to Jesus’ prayer.

Our lives and relationships are to be outward and visible signs of God’s inward and invisible presence. But we can only become and live this when we know ourselves to be God-entrusted rather than self-entrusted. That means our life comes not from ourselves but from God. That’s what allowed Jesus to choose the cross. That’s why he prayed rather than instructed. It’s how we become one as Jesus and the Father are one.

Right about now some instructions would be really helpful but I don’t have any. Jesus didn’t give any. There is no list. I can’t tell you what to do but I can tell you where to begin looking. This oneness exists at the intersection of our love for God and our love for each other. It is the intersection of the vertical axis and the horizontal axis. Unity is cross shaped. That point of intersection is, according to St. John’s account of the gospel, the hour of Christ’s glory, his death and resurrection. That is the preeminent image of a God-entrusted life. That’s where we find our oneness. That’s what we show the world.

Each time we live with a God-entrusted understanding of ourselves, boundaries soften, divisions are not as deep and broken relationships are reconciled. Each time we take a step toward a God-entrusted understanding of ourselves and let go of a self-entrusted life we move towards oneness.

When, in love for God and each other, we surrender our self-entrusted life to a God-entrusted life we embody the Father’s answer to Jesus’ prayer and we are one as Jesus and the Father are one. In that moment we have, “met the glory of God and that glory shines in us.”

i) (Gone with the wind)

ii) (Casablanca)

iii) (Admiral Lord Nelson)

iv) (Winnie the pooh)

* Acts 16:9-15 * Psalm 67 * Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 * John 14:23-29

I’d like you to think for a moment of the one thing that would make the most positive difference in your life. Maybe it’s a particular item or object, possibly it’s a change in a particular situation, or maybe it’s the restoration of a relationship. All of these, we might individually consider to be a ‘good’ thing.

The opening line to the collect for this the sixth Sunday after Easter ascribes to God – and only God – the ability to give us all good things that surpass our understanding, that exceed all that we can desire.

O God, from whom all good things arise..

Exceeding all that we can desire? Just how is that possible?

Most of the time, we live lives that are a compromise between happiness and sorrow, joy and discouragement. This roller coaster kind of existence can be a challenge to our faith and a denial of good things that surpass our understanding, and God knows this.

The whole of the Easter season has been about equipping us with powerful tools of faith to defeat the forces that would drag us down.

There are post-resurrection stories of a group of defeated fishermen who end up going back to their lives of fishing, only to discover the risen Jesus meeting them for breakfast.

There are the travellers walking to Emmaus encountering a stranger who turns out to be Jesus, who breaks bread with them. They discover their hearts gladdened. These are experiences opened to us, too.

So, where do these good things come from?

You can’t find them on ebay or place an Amazon order for them but you can hear them, experience them, and find them in the community of faith, the Easter community.

The early Christians learned that they could face persecution, possible arrest, trial, and even execution because of the power of the resurrection that they had found in the Easter community.

They also learned that what happened to them was of little account, because they placed themselves under the gracious God who delivered them from the pall of darkness in their lives.

Today, we hear about Lydia, a woman of obvious wealth – purple cloth was used for high officials and nobility – and how she embraces Paul and invites him to come and stay in her house. She knows something is missing in her otherwise successful life, and when she hears about Jesus, she discovers an abundant God who fills the empty place in her heart, and she invites God in.

And we listen as Jesus teaches the disciples about what will happen after he leaves them. God will send an advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will do two things: teach and remind.

The Spirit will teach us how God wants for us and gives us the good things we need, even when we don’t know what they are or how to ask for them.

Many of us face challenging and hard times in our lives. Times when we can feel we personally have ‘failed’ because of what has happened. A change in employment circumstances, a breakdown in a relationship, these things and more can leave us feeling that we are a failure.

Sometimes it’s hard, but that’s exactly the time when we need to lean on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who will remind us, especially when things are not going well, what really matters and to whom we belong.

Our faith community, our Christian family must be the place where we are restored, not just in the sense of feeling good, but deep in the very depths of our hearts.

The sign of the cross, the breaking of the bread at communion, the hymns (read the words even if you don’t sing), and the Scriptures are all reminders of how much we are loved and cherished and redeemed.

As a wise bishop once said, “Human beings solve problems; God redeems messes.” All of us think we can fix things, but often the mess overwhelms us. We are reminded, as the disciples were after the death of Jesus, that God redeems messes – and that includes each of us.

Good things have been turned into a commodity. They are scarce, and you have to be able to pay for them. At least that is what we are told by ads on Television and even stories in the news. Go to this lawyer, join that exercise class, buy this or that appliance for your comfort – the list is endless – and expensive.

God has another way that is based on abundance. God gives us what we need, always providing for us those things which cannot be bought or bargained for.

They are things that endure – hope, faith, love, fellowship, and friends. They are qualities like peace and wisdom and courage.

God gives us these gifts through the Spirit, and God also gives us the ability to find them in others. The world is full of them, though often they are masked by our focus on the news of anger and darkness.

So, here are some ways you can, like Lydia, be faithful to the Lord and receive the abundance of good things God has for you:

First of all, expect those good things.

The Beloved, the one who created you, the one at whose birth the angels sang, loves you. So, begin to expect good things. They are not earned, they are freely given. And perhaps you have neglected to see them right there in front of you in the person you love, the people you work with, and the beauty that surrounds you daily. Trust me, the more you find yourself saying, “God will bless me today,” the more you will see it happen.

This week, in our church calendar we mark Rogation Days, the days of planting and hallowing of creation. So, why not plant something – a tree or a plant or even a seed, and nurture it.

Doing this might reconnect you with the earth and the blessings of creation, and it will remind you that we are all dependent on the rain and the soil and the sun given by the Creator for us all.

Maybe think about how you are going to reduce your contribution to the world’s waste problem and ask God to guide you in your actions so that it becomes a partnership with God and others. It will also honour the creation as God’s gift.

And finally, expect more serenity in your life. Serenity is a quality often denied us, but much of the time we actually deny it to ourselves.

God wants our lives to be lived in serenity, but we have to claim it as a gift so freely given. Why not use the well know serenity prayer each day this week:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

The “good things” that surpass our understanding are waiting to be claimed and celebrated by all of us. Awaken to their presence, claim them as your spiritual inheritance, and live them in witness to the risen Lord.

* Acts 11:1-18 * Psalm 148 * Revelation 21:1-6 * John 13:31-35

I wonder if anyone here this morning has ever been driving along when the car following you seems to be in such a rush that they are almost in your boot? It seems that the driver following you wants you out of the way so they can get to where they are wanting to go more quickly!

Well a certain Mr Mackay found himself in such a position one morning when young Miss Fraser was behind him honking her horn, flashing her headlights and using rather unsavoury hand gestures.

They were approaching some traffic lights which had just turned red and, quite rightly Mr Mackay stopped at the junction. Miss Fraser, having had to stop behind, was obviously upset that she too had been forced to stop and wait. She continued honking her horn, flashing her headlights, waving her hands about in a very rude manner and hurling abuse from inside her car.

Suddenly a tap at the window startled her. There stood Police Constable Sanderson, notebook in hand. He signalled Miss Fraser to get out of her car and had her follow him to the police car.

She was directed into the back seat and PC Sanderson placed her under arrest. “What?” Miss Fraser exclaimed! “I wasn’t speeding, My car’s fully insured and taxed – I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Your[1]  car? Miss I do apologise. I’ve been following you for a while and I saw your hand signals at the driver in front, how you were trying to run him off the road and heard your swearing just now. When I saw the chrome plated christian fish symbol on your boot, the What would Jesus do? Sign in the rear window and the ‘Follow me to Sunday school bumper sticker’ I naturally assumed you must have stolen the car!”

Signs and symbols – they represent all sorts of groups and ideas. The police officer in our little story thought he could recognise a Christian by the signs and symbols she had on her car.

Let’s start with an easy test this morning. Signs!

Sign or symbol for our church.

So what is the sign that the Church is to be known by?

According to the Bible, specifically our gospel reading this morning from John 13 the church is to be known by our love for one another.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples about signs in our gospel today.

This lesson on the 5th Sunday of Easter brings us back to the night of the Passover. Jesus and his disciples are in the upper room in Jerusalem.

Earlier in the 13th chapter we hear that Jesus gets up from supper and ties a towel around his waist. He pours water into a basin and begins washing their feet. This was the job of a servant, not the job of a rabbi. This washing of the feet was common in the time of Jesus.

A way to clean off the feet exposed to all manner of dirt and dust. But during dinner and done by Jesus? What a shocking thing for the disciples to experience.

Continuing on in the chapter, we find that Judas rises from the table to go and report Jesus to the authorities.

After he leaves, Jesus again repeats the idea that he and the Father are one. The glory of God resides in him. He also tells the disciples again that he will be leaving them. (Not that they seem to ever get this message).

Then Jesus goes on to give them a new commandment: They are to love one another, even as he has loved them. In this way, others will know that they are Jesus’s disciples.

Now the law of love was nothing new to the Jewish people of Jesus’ day. They would have known and studied the law of Moses. In Leviticus 19, verse 18, we hear that we are to love our neighbour as ourselves. So why then, does Jesus call this a new commandment?

Jesus had already taught them to love God and to love their neighbour. Now he is telling them to love each other.

Jesus did not simply say to love one another. Jesus was very specific about the kind of love his disciples were to share. He said that they were to love one another even as he had loved them.

They were to love each other by serving each other.

The ancient Greeks had three words for love: eros (romantic love), phileo (family love, the love of friends) and agape (sacrificial love). The Greek word for love which is used in John 13 is agape, the kind of self- giving love. They were to love one another without thought for themselves. They were to concern themselves with the needs of the other disciples.

Since I came to join the church family here in East Sutherland and Tain over seven years ago now, I have been privileged to see the many ways you show love for one another.

As a member of the clergy team that serve you, I’m in a position to see and hear time and again about how you serve each other. What might seem small acts to some, are in fact part of the sacrificial love that Jesus is talking about – preparing and serving tea and coffee after services, spending time just listening to each other, giving people a lift to church or elsewhere, sharing problems and concerns and offering gentle words of encouragement – all of these in their own ways are signs that you love one another.

There are those among us who visit the sick or offer a listening ear over the phone. Those who help with shopping trips or lifts to the hospital.

As a family, you raise funds for charities, gather food for the food bank and provide a safe space for the vulnerable – all of these activities demonstrate your love for each other and those in our wider community.

And yet, we must also admit that sometimes we fall short in being loving towards one another. Sometimes it is just a single outburst, a moment of frustration, an isolated event. While at other times we may fall into a pattern of disrespect.

While preparing my sermon for today I came across this quotation: “Church can be like a group of porcupines huddling together to get warm…you might get warm, but on the other hand, you might get hurt also.”

So what are we to do when we find we find ourselves feeling rather like a porcupine towards another in the congregation? What about those times when we just can’t seem to let go of our anger towards another in our fellowship?

Here are some thoughts to consider.

I’d like to share with you a quotation from Al-Anon’s daily reader Courage to Change.

Al-Anon is a 12 step program for families and friends of alcoholics. The passage comes from the reading for April 13:

 “If I don’t know how to respond to a situation today, why not try responding with kindness? Whether I accept or turn down a request, agree or disagree with someone’s point of view, I can still treat the other person with respect and courtesy. I can say, ‘No,’ as gently and lovingly as I can say, ‘Yes.’”

The reading continues, “Relationships are complicated because people are complicated. We each have our own ideas, values, and hopes, and they can’t always coincide with the desires of those we love. Disagreements can be healthy and enlightening if we view them as a way to develop and deepen our relationships. Kindness and respect for everyone concerned will go a long way toward making this possible.”

I’d like to close with a true story from the life of Fred Craddock.

Fred was the preaching professor at A School of Theology.

Fred knew that his father had decided to stay away from his church because someone had hurt him. The church continued to reach out to Fred’s father year after year, but he would not return.

He told Fred that all they really wanted was another name on congregation list and another donation at the offertory.

As time went on Fred’s father got cancer. When Fred went to see his father in the hospital, he could see that his father was very ill.

He also observed that his dad’s hospital room was filled with cards and flowers. Fred learned that they were all from members of the church that his father had rejected.

As Fred was in conversation in those last days his father admitted that he had been wrong. Fred realised that this church gave God the room and time to change his dad’s heart. They kept on reaching out to him because they were committed to the concept of loving one another. They never gave up on his dad.

A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you.

This week, if there’s someone you’ve not seen for a while, maybe someone who’s not been in church for years – reach out, make contact – show them that they are not forgotten, that we are still here waiting for them – love them as He loves you!

Amen