Trinity Sunday Year B – (Isaiah 6:1-8; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17)

Can we ever grasp the enormity of God?

That’s a question that lies at the heart of every Trinity Sunday, as we grapple with what it means to say ‘We believe in One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.’ The Three in one.

The set readings for today, take us through a journey with God. We began with Isaiah’s vision of the God of the Jerusalem temple, a God too glorious to be approached directly. In our Gospel reading from John, Jesus the Son, introduces us to the Spirit in whom we are reborn. And then in Romans, Paul tells us that the Spirit bears witness, that we are children of God and fellow heirs of Christ.

That’s a lot to take in on one Sunday morning J

The trinity is a complicated concept. Many people have tried to explain it, great minds have written many words about it. So it is important that we hear something very wise about it now.

I am going to read you a poem called ‘The Blind men and the Elephant’ by John Saxe. You may well have heard it before.

It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined,
who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind),
that each by observation, might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant, and, happening to fall,
against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
'God bless me! But the elephant, is nothing but a wall!'

The second feeling of the tusk, cried: 'Ho! what have we here,
so very round and smooth and sharp? To me tis mighty clear,
this wonder of an elephant, is very like a spear!'

The third approached the animal, and, happening to take,
the squirming trunk within his hands, 'I see,' quoth he,
the elephant is very like a snake!'

The fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee:
'What most this wondrous beast is like, is mighty plain,' quoth he;
'Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree.'

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said; 'E'en the blindest man
can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant, is very like a fan!'

The sixth no sooner had begun, about the beast to grope,
than, seizing on the swinging tail, that fell within his scope,
'I see,' quothe he, 'the elephant is very like a rope!'

And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long,
each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!

When Isaiah had his vision of God, he didn’t think he’d met the whole of God. Isaiah expresses his understanding of God through the image of the hem of his robe filling the temple – so the greater part of God overspills the temple.

So I wonder what aspects of God do we find in church?

And is the greater part of God outside of the church and organised religion?

And what may that mean to us today?

Isaiah didn’t think he had met the whole of God, God’s far too big for us to imagine the whole of him.

But God does want us to get to know him, which in part we do through worshipping together, studying his word, reading the bible and prayer.

The Trinity is as much about how we encounter and experience God as about how we try to understand and make sense of the God we meet. At the heart of the Trinity is love. The relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit is Love. God is love. When we encounter the power of love, we meet God. When we accept that love, we become children, not slaves. When we enter into that love, we find light. When we rejoice in that Love, we discover eternal life.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, in the darkness, and he meets the one true light. Isaiah encounters the light and glory of God and is convicted of his own inner darkness. Paul is addressing those who have emerged from the darkness of spiritual slavery into the light of adoption as children of God.

God as love, God as Trinity, is present in every place and in every situation. That is easier to see at times of joy like a wedding or moments of spiritual significance. It can be harder to encounter God in dark times of tragedy, and yet God is still with us. We all have many opportunities to meet God, and we will experience God in different ways, depending on the situation and on what’s going on in our own lives. But it’s still God.

The way God relates to us spills out onto how we relate to the people around us, not condemning but caring, not enslaving but liberating, and bringing God’s glory into dark places.

God wants to be known, so he gives us many ways of knowing him. Just don’t try too hard to explain it all. Remember the blind men and the Elephant - and relax – or as it says in Psalm 46 ‘Be still and know that I am God.’

Let’s pray

Mysterious God, Father, Mother, Parent, Son and Spirit, one in three and three in one, we praise your holy name. Names fight in our brain and scramble from our lips: Jesus, redeemer, Creator, almighty, Abba, eternal, Lord, Christ, Yahweh, Counsellor, comforter. However we see you, whatever we know of you, you are our God, we are your children and we worship and adore you, we give you thanks, and praise your holy name

Amen