The First Sunday After Pentecost: Trinity Sunday - June 15, 2025 - Mr. Eric Moen, Senior Engagement Officer, Episcopal Health Foundation, Guest Homilist

Summary

In his sermon, Mr. Eric Moen weaves together a family story about his great-grandmother's unwavering service with three scripture readings that illuminate the Holy Spirit as our guide to truth. He reminds us that the Spirit of Truth promised by Jesus in John's Gospel continues to speak to us today, inviting us to approach life with humility and openness to God's wisdom that has been present since creation itself.

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                                           John 16:12-15

 Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you." 

Artwork: The Trinity, Andrei Rublev, 15th century

Transcript

Mr. Eric Moen, Senior Engagement Officer, Episcopal Health Foundation,  Guest Homilist:

Let us pray. Guide my words, oh Lord, fill my heart with your Holy Spirit. This time today, be a blessing to all your people and reflection of your truth. Amen. Well, thank you man. Thank you everyone. It is a real joy to be with y'all this morning. It's been a year. I was actually here last summer, so I'm thrilled to be back with y'all.

Well, I'm struck by how often and seeking truth and long, but today's readings for me serve as a reminder that even when the Spirit, when

Holy Spirit is present guiding us forward wisdom and with hope. This morning, I want to share a story of fortitude and hope that has guided my family for generations. Now, this was a story declared as gospel

Truth by my mother,

Who would tell cautionary tales of others in an attempt to keep my brother and I on the straight and narrow. My mother, who was known for her selective and creative. She was after all very southern. Her flare for recollection, reminds me of a favorite Mark Twain quote, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Well, this is a story of my great-grandmother, Ellie. Sarah, my brother and I always called her nanny Sarah, and she had the most magical, wonderful store in Sea Brook. I grew up in Waco. And so every summer we would make the pilgrimage down to Brook to spend a week with nanny Sarah in her store. And if you've ever been to Sea Brook or if you grew up down here and you have some years on you, you may

And it was always a great time. She lived in the back of the store. My brother and I would sleep on the floor of the store and in the evening and in the morning, we would kind of prow around, look at everything great fun. Well, the store was not always in the location where it was. When we went to visit after Hurricane Carla, the store which was on pilings on the Bay, could no longer stay there because of the flooding. So they put the store on the back of a truck to drive into town to higher ground. And as they pulled the store down and they set it upon this giant truck, nanny, Sarah, my great grandmother, who was about this tall, strong German woman, quite a character, said, I'm going to ride in the store.

So they boosted her up and she stood in the store and she opened the door. And as the truck in the store drove through town, she waved like in a parade and everyone said, hello, Mrs. Sarah. And she said, hello back. Well, she was famous for always serving everyone in the community, no matter who they were, no matter what time it was, she was known. It was known in town that if you needed something in the middle of the night, if you had a sick child or someone needed some sort of special medical attention that you could go for her store, knock on her back door where she lived in the back of the store, and she would open and she would take care of you with whatever you needed. People said she never closed. So as she's standing in the door and the truck is moving through town and she's waving to everyone, a young man comes running up along side the store and says, Mrs. Sarah, you open.

Of course, what do you need, honey? I need a pack of cigarettes. Now if this were today, we would change that to, I need some candy or something, but I need a pack of cigarettes. She said, okay, I'll be right back. So she makes her way across the store as it rumbles through town. She comes back and throws them down to him. She says, come by later once I've settled and we can settle up. My mother loved to tell that story because it spoke to who we are as a family. This was a lore. This was a legend. Was it true? Yeah. Did it happen exactly like that? I don't know.

But never let the truth get in the way of a good story. In our gospel reading, we hear Jesus speaking candidly to his disciples at the Last Supper, a moment that was thick with uncertainty in anticipation. And he says to them, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them. Now, Jesus recognizes there are limited understanding. Of course, now we know the story, but for them, the story was in there right now. So Jesus reassures them that the spirit of truth will come and that spirit of truth will guide. It's a promise that God's revelation is ongoing, that the journey of faith is not about having all the answers, knowing the complete story. But the journey of faith is about trusting in God's continued work in and among us.

And we have the reading from Romans. Paul in his writing today reminds us that our hope rests on the foundation of faith. He says, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, that he doesn't shy away from the reality of struggle. He tells us that suffering leads to endurance. Endurance shapes our character. Character produces hope or hope that does not disappoint. God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit even, and perhaps especially in our times of hardship, in times of uncertainty, the Spirit is present teaching and transforming us. And in Proverbs this morning, we are given lady wisdom as an image of the Holy Spirit, present with God even before and at the time of creation. Wisdom to me is synonymous with the Holy Spirit, all of which given to us to guide and give direction at the busiest intersections of our lives. She reminds us that God's wisdom reaches out to everyone, inviting us into deeper understanding. And so we hear today to you o people, I call, and my cry is to all that live wisdom was with God from the very beginning, woven into the fabric of creation itself.

This invitation isn't distant or reserved for some future clarity that is present, available and persistent now. So what does it look like to listen and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives today? Well, I believe it begins with humility, the willingness to admit that we don't have all the answers, that God is bigger than me. God is bigger than you, bigger than all of those at the head of the class. It begins with the humility open to the new ways God might be working, ways we cannot yet conceive or understand. Sometimes guidance comes in a moment of prayer through a conversation with a friend or in the quiet conviction that settles in our hearts. The spirit isn't limited by our expectations. Instead, God's guidance often arrives and surprising in gentle ways. Well, this week I invite you to practice seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the ordinary rhythms of your life. Try pausing for a moment of silence before making a difficult decision or having a hard conversation asking. Come Holy Spirit guide.

Consider reaching out to someone whose insights you trust are gathered with others to pray for discernment that our community in these small but intentional acts, we open ourselves to being shaped by God's ongoing revelation. Just a few minutes ago, do you remember that Mark Quain quote, I shared the story of my great-grandmother, the quote being, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. I want to flip that script. Never let stories get in the way of a good truth when the stories are just too much to bear. Take direction from the words that Jesus hope to His disciples. Jesus said, when the spirit of truth comes, the Spirit will guide you into all the truth. For the Spirit will not speak on his own, but will speak on whatever the spirit hears and the Holy Spirit will declare to you the things that are to come. As we leave this place later this morning, may we trust that God's spirit is not finished speaking. That the invitation to wisdom and hope is always and ever before us. God's love surrounds us. God's love surrounds you. Guiding and sustaining each and every day. Let us go forth with open hearts, ready to listen, ready to ready to share our own stories and weave together our lives. Let us humbly go forth ready to grow in the faith of faith guided, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that speaks God's truth. Amen.