Pursuing Love: A Trinity Sunday Sermon - May 31, 2026

Summary

On Trinity Sunday, Mother Suzanne leads her congregation through an exploration of one of the Christian faith's most central and mysterious doctrines — the Trinity. Drawing on images like St. Patrick's shamrock and the concept of the "divine dance," she unpacks the three-in-one nature of God as not merely a theological abstraction, but an intimate, living reality that shapes how believers relate to God, to themselves, and to one another. Ultimately, she reminds her congregation that we are forever pursued by a God whose very nature is love and relationship.

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                              Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Artwork: The Trinity, Laurent Girardin - 1455

Transcript

Mother Suzanne:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the triune God and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age in the name of the Father, So Holy Spirit. Amen. Please be seated. Again, good morning and welcome to Trinity Sunday. So this begins our long season of ordinary time also called the season after Pentecost, it is both the longest and the last season in the church liturgical year. In this season we celebrate our role as the church in the ongoing life of Jesus in the world guided by the companionship and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And so it's no accident that this first Sunday of ordinary time when after this Sunday we will see green for a long, long time when you come to church.

But today is Trinity Sunday. It is the one day in the church we honor the Father, the So and the Holy Spirit as a unit. It is a feast day which celebrates the union for all time of God and God's people. It is a day when the fullness of God's presence in all aspects of the life of God's people is recognized and lifted up.

So I am not saying I am an expert by any means on the Trinity. Let's just say that, but I'm going to give it my best shot. How's that? Okay. Well, what's interesting is that the three in oneness understanding of God emerged in the several hundred years after Jesus was resurrected. People began to call the concept of God, father, son, the Trinity. The word Trinity, get this, is not found anywhere in the Bible. So if you ever go on Jeopardy and the question is asked, where is the Trinity in the Bible? It's not there. You can't find it. The word anyways. Jesus never used the word and the writers of the rest of the Bible didn't use the word as well. But over time this belief, this understanding, this doctrine has become central to how followers of Jesus have understood how God is. It's a non-negotiable of our faith.

The tradition of the Sunday following Pentecost marking Holy Trinity Sunday began way back in the 1100s with a man named Thomas Beckett. Does anybody know who Thomas Beckett was? Okay, there's a few hands. Well, he was at one time the archbishop of Canterbury and he decided on this day in 1162, he wanted the Trinity to be observed. And so since the 1100s, Trinity Sunday has been celebrated and is the only day that addresses directly what we believe as Christians to be the Trinity. The church has set this day apart to remember not an event, not a specific person, but instead a reality, a doctrine. It's the only one in the church.

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition of Christianity, the relationship of the Trinity is expressed very simply and directly like a neatly wrapped package. And the person who did this was a man named Simeon the New Theologian and he said this in the year 900. You want to close your eyes and take this in. The Holy Trinity pervading all men and women from first to last from head to foot binds them all together. This tells all Christians not only Eastern Orthodox believers and important truth and it is this. The Trinity is not just a theological idea that is out there someplace too complex for most people to understand. Instead, the Trinity is intimately with us as a fact of our spiritual existence. It is the great fact, you might say, that tells us how we relate to God to ourselves and most importantly to on another.

Again, words spoken by Simeon, the new theologian in the year 900. So I'll ask the question. Could you describe the Trinitarian nature of God if I came to you and asked? Well, the most simplistic way I have found to describe it is by way of St. Patrick and his use of the Shamrock. Are you all familiar with this? Some are shaking your heads. So it's like this. Essentially one trunk with three stems, all equal, all uniform, but three distinct entities, three and one, one and three. Doesn't seem or sound possible, but it is the single most important tenet of our faith.

Three and one, one and three. The doctrine that thousands of books have been written about, heretics have been burned at the stake for, and seemingly endless conversations and debates have happened over pints of beer and cups of coffee, especially on seminary campuses. Believe me, I've been witness to them and have been part of a few. It is always a topic of conversation. So how does this translate to the church? Well, I think the most basic way is we baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I always tell catecumens, if you have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you do not need to be baptized again once. If you know in your heart that you have been baptized in the triune God, it's good.

How else does the Trinity come into play? Well, we profess our faith every week with the words of the nice and creed. Words that have been spoken by Christians since the fourth century outline what we believe. And in it, it speaks to each member of the Trinity. They are unified. There is never one and not the other. It is always three and one, one in three. But for me, I've been drawn to the Trinity in ways of the Trinitarian dance. And Ginger, you alluded to this a few weeks ago. The big name for it is called paracaresis known as the divine dance of God. It's so beautiful. It is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perpetual motion interrelating working with one another with us and the world. They aren't separate and distinct, but they are different from one another, yet the same. Isn't that weird?

They're different but yet the same.

It's beautiful to think about and dizzying sometimes, but what I love about it is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always working together, but also independently drawing, beckoning, leading, but always loving, always loving. As followers of Jesus, we are all in on this, or at least we should be. The Trinity is a big deal, a really, really big deal. Like I said before, it is a non-negotiable of our faith. It's that important. So important that everything we do in church has this doctrine as its center because it is core to what we believe. And yes, my friends, there is a lot of room for not getting it and anyone who says they completely understand it, maybe you should raise your eyebrows a little bit. It's difficult. It's hard, but yet it's simple at the same time and that's where it's helpful to be a person of faith where resting in the mysteries is okay.

Remember, you are in a church that asks more questions than gives answers, right?

And that lays the foundation for being okay with not knowing everything. It's okay to not understand it completely or even a little bit, but every single time you feel prompted to do something that's not something you would normally do to help or benefit another. That is the triune God prompting you. Perhaps this might be a gentle leading by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each time you serve, each time you love, each time you create, exchange ideas just to exchange them, to not use your knowledge over against somebody else. Perhaps this too is participating in the divine Trinitarian dance.

Today is a day in which we are mindful that we serve and love a God that is so big and one attempt at trying to understand this God is by way of the Trinity. It's big. It's hard to wrap our minds around, but at the same time, even a child can understand a three leaf clover. It's three different leaves, but all part of the same clover by way of the stem. There is anything that I want you all to know today is we will ever be pursued by a God who loves provide and wants to be in relationship with us. Why? Because the Trinitarian God is forever and will forever be in a relationship with one another with himself because within that there's love. And as our gospel text reminds us this morning, he will be with us always in love to the end of the age forever.

In the name of the on God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Amen.