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It is never easy speaking about the Trinity. I understand that at some theological colleges they tell you that Trinity Sunday is a good Sunday to invite the Bishop to preach! Well I'm afraid you've had to make do with me on this particular occasion, but all the same I was beginning to wonder if I'd been set up! Truthfully though, this date for me to be with you in the parish was, I believe, chosen by me, so I only have myself to blame! Continuing the theme, I was reflecting on how some clergy, in some parishes, also always like to avoid speaking on issues of giving and Christian stewardship and here am I am speaking on exactly those issues, on the first Sunday of your stewardship campaign, on Trinity Sunday. Such a prospect would fill many with dread! Well, it's a good job I like a challenge.

The Trinity is a mystery. By mystery the Church does not mean a riddle, but rather the Trinity is a reality above our human comprehension that we may begin to grasp, but ultimately must know through worship, symbol, and faith. It has been said that mystery is not a wall to run up against, but an ocean in which to swim. The common wisdom is that if you talk about the Trinity for longer than a few minutes you will slip into heresy because you are probing the depths of God too deeply. The Trinity is best described in the Nicene Creed. Essentially the Trinity is the belief that God is one in essence, but distinct in person. Don't let the word "person" fool you. The Greek word for person means "that which stands on its own," or "individual reality," and does not mean the persons of the Trinity are three human persons. Therefore we believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are somehow distinct from one another (not divided though), yet completely united in will and essence. Christian teaching of the Trinity is not just an explanation of God; it is a description of what we know about God, as I'll focus on in a moment's time. And that is far as intend to go with an exposition of the Holy Trinity! But what we can take from that very succinct summary of the Trinity are two things. Firstly, that our learning about God never stops. We can never completely understand, we can never get it all. We are charged with deepening our understanding thorough prayer, scripture, worship, praise, study, work and witness. As Christians we are spend our entire earthly lives growing as disciples & deepening our faith. Secondly, we learn that our God is complex, has many characteristics and shows himself in many different ways, in many different situations.

A God of surprises is a thought that often comes into my mind as I carry out my many and various roles within his church within this diocese. And nothing fails to surprise me within the Church in Wales! And God surprises in many different ways, but I wonder why we should be so surprised by such a God, who after all is a God with so many characteristics and who we know from many accounts in scripture shows himself in so many ways and continues to do so today. My wife says that God is obviously a woman, as no man could ever multi-task like God does! I guess the truth is that many Christians are often guilty of having low expectations of many things – of each other & often of God too.

Last week we celebrated Pentecost or Whit Sunday, as many of you will fondly remember it. One of the traditions of Whit Sunday – apart from the marches & the teas - which some may remember, were the large number of public baptisms, often outdoor, at the local river or stream, where the crowds would gather. Let me tell you the funny story of one such occasion.

A drunk stumbles upon a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river. He proceeds to walk down into the water and stand next to the preacher. The minister turns, notices the old drunk and says, "Mister, are you ready to find Jesus?"
The drunk looks back and says, "Yes, Preacher, I sure am."
The minister then dunks the fellow's head under the water and pulls him right back up. "Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asked.
"Nooo, I didn't!" said the drunk.

The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him up and says, "Now, brother, have you found Jesus?"
"Noooo, I have not, Reverend."
The preacher in disgust holds the man under for at least 30 seconds this time, brings him out of the water and says in a harsh tone, "My God, man, have you found Jesus yet?"
The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher, "Are you sure this is where he fell in?!"

Baptism is of course something that we connect directly to Pentecost or Whit Sunday, following on from the baptism of the disciples with fire and water and the Holy Spirit. Themes of renewal, rebirth, a key point at the very beginning of each of our journeys with Christ. However, it's also something that we connect directly to our belief of a God of the trinity. We explicitly, welcome the baptized into the Christ's body the church, with the words "I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." And these words aren't some sort of challenge to the baptized to understand the theory of the trinity, rather that they might experience the reality of a God who is one in three, three in one, in his many different characteristics, through his many workings, in many of life's situations. So perhaps those words of the old drunk, amusing thought they are, actually have considerable truth in them. For all our baptisms, all our Christian journeys, are actually about much more than symbols of commitment or reasoned explanations of the trinity. It's actually about finding Jesus, just as the old drunk said; receiving the gift of the Holy Sprit into our hearts and lives, just as for those first disciples at that first Pentecost.

All our readings for today, give us an insight into the true nature of God, as of course they're designed to do. In Exodus we read of Moses encounter with God and how God is compassionate and gracious, long suffering, ever faithful and true, a God who forgives and we hear how Moses asks that God would go with the people in their company.

In our Psalm for today (Psalm 8) (choir?) we heard a psalm of praise to a God who is king, who is glorious and is to be praised. How he is a protecting God, a creator God: "When I look up at your heavens, the work of your fingers, at the moon and stars that you have set in place" say verses 3 & 4 – wonderful words. That this God is master over all the earth and the psalmist ends with a reminder of how should praise and glorify this wonderful God "Lord our sovereign, how glorious is your name throughout the world" he concludes exuberantly – you can almost imagine him shouting these words from a mountain top for the entire world to hear!

From our epistle today we heard about the power of God the Holy Spirit, How we can receive the gifts of God's Holy Spirit, for understanding and for the building up of the life of his church. And finally from our gospel today from John chapter 3 – how God sent his only son to lead a life among us and how we are to believe and trust in Jesus Christ, who through his death and resurrection paid the price for our sins that we might have eternal life.

So we have God the father – loving, forgiving, generous, creating, all giving, big hearted, faithful, eternal, and trustworthy.

God the son – Who lived as we live, who can have every empathy with our worldly lives. God in context. Who knew struggle, temptation, who faced cruelty, hostility. Who led a different life, who mixed with different people, who had different priorities, different principals, who showed a different way – not as expected. Who was a preacher of the good news, who healed, who challenged norms, who took risks, who was obedient to the will of God the father.

God the Holy Spirit – A real presence in our lives, healer, comforter, assuror, empowerer, enabler, enlightener, equipper.

It's in this context that I want to turn your attention today to issues of Christian stewardship & weekly giving to and through this church. This is the context in which we are bringing before you the message of our stewardship campaign "Making a difference for God". It's not about issues of costs, balancing the books, fixing a leaking roof or whatever your church problems might be (although we have lots of those too)! Our giving, of time, of skills, of money, should be measured, not by the needs of the local church, but the needs of the whole of God's mission. 'Give all thou canst; high heaven rejects the lore / of nicely calculated less or more'! says an old saying. We should have a need to give, not be giving to a need. Good Christian giving, including financial giving, starts with trust in generous God, who always provides for our daily needs. Just read again the words of our Psalm for today, psalm 8 – the psalmist describing the wonder of the earth and all that is in it, and how this magnanimous, big hearted God has so generously blessed us with such rich natural gifts. How we should praise and glorify God for his many blessings and gifts to us. Out of God's unfailing provision and his overflowing generosity, should be born our generosity – Christ like generosity. Our stewardship, our Christian giving, should speak loudly of faith, commitment, sharing, worshipping, involvement, generosity, prayer and growth – spiritually and numerically. Back in my office I have a bright & colourful picture and it shows the largest and most delicious Knickerbocker Glory that you've ever seen. It has many layers, many textures & you imagine many wonderful flavours! – I can see people licking their lips! And in the top of it there isn't just one, but two long spoons. A powerful visual sign of generosity, of sharing what we have received from an all giving creator God, of giving to those who have less than us, of meeting the needs of others.

But giving and receiving isn't easy I hear you cry! It's complicated! If indeed all churches were places of Pentecost fervour, then the communities and churches of Wales would look very different, sound very different, feel very different. The bank balance of this church would look very different. Our vision for God's work here would not be constrained by financial limitations – our treasurer could sleep easily at night! Let me share with you the tale of four brothers who left home for college, and they became successful doctors and solicitors and prospered. Some years later, they chatted after having dinner together. They discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother who lived far away in another town.

The first said, "I had a big house built for Mum."

The second said, "I had a hundred thousand pound cinema built in the house."

The third said "I had my Mercedes dealer deliver a brand new convertible to her."

The fourth said, "You know how Mum loved reading the Bible and you know she can't read anymore because she can't see very well. I met this vicar who told me about a parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took twenty vicars 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute £100,000 a year for twenty years to the Church in Wales, but it was worth it. Mum just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it."

The other brothers were impressed. After the holidays Mum sent out her thank you notes.

"She wrote: "1^st son, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house. Thanks anyway."

"2ns son, I am too old to travel. I stay home; I have my groceries delivered, so I never use the Mercedes. The thought was good. Thanks."

"3^rd son, you gave me an expensive cinema with Dolby sound, it could hold 50 people, but all my friends are dead, I've lost my hearing and I'm nearly blind. I'll never use it. Thank you for the gesture just the same."

"4^th son, you were the only son to have the good sense to give little thought to your gift. The chicken was delicious. Thank you!"

(pause)

Yes – Giving and receiving is a complex business. But then who ever said following Christ is an easy ride? It makes demands on us, it calls for sacrifice, it may involve suffering, it may involve humiliation. We think of those first apostles sent out into the world to proclaim the good news. Many suffered, many were humiliated, many died, for their faith. Those who feel that the church is just a good social club – a bit of prayer, a bit of scripture and lots of chat – have joined the wrong club. How is the church here different from the local Club, the football club, the golf club, the labour club, the liberal club or any sort of club? As Christians we are called to lead different lives, have different priorities, make different decisions, hold different values. And this seems to come as a surprise to many church folk! And the message of Christian giving can be a hard message to those who think that it can be reduced to a set of rules. It's easy to think of stewardship as a series of rules; of boxes to be ticked. 'Tithing – tick; two hours helping run off the magazine – tick', clean the church, tick, and so on. But that's the stewardship of the Pharisees. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christian giving begins with our encounter with Christ, with our Pentecost moment, and only he can set any limit to our response. It is the presence of Christ that transforms a collection into an offertory. How much thought, how much prayer has gone into your gifts to Jesus and to his church? Do we give what everyone else is giving, or does our gift reflect our own blessings, our own talents, our own abilities? Is our weekly offering to and through this churches radical, is it risky, is it loving, is it counter cultural? Does it speak of vulnerability or comfort, does it speak of generosity or meanness, does it speak of a relationship with God at the very centre of our lives – God in all we are, all we do, all we say? Or is it all about the rules, the regulations; a case of self; are we missing the point completely? Our stewardship is Christian stewardship; it should stem from our relationship with that God of the trinity, and is the response of our love to his love. It is in this context that we work out what we are called to be and to do.

I am often heard to say across the diocese "Giving is more about God than it is about money". If we get the God bit right, the money bit is easy! Archbishop John Sentamu puts it like this "For me, money is God's sheepdog; snapping at our heels until we turn in the right direction. With Christ as our Shepherd and money as God's sheepdog, let us no longer resist where he wants to lead us, but take heart and courage to go in the right direction." Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, describes Trinity Sunday as where we find ourselves after Pentecost when, having been swept off our feet by the rushing, mighty wind we get up, dust ourselves down, and survey our new surroundings! And what these new surroundings include is a call to us, firstly to enrich our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to re-affirm our hope and to increase our love – because the Trinity is not a theory but a living and ongoing revelation of the nature and purpose of God that has been experienced from ancient times until now, by prophets, apostles and evangelists, by Christians then and now. God, past, present and future, not only 'out there' but 'in here.' The God who can change mere existence into abundant life. And secondly, (a call) to take on responsibility for passing on to others, as those before us have done, such understanding or revelation of the nature and presence of God "in all his ways" as we have been privileged to receive ourselves.

On this Trinity Sunday as we look at the richness of God we have an ideal opportunity to think about making a difference for God and starting out afresh on that journey with Christ, putting the past behind us as we do. This includes continually reviewing our weekly offering to the work of the church in this community. It calls for gracious generosity, like Christ, from all of us.

As we all prayerfully review our weekly offering to and through this church for 2008 we need to be asking ourselves those searching questions. Do we believe, accept and live out the real costs of Christian commitment? For Jesus that commitment was more costly, much more costly.

As we seek these few Sunday to look anew at how we can make a difference for God (and remember it's what we allow him to do through us – and sometimes in spite of us, not what we can do for him), we recognize that we don't need to be experts on the doctrine of the Trinity, rather that we pray that we might glimpse something of the wonderful nature of God, so that we might live that same nature out in our lives – God Father, Son and Holy Spirit, - God in all we are, all we do, all we say.

Let's bring ourselves before God as we offer to him our thoughts and prayers. Let us pray:

A prayer for our reflections on the trinity:

On this Trinity Sunday, we have come before you Lord, to offer our praise and adoration. You are God the creator, giving us richly all things to enjoy. You are Christ the Saviour of the world, made flesh to set us free. You are the Spirit of truth and love, willing to dwell in us. You are holy and blessed. One god, eternal Trinity, be near to us, the people formed in your image, and close to the world your love brings to life.

And our prayer for 'Making a difference for God' our stewardship campaign here in Merthyr Dyfan over these three Sunday's:

We give what we have, but not all – help us to be more generous.

We serve as we are called – help us to see when you are calling us further.

We love within our limits – help us to break down those barriers.

So that we may love and serve you and give wholeheartedly.

We hand you our gifts on a plate, you gave us your love on a cross.

Help us to reconcile the difference between our giving and yours,

for Jesus' and the world's sake. Amen.

Thank you Richard for visiting our church and giving us this wonderful sermon.

Welcome to my church > Choir of St Paul's

Posted: May.14.2008 @ 10:14 am

Choir of St Paul's