People of St. John’s:
I begin nearly every sermon in the same way: “In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Before any preaching begins, we invoke the name in which we are being gathered.
This Sunday, Trinity Sunday, is a day when we give thanks for the mystery and majesty of our Triune God. It is essentially the only church festival based on doctrine, rather than a biblical event or remembrance. And, perhaps most importantly, it is also one of those Sundays when we are reminded that God is bigger than our ability to explain or fully understand.
For centuries, Christians have tried to describe the Trinity with words, diagrams, symbols, and analogies. Yet every attempt eventually falls short. Perhaps that is part of the point.
The Trinity reminds us that God is not a problem to solve, but a relationship into which we are invited. At the heart of our faith is a God who creates, redeems, and sustains — and we are not simply individuals gathered under one roof, but people bound together in that same relationship, with God and with one another.
That is worth sitting with. The God who called this congregation into being 281 years ago at 100 St. John’s Church Road is the same God who gathered us last Sunday, and the same God who will gather us this Sunday. Not every season has been easy or predictable. The Trinity itself reminds us that faith contains mystery. But it also reminds us that we have never walked alone. And we are most certainly not walking alone now.
Thank you for journeying together in the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen. And thanks be to God!Matt