May 22, 2005; Trinity Sunday Readings: Genesis 1:1—2:3; Psalm 150; 2 Corinthians 13:11-14; Matthew 28:16-20.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith The Eyeing of the Three Our opening acclamation today was "Blessed be God: (colon) Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is how we, Christians, understand God. We call this the doctrine of the Trinity. We are monotheistic: we believe that there is one God in three persons. If this seems confusing, well it is, and the doctrine of the Trinity took centuries to workout. We are still working it out: recent developments in feminist theology have brought about a desire from more expansive language about God that would include more feminine images. Tertullian, in the third century, was the first to articulate the doctrine. He was a lawyer before becoming a Christian and a priest, and scholars note that his "professional training brought a strong legal cast to his theology." Hmmm, sounds a bit suspect doesn't it? You may run into people who will say that because the doctrine of the Trinity, or even the incarnation for that matter, was worked out hundreds of years after Christ, it is not part of the original Christian movement, and, therefore is not true. Some will even quote, the Davinci Code, Dan Brown's novel, and talk of politics and conspiracies leading to belief in the divinity of Jesus, and thus the doctrine of the Trinity. What can we say to those who with great passion try to convince us of their logical argument? Well, there is a great difference between fiction and mystery and between conspiracy and theology. Theology and the formulations of doctrines is a process and does happen in the context of a culture. So, yes, the doctrine of the Trinity was developed by people over time—but these people had an understanding of God as know through scripture and experience. They did not develop the idea of the Trinity from their personal intellectual musings—and it certainly was not a conspiracy (X-Files fans, just relax). Before the doctrine of the Trinity was established and agreed to by the majority of Church leaders, the regular people, the first followers of Jesus Christ, were experiencing God as Trinity in prayer, worship, and community. They knew God as creator; they had experienced the divinity of Jesus Christ; and they had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. In the first writings, such as we head today, people were beginning to articulate their experience of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a mystery that is more easily entered into than it is explained. Modern Theologian Karl Rahner states that:: "The Trinity is the mystery of salvation." God reveals salvation to us in mystery. It has been said that: "The revelation given in the history of salvation does not therefore explain the mystery of God to us but rather leads us deeper into this mystery." God reveals salvation to us so that we can experience it, and not necessary understand it. For many years, Christians have been saying the Nicene Creed as we will today. We will say that "we believe in the Holy Spirit...who proceeds from the Father and the Son." The next time the prayer book is revised this will be changed because theologians have now agreed that the Spirit does not proceed from the "Son" of the Trinity, which can imply a less than equal relationship. While theologians will continue to debate and develop ideas, we can with great faith in the compassion and love of God, enter deeply into the mysteries already revealed to us. The creeds give our Church grounding in belief shared far and wide. They are good for our common life and for keeping us the right track. Creeds and doctrines, however, do not meet our need with we are thirsting for the living God. Oh, they can get us on the right path and give us something to pray about but they are more like a book about art than the art itself. So as we consider the Trinity today, we might ask God to be close to us and help us to connect with the mystery as might be most life-giving to us and those whom we touch in our lives. This prayer by David Adam is for me an example of how the Trinity can become part of one's spiritual imagination. "Father who created me, with thine eye watch me. Savior who redeemed me, with thine eye look on me. Spirit who strengthens me, the eyeing of the Three for my saving be." May God, who created, redeemed, and strengthens you, bring you deeper into the mystery of the Trinity. Amen.