On the first Sunday after Pentecost, we turn our attention & celebrate the Trinitarian nature of God. While associated with a doctrine rather than an event in salvation history, we recognize & honor the one triune God who has acted through all of time. Pentecost highlights the coming of the Spirit, but we must remember that the Spirit has always ben at work: creating & sustaining the cosmos, forming & preserving Israel, choosing kings & speaking through prophets, overshadowing Mary & anointing Jesus, &, yes, baptizing & empowering the church. The oneness & threeness of god is a mystery. The Father, Son, & Spirit are coeternal & coequal, existing in a trinity of persons & a unity of being. Recall the sweep of the story from Advent to Pentecost this week as you meditate upon the mystery of the Three-in-One.
Here’s the Scriptures for this week:
Psalm 8 exalts God & puts us in our place. When we look at God’s creation, the vast cosmos—& this is even more true today—we human beings should be utterly humbled.
Matthew 28:6-20 This is the famous Great Commission of Jesus. It fits well in this week because of the Trinitarian formula used in baptism & also the idea of Jesus continuing his mission through us, the church, you & me.
Romans 5:1-5 help us to meditate on the interrelatedness of the work of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit in our salvation & in our lives.
Read these verses & then re-read them. Let them soak into your soul & allow yourself to be transformed into the image of Christ, which is the true image of the Triune God. Although the Trinity is mystery it reveals the interconnectedness of God, which is something He deeply wants to share with us &, likewise, with our neighbors. The church, our church, is a reflection of the Trinity relationship.
