The Implications of the Doctrine of the Trinity on the Christian Life (Part 1) Video and Manuscript Sermon

by billnieporte on Tuesday, May 28th, 2013 | 1 Comment

The Implications of the Doctrine of the Trinity (Part 1)

Roman 5:1-5

Prolific children’s book author and illustrator Joan Walsh Anglund once said, “Birds do not sing because they have an answer, They sing because they have a song!”

Ever since I first heard that statement, it has remained lodged in my thoughts. As I have prepared and preached sermons, led worship, and engaged in missional activities , it has been there. As I have gone through my every day routines, it has been there. “Birds do not sing because they have an answer, They sing because they have a song!”

I guess I feel that way especially today, which is called “Trinity Sunday” on the Christian calendar. I don’t know what your experience in the church, but in mine “the doctrine of the Trinity” was one of those things taught to be true, and then was regulated to the “mystery” file of theology. If the “doctrine of the Trinity” was discussed, it was presented as sort of intellectual puzzle that required a professional degree in theology to even enter a conversation.

Sometimes the help offered to explain the doctrine made it even more confusing. I remember a pastor trying to explain the Trinity at church camp to a group of teenagers sitting around a campfire, swatting mesquites. The pastor pulled two branches from the campfire. As we watched, he preached, saying: “Each of these burning branches represent God. They burn with the same flame as the fire from which they came, yet they are unique and distinct. That’s how it is with the Trinity. It’s mystery to be believed!

Just then one of the wise guys from the back blurted out, “Hey, it looks like the Holy Spirit is burning out.”

I have heard lots of such illustrative imagery over the years.

God is like H2O – liquid, ice, and steam!

God is like an egg – a shell, the egg white, and the yoke.

I could share metaphor after metaphor – followed by a statement like “It’s a mystery. We just have to believe it!”

But I am not going to do that. Perhaps the metaphors are helpful to some, but they’ve always left me a bit dry.

I am not too bothered by the notion that ” it is s a mystery.” I will have been married 25 years this coming January. I know there are a lot of things that are a mystery that I just have to accept.

Besides, I am giving up the notion that it is my responsibility to solve every mystery and answer every question.

I understand those birds. They do not sing because they have an answer. They sing because they have a song!

So, my aim is not to solve the mystery of the Trinity. Nor will I try to answer all the questions concerning the doctrine of God. I could not accomplished that to everyone’s satisfaction anyways. Nor am I going to pile metaphor upon metaphor to describe the Trinity. Instead, I want to share the implications of this doctrine in a way that will make us want to sing. That’s what Baxter Kruger does in his book “The Shack Revisited.” Baxter writes:

“From all eternity, God is not alone and solitary, but lives as Father, Son and Spirit in a rich and glorious and abounding fellowship of utter oneness. There is no emptiness in this circle, no depression or fear or insecurity. The Trinitarian life is a great dance of unchained communion and intimacy, fired by passionate, self-giving and other-centered love, and mutual delight. This life is good. It is right, unique, full of music and joy, blessedness and peace. Such love, giving rise to such togetherness and fellowship and oneness, is the womb of the universe and of humanity within it.”

Isn’t that a beautiful piece of prose? Theology isn’t suppose to be stale and dry. It is suppose to be an artistic expression of God that makes our hearts want to sing, not because it has uncovered answers, but because it has produced a song.

So, the first thing I want us to think about today is what the “doctrine of the Trinity” says about the nature and identity of God. There is a Greek word that many of you have heard me reference in the past in relation to the Trinity. It sounds sort of highfalutin when you first hear it pronounced, but when you hear it defined, it paints a picture of great passion.

The word is Perichoresis, which is actually a combination of two other words. The first is “peri” which means “to turn or twirl about.” The second word is “choresis” which the word from which we get choreography or dance.

Theologians have used this word – Perichoresis – since the early days of the church to describe the intimacy and connection between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are involved in a Divine Dance of intertwining love. They are unique and yet unified, distinct and yet sharing the same life and movements and substance.

You should have seen Bootsie in the parking lot last week. You know that Bootsie’s health sometimes causes her to move slowly. She’s got to drag around that oxygen tank wherever she goes. But when the DJ at the festival played “Twist,” Bootsie was moving her hips and (how do they put it) “shaking her grove thing.”

I don’t say this to make fun of Bootsie. I say this because I know there is something inside all of us that makes us want to sing, to move, to dance. Bootsie wasn’t along. There was a long line of people out in the parking lot doing a line dance. Everyone was involved moving in rhythm, twisting and turning in unison, relating to one another with joyful passion, sharing in a common song and common dance.

That’s the picture the word “Perichoresis” paints. It sees God as connectional and relational.

That’ important. God could not be “Eternal Father” if there were not an “Eternal Son.” God cannot be understood to be eternally “connectional” or “relational” or “loving” if God were not an Eternal Spirit, connected to an Eternal Son, sharing life and intimacy with the Eternal Father.