Sunday 15th June 2025
Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5: 1-5
St. John 16: 12-15
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth…” John 16: 13a
Most Sundays of the year, we reflect about what God has done, what God is doing today, or what we anticipate God will do… The Bible contains stories about how God has been at work – and our responses to God, both good and bad…
We understand that the Bible writers were also inspired by God, to communicate in our lives today. As well as in scripture, God also communicates through the fellowship of the local parish family and the Church through the ages, through prayer, through creation; and so on… Most Sundays, we are considering the activity and grace of Almighty God…
This Sunday is somewhat different, however… Today is Trinity Sunday… We are invited to consider not what God has done or is doing now… We’re invited to consider what God is like, as Jesus Christ has shown us. On Trinity Sunday, we’re invited to reflect on the nature of God…
Can we ever fully understand the nature of God?… I believe we cannot. As the prophet Jeremiah observed, It is the potter who chooses the shape of the clay… The God of the entire universe cannot be fully captured or understood by tiny creatures like us…
Although we cannot know everything about God, we can be confident that we know what we need to know… We know a lot about the nature of God, because God himself has shown himself to us – God has revealed what he is like, and what his priorities are – through the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is called the “self-revelation” of God. God has revealed what we need to know, through Jesus…
The very beginning of the Gospel according to St. John, the Prologue, begins like this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Greek word here translated “Word” in English is “logos.” “Logos...” “Logos” is a hard word to translate. John is telling us that God the Son, who came to us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, is both the Message and the Messenger. God wants us to know what God himself is like, so that we can be drawn into his presence and love for ever…
God is not sitting in heaven, as it were, saying, “People want to know what I am like? They are going to have to guess!!…” No! God shares his nature with us. God wants us to know what he is like. This is God’s way of helping us know how we need to live, in response to his invitation in Christ Jesus…
God has shown what he is like supremely in the person and work of Jesus Christ… So – what did Jesus teach us about the nature of God?… The climax of Jesus’ life is his death and resurrection. That tell us a lot about God! God – who of all living beings has the least to be humble about – God is humble; and supremely loving; and has absolute power over death itself. No other religion in the world believes what Christians believe: That God loves each one of us so much, Jesus chose to take the punishment we deserve, so that we might be restored to be in close fellowship with God for ever and ever…
Let’s also remember the other things which Jesus Christ did – for example, the feeding of the 5000. Wouldn’t we want to be on a picnic like that with the Lord Jesus?… Do we remember when Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and how infuriated Jesus was by the legalism of the Pharisees?… That says a lot about God’s priorities too!…
Not only did Jesus Christ demonstrate what God is like, the Lord Jesus also took time to teach his friends about God’s nature. Jesus’ identified himself with God’s work. What did Jesus actually say about God?… Here are a few examples,
“The Lord our God is One. (Mark 12: 29)” There can only be one Ultimate in our
lives.
“Father, the hour has come. (John 17: 1)” When Jesus prays, he expresses a special unity between himself and the Godhead.
“The Father and I are One. (John 10: 30)” Jesus proclaims his essential unity with God himself.
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father… (John 15:
26:)” A person of God who has a special role of support will come to the followers of Jesus with his heavenly Father.
“Baptise in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28: 19).”
These are just a few examples of very many we could choose from. If the historical record of Jesus of Nazareth is accurate – and there is very powerful evidence to indicate that it is
– then we learn that Jesus himself understood God to be a single Ultimate Entity for our lives, and that Jesus himself is in the closest possible relationship with his heavenly Father, along with the Holy Spirit of God among us…
Why do people struggle with talking about the Triune God?… I think it’s because some people try to treat God like a mathematics equation. But God is certainly not a mathematical formula! God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, is a single, invisible divine Spirit.
Certainly, let’s take time to consider what God has done for us, and what he continues to do; and, one glorious Day, what God will do… But let’s also take time to cherish God for who God is – for how he has revealed himself… Let’s appreciate how much God loves us. Let’s learn to love him in return, with all our hearts and souls and minds and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
Glory be to God, for ever and ever! Amen…