Brad Sullivan
Trinity Sunday, Year
B
May 27, 2018
Emmanuel, Houston
Isaiah 6:1-8
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17
Trinityish Type Stuff: a.k.a.
Restoring God's Shalom
Without doubt and without fear,
May you find some comfort here,
May there be hope to help you cope
When what you need Is nowhere near
Make your mark unto these years,
Shape your world with salt and tears,
Carry on when your will has gone,
Be it joy or sorrow
Given time, given faith,
Given courage to embrace
Changes as they each take place,
Be it joy or sorrow
- Terri
Hendrix, Joy or Sorrow
That’s from a song called Joy or Sorrow by Texas
singer/songwriter, Terri Hendrix. That
song made me think of the life of Jesus, following the wind of the Holy
Spirit. In good times and in bad, in joy
or sorrow, Jesus had a profoundly beautiful life, being led by the wind, the
Spirit of God. Jesus was fully connected
to God and to creation around him with hope, with faith, embracing life as it
came, be it joy or sorrow
Now because of Jesus and because of the church’s dawning
realization that he was God, living as an actual human being among us, the
church, began over the centuries to develop an understanding of God as being
one God who was also three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We developed this understanding of God
because Jesus spoke to God, his father, who spoke back to him, and Jesus was
led by the Holy Spirit of God. The three
worked and moved together as one, even though they were each distinct.
How’s that work and fit together, three persons who are one
God and yet still three distinct persons while still being one God? I don’t know.
After years of pondering and wondering, I simply think of I think of the
Trinity in terms of relationship. Three
persons bound together so perfectly in love for each other that they are
one. From that image of God, we gain an
understanding of the image of God in which we were made. We were intended to love others and be loved
by others, to join with others so that we are one with them. That was Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, if
you’ll remember from John 17:11, that they would be one as he and the Father
are one. In good times and bad, in joy
or sorrow, we were made to be like God, bound to one another in love, our
loving unity creating shalom, the peace and wholeness of God.
I’ve been reading Learning Change by Jim Herrington
& Trisha Taylor, and they begin the book with idea of God’s dreams for
us, that we would each bring about the peace and wholeness of God. “We were designed,” they write, “to dream of
the epic life God created us for - the abundant, fully human, and fully alive
life that Jesus lived. Along the way, we
exchange that dream for a seriously compromised version, characterized by the
pursuit of comfort and convenience...”
“God [has chosen] us to partner with him in recreating and
restoring shalom in our own families, our communities, and ultimately in the
world.”
Reading this book has reminded me of the dream I had as a
youth of following the wind of God and having a purpose in my life to restore
shalom. I lost some of that along the
way, coming into adulthood and seeking comfort and security for my life. I lost that dream of partnering with God in
restoring shalom, and since reading this book, Jesus has been calling me to
make some changes, even if only in attitude and outlook, so that I can reclaim
that dream of a life of partnering with God in restoring peace and wholeness.
Restoring Shalom, the peace and wholeness of God, was Jesus’
life through and through, and partnering with God in restoring Shalom is the
life Jesus was talking about when he told Nicodeums about being born from
above. When we’re born from above, we
follow the epic dream God has for us, partnering with him in restoring shalom
in the world and following the wind of God.
“Wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes,” Jesus said. Thinking of the wind blowing where it chooses
in terms of the Trinity, I have this great image of the Father and the Son
talking together and suddenly a mighty wind starts blowing, and the Son says,
“Hey Dad, where do you think she’s going now?”
“Are you kidding, Son, I never have any idea where she’s
going, but it’s always on the grandest adventure.”
…and together they follow the Spirit, the three bound
perfectly together in love, their loving unity creating shalom, the peace and
wholeness of God.
Being born of the Spirit of God, following the wind, which
blows where it chooses, we don’t know where it comes from or where it goes, and
yet we find something beautiful in the life of that wind, and so we follow
where the wind blows. Jesus calls us to
surrender ourselves to follow God’s epic dream for us of abundant, fully human
life. In that surrender, we let go some
of some false security, comfort, and
convenience, and we follow the wind of God, partnering with him in restoring
shalom.
Be it joy or sorrow, our lives were made for so much more
than for securing our own comfort and security.
We were made to be fully alive which does not mean that we’ll be
perfectly
happy with no tears ever.
Both Joy and sorrow will still happen as they did for Jesus. We know that risking joy and sorrow is part
of what it means to be fully alive, fully human. So is following the wind of God on whatever
grand adventure she has in mind for us.
We had two examples in our scripture readings today of
people following the wind of God on a new grand adventure: Isaiah and Nicodemus. For Isaiah, he had this grand vision of God
in his divine court with angels all around him, leaving little doubt that the
grand adventure on which he was about to embark was the wind of God, in his
case, a gale force wind. He had no idea
what he was getting into, but as soon as God asked, “Who will go for us?”,
Isaiah piped, “Sounds good, let’s go!
What are we doing again?” There
was joy and sorrow in his following the wind of God, but come what may, Isaiah
was all in. Some folks have such
experiences of a strong sense of God calling them to follow the wind on a grand
adventure, and they can’t wait to begin.
Others are more like Nicodemus. He was a little more subdued in his
response. For one thing, the invitation
that he received to follow the wind of God was less gale force and more gentle
breeze, and he wasn’t at all certain that he wanted to follow. Having seen and heard Jesus, he saw something
beautiful, and he felt the wind of God on his face gently beckoning him onward,
but he thought, “This seems potentially great, but also very confusing and
rather distressing; can I talk about this with you in private, Jesus?”.
I love both of these examples of how we can say yes to the
wind of God beckoning us to follow in the life of the Trinity. God lets us follow the wind as we can, as we
learn to trust him and catch the beauty of the dream of God’s life for us.
Where’s the wind of God blowing? I don’t know.
Just ask yourself this: Who’s the
next person you’re going to talk with or even look at while you’re here? That’s where you get to live the life of the
Trinity and help restore the shalom of God in creation. Where’s the next place you’re going from
here? That’s the next place the Spirit
is inviting you to help restore the shalom of God in creation, and on and on. In your home.
With you family and friends. At
work. In your neighborhood. That’s where you get to follow the wind of
God, to live the life of the Trinity, to help restore the shalom of God in
creation.
She calls:
Without doubt and without fear,
May you find some comfort here,
May there be hope to help you cope
When what you need Is nowhere near
Make your mark unto these years,
Shape your world with salt and tears,
Carry on when your will has gone,
Be it joy or sorrow
Given time, given faith,
Given courage to embrace
Changes as they each take place,
Be it joy or sorrow
- Terri
Hendrix, Joy or Sorrow
