Holy Trinity – Pastor Ellen Mills

I am offering you two ways to receive this. In print, you will need to read the scriptures for yourself, and then the prayer and reflection that follow in this post. If you click on the audio link below (below), you can hear all of it, including the scriptures.

Holy Trinity

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray,

God of heaven and earth, before the foundation of the universe and the beginning of time you are the triune God: Author of creation, eternal Word of salvation, life-giving Spirit of wisdom.  Guide us to all truth by your Spirit, that we may proclaim all that Christ has revealed and rejoice in the glory he shares with us.  Glory and praise to you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a

Psalm 8

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Matthew 28:16-20

     In the gospel this morning, Jesus appears to the remaining 11 disciples after his resurrection.  Although the words say that some worshiped and some doubted, the phrase can also be translated that they worshiped and doubted, which was probably more accurate.  Doubt is part of our faith life even in the midst of worship.  God is not wholly understandable and is not under our control.  And I do so wonder what those disciples thought was next.  Okay, Jesus had risen from the dead.  What now?  And especially, what now for them?  Would he stay with them and life would just keep going on as it had before?  Was the whole point just to come to the mountain periodically and worship him?  And what would that worship look like?  We don’t get to find out, because Jesus wastes no time in giving them instructions.  I read three commands from Jesus, and the second commandment has a few details.  The first command is to go.  Much like God told Abraham – go out from here!  Do not stay in one place!  Do not get comfortable!  Do not think that there is nothing to be done!  This is just the beginning of the rest of your life, and I am sending you out.

     The next command is to make disciples.  Disciples are not the same as church members.  They are active followers of Jesus.  And this is not just pressing the “like” or “follow” button for Jesus.  “Follow” is to leave all else and allow oneself to be conformed to Jesus, with his heart and his vision. It is to notice who Jesus noticed, care for those Jesus cared for. Jesus mentions baptism, which would set apart those followers from their old lives and connect them with the community of believers.  And then Jesus said to teach them everything he had commanded.  Everything, Jesus?  What do you mean?  What is essential?  And what is so essential and transforming that we will be known as Jesus followers?  The gospel message of Jesus is how he loved and how he directed us to love.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength.  And love your neighbor as yourself.  And then the commandment Jesus gave after the last supper: love others just as I have loved you, even to give our lives.

     So how are we doing on those today?  Have we passed down those commands, and even more – do we so live them that we are changing the world?  Are we carrying out God’s mission for justice and healing and are we being changed by God’s love in the process?  This has been a hard week.  Not only has there been violence of many types – we seem to be separating ourselves from the pain and suffering of others.  Jesus did not teach us about “them” and “us.”  Jesus came for all of us.  We are the ones who divide ourselves in so many ways.  No matter what divide you see – political, racial, economic, geographic: it is all really about not believing and living out of our fundamental connection with all others.  We are all the creation of God, all those that God reaches out to through Jesus, all the ones the Spirit came to at Pentecost.  Are we living that out each day?  We are one body.  We need every possible finger and toe, ear and eye, arm and leg in this body in order to love the world with God’s love. And every one of those parts needs to be embraced and assured that it is part of the body of Christ. Nowhere did Jesus say it would be easy or comfortable.  He said, “Go!”  He said “make disciples” which of course assumes that we have already become disciples ourselves.  And then he tells us one last thing.  Remember!  Jesus tells them and us to remember that he is with us always.  He is with us in loneliness and in good times.  He is with us when we are afraid, and when we have the courage to move forward.  He is with us especially when we have not loved, when we have failed our sisters and brothers, when we need forgiveness, and when we need to be reminded once again how much we are all really loved.  In order to go out and do the costly sort of love that Jesus is talking about, we need to be convinced to the bottom of our hearts that we and all others are loved by God.  Life is messy, and confusing, and often very painful.  And we can’t pass on what we do not have ourselves. And Jesus is with us in all of it.

     I had an experience on Monday that reminds me of how very large God’s creation is.  I got to see my daughter’s presentation at the American Astronomical Society’s summer meeting.  My son and I were here, she was in Kansas, and through Zoom we and hundreds across the world got to be part of it. She studies star clusters at the center of the galaxy.  And although much of the data she gets from telescopes is numbers that she has to convert into temperatures, or elements, or forces like gravity, what we got to see were these awesome photographs of star clusters and gas clouds and be blown away by the huge distances and long periods of time that they represented.  This was just the Milky Way.  There are lots more galaxies out there.  What we saw was just what is in the very center.  We are out on the edge.  And we are only tiny specks in our solar system, or even on our planet.  And God is bigger than all of this, and God cares about it, including us.  All of us.  I can’t see a photograph of God’s love.  I do know from Genesis that God declared creation to be good, and humans were created very good.  I know that Jesus came to us, reached out to us, and died for us in love.  And that is what we are to go and teach others.  And even more importantly, what we are to daily live out ourselves.  So, go!  Reach out to others in love!  And know that even when it seems impossible, Jesus is with us always. Anywhere in the universe.  Amen.

Called into unity with one another, and the whole creation, let us pray for our shared world.

God of community, you form us as your church.  Guide our bishops, pastors, deacons, and all the baptized in sharing your life-giving good news with all the world.  Strengthen us to be bold in our proclamation.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

God of counsel, all authority belongs to you.  Encourage the leaders of this and every land to seek peace, equality, and unity.  Install wisdom in advocates who work toward justice in often ignored communities.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

God of care, you created us in your image.  Help us see your likeness in one another.  Open our eyes to see and attend to all who face oppression and suffering.  Console, heal, and nourish all in need.  Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

Receive these prayers, O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord’s face shine upon you in grace and mercy.

The Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace.

Amen.