Not too long ago, at one of our diocesan conventions – the annual gathering of clergy and lay delegates where we make decisions about how we live together – the proceedings got a bit caught up in a confusing issue. We were trying to make a simple change to the length of time that someone serves on one of our governing committees. I don’t remember the exact details, but there was some problem in how we would divide the number of people on the committee so that the new and longer terms would have an even rotation. While better minds were puzzling this out, a friend and I stood at the back listening and quipped, “Of course we can’t figure out the numbers – we’re clergy – we think that 3 is 1 and 1 is 3!”

Today is Trinity Sunday – the feast day to focus on that concept of 3 in 1 and 1 in 3. It’s

the only day all year that the Church calendar asks us to focus on a concept, a doctrine –

rather than a story or an event or a particular person. I don’t know about you, but I tend to

do better with saints and stories – abstract concepts are harder to work with, and honestly

harder to preach. As abstract and difficult concepts go, the Trinity: the belief that that our

God is one God, known in three persons, but all of One Being.- is exceptionally hard to

wrap our minds around. So, throughout history, people of faith have come up with

various devices to help us understand the nature of God as expressed through the Trinity:

The most familiar description of the Trinity is the one we use every Sunday: the Nicene

Creed. The early church struggled with what it meant for God to be three-in-one, but

wanted to be clear that it did not mean certain things: the Trinity did not mean there was

more than one God, and it did not mean that Jesus was subordinate to the Father. So, the

council of Nicaea was convened and we still claim their work today.

St. Patrick used the leaves of the Shamrock to explain three-in-one to early Christians in

Ireland. Others have talked about how water (ice/liquid/steam), eggs (shell, white, yolk)

or an apple (peel, fruit and seeds) can help us understand our three-in-one God. We are

familiar with the way use particular language to describe the relationships between the

three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and maybe you’ve heard people describe the

Trinity in terms of the work each person of the Trinity is associated with (Creator,

Redeemer, and Sustainer or Sanctifier).

But all of these descriptions and devices – while helpful in some ways, - fall short of

explaining the complexities and depth of our Trinitarian God. Trying to sum up God in

neat and simple formulas somewhat misses the point – because the realm of the Trinity is

not the world of spreadsheets or formulas or logic – it is more like the world of art, poetry

and metaphor, whose power is greater than the sum of its parts.

Music, art and poetry have the ability to describe complex ideas without pinning them

down – and so depictions of the Trinity have emerged over time as well. One famous

depiction is the Rublev icon: done in 1425, the icon of the Trinity is painted in traditional

Russian Orthodox style.  It shows three figures seated at a table – reminding us of the three figures who visited Abraham in the book of Genesis, as well as represented the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Because when it comes down to it, the Trinity is not for us to grasp: God is beyond our

full comprehension. It is, as we like to say, a mystery – the depths of self-giving, other-focused

love required to sustain the Trinity are beyond our knowing.

So why have a day to ponder this mystery of the Trinity? Because like the icon, this feast

is an invitation into the heart of God, whose very being is to be in loving relationship.

Believe it or not, calling something a “Mystery” isn’t just an escape term for us clergy to

avoid answering tough questions. Mysteries invite our questions, our ideas, and our hopes

and help us dig deeper into our relationship with God. They remind us that being people

of faith does not mean we will always have the answers, and that easy answers don’t

always work for life’s hard questions.

The mystery of the Trinity invites us into the presence of God, and calls us to ponder the

relationships that bring us to God, the relationships that teach us about God, and the

relationships that could be a better reflection of what God wants for the world. So, as you

gather with God’s people and come to God’s table, be thankful for God’s invitation to

celebrate the mystery that is the three in one, the eternal community that invites us in and