On the Trinity

The Very Rev. Dennis J.J. Schmidt

26 May 2002
Trinity Sunday

Genesis 1:1-2:3
Canticle 13
2 Corinthians 13:5-14
Matthew 28:16-20

Years ago, while walking in the woods, I came across an extraordinary thing; a snakeskin shed intact. What was extraordinary was that the snake had tied itself into a knot, and the knot was preserved in the shed skin. I have heard of snakes that would tie itself into a knot to prevent being swallowed by a predator, but I have never seen it. What advantage could that knot have been for shedding the skin? In any event I was excited by the rare find and decided to carry it back to show it off. This provided to be an impossible task. The skin, in picking it up, got torn. Because of its fragile nature it was soon in shreds. I wondered if anyone would believe my experience? It was one of those things that you have to experience in its natural setting or else be welling to believe the credibility of the story.

The doctrine of the Trinity is a bit like that snakeskin. In the first place it is a matter of experience that makes sense to those who seek to know and be known by God. Secondly it is not something you can carry off for others to see. The Trinity is a fragile vision of God because like the skin, only an exterior remnant is left. And what is left, like the knot, is an inexplicable mystery; a thing whispered ever so quietly. If in curiosity you attempt to untie the knot to understand it, once untied the phenomenon is lost.

Over the years I have been asked innumerable times about the Trinity. It is a particular stumbling block for many people. The reason it is a stumbling block is precisely because of “reason.” What I mean is that frequently our approach to the Trinity is wrong. If approached as if it were a rational doctrine you will only experience frustration. If you approach it as an experience of the mystery and majesty of God it is possible to glean a faint whisper of what God is like. The Trinity is first an experiential sense of the presence of God and only after that experience is the functional short hand of a doctrine of any value.

The Trinity is much misunderstood and maligned. Labeling it Father (or to be politically correct Father/Mother or Heavenly Parent) Son and Holy Spirit, or Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer do not seem to help. This is precisely because rather then giving a sense of the wholeness and oneness of God it illustrates distinctness. Often doctrinal and creedal statements of the Trinity feel like gymnastics. Consider the Creed of St. Athanasius. For instance: “For there is one Person of Father, another of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.” If you feel like doing more gymnastics on the uneven parallel bars you can find the whole routine on page 864 of the Book of Common Prayer. Speaking of three persons, one Godhead, uncreated and substance confounds the contemporary mind. St. Athanasius was right when he wrote in that Father, Son and Holy Spirit is (are?) incomprehensible.

The Trinity becomes clearer through considering our experience of God. And when you do this experience becomes a guide for life. One thing that I know for certain is that the “who” of God is better expressed as a verb then as a noun. Verbs are experiential descriptors. Consider the difference between the noun “love” and the verb ‘to love.” When we say that we want or need love we are not speaking of a thing, but rather we speak of the need to experience the activity of love. In a similar way, to have faith in a “thing” called God is to hold onto very little; in fact it is merely a concept, it is quite useless. But, to put faith to work in your life, so that you are acting in a particular way because of it, so that you are doing the work of God is to have the source and power of life mysteriously at your feet. Faith at work experiences the mystery of God.

Jesus prayed that we may become one as he and the Father are one. (John 17:20-26) Jesus was one with the Father through his active ministry which was built upon peace, justice and love. The Trinity may be understood as peace, justice and love. Justice does not exist without peace or love, nor is true peace possible without justice and love, nor is love complete if it is not about the work of justice and peace. True or complete justice must have both the elements of creating peace and the tempering of love. Justice that breaks relationships and estranges people cannot last. Justice that is not tempered by the virtues of love will never approximate reconciliation. Peace simply cannot exist without justice and a community of Godly love. And what can we possibly mean by love that does not rest on the foundation and hope of peace and that does not flow toward justice for all? Love is the sinew of the oneness of God and likewise it is the sinew that holds the Body of Christ together. The relationship of love shall bind peace and justice to our souls, our work, our consciousness and our community. When this happens we can begin to see and feel the power of the Trinity as the dynamism of Justice, Peace and Love living and functioning as one holy, mutual essence and power. In the process we are blessed with an experience, a faint whisper of the nature of God.

Amen