PRELUDE
This Is My Father's World
https://youtu.be/4Fwfdij6HGo
1 This is my Father's world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas--
His hand the wonders wrought.
2 This is my Father's world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass, I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.
3 This is my Father's world:
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad!
GREETING
“Praise the Maker, Christ, and Spirit, one God in community, calling Christians to embody oneness in diversity. Thus, the world shall yet believe when shown Christ’s vibrant unity.” Amen. (NCH, 273, 4)
CALL TO WORSHIP (from the United Church of Christ Statement of Faith)
All: We believe in God...Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father, and to his deeds we testify:
L: He calls the worlds into being...
P: He seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin...
L: In Jesus Christ...our crucified and risen Lord, he has come to us and shared our common lot...
P: He bestows upon us his Holy Spirit...binding in covenant faithful people of all ages,
tongues, and races...
All: Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto him. Amen.
HYMN
Holy, Holy, Holy
https://youtu.be/dD-hmFcp8D4
1 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
2 Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
3 Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
4 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
INVOCATION
“Great Triune God, for this new day we need your presence still. Create, redeem, sustain us now to do your work and will...all in the name of Jesus the Redeemer.” Amen. (NCH, 278, 4)
FIRST SCRIPTURE LESSON
Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a: “Creation”
GLORIA PATRI
https://youtu.be/QUBxpypSblw
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be; world without end. Amen, Amen!
PASTORAL PRAYER
O God, our God, who sends forth the light, creates the morning, and makes the sun to shine on both the good and the evil: enlighten the blindness of our minds with the knowledge of your truth; lift up the light of your countenance upon us, that in your light, we may see light, even the light of your glory in Jesus the Christ.
Almighty God, fountain of all good: kindle in us a pure flame of insight and inspiration, that this hour of prayer and praise might be a moment of time lived in eternity. Open our ears that we may hear; soften our hearts that we may receive your truth. Reveal yourself to us here, that we may learn to find you everywhere. Teach us especially to find and follow you in all the dark places of life, where we walk alone in temptation, or in the desperation of an unshared sorrow.
O God of beauty, truth, and goodness: for your love supporting us, accepting us, healing us, we give you thanks. For all human things: the multitude’s glad voice, the friendly faces of fellow-citizens and fellow-worshipers; for the laughter and playfulness of little children; for the wisdom of old folks; for the capacity to feel our brothers’ and sisters’ needs; for all these your blessings, we thank you, O Lord.
O Parent of compassion, we bring you now all the burdened, beaten, bruised spirits of our fellow-souls everywhere—the sick, the recovering, the lonely, the afraid; those who have been marginalized by the systemic racism of our society; those who have been victimized by brutality of any kind. We remember especially those who continue to struggle with this corona virus as either victims or caregivers. We pray for all those who need you most this day, but especially as always, for those nearest and dearest to this community of faith. May all of us be attuned to the voice of your Spirit, and thus hear the Son of your love whispering great, solving, steadying words to our own need.
O Christ, in the spirit of your life and death and resurrection, we would go forth from this place and time to build even here, even among us, your kingdom of love. In your thrice holy name we pray, Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father Who art in Heaven,
hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done,
on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power,
and the Glory forever!
Amen!
DOXOLOGY
https://youtu.be/eMnevRoAz74
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Praise God all creatures here below!
Praise God above you heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen!
OFFERING PRAYER OF DEDICATION
O God, in the giving and receiving of our gifts, open our eyes to the glorious opportunities of sharing with others our blessed experiences of fellowship with you and one another. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
HYMN
For The Beauty Of The Earth
https://youtu.be/wXRw6ZQFNhk
1 For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
2 For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
3 For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
4 For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
5 For thy church, that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
6 For thyself, best Gift Divine,
to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
SECOND SCRIPTURE LESSON
Matthew 28: 16-20: “Jesus’ commission to his disciples: the Trinitarian Formula”
SERMON
The Three Mysteries of the Trinity
“Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, three we name you, while in essence truly one, undivided God we claim you; so we gather reverently to adore the mystery.” Amen. (NCH, 276, 4)
I hope we would all agree that quite simply, some things in life are compelling and urgent; while other things are seemingly unimportant.
For example, the theological doctrine of the Trinity—one God in three persons, three persons in one God—is certainly important enough to command a special Sunday in the church year on which we are to remember, celebrate, and perhaps even discuss this great cornerstone, foundational principle of orthodox Christianity. And today is that day—Trinity Sunday—always the first Sunday after Pentecost. But, regardless of this great and important doctrine and this very special Sunday, it is safe to assume, I suspect, that most, if not all, of us did not wake up this morning with a compelling, even burning, interest in this, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
While the church fathers (and they were only men in those days!) began to consider the mystery of the nature of God, they were confronted with the central theological question of the ancient world: “How many gods are there?” Keeping faith with their Hebrew ancestors, those early Christian theologians said, “There is only one God!” In the words of the Jewish Shema, “the Lord, our God, the Lord is one!” For good Jews, that’s an easy proclamation of faith.
But for us good Christians, what about Jesus Christ? Is he also divine, also God? Yes, but also different from who came to be called God the Father, the first person of the Trinity. Jesus was then called God the Son, the second person of the Trinity.
But then, what about the Holy Spirit? also divine, also God? Yes, but a very different kind of presence or person or God from God the Father or God the Son. This is the third person of the Trinity.
“So, then, you have three gods,” critics argued.
“No, only one!” professed the Christian fathers. As the old hymn puts it: “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” (PH, 251)
Each person of the Trinity is much more than a human person, but not one bit less personal. In much simpler (and perhaps just a bit provocative) words, we might even say that the three persons of the Trinity are made of the same divine “stuff,” just as all of us human beings are made of the same human “stuff.” All of us are the same, even though all of us are different from one another. And so it is as well with the three persons of the Trinity—they are all divine, just as they are all different.
But still, even on this Trinity Sunday, what differences does all of this make to any of us? Is this doctrine of any relevance to the living of our contemporary lives? How important is it, really?
Think, for a moment, however, of just how often we hear this belief invoked in our lives together as believers. We baptize children and adults using what is called the Trinitarian Formula, taken straight from the closing verses of Matthew’s gospel: “I baptize you...in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We marry folks “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We commit persons to their eternal rest using these very same words at graveside. And then there are the Gloria Patri and the Doxology which use the same or similar versions of this sacred formula. And, of course, the great creeds or faith confessions of the church all try to express the mystery in slightly different ways; but they all say the same thing: “We believe in God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.”
Yet, I suspect nonetheless that none of this theology is important enough to be compelling to ordinary, contemporary Christians like us. I suspect that most of us continue to ask, “So what? Why should we care about this doctrine? After all, we’re not theologians. Does, or should, the Trinity matter to us in our own time and place?” And my answer is, “Yes!”
The Trinity is, or at least should be, important to us, because we common, ordinary, everyday believers cannot begin to grasp the reality of an infinite God; yet the mysteries of life itself continue to beg for some explanation.
The doctrine of the day matters to us, because it seeks to explain at least three of these great mysteries of life—what we might call in fact the three mysteries of the Trinity—the mystery of creation, the mystery of love, and the mystery of communion. We know that these are realities of our lives, yet their explanations are all just beyond our reach, just beyond our vision, just beyond our understanding; and they all keep calling us to explanation. But only this equally mysterious and Trinitarian understanding of the nature of God will help us to understand.
First, from our very earliest years, we all ask, “Where did I come from? Who made me? Who made the world? Who made the sky? Who made God? Why did anyone make snakes and mosquitoes? Why does everything that lives someday die?” We modern people may become wonderfully knowledgeable about the created order of God’s world; yet our theories of the beginning and our suspicions about the end are forever shrouded in mystery. This first mystery of the Trinity is addressed in our belief, and so we confess, using the words of our own United Church of Christ Statement of Faith: “We believe in God who calls the worlds into being.”
The mystery of creation suggests the first person of the Trinity.
A second mystery of life that grips us all is that of love. Song writers and poets make it the theme of their creations. Storytellers and screenwriters offer it as the most frequent plot of the novels and movies that entertain us. Love so ordinary, yet so mysterious—who knows from whence it comes or whither it goes? What makes it start? What makes it end? This is surely the truest reality in all of human existence. It is in fact the very finest way of all. Yet it is best explained and revealed, lived out, and shown in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. And so, once again using the words of our morning call to worship we say: “God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin...and in Jesus Christ...he has come to us and shared our common lot.” And as Jesus himself says, according to John’s gospel, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (15:13)
The second person of the Trinity suggests a solution to the mystery of love.
And the third mystery that is compelling in its call and claim on human personality is what we might call communion. Intimacy and deep knowing are perhaps the most profound hungers of our hearts. Perhaps this is one of the reasons we have all felt so disoriented during these days of pandemic isolation and “sheltering at home.” We have missed being a part of various communities of other people; we have hungered for true communion with our fellow human beings. We all long for peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness—what the Bible calls fruits of the spirit—in every relationship. Yet how feeble are our own efforts to establish peace or to gain patience. The wonderful harmony that results from a unity with God’s power and Christ’s love and community with one another is the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so we look to the third person of the Trinity and say, “God bestows upon us his Holy Spirit...binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.” And this is such an important affirmation to proclaim in these days when we come face to face once again with the systemic racial prejudices and inequalities that have plagued our nation from its birth and their potentially fatal implications for all of us.
And it is this third mystery in particular that we seek to address whenever we share the sacrament of Holy Communion or The Lord’s Supper, both sign and symbol of the much deeper communion we all seek and need with one another and with God.
My friends, just like those disciples of old, sometimes we get it; most times, we don’t. We are nearsighted and unheeding children of God, slow to respond to divine sovereignty, love, and calling. And so, our perfectly human lives are always shrouded in mystery. But on this Trinity Sunday at least, we are reminded that our faith offers us at least a glimpse, at least a hint, of how to resolve at least these three mysteries of the Trinity—creation, love, communion—God above, God beside, God within.
“Mother, Brother, Holy Partner; Father, Spirit, only Son: we would praise your name forever, one in three and three in one. We would share your life, your passion, share your word of world made new, ever [praying], ever praising, one with all, and one with you.” Amen. (NCH, 274, 4)
COMMUNION HYMN
Come Thou Almighty King
https://youtu.be/mgzRB4gEPf4
1 Come, Thou Almighty King,
Help us Thy Name to sing,
Help us to praise.
Father, all glorious,
O’er all victorious,
Come, and reign over us,
Ancient of Days.
2 Come, Thou Incarnate Word,
Gird on Thy Mighty Sword,
Our prayer attend:
Come, and Thy people bless,
And give Thy Word success;
Spirit of Holiness,
On us descend.
3 Come, Holy Comforter,
Thy Sacred Witness bear
In this glad hour:
Thou Who Almighty art,
Now rule in every heart,
And ne’er from us depart,
Spirit of Power.
4 To Thee, Great One in Three,
Eternal praises be
Hence evermore.
Thy Sov’reign Majesty
May we in Glory see,
And to Eternity
Love and adore!
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
“In Christ we come to break and bless the bread of new society, created for togetherness from infinite variety, so praise the good that’s seen and done in Spirit-given unity, revealing God, forever one, whose nature is community.” (NCH, 399, 5)
My friends, let us break and bless, pour and shed, for all is ready, and all are invited.
UNISON COMMUNION PRAYER
Gracious God, we ask you to bless this bread and cup and all of us with the outpouring of your Holy Spirit. Through this meal, make us truly the body of Christ, the church, that living community of all your children who further your will in all the world. Amen.
UNISON PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Eternal God, we thank you for calling us to your table, and for Christ’s presence with us, and for your Spirit’s leading of us, that we might understand anew how to create, love, and truly commune with others, all in your name. Amen.
HYMN
Holy God We Praise Thy Name
https://youtu.be/PF1uBXvQwPI
1 Holy God, we praise Thy name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee!
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in Heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.
2 Hark! the loud celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising,
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising;
Fill the heavens with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord.
3 Lo! the apostolic train
Join the sacred name to hallow;
Prophets swell the loud refrain,
And the white robed martyrs follow;
And from morn to set of sun,
Through the Church the song goes on.
4 Holy Father, Holy Son,
Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee;
While in essence only One,
Undivided God we claim Thee;
And adoring bend the knee,
While we own the mystery.
BENEDICTION
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Amen (II Corinthians 13:14)
BENEDICTION RESPONSE
GO NOW IN PEACE
Congregation:
https://youtu.be/mefNCtwjp2M
Piano:
https://youtu.be/JLJXpuxDjes
Go now In peace, never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now In faith, steadfast strong and true.
Know He will guide you in all you do.
Go now In love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others so all the world can see.
God will be there watching from above.
Go now in peace. in faith and in love.
Amen. Amen. AMEN!
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