Holy Trinity Sunday 2020

 When I was a kid, I saw footage of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge waving and shuddering and falling into Puget Sound.  I had nightmares after that of waving bridges.  The ground that I thought was so secure below me, suddenly couldn’t be trusted.  My footing was no longer guaranteed.  Now I cross that bridge a couple of times a week and I am still amazed at the engineering and the correction that followed the collapse that allow these two lands to be connected.

God set up a strong foundation for life.  It is amazing that a story about the origins of the universe from long before people knew how the Earth came to be could be so accurate.  Light may have very well been one of the first things that came into being in the big bang.  Lands and waters separated.  Vegetation grew up.  Then the moon came to be in our orbit.  Later animals emerged, first in the sea, then the sky, then on land.  Humans come on the scene pretty late, and all depend on each other in a web of interrelationship, light, energy, food, stewardship, thriving, blessing, and fruitfulness.  And to ensure the thriving of creation, at the end, God rests and creates Sabbath for everyone to get the rest they need.

The doctrine of the Trinity, which we celebrate today, also is a strong foundation for life and faith.  The word Trinity never appears in the Bible, but we have all kinds of references to the three members of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit some of which we read this morning.  The concept of the Trinity is an attempt to use finite language to explain the infinite.

The Trinity means relationship.  All three members of the Trinity are there at Creation, God the Creator, Christ the word that God speaks, and the Holy Spirit, the wind moving over the waters.  These three in relationship, of one mind and one being, brought all this world into being and continue to create each day the world around us. 

God builds the foundations of life and faith in relationship:  God’s relationship to the other members of the Trinity, and the relationship of all life to each other, mutually supporting in a web of connection the thriving of life.  Sin comes in when we fail to take our proper place in relationship with God and with each other, other people and also the rest of God’s good creation. 

Our proper place is in a relationship of stewardship, managing responsibly, the good creation God shares with us.  It is easy to forget because of our sin.  We get so wrapped up in our own life and our own importance.  God created the heavens and the earth and they were good, even when they weren’t supporting human life.  They were good, just because God made them good, on their own they were good.  The plants, too, God proclaimed good before there was anyone to eat them or cultivate them.  The animals too were called good by God before anyone ever tamed them or consumed them.  Sometimes we think of them as good or bad depending on what they can do for us.  Mosquitoes and wolves are bad and butterflies and cows are good.  Not so for God.  God commanded them all to be fruitful and multiply and God blessed them all.

We are in the midst of a great extinction on our planet.  Scientists tell us we have lost half of the number of individual animals in the past 30 years due to human activity especially overpopulation, pollution, overconsumption, and habitat destruction.  We had been walking on the solid ground of God’s good creation, but out of greed, disinterest, and obliviousness we have overstepped our steward role and started to erode the good creation that is the foundation of all life, including our own.  The bridge is starting to crack.  We have used and abused God’s good Creation to make ourselves more powerful, yet when we’re asked to show mercy to God’s Creation we claim powerlessness.  When we’re asked to relieve the suffering of God’s creation, we don’t think there’s anything we can do.  Yet there is so much we can do, including staying home right now rather than burn gasoline, including reducing how much meat we consume, which some of us are doing because of shortages.  There is so much we can do by voting.  Do we vote for what God says is good?  Do we vote solely on the basis of what makes life easier for us? 

We hear a word that has been misused in today’s reading from Genesis.  The word is dominion.  We have translated the word this way as a convenience to us and our wishes, as powerful, privileged people.  We wanted it to mean that we decide, what is easy for us, convenient for us as humans.  But that was never the word translated as dominion in the first reading today.  The word in the first reading is the way God relates to us, which is not to compel us by force to do anything, but to be near to us, to love us, to be in relationship to us.  And Jesus reveals even more about how God relates to humankind, and that is a relationship of service.  He humbled himself, and became servant to all.  He washed the disciples’ feet and asked them to do the same for each other.  He refers to himself as the Good Shepherd.  Shepherding is probably a better translation of the word that becomes dominion.  If we continue in dominion, with violence, we will find the foundation unraveling beneath our feet as the foundation of our own life begins to crumble.  But if we follow God’s way of right relationship, we will humble ourselves, and start all over again.

When the bridge fell, the engineers didn’t insist on dominating the wind so that it wouldn’t happen again.  They started again, adjusted their model in humility to the forces God made, so that a connection could be made between lands.  All relationships were kept in mind, in balance.  The next time that bridge was built, it was more of a shepherding taking the wind into consideration, and all the forces.

The shepherd takes such good care of the sheep because it is in his best interest to do so.  The sheep rely on the shepherd because they are helpless.  Many times we are sheep, in the best sense.  We follow our shepherd’s voice.  There are many things over which we have no control, so all we can do is listen, and thankfully we have Jesus who is trustworthy and loving.  But people are also placed in the role of shepherd, whenever we are given responsibility for others.  The shepherd knows the relationship is mutual.  Not only does the shepherd give the sheep life, but the sheep contribute to the life of the shepherd, the wool, the milk, the lambs, the food.  God enjoys the good flourishing of all life, for it’s own sake, but also admits a need.  God wanted to be in relationship and so created all things.  God wanted someone to have conversations with so made humankind in God’s image.  God made us the body of Christ, God cares for us as God’s own Son, as God’s own children.  It is mutual. 

The bridge is shaking and twisting and shuddering under the sin of racism.  Some people have never had the privilege of standing on sure ground because of the sin of a culture that has relied on domination, even without being aware of it.  We are all well-meaning people, yet we participate in a system that crushes people with darker skin—causes us to fear each other, puts people in prison at a greater rate depending on race, causes people to die of Covid-19 at a greater rate because of how hard life has been on different races of people.  We have built a bridge based on domination, violence, control.  But what we need is a bridge of shepherding, relationship, dialogue, and the dismantling of systems of injustice.  This is going to take humility on the part of white people, to really hear what other people face and care what other people experience, and to take it seriously.  We have to let go of systems that benefit us more than others that are waving and shaking right now and open ourselves to the strong bridges God is building of relationship and mutuality.

The good news is, we have a model that shows us a path to new life, death and resurrection.  Just as the bridge fell into the waters and engineers went back to the drawing board, so our current ways need to fall away so something new can be born in it’s place.  It is scary to let go completely.  But we have faith that new life can spring up when we have real relationship, the same kind of relationship the Trinity shares, mutual and life-giving.  We do not control, but we recognize we need each other for abundant life to flourish.  It seems impossible, but it’s not.  God has a vision for that justice to roll down like waters and for strong bridges and as people of faith we follow Jesus to the cross, to face what is hard, to be born anew in proper relationship, so that everyone might live in abundance and grace.