Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity: keep us steadfast in this faith, that we may evermore be defended from all adversities; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Prayer After Communion
Almighty and eternal God, you have revealed yourself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and live and reign in the perfect unity of love: hold us firm in this faith, that we may know you in all your ways and evermore rejoice in your eternal glory, who are three Persons yet one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Readings
Old Testament
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud:
“To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so that the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.”
Proverbs 8.1–4, 22–31
Psalm
1 O Lord our governor,
how glorious is your name in all the world!
2 Your majesty above the heavens is praised
out of the mouths of babes at the breast.
3 You have founded a stronghold against your foes,
that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have ordained,
5 What are mortals, that you should be mindful of them;
mere human beings, that you should seek them out?
6 You have made them little lower than the angels
and crown them with glory and honour
7 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands
and put all things under their feet,
8 All sheep and oxen,
even the wild beasts of the field,
9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea
and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.
10 O Lord our governor,
how glorious is your name in all the world!
Psalm 8
Epistle
Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 5.1–5
Gospel
Jesus said: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.“
John 16.12–15
Sermon on Trinity Sunday
The one book that everyone quotes on Trinity Sunday is that of St Augustine, De Trinitate – About the Trinity. I came across an interesting article which dealt with this book in a less prolix form – twelve pages rather than 500 – and being a lazy fellow, I opted to read the twelve pages. The first paragraph reads
Augustine’s purposes in writing De Trinitate Augustine had three main objectives. He wished to demonstrate to critics of the Nicene creed that the divinity and co-equality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are rooted in scripture. He intended to tell pagan philosophers the need for faith in a divine mediator so that divine self-revelation and redemption can occur. Finally, he wanted to convince his readers that salvation and spiritual growth are connected with knowing themselves as images of the Triune God, from whom they came and toward whom they go, with a dynamic tendency to union realized by likeness to God who is Love.
Augustine’s approach was that of faith seeking understanding of the mystery of one God as Father, Son, and Spirit. (Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006-7 MARY T. CLARK De Trinitate)
That summary sets out Augustine’s project quite clearly. Let’s consider the first aspect. He wanted to use the evidence of scripture to make his argument. This seems rather strange to us, doesn’t it? Would we start our arguments about God by citing passages of scripture?
I don’t think so. Scholarship has allowed us to understand some things about the text of the bible which were unthought in the fifth century. That summary I’m using catalogues how Augustine cites scripture’s use of trinitarian language. However, biblical theologians have begun to question whether those trinitarian formulae are contemporary with Jesus or the authors of the biblical texts. Rather, they say that those passages seem to have come through liturgical usage, rather than a revelation in the text of the bible. This is a theological matter which would need to be discussed – something we might want to do over cake with Steve.
However, the point Augustine is making is that scripture does incorporate trinitarian formulae. They may not be biblical revelations, but his citations do help focus our thoughts on God and how God is in the world.
This leads to the second point of that useful summary: “the need for faith in a divine mediator so that divine self-revelation and redemption can occur.” This is a rather difficult point. Many people see faith as a final landing place on which everything in life is founded. I would have to agree that faith is where everything in life is founded, but I will always disagree that it is a final landing place. Faith is the whence of all experience. Faith looks outward, ever inviting the other in. Faith is like perception, when we look at something we turn our attention to that thing, don’t we? It is that openness toward that object of perception which is significant in faith.
When we open our eyes and ears we can see and hear what the Lord has to say, we are no longer distracted by our own inner voices. That clarity is what Augustine wants the pagan philosophers to embrace, and so entertain the possibility of “divine self-revelation and redemption.” That is no insignificant step to take – and I think it is a step we need to encourage in this generation. We don’t really accept the idea of “divine self-revelation and redemption”, do we? Another discussion to be had some time. I would say, the biblical passages, “Let him who has eyes to see,” and “Let him who has ears to hear,” have to do with this debate Augustine is having with those pagan philosophers, and our own discussions with our contemporaries. I think there is a blindness and a profound deafness today and I think we can learn from Augustine’s polemic for our own evangelism.
There is what Augustine would call a paganism abroad nowadays. There is, it seems, a denial of revelation in any sense, even to the point of not accepting what another says as possibly right. We can see this in many areas of life, from politics to marriage (or should I say divorce when the contemporary legalism comes to the fore in the matter?). But the third point the summary makes is even more significant,
Finally, he wanted to convince his readers that salvation and spiritual growth are connected with knowing themselves as images of the Triune God, from whom they came and toward whom they go, with a dynamic tendency to union realized by likeness to God who is Love.
Augustine’s intention “to convince his readers that salvation and spiritual growth are connected with knowing themselves” is something we can take to heart, isn’t it? I am not worried about human being in the image of God, at the moment, though that thought should be significant for us all. However, I don’t think this generation takes the notion of salvation and spiritual growth very seriously. What about you? Does the care of souls figure at all in your own life experience? It certainly hasn’t in mine. (But that is another line of enquiry altogether, which we must forego.) Growth is fundamental in our personal stories, fifty years ago everyone was looking at personal development and the journey of the self with the psychiatrists like Laing, Jung and Freud taking centre stage. The development of the whole person was the aim then, and this has been renewed by contemporary movements, like mindfulness for instance. Yes, I agree about personal growth and moving to know one’s self, just as the philosophers and theologians of the tradition have always taught, so I think it is essential in our faithful lives. – All of that, and I have only covered the first paragraph of this twelve page article about Augustine’s treatise on the trinity. My writer’s next sentence is important for us. “Augustine’s approach was that of faith seeking understanding of the mystery of one God as Father, Son, and Spirit.” Augustine’s approach should appeal to us Anglicans, though. I say this because the most well-known theologian of the English middle ages, St Anselm, uses this phrase in his essay on the proof of the existence of God.
Augustine’s talking about the links between humanity and divinity should encourage us, especially in our own evangelism here and now. The mystery of God and the mystery of man are intertwined. Knowing self allows that we can know God, because of the “images” in man of God. God, “from whom [these images] came and toward whom they go,” reveals himself in ourselves, in the “dynamic tendency to union realized by likeness to God who is Love,” realised in the one commandment our Lord gave us. ‘Augustine ends with a prayer: “Let me remember you, let me understand you, let me love you. Increase these things in me until you reform me completely.”’