Is the Trinity only good for benedictions?
by Michael Danner
Epistle Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11 - 13
For Sunday, June 19, 2011; Year A—The Holy Trinity
I grew up watching The Three Stooges after school. It was an old black and white show about three friends who are rather dim. They get into all sorts of trouble. Then they respond to one another with various kinds of violence. They would smack each other in the head, poke each other in the eyes and knock each other down. It was quite funny and, for the pranksters among us, full of useful ideas.
I often wonder if the Holy Trinity ever engages in this kind of behavior? Does the Spirit pull a chair, I mean throne, out from underneath Jesus? Does Jesus ever pull the Father’s anthropomorphic nose? Can the Father play elaborate practical jokes on the Spirit that proceeds from him? Or is that just tautologically absurd?
Borderline Blasphemous
This would border on the blasphemous if not for my suspicion that most people in the pews give about this much attention to the Holy Trinity. We’re good with Father, Son and Spirit when taken individually. God the Father dominates the Old Testament. Jesus makes a splash in the gospels. The Holy Spirit moves about in Acts and beyond. Yet, about the only time we see them together is in benedictions, like the kind we find in today’s epistle reading.
Paul’s best wishes for the church in Corinth.
After saying some pretty difficult things to the Church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul ends with some final words and a
blessing. His final words are comforting. He wishes the people a life of order, unity and peace. He tells them that if they would just live this way, the God of love and peace will be with them. Paul wishes this for them because it is NOT what they are experiencing. Their experience seems more like an amped up version of The Three Stooges without the humor. The benediction is Paul’s expressed wish that they would be blessed by the combined ministry of the Holy Trinity. Grace from Jesus. Love from God. Presence and communion from the Holy Spirit.
Taken as a whole
I wonder what would happen if we made the connection between the final words and the benediction more explicit. As in; through the ministry of the Holy Trinity in your midst, you will be empowered to live as a community of order, unity and peace.
We live in a place where it’s a miracle if three people can live in order, unity and peace for a week or two. The Holy Trinity does it eternally. How do they do that? What is it about grace, love and presence that makes relationships hum?
Is it possible that being in relationship with people who love sacrificially, for no reason at all, and never leave you might lead to order, unity and peace?
The Hardest Question
After a long letter, with some difficult words, Paul sneaks the key-to-it-all into a benediction. Somewhere between the challenging task of explaining the Holy Trinity and nice words of blessing found in benediction formulas, perhaps there is something else to which we should attend; The Holy Trinity as eternally life-giving community.
Is the Trinity only good for benedictions?
Michael Danner is an ordained pastor of the Mennonite Church USA. He serves as Lead Pastor at Metamora Mennonite Church, a rural community on the outskirts of the empire (easy to miss unless you live nearby). When he is not actively engaged in husbanding, fathering, pastoring and blogging he confesses to spending far too much time trying to move objects with his mind...a practice he picked up at church as a kid. To date, it has not worked...but he isn’t giving up. His blog can be found at www.michaeldanner.typepad.com and he can be followed on Twitter @michaeldanner
