Trinity Sunday: Separation of Church and Church

Lectionary Passages for this Sunday

The first Sunday after Pentecost is known as Trinity Sunday.  There is no perfect way of talking about the Trinity.  But one way I like to think about our "God in three persons, blessed Trinity" is as a circle, or fellowship of perfect love and sufficiency.  I hesitate to talk about this because it is easy to get into theological muddy waters.  But in some sense, Jesus had to step away from this circle in order for the love that was found within it to be extended to us.  I think Philippians 2:6-7 helps us to understand it a bit.

He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness.  Philippians 2:6-7 (GNT)
 
If you will, Jesus became like us so that he could stand with us outside of the circle.  But as a result, we have the means to be brought into the circle of love found in God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Martin Luther King Jr. used to say, "Eleven o' clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week."  Why is that?  Could it be that many Christians who gather on Sunday mornings for worship have not understood how Jesus stepped outside to befriend those outside.  We seem to have a hard time with that.  We like our close knit circles where we "get" the values and cultural trappings of the others in the circle.  But God's circle of love is not a circle of uniformity.  The book of Revelation speaks of worship in terms of every nation, tribe, and language being represented (5:9 and 7:9).  

How do we get out of our little worship circles and stand on common ground with those outside?  As the love of the Trinity compels us outward, the circle will enlarge and simultaneously become more diverse and unified.

We will explore this topic of diversity in worship in more depth at the upcoming first Los Angeles Area Worship Gathering to be held at Rose City Church in Pasadena on Sunday, June 24th at 6:00 PM.  If you have not done so, please mark this on your calendar.

Check out this video by Richard Twiss on the Trinity, worship, and unity in diversity.