Embracing the Relational God - Sermon for Trinity Sunday (Year A) (2 Corinthians 13:11-13)
Today is Trinity Sunday. It may not be as exciting as Pentecost Sunday, but it’s a good time to stop and think about the God we serve and worship. Most Christian traditions affirm the idea that God is both one and yet three. This may sound like some kind of math problem, but thankfully, especially since I’m not a math person, this isn’t about math. It just means that, like our Jewish siblings, we believe that God is one. However, Christianity complicates things by suggesting that God is also three persons. So, we sing: “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!” (Reginald Heber).
The doctrine of the Trinity that we celebrate this morning is only present in the New Testament implicitly. It took several centuries before early Christians nailed down a consensus view of God as Trinity. The Nicene Creed, which we will recite together in a moment, was finalized in 381 at a council held in Constantinople. Despite its complicated nature, our confession of faith in the Triune God, even if it isn’t explicitly laid out in Scripture, offers us an important witness to the relational nature of God.
One of the places we find a scriptural witness to the Trinity is in the closing verses of 2 Corinthians. Paul wrote this letter to a congregation that was deeply divided. Nevertheless, Paul ended this letter on an upbeat note with a word of blessing.
In his closing benediction, Paul gave the Corinthians a few last instructions:
First, “put things in order.” That’s always good advice for a church.
Second, “agree with one another.” That’s good advice, but if the first task wasn’t difficult enough, this one is even more challenging.
Finally, he told them to “live in Peace.” In other words, he wanted them to work together to build up the community rather than tear it down. Paul tells them that if they do this, then “the God of love and peace will be with you.”
As you can see, there are three parts to this commission: order, agreement, and peace. When Paul gets to his final Trinitarian blessing, it also has three parts: grace, love, and communion. I think you need grace, love, and communion if you’re going to have order, agreement, and peace.
Like I said earlier, this doctrine of the Trinity is complicated. That’s because God is much more than we can truly imagine. Theologians have been working on definitions of the Trinity since at least the second century, and they keep coming up with different answers. That’s because God isn’t a math problem that can be solved with the proper equation. One thing I can say, based on scripture, is that God is love (1 Jn 4:7-8). That word fits well with a particular theory about the Trinity. It’s called the “Social Trinity.”
When it comes to describing the indescribable, which is God’s nature, you can start with the oneness and move to the threeness, or you can start with the threeness and move to the oneness. The “Social Trinity” doctrine moves from the threeness to the oneness of God’s nature. What this theory does is emphasize the relational nature of God. As theologian David Gushee puts it, "To say that God is triune is to mean that God is social in nature. It is also to say that those made in the image of God are likewise intrinsically social [Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 3, p. 40]. What this means is that God is not an isolated, solitary being, living somewhere out there, completely disengaged from our lives. Not only that, but if God is, in God’s essence, relational, we who are created in God’s image reflect that reality in our own relationships. As the author of Genesis 2 put it, God quickly discovered that it’s not good for humans to be alone (Gen. 2:18).
There is a Greek word that describes how God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That word is perichoresis. It essentially means mutual indwelling or intimate union. The good news for us is that not only do the three persons of the Trinity experience intimate union with each other, but through our relationship with Jesus, we get to participate in this relationship through the “communion of the Holy Spirit.”
This is where we need to use our spiritual imaginations. So, imagine for a moment that God is an open circle of fellowship gathered around a table. This works best if the table is round. Picture God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit gathered around the Table engaged in conversation. Then imagine the Son opening the circle through the mediation of the Spirit and inviting us to join in the fellowship taking place at the Table. At first, you may feel like a stranger, but once you sit at the Table you discover that you’re no longer a stranger but part of the family.
Now, let’s extend this imagery to the Church, which according to Paul, is the Body of Christ. Since we will gather at the Lord’s Table in a moment, consider that when we gather at the Table, Jesus is present with us through the Spirit, presiding at the meal. As we share in bread and cup, we share together in fellowship with God and one another. The good news here is that no one is a stranger at this Table.
Now, opening the circle and inviting the stranger to sit at the table can be risky for both parties. However, if Jesus is willing to take the risk, then perhaps we should as well. Besides, when we open the circle wide and include the stranger, we may be in store for great blessings.
There is a famous fifteenth-century Russian Orthodox Icon that pictures three angels seated at a table. According to Andrei Rublev, the creator of this icon, the three angels represent the three persons of the Trinity. The table they sit around is the table that Abraham set for three strangers whom he met at the Oak of Mamre. After Abraham welcomed the three angels to his table, they gave him the good news that his wife, Sarah, would bear a child in her old age (Gen. 18:1-15).
Here in 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks of three blessings that come to us as we participate in the divine fellowship that is God: grace, love, and communion. These three blessings are the foundation for our experiences of salvation and healing. Earlier in 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote about how God reconciles us in Christ to Godself. Having reconciled us, God calls us to engage in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-18). This ministry of reconciliation brings healing and wholeness to our communities. It all starts within God’s essence as the relational God who is love.
On a practical level, Presbyterian pastor Carol Howard wrote in her book Tribal Church about what it means to live together as an intergenerational community of faith. She wrote that many younger adults want to be part of intergenerational communities, even though too often we live in generational silos. That’s because it’s easier to hang out with people just like us. Different generations listen to different music, watch different movies, and drive different kinds of cars. While conventional wisdom suggests that the way to grow a church is to focus our attention on people just like us, we might want to ask ourselves if this is the way it’s supposed to be.
Building an intergenerational community isn’t easy. That’s because we often bring preconceived notions about others to the conversation. Marketers seem to know how to manipulate the way we perceive other generations, whether older or younger. Maybe you’ve seen those ubiquitous insurance commercials that warn younger adults to not be like their parents. I think the ad-makers are talking about Boomers, so I take the ad rather personally. But I think you get the drift. How do we overcome these perceptions so we can build community where different generations can share life together, bringing their unique and diverse wisdom to the conversation? Perhaps the place to start is with the God we worship, who is in God’s own essence, a community of inclusion. After all, the Trinity, as understood by the Church, is an intergenerational community of Father and Son, joined together by the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit. There is more good news in this intergenerational imagery. That good news is a reminder that when it comes to God, there is no hierarchy, only mutuality. May the same be true for us as we share in fellowship with the Triune God. So, let us embrace Paul’s closing blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the [sweet] communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” [2 Cor. 13:13].
Now, let us recite together the Nicene Creed, which is found on page 34 in the front section of the Glory to God hymnal.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth
and all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God,
Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made;
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
Troy, MI
Trinity Sunday
May 31, 2026
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