04 June 2023
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
A gloriously sunny morning greeted us. The churchyard is full of life, I was nibbled whilst getting the lovely photo of the church!
How do you explain the Trinity? Fr Chris did not want to be accused of heresy, but had a wonderful visual aid. He requested help from the children of the congregation and removed 3 cloths one by one. Under the first was a bowl of liquid. The second covered a bowl of ice and the third a boiling kettle producng steam. All are made from water. But ice is not liquid or steam, Steam is not ice or liquid and liquid is not steam or ice, but they are all water. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son, The Father is not the Holy Spirit or the Son and the Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, but they are all God.
The Holy Trinity is not names as such any where in the bible, but our gospel reading today does speak of "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".
Over the years many different ways have been used to try and explain the Trinity. St Patrick is famous for using the shamrock with its trifold leaflets. But the only way to fully understand the Trinity is to be God. It is said that St Augustine was walking along the seashore pondering the Trinity. A small boy was running from the sea to a rockpool with a shell of sea water. When St Augustine asked him what he was doing, the boy told him her was going to empty the sea into the rock pool. St Augustine told the boy that he could not do that, it was impossible. The boy told St Augustine that he was more likely to achieve his goal the St Augustine was to understand the Trinity. With that, the small boy who was an angel of God vanished.
We get close to people and become friends by knowing them better. This is the same with God. Read, pray, think, reflect and by doing so become closer to God.
God is three persons, equal, but not the same, unitedf perfectly in love. Each of us are individuals under the love of God.
The Holy Trinity is a glorious mystery of the Christian faith, God the Fatehr, the Sn and the Holy Spirit.
The anthem for today was Stainer's God So Loved the World from The Crucifixion. See more on the Music blog.
A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah,
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
or as his counsellor has instructed him?
Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as dust on the scales;
see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.
Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,
nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God’?
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
2 Corinthians 13:11-13 (8 am only)
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
Brothers and sisters.
Put things in order, listen to my appeal,
agree with one another,
live in peace;
and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
All the saints greet you.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with all of you.
Matthew 28:16-20
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.
When they saw him, they worshipped him;
but some doubted.
And Jesus came and said to them,
‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.’
