Pastoral letter 67

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,

Grace and peace to you all.

I hope and pray that you are all well, regardless what’s happing in Victoria with the new outbreaks. Thank God that still we don’t have to wear masks, we can sing and serve COVID-safe morning tea after the service.

Please be aware that our premises are being cleaned weekly, usually on Saturday afternoon/evening and fortnightly sanitising. This means if you are rostered to do the flowers or prepare communion and come to church Saturday afternoon, you could find the cleaner around, cleaning or sanitising. We apologise for the inconvenience, but we have to keep our premises clear and COVID safe. So, please make note of this and thank you for your understanding.

If you are not planning to come to our Sunday’s face-to-face worship, please join us following the Order of Service that you have received, light a candle, worship, and pray with us.

Please contact me, if you need any kind support or hear about a development with any member of the congregation.

Krikor

These Three Are One

“For there are three that testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one” (1 John 5:7 KJV).

Trinity – three persons in one God.

Mathematics teaches us that three cannot be one. Neither one can be three. If the three was one, many things would change in our lives and our world. Some things would have been good, but others not. Our verse in 1 John says that those who testify in the heaven are three, but those three the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit are one.

The doctrine of the Trinity is the most fascinating and at the same time it has always been a matter of debate and dispute. It is a mystery, but not an inexplicable riddle. It is a truth far beyond human understanding. But it can be understood through worship, symbolism and faith.

If we call it a mystery, then we mean that there is always something new for us to learn about what it means for God to be three in one. Not that we cannot begin and learn to understand, but we will never finish understanding it. The more we learn about the Trinity, the more we learn that there is yet to learn. We can begin to understand the concept.

Muslims claim we worship three different gods, and they, only one. Most people who know a little about Christianity, know of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

At Jesus’ baptism we see Him coming out of the river (water), the Spirit descending like a dove and the voice (the Father) from heaven said: “This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased”.

At disciples’ commissioning Jesus tells them to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

And Paul at the closing of his second letter to the church in Corinth, as he similarly did in all his letters to the other churches, wrote: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you”.

These three references briefly, but also clearly testify that the Triune God is always in action or at work as One. Even though each show or represent a different aspect of God, but at the same time are inseparable and only can function in unity.

This idea or thought is difficult to grasp with our limited minds. How can this be; three different and yet one? How on earth we are supposed to understand this concept of God. We as Christians are happy to accept:

– God of the universe created everything and sits up there ruling and controlling everything. Listens to our prayers and answers to them according to His will. From time to time looks down upon us with His great mercy and love.

– Jesus with His incarnation was born in Bethlehem, yes from the Virgin Mary, did what He was supposed to do, which was to proclaim the Kingdom of God (the Father’s Kingdom), even He took all our sins upon Him and was crucified for those horrible sins, died, was buried, rose from the tomb and ascended to heaven and sat on the right side of the Father to continue to do His part as the loved Son, with whom the Father was pleased.

– Holy Spirit, as Jesus Christ had promised earlier to the disciples, was poured down upon them on the birthday of the Church to empower them to do what they were supposed to do and act their role to lead the church and teach the truth. The Spirit will be with the church until Jesus comes back to finalise His work and establish His kingdom.

That’s how we understand the concept of the three: each having their own role to play separately at certain times or simultaneously.

Mathematically they are three; one plus one plus one. Even if at certain points when they are in action, still each one is doing its own part and playing its own role. For example, at the creation God (probably understood as the Father) created the universe, when the Spirit was hovering over the waters. And probably the Son was just sitting and relaxing in the beauty of the creation waiting for His turn.

In the time leading up to the birth of Jesus, in the Old Testament, there are many references to the Spirit and the Son, especially in the prophecies about the birth of Jesus.

In the New Testament there are many references for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. For example, Jesus taught the disciples to pray for the Father, He himself prayed to the Father in the garden and promised His disciples to send the Spirit after He leaves them. We can give many more examples.

All these examples somehow present to us the “God” as the three the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Clearly making God to be three different beings, not One.

Mathematically there is another operation different from the one plus one plus one equal one. There is the one multiplied by one multiplied by one equal one. And I prefer this one in the case of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As we look to the Scripture, there we see the Triune God, the Trinity all at the same time. They appear to be three different beings or as One entity in its three parts, but also, they show a kind of inseparable unity, one entity and one God always in action together.

At the baptism of Jesus each does their part and act: the Son comes out of the water; the Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove and the Father speaks loudly and clearly.

At the commissioning of the disciples, Jesus instructs them to go out and beside preaching and teaching, to baptise in the name of the Trinity. And that what the church does today. Regardless of the different forms of baptisms in different denominational churches, the common thing is that the baptism is done in the name of the Trinity, putting the Triune God in action.

And with the blessing and the benediction given by the apostle Paul at the end of every letter the One God is again in action: the grace, the love and the fellowship are the components of the God putting into action. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you”.

In other words, God be with you; the Triune and inseparable God, the One entity, One in three forms God, One God as the sides or the angles of an equilateral triangle, or the flower with its three petals.

The Nicene Creed explains this doctrine very well. In essence it is the faith that God is one, but in three persons. The term used in Greek is “ousio”, meaning “that stand as one”, does not mean that the three are different human beings. Thus, we believe that the Father, the Son and the Spirit are different, but in reality, they are united.

How can this be?

Look at the two eyes of a human being. They are two, yet they see the same thing. Or three musical notes in music, when played together, give a harmony.

There are many symbols which could easily present to us the concept of the Trinity; three but yet One entity.

For the Son it has been said that He is the son of the Eternal God. The Holy Spirit comes from the Father through the Son. Each member of the Trinity completes the other two, and each have their own unique part to play in the plan of creation and salvation, known as Godly management.

Christianity is unique in its kind. It is totally different from other religions and faiths, especially in the matter of the Trinity, which has been difficult to explain and understand for us and still is.

But the scripture gives us some answers and explains this doctrine.

First

What is the reality of the Trinity and what does it mean?

We believe that the eternal God reveals Himself to us as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, with their unique characters, but at the same time without being separated from each other in the realm of nature, foundation and reality. Their being one and at the same time three is similar to the polarities, where the two ideas are connected and complete each other, like the + and the – of electrical polarities. But unfortunately, the “theologians” have tried to present this godly idea in a human way.

If we really want to see the living God, the best place to start is at the “beginning”. The first verse of the book of the Bible in Genesis says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. Here the Hebrew word used for God is in the plural, “Elohim”. But when Jesus gave His great commission to the disciples He said: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Math. 28:19). Jesus uses the singular term of the word “name” for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As we know the name reveals the identity and the nature of the person.

Therefore, what is the meaning of the Trinity for us?

God is who He is: “I am who I am”. It is not necessary to understand His all being. Our obligation is to worship Him, to love Him with all our hearts and surrender to Him.

Second

What is the relevance of the Trinity?

It is not enough to know what the Trinity means, but it is important to see what its practical application is. How is it possible to implement its mystery in our lives? Everyone wants to know: Who is God? What is He like? What does He think about us?

a. God understands us and takes care

With the revelation of grace, God gave us what we need to understand through Christ. He is holy and perfect, and we are sinful, faulty and imperfect. That’s the reason that He came to the world through His son to save us, because He loves us and cares for us.

b. We can know Him personally                                                                  

In knowing and understanding us, God gave what we needed. He gave us a Saviour. He did not become a God who stays far. But He came to us, taking human shape and dying for us.

He did not create the earth and then left it alone, but He came when we needed Him. Looking to the cross of Jesus we see His one hand stretched to the Father and the other to us, the sinful.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, He works within us and through us. He knows us well and we can know Him well. We are one as He is one. We know Him through the Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It is up to us to surrender ourselves to Him and be worthy of eternal life. The Triune God witnesses, acts, saves and gives us all hope; a hope for eternity, where it will be possible to be part of His Kingdom.

Let the blessing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be upon us all.

Amen!