The Trinity is a notoriously abstract concept within institutional christianity. On this Trinity Sunday, the Gospel reading is drawn from John. John is notoriously theologically abstract. John’s writings could be said to hint at the theological concept of the Trinity in a few select passages, though not this Sunday. The three Synoptics Gospels, Mark, Matthew, and Luke are more descriptive of Jesus’ life witness and have no reference to Trinity at all. The Trinity is not something Jesus teaches. It is a concept about God developed later within institutional christianity by theologians.
Theologians seek to understand God and can make of christianity an intellectual undertaking; all well and good in its place. Theologizing however is a very different thing than life witness. The former, isolated and made dominating, may make for a dogmatic religion. For theology to have meaning it must be in relationship with a living witness. An event in Sunday’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles provides insight into the broken relationship between theological abstraction and active witness. The basic needs of a number of widows were being neglected in the early community and it was made known. In response, “the twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.” These twelve men were turning away from Jesus’ humble way of relating in communion. They were diminishing Jesus’ living witness as primary to discipleship. They judged service as less important than theologizing and thus diverted his Beloved Community Movement. That judgment by the twelve is the beginning of a broken relationship within Jesus’ faith community. It spawned a class system of intellectually minded theologians who formed themselves into a priestly class. That priestly class started forming themselves around theological concepts that reflected not so much Jesus’ witness as it did their own supremacist status. Thus, for them, Jesus needed supremacist status. He certainly needed to be made a priest. More so, the priests needed to make Jesus a god. Jesus’ status as a new god affected the status of the old Yahweh god and problems developed for these theologizing dogmatic priestly types. Also presenting problems for them was the status of the Spirit. Priests were so thoroughly dividing people over these theological concepts that in the year 325 a pagan emperor, Constantine, had to convene a council to maintain unity in the Empire. It was at that council the Trinity was conceptualized; a Father who begets a Son, both of whom beget a Holy Spirit. Diminished if not buried under this and other concepts was Jesus’ very humble way of relating in communion.
“For all good friends who care to read, here let me lyre my living creed. One: you may deem me Pacifist, For I’ve no sympathy with strife. … The hope of peace is dear to me, And I to Christian faith belong, Holding that breath should sacred be, And War is always wrong. Two: Universalist am I And dream a world that’s frontier free, With common tongue and common tie, Uncurst by nationality; Where colour, creed and class are one, … equal in God’s eye. Three: you may call me Naturist, For green glade is my quiet quest; The path of progress I have missed, … In leafy lore let me be wised And back to Nature go. Well, though you may but half agree, Behold my trusty Trinity.” (My Trinity – Robert William Service)
Prayer: Spirit of Humility, may we relate in humility with all life.
Question: How has theology overtaken witness for me?
June 11, 2017 Gospel John 3:16-18 Holy Trinity Sunday