An act of worship at home for Trinity Sunday
Reading Matthew 18 vv 16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
Reflection
I’m going to begin with.an old story that I’ve told before. It’s about a young girl who went to a church service for the first time. Afterwards, when she got home, her parents asked her what she’d thought of the service. “The thing I don’t understand” she said, “is why the West Coast isn’t included too.” When asked what she meant, she explained, “Well you see,” she said, “it’s all in the name of the Father, the Son, and the whole East Coast.” Sorry..
Sunday the 7th June this year is Trinity Sunday and it’s another reminder about the mystery of God. Figures, word pictures, and mental images are all helpful tools as we try to understand the God we cannot see, hear, or touch. They are helpful because the very moment we try to speak about God we find ourselves out of our depths.
So we begin with a mystery. But perhaps acceptance of the mystery of God is the beginning of true wisdom. The important thing to remember is that it is not we who discover, create, or invent God. It is God who is revealed to us through Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Bible sheds light on a God who wants to be known, who is revealed in our history, in our experience, in our relationships. Because although it may have been feeling like it even when self-isolating we don’t really exist in a vacuum of isolation. We can know God in the community of faith all around us where God’s love is expressed in so many different ways, in phone calls, in emails, in texts, in acts of kindness and love, and in praying for one another.
The Trinity reminds us that at the heart of God’s being is a loving relationship which provides a pattern for our life as human beings and as a Christian community, in which the power of the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.
There’s another old story that I really like about two men working on a building site who were asked what they were doing. The first replied simply “I’m laying bricks”, which was true. But the second replied “I’m helping to build a cathedral”, which revealed a greater truth.
The first man only saw his own small contribution, laying one brick at a time. The second man recognised the huge scale of the task they were all engaged in and would accomplish together.
The nature of our relationship with God is demonstrated to the world by our openness to hear and answer his call to us through a life of loving service and faithful witness, whatever that may involve. We may never fully understand God but our lives will declare that God does indeed reveal himself to us, and together uses us in the work of building his kingdom.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Lord of Majesty, Trinity of love: accept and make holy all that we are, all that we have, and all that we offer you. Keep us firm in our faith and strong in your service; create in us a new heart, that we may respond to your great mercy: One God, our saviour, now and for ever. Amen.
Prayer
Father God, your purpose is for all, for you are the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of humankind. You are always at work, always involved in our lives, calling, guiding, speaking and responding, everyone important to you, no matter who they are, each with a part to play.
So, then, we pray for all in our world who are searching for meaning to their lives, a sense of direction, a goal to strive for.
Son of God, your love is for all, for you lived and died for others, reaching out to both rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, righteous and unrighteous, nobody outside your care, no one beyond your grace.
So we pray for all in our world today who long for love — those who yearn for a meaningful relationship, and those whose once-precious relationships have ended in tears; those cut off from family and friends, and those who face the trauma of bereavement. May they discover in you a love that will never let them go.
Spirit of God, your peace is for all, for you are at work in every heart, seen or unseen, recognised or unrecognised, striving to break down the barriers which keep us from one another, from ourselves and from you.
We pray, then, for all in our world who are tormented by fear, torn by doubt, troubled by anxieties, or tortured by guilt; families separated, communities divided, and nations ravaged by suffering. May they find through you peace in body, mind and spirit.
Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we thank you that when we pray you hear and respond in infinite and perfect love. Amen.
Hymn StF 11 – Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
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!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
who wast, and art, and ever more shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the sinful human eye thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy, there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love and purity.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
all thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Reginald Heber (1783-1826)
Blessing
In our going and our staying may we live to love and serve the Lord,
and so may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be with us all this day and forever more.
Amen.
