Homily - Trinity Sunday God SAVES

This is the Gospel passage we see in used all the time at major events (Jn 3:16): “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son...not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

It’s Brilliant, profound, elegant.  The question is…”What does this mean and why is this relevant to our feast of the Holy Trinity?  And what exactly do we need saved from?”

Last question first.

We may think we need saved from some outside force, reality, organization, or whatever.  We could say ISIS, our own government, or even more obscure things, asteroids, comets and aliens.

Ummm, no.  I do not think that is what the Gospel writer had in mind.

What do we need saved from....really it is our own selves.  I am not talking about our sins either, because our sins are symptoms of something deeper inside that is broken.

Let’s go back to Genesis and the whole Fall scene.  

Adam and Eve eat the fruit, they disobey the one plea from the Father.  

The Father asks “What did you do?”  

They respond in what exemplifies all of the human condition.  They play the blame game.  

Adam blames Eve.  She blames the serpent. The serpent has nobody to blame.

Adam and Eve do not accept any responsibility for their actions.  They do not say, “Sorry Father, we screwed up.  We were weak, scared and/or arrogant.  We did not place our trust in you, but took upon ourselves to make ourselves better.”

Makes we wonder if the Fall and the Original Sin is not the eating of the fruit itself, the disobedience, rather the failure to accept responsibility for their actions.

That is what we need saved from;  the chaos the can envelop our lives and cause suffering, not just in us, but for many, stems from that we, as individuals and as a community, refuse to take responsibility for our actions.  

We refuse to recognize our brokenness and accept responsibility for our actions that result.

It is your fault for not trusting me, even though I have consistently lied to you.

It is the teacher’s fault and the school system’s fault that I got bad grades, even though I gave little effort into studying, homework, or attention.

It’s my boss’ fault that I am not promoted or given a raise, even though I only do what is required, and never do anything above and beyond.

Its those poor people’s fault that they have not jobs and live the way they do.  They want it and nothing to do with my wanting more and more and more.

Who else gets the blame for our messes:  government, church, spouse, children, parents, immigrants, God?

Any of this sound familiar?

Now what does the Trinity have to do with our salvation.

Salvation, first of all is to know, that we are loved by God and to experience this.

God is love.  

The Trinity is not an object, but an experience, a reality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit mutually giving of their fullness completely to the others, and accepting what the others give them.

The Trinity describes the love of God.

God created all in Love. God created all in goodness.

The Trinity calls us to see beyond the chaos, beyond the suffering, to know that God is here, NOT TO GET US!  But to save us, to lift us up, because God is love.

God wants to heal the brokenness inside of us.

We celebrate this especially in Easter, when after Jesus’ execution by humanity, the Father gave him back to us.  

God had no interest in punishing us.  God did not place blame on us,  God’s response to this action was to love us.  The Father gave us back the Son so that we may have Peace, wholeness; be healed.

So at heart, there is nothing to fear from God.

Do we understand this in the core of our being?

We have no reason to Fear God, because God is love.

I think a lot of times we refuse to take responsibility is that we fear.

Those egos of ours do not want to admit that we can make mistakes, that we can be wrong.  

We fear failure.  Somehow we are less, if we fail.  If failures, then we are unlovable.  God will not love us.   We will not get into heaven.  

Jesus failed, well at least in the eyes of humanity.

Yet, in the eyes of the Father, he succeeded.  

The Son trusted in the love of the Father, and knew that no matter what, he would always be loved.

The Son knew that despite being indicated as a criminal, rejected by his own people, he was loved.

Adam and Eve, clearly did not trust, and again, I wonder if this is why they could not admit their mistake.

How often do we NOT admit our own mistakes.  

Yes, in the confessional where there is safety, but how about in a meeting with others, or to our spouses, or to our friends, where is more of a risk?

“Hey honey, you know, I was wrong, forgive me.”

“I’m sorry employee, I wish I had not yelled at you.  Lets figure this out.’

“Mom, Dad, I screwed up at school today. Help me please.”

God loves us no matter what, and God desires us to be a very part of the divine love, to enter into the divine life of the Trinity.

Which means our whole being is to be about love, we need to be perfect.

But perfection is not about the absence of mistakes, it is about living in love, accepting responsibility, and growing from those mistakes.

That in itself is liberating.

The Spirit comes to us all the time, to connect us to the Divine love.  To bind us to this love, so that we can experience this love through asking forgiveness and accepting forgiveness.

To remind us that no matter how bad it seems, no matter how bad our mistakes may seem to be, God loves us and redeems us.  

There is no reason to fear.

Isn’t that what the eucharist makes visible?

The Father, with the Love of the Spirit, gives to us the very person of the Son, who was killed by our sins, and raised in love by the Father.

Given to us, because God wills, invites, desires us.

God saves us, in Christ, through the Spirit. How will be saved?