You can find this week’s readings here. As always, I encourage you to check out our “Deep Dive” which expands upon these notes. Included in the Deep Dive is a weekly conversation with other pastors on the readings (via Zoom). It’s always a great time!
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday. It is very important for preachers to remember that this is not the time to explain the Trinity—as if we could! If we think that this is the purpose, preparing to preach on this day is enough to give the preacher insomnia or cold sweats.
Rather, this is an opportunity to proclaim the good news of the Triune God, which we hear in our readings: wisdom and discernment, peace, and hope, and the truth of revelation.
In our Proverbs reading (8:1-4, 22-31), we hear of this wisdom-person, Lady Wisdom, or Ms. Wisdom who was with the Creator in the beginning. The writer indicates that God’s wisdom is not something to be acquired, but a person to be known. Christian authors would later see Jesus as the fulfillment of wisdom, wisdom-in-the-flesh. And yet, we also see glimpses of Lady Wisdom in the descriptions of the Holy Spirit, the one who walks with us, guiding us in the trenches of life, cultivating discernment.
Our Romans Reading (5:1-5) reminds us that justification is God’s work. He has taken the initiative. Because of what has happened in Jesus, God declares us “in the right” and has therefore given us peace. We now have a hope to boast about. Sufferings will happen in the Christian life; yet, somehow, we can actually rejoice in our sufferings. They do not have the final word. This, by way of process, develops perseverance. Perseverance produces character. We are changed. And that character then produces hope for the world as it should be.
Our gospel reading (John 16:12-15) is Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit, the one who will guide Christ’s followers into all truth. Yet, the Holy Spirit will always point to Jesus. The two are one. Likewise, Jesus and the Father are one. The Spirit regularly reminds the Church of who Jesus is and who they are in Him. This means that the Spirit proclaims truth when we believe the false narratives of materialism, nationalism, militarism, or anything else. As Christians, we are not defined by these counterfeits. We have a better story which the Spirit continues to unveil and unpack for us—both what has already happened and what is to come.