Trinity Sunday

The first Sunday after Pentecost is also called Trinity Sunday. One explanation reports that this is the Sunday where you explain the Trinity. Good luck with that. The Trinity is one of those concepts that defies explanation. Oh, we can get close; we can provide hints or glimpses of the reality of the totality of the God we worship. But can we ever say to have explained the complexity that is the interrelationship of the Godhead? Probably not.

What we’re left with then, is describing God the way God consistently self-describes: In relationship with us. Notice that the Trinity Sunday Gospel text (Matthew 28:16-20) was chosen because of the Trinitarian formula that Jesus invokes: “baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (v.19). But the bulk of the passage isn’t about God; it’s about us. It’s about what we will do in the name of God. It’s about what we’ll do because we belong to Jesus. When we focus on God, we always understand ourselves better. That’s how this works.

So, how do we worship on Trinity Sunday? We attend to the glory of God first and foremost. We sing the songs of God’s glory: “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty”, use the Trinity Sunday prayer in The United Methodist Hymnal (76), et al. But find ways to celebrate the God we worship with as much glory as we can muster.

Unity: the quality or state of not being multiple: ONENESS; first known use: 14th century
Trinity: The unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead; first known use: 13th century.
Trichotomy: division into three parts, elements or classes; first known use: 1610

What about man? As a "Child of God" are you a Unity? a Dichotomy? a Trichotomy? ... Think about it ... or not.