Loving God of the heavens, the earth and all places, be with this dear reader today in all that they may need; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text today comes from Matthew 28: 16 Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. 17 The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally. 18 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: 19 Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 20 Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." (The Message)
St. Augustine was an early Church Father and wrote much of what is the foundational theology for the Church today. There is a story about him that one day he was walking along the beach comtemplating the mystery of the Trinity. It may have been the Monday before Trinity Sunday and he had a sermon to write! But as he walked along the beach he saw a little boy who had dug a hole in the sand and was going again and again to the ocean to fill his bucket and then dump the water into the hole. St. Augustine asked him, "What are you doing?" The little boy replied, "I am going to pour the entire ocean into this hole!" "That is impossible, the whole ocean will not fit into that hole you have made," said St. Augustine to the child. The boy replied, "Neither can you fit the Trinity in your tiny, little brain." The story concludes by saying that the little boy vanished as St. Augustine had been talking to an angel.
The disciples are told to go and do their work and among all that was expected of them, they were to baptize new believers into the new way of life in the name of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday when the church is asked to remember that ours is a God in Three Persons, yet one God. Yes, it is a mystery and our trying to make sense of it is like the task of that little boy to fill the small hole in the sand with the entire ocean. What we seek to do is to affirm our faith in a God who has made Himself know in these three ways: Creator. Redeemer. Sustainer. The work of God first was to create all things. The work of God through His Son, Jesus, was to redeem and save all people. And the work of the Holy Spirit was to be He who works and walks among us holding us and helping us when we need it most. You and I have seen the work of God in these three ways. Go for a walk today and look around. Listen. See if you can't come back and tell me you did not see the work of a Creator God in your midst? Then tell me about your faith. Have you not at one point or another had a heart-warming experience of faith when you invited Jesus in as your Lord and Savior? Then you have had an experience with our Redeemer. What about your prayer life? Have you not been facing some of what seemed like the most difficult things in all of creation when you understood that your prayers were being answered and you were being held in a warm embrace by Someone? That someone was the Holy Spirit. Re-read Romans 8, especially the part of interpretation the Holy Spirit does when we feel we can no longer pray.
The song we sing, "What a Mighty God We Serve," tells it all. Don't try to explain the Trinity, try to experience God.
PRAYER: Loving and awesome God, fill my heart with Your love. Fill my brain with faith. Fill my life with You. Let me experience You in all things. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
