Divine Mystery and Justice

Above:  Icon of the Holy Trinity

Image in the Public Domain

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For Trinity Sunday, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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Almighty God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and giver of the Holy Spirit.

Keep us, we pray thee, steadfast before the great mystery of thy being,

and in faith which acknowledges thee to be the one eternal God.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 124

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Isaiah 61:1-7

Romans 11:33-36

Matthew 3:13-17

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In the spirit of Romans 11:33-36 I refrain from attempting to make logical sense of the Holy Trinity.  No, I am content to revel in the mystery of it.  Besides, even a cursory study of Trinity-related heresies, from Adoptionism to Arianism, reveals that they come from attempts to explain the Trinity.  The theology of the Trinity seems to have more to do with the objective nature of God anyway.

The better question is, how should we live sound Trinitarian theology?  A partial answer comes from Isaiah 61, channeled through Jesus, who quoted it at Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19).  The Incarnation adds an element otherwise missing from Isaiah 61:1-9.  The passage, fulfilled in Jesus long ago, remains part of the collective calling of the people of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Isaiah 61, from the time of the return from the Babylonian Exile, continues to speak in contemporary times, and to have different shades of meaning than it did then.  God still loves and demands justice.

Attempting to understand the mystery of the Trinity may be easier than acting justly sometimes.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 1, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF DOUGLAS LETELL RIGHTS, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF EDWARD TIMOTHY MICKEY, JR., U.S. MORAVIAN BISHOP AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF PETER MORTIMER, ANGLO-GERMAN MORAVIAN EDUCATOR, MUSICIAN, AND SCHOLAR; AND GOTTFRIED THEODOR ERXLEBEN, GERMAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND MUSICOLOGIST

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