Worship @ Home - Trinity Sunday 7 June

 

Good morning and welcome!

 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

be with you.

 

Today as a church we celebrate Trinity Sunday. Let’s begin by reading from Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah’s words give us a glimpse into the glory of God and remind us that He sees into the heart of every situation in a way that we never can and in ways that we are not equipped to appreciate.  Yes, He is unfathomable, Yes, He is mysterious.  And so, the more we learn to exalt the greatness of our God, the more we will learn to appreciate our smallness and our need for Him 

 

 

This is Isaiah 40 verses 12 – 17, 28 - 31:

 

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

    or weighed the mountains on the scales

    and the hills in a balance?

13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?

14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,

    and who taught him the right way?

Who was it that taught him knowledge,

    or showed him the path of understanding?

 

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

    they are regarded as dust on the scales;

    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,

    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;

    they are regarded by him as worthless

    and less than nothing.

 

28 Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

 

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God

 

Our God is the ever-giving God.  Giving strength to surmount the problem, to run the race and best of all, to walk the path and not be faint.  So, let us pray (using these words written by John Birch):

 

Glorious Trinity
Make your presence known to us today
through our worship
through our prayer
through the reading of your Word.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit
within whose unity lies all that is you
perfect love
justice, peace
and power

As we gather today, your body, your church
throughout this world
fill our outstretched hearts with your spirit
encircle us with your love

Make yourself known to us
in new ways
exciting ways
challenging ways

Empower us
Inspire us
Glorious Trinity. Amen

 

Let us praise God the Creator,

who is filled with glory and power—with holiness and splendour;

 

Let us worship God the Saviour,

who is filled with love and compassion—with justice and peace;

 

Let us experience God the Spirit,

who fills us with faith and joy—with love and eternal life.

 

Let us praise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Listen to, read or sing this great hymn by Reginald Heber.  https://youtu.be/fH6tbslLEaE

Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

 

Holy, holy, holy!  All the saints adore thee,

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea, Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,

Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

 

Let us pray

 

God of love,

we come in faith,

trusting in your word,

rejoicing in your gift of life,

now and for all eternity.

But we come also yearning to know you better,

to understand more and to fathom deeper mysteries.

Move among us now, through Your Spirit,

bringing new life to birth.

Open our hearts to all you would say and do,

in us and through us today.

This we pray, in Jesus Christ’s name. 

Amen

 

 

And let’s remain in prayer as we come to our time of confession, a time for saying sorry to God and to one another. You may want to use this verse from the Gospel of John as a focus for your thoughts and for a moment of silent reflection. Read the verse through.  Think about what it means and what it says to you.

 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

[John 3: 16]

 

This next prayer is based upon the words of Psalm 8.

 

Great God of all creation, who are we that you are mindful of us? 

You who set the stars in motion, who launched waves crashing against the shore, who knows the heights and depths of the world; Why do you bother with us?

You count the hairs on our heads and call us each by name.

You give us your wisdom and you uphold us by your Spirit.

You tend to us and care for us, and we do not understand why?

We cannot grasp your love for us, O God, for it is unlike us to be that loving and forgiving. We become enmeshed by our own needs and wants and desires

and we fail to see beyond anything but our own little circles.

Turn us around, O God.

Help us to see as you see, and to reach out as you reach out.

Remind us once again of the sacredness of our ordinary, day-to-day lives.

 

St Paul says: ‘Be imitators of God; love as Christ loved; do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

put away all anger and bitterness, all slander and malice.’  So, let us confess our sins to God, who forgives us in Christ.

Father, you come to meet us when we return to you:

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

 

Jesus, you died on the cross for our sins:

Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Spirit, you give us life and peace:

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

 

May the Father forgive us

by the death of his Son

and strengthen us

to live in the power of the Spirit

all our days. Amen.

 

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

How much does God love us?  Enough to send the divine heart, hope, and spirit to us,

not to condemn us, but to save us. Not by our speaking or doing, but by God's good and precious grace are we saved. Thanks be to God! Amen.

 

Read, listen to and sing this wonderful hymn of praise by Walter Chalmers Smith https://youtu.be/pfu1dqKCGd8

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,

Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,

Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

 

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,

Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;

Thy justice like mountains high soaring above

Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;

In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.

 

Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light

Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;

All laud we would render, O help us to see:

’Tis only the splendour of light hideth Thee.

 

Let us pray the Collect for Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God,

you have given us your servants grace,

by the confession of a true faith,

to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity

and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:

keep us steadfast in this faith,

that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Please now read this passage from Matthew’s Gospel.  It is worth reading the passage through very slowly and carefully, maybe pausing at the end of each sentence to reflect on what is being said.  Read it through a couple of times before reading the reflection that has been written for us by John Witherington.

 

Matthew 28:16-20 New International Version (NIV)

 

The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

 

REFLECTION written by John Witherington

“I can’t breathe.”  Those desperate last words first became a political slogan in 2014 after the death of Eric Garner.  Now, after the death of George Floyd in similar circumstances, they have become once again a rallying cry for a divided nation and beyond.  The news is grim at the moment:  riots and looting, demonstrations, mass unemployment, economic hardship and exposed inequalities.  No longer do all cooperate against a common enemy; political consensus is breaking down.  Amid the fear, anger and frustration of so many, we can readily identify ourselves with those who experience a heavy weight upon them and say “I can’t breathe.”

 

This is the real-world context in which we find ourselves looking at these last five verses of Matthew’s Gospel.  Is reflecting on the Trinity -for 17 centuries the most debated Christian doctrine- simply a luxury or even escapism?  A brief retreat from the ugly realities of life to give us a glimpse of the divine?  Or can we find in the gloom and despair beacons of light and hope?  I wonder if you noticed in the passage the frequent appearance of the word ‘all’:  all authority, all nations, all the commands and all the days (translated as ‘always’).  All four point us to the work of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; God is our rock in these stormy seas.

 

On that Galilean mountain, the eleven disciples see Jesus.  Amid their worship there is doubt and hesitation, perhaps fuelled by guilt, unanswered questions and fear of the future.  And in response to their emotional turmoil, Jesus comes to them.  I love that.  It’s a telling touch.  Worship and doubt are compatible and wherever there is doubt, guilt or fear, Jesus comes, not in rebuke but in reassurance. 

 

He reassures them first that the Father has given him all authority in heaven and on earth.  This is not only a statement of who he is but also what his death on the cross has achieved; he is the crucified and risen Son, crowned with all authority of the Father; he is King of kings, Lord of lords.  ‘The nations are his inheritance, the ends of the earth his possession’, as Psalm 2 (v.8) prophesies.  In Jesus’ words there is surely great comfort in knowing that heaven and earth are in his hands, that he is in control.  Whatever may befall us, however gloomy the outlook, the one who loves us enough to die for us is still fulfilling his ultimate purpose.  Our God reigns!  “Ends of the earth, see the salvation of your God, Jesus is Lord”, as Leonard Smith’s song goes.

 

Following ‘all authority’ is Jesus’ commission to the eleven to make disciples of all nations.  God our Saviour “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”, as Paul puts it to Timothy (1:2:4).  No one is beyond the reach of the Father’s saving love in Jesus.  Discipling others means going, as Jesus came to those disciples, in love and not rebuke; it means leading them to be baptised into that Trinity fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and it means living lives which reflect, in our mutual relationships, the relations in God, engaging with all three persons of the Trinity.  “The language of Trinity …is not that of observation but participation.” ^[1] 

 

In times of crisis, we are reminded of the urgency to reach out with the good news of Jesus to all nations, beginning in our own community, especially when so many people unfamiliar with church or new to Christianity, are ‘attending’ virtual services.  They seek solace in bereavement, friendship in loneliness and security as their former certainties begin to crumble.  How the world needs discipling, to hear the Trinity message of light and hope in dark and difficult times, and to respond in obedience to the call of all Christ’s commandments.

 

The world into which Jesus was sending his disciples and their successors also knew its fair share of violence, plagues, famines, natural disasters and, later, the erosion of justice and good order.  But Jesus promises them his presence for all the days to the very end of the age.  Indeed they could do nothing without him.  The Holy Spirit filled those first believers.  He taught them all things, reminded them, guided and strengthened them, gave them words for their prayers and inspired them to live and work in the likeness of Christ to the Father’s glory.  Jesus never leaves us.  The Holy Spirit is at his same work in us today as we his disciples take the Kingdom of God into our troubled world so that everyone in it can praise God and say “I can breathe”.