The Weekly Perspective
by Joe Thacker, Pastor
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and since it follows Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Apostles for the sake of the world, we might have a tendency to think that before Pentecost the Trinity was somehow incomplete. But that’s not the mindset we should have. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were complete in eternity, each fully God and each fully their own person.
Trinity Sunday is a day to reflect upon and consider the fullness of God’s work, and it acts as a summation of the past liturgical year before we enter into what is known as “Ordinary Time.” Until the beginning of Advent, we will mark time as Sundays after Pentecost, denoting the mission of the church to go to all the nations empowered by the Holy Spirit. This season can also be denoted as “Sundays of/after Trinity,” which is a more recent development, but emphasizes the whole of salvation as encompassed in the Triune God, even as is the focus of today. We alternate between these designations year after year.
The Gospel for this Sunday is taken from John 3, where we find that the salvation of men and the redemption of the world is not only accomplished by Jesus, but also by God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, each having their distinct roles. Maybe that’s an obvious statement, but it also helps us not to lose sight of the Trinitarian nature of salvation, and further directs us to the Trinitarian life to which we we’re called as the church in a faithful response to what God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have promised and done.