Joining The Trinity page 1

You'll note we have two readings from the pen of John this morning: 1 John 1:1-4 and John 20:19-29. And there is a story told about John the Evangelist:

[I]n the evening of his long life, he would sit for hours with his younger disciples gathered at his feet. One day, as it is related in this established tradition, one of his disciples complained:

"John, you always talk about love, about God's love for us and about our love for one another. Why don't you tell us about something else besides love?"

The disciples who once as a youth, had laid his head over the heart of God made man, is said to have replied: "Because there is nothing else, just love ... love ... love."
[John Powell, Why Am I Afraid To Love?, p119f.]

Love. It's as simple as that. That is our simple theme this week as we continue to think about the Trinity. I hope you find that reassuring after the last sermon in the series, which was always going to be the most complicated. Those of you who liked it spoke to me, and those of you who found it too dry spoke to Melvyn!

But love is the abiding theme that flows from the doctrine of the Trinity, and that's what we're going to explore today. We said at the beginning of the series that God is love and has always been love. Whatever language we use to describe the relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (and we looked at some of that last time) it remains that the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father; the Father loves the Spirit and the Spirit loves the Father; the Son loves the Spirit and the Spirit loves the Son.

Now God who is love, reaches out in love to his creation. God invites us into a relationship of love with him.

Now we are used to this idea as Christians. We speak of this 'personal relationship'. But the doctrine of the Trinity invites us to see it in a more whole way than we often do. Frequently we just speak of a 'personal relationship with Jesus Christ'. But since God the Trinity is love, we are actually being invited into a relationship with the Father and the Spirit as well as with the Son.

In fact we become 'co-lovers with God', according to Darrell Johnson's book that is the inspiration for this series. And I want to explore that in three areas: we are co-lovers with God of God; we are co-lovers with God of each other; and we are co-lovers with God of the world.

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Copyright © David D Faulkner, 2006 except where other sources are attributed or noted as inspiration.