Trinity Sunday, Year A | Genesis 1:1-2:4a
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
June 4, 2023
the Rev. Jonathan Hanneman
As far as I can remember today is the only Church feast dedicated to a theological concept rather than the celebration of either a saint or an event in the life of Christ. The idea of the Trinity—One God consisting of Three Persons—has been deeply significant throughout Church history. This was a hard-fought concept with wording hammered out among hundreds of bishops working through multiple Councils. The co-equality and complete Godhood of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit plays a major role in our understanding of not only the Bible and Christian tradition but of reality itself.
However, sometimes I worry that ideas like these make people a little bit afraid to come to God, to explore what God has laid out for us, or to feel adequate when they talk to or about God. When one of our foundational doctrines is something literally no one can understand, I wonder if it doesn’t sometimes make us feel too small or dumb or unimportant to attempt any sort of relationship with God outside of these pews.
It's the same with that first Creation story we read this morning. The opening words, “In the beginning,” seem like they should be read only by someone with incredible vocal gravitas—like Morgan Freeman or Liam Neeson or James Earl Jones—a movie-style narration that echoes with dignity and power, something worthy of this magnificent Creator God, a being beyond imagination, beyond comprehension and before whom even language fails.
And then we look at a modern understanding of the world, and it just doesn’t fit. Scientific observation has shown us a very different sort of beginning for our planet, and it can often feel like we either have to chose between “believing” God or trusting the evidence in front of our own faces. The modern rivalry of science and religion has been raging for more than 150 years, a contest of faith versus hard facts. Within the Church we end up with factions, too, with one side feeling defensive that others might think they’re gullible and ignorant and the other worrying if they aren’t disbelieving and unfaithful—one of Paul’s “weak” believers who can’t quite commit to fully trusting God.
It’s frustrating, really, how easily we fall prey to those kinds of traps, the little things that cause us to question or distrust or denigrate one another. We turn everything into some sort of argument, building up defensive barriers of proof for why our side is right while lobbing bombs we hope show others how totally wrong they are. Rather than spreading the light of the Gospel and the love of God, we end up showing the rest of the world just how sinful and petty human beings can be.
But what if we could step back for a moment? What if we could turn our ego and pride their heads? What if, instead of approaching the Bible from an aspect of dominance or intellectualism—as a way to paste divine authority onto what we already want to think—we could take a look at it through a more playful lens?
*****
Way back when, before most anything came to be, God decided to fashion the Heavenly and Earthly Realms. The Earth was all instability and chaos. Hidden within the deepest Darkness, God’s Breath ruffled Water’s face. Then God said, “There should be light.” And pop! There Light was! And God liked seeing Light. In that way, God made a distinction between Light and Darkness. Then God said to Light, “I’m calling you, ‘Day.’” And God said to Darkness, “I’ll call you, ‘Night.’” And that was evening and morning, Day One.
Then God said, “There should a space over Water—something to distinguish Water from Water.” So God made Atmosphere, with Water below and Water above, and pop! There it was! Then God said to Atmosphere, “I’m calling you, “Sky.” And that was evening and morning, Day Two.
Once again God spoke and said, “Water below Sky, you should gather together so Dry Land can appear.” And pop! There it was!” Then God told Dry Land, “Your name is Earth.” And to the gathered Water God said, “I’ll call you, ‘Sea.’” And God liked what they saw. God said, “Earth should turn green with Grass, and Plant should grow Seed, and Fruit Tree should make their own kind of fruit with Seed hidden inside!” And pop! there it all was! Earth pushed out Grass, and Plant grew Seed, and Fruit Tree made its own kind of fruit with Seed still hidden inside. And God liked what they saw. And that was evening and morning, Day Three!
Again God said, “Lights should live in Sky, marking a distinction between Day and Night and making signs for important events and to count days and years.” And pop! There they were: lights appearing in Sky to shine down on Earth. And God made two giant lights. The brighter one settled in Day, and the dimmer one, along with Stars, settled in Night. God put them in Sky to shine light on Earth and to manage Day and Night and to distinguish between Light and Darkness. And God liked what they saw. And that was evening and morning, Day Four.
Later God said, “Living things should swarm in Water, and Bird should fly above Earth near Sky’s face.” So God made giant monsters and everything else that swarms in Water and Bird with their wings. And God liked what they saw. So God blessed them saying, “Make babies! Become abundant! Fill up all the water in Sea! And Bird, you become abundant across Earth!” And that was evening and morning, Day Five.
Then God said, “Earth should produce living beings: Beast and Animal and all kinds of creepy crawlies across the land!” And God liked what they saw. And God said, “We should make a person in our image, something just like us. They should manage Fish in Sea and Bird in Sky and Beast on Earth and all the creepy crawlies across the land!” So God fashioned a person in God’s own image, someone just like them. God fashioned them just like gods—masculine and feminine. Then God told them, “Make babies! Become abundant! Cover Earth, tending to her! Manage Fish in Sea and Bird in Sky and Beast roaming Earth.” God added, “I’m giving you Plant, who spread Seed all across the land, and everything Fruit Tree produced—it’s all food for everyone down to each Animal on Earth and Bird in Sky and creepy crawlies across the land. Green plants and food for every living being!” Then God took a look at everything they had done, and—goodness gracious!—they really liked it. And that was evening and morning, Day Six.
So the Heavenly and Earthly Realms were completed, along with everyone occupying them. And God tied up everything they had been doing on Day Seven and on Day Seven took a break from everything they had been doing. And God blessed Day Seven and made them distinct because God took a break from all the work and fashioning they had been doing.
And that is how the Heavenly and Earthly Realms came to be!
*****
What was that like for you—hearing the Creation Story as an actual story? What stood out? Did you catch any new details, like how it’s a play into two parts—God building the sets over the first three days and then adding characters to each one in order? Could you feel how connected we are to the world around us? What about how involved and interested God was—and is? That’s the kind of delight and wonder and joy and playfulness God offers—right at the Bible’s beginning! What might we find if we could approach the rest of it the same way? What would it look like if we stopped considering the Trinity as a stuffy doctrine or some sort of infinitely unfathomable other or something we’re just supposed to believe and instead saw them as they present themself from the start, playing in a sandbox, getting muddy, digging holes and building castles?
God is not other to us. God is inside us and around us and involved with us as we make our way throughout our lives. God established life as play and approaches the world with innocence and wonder. What would it be like for us to read the Bible or think about doctrines in the same way? What if we could remember how to encounter one another with joy and fascination? God built the universe on freedom and delight. And while that doesn’t necessarily rescue from the daily tasks and troubles that so often drain our time and energy, God is still offering us the opportunity to join in the fun of building and exploring their continually fresh and unfolding world.