St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

A sermon preached by the Very Reverend Rowan Smith in the Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr on Trinity Sunday, 7 June 2009

"No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart who has made him known." John 1 v 18

It is almost audacious to dare to enter the pulpit and try to expound the mystery of this feast of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, so let me begin with a story. It is one told by Fr Anthony De Mills in one of his books, The Song of the Bird, and entitled "We are three. You are Three." (p.72)

"When the bishop's ship stopped at a remote island for a day, he determined to use the time as profitably as possible. He strolled along the seashore and came across three fisherman mending their nets. In pidgin English they explained to him that centuries before they had been Christianized by missionaries. "We Christians!" they said, proudly pointing to one another

The bishop was impressed. Did they know the Lord's Prayer? They had never heard of it. The bishop was shocked.

"What do you say, then, when you pray?"

"We lift eyes in heaven. We pray, 'We are three, you are three, have mercy on us.' The bishop was appalled at the primitive, the downright heretical nature of their prayer. So he spent the whole day teaching them the Lord's Prayer. The fisherman were poor learners, but they gave it all they had and before the bishop sailed away next day he had the satisfaction of hearing them go through the whole formula without fault.

Months later the bishop's ship happened to pass by those islands again and the bishop, as he paced the deck saying his evening prayers, recalled with pleasure the three men on that distant island who were now able to pray, thanks to his patient efforts. While he was lost in the thought he happened to look up and noticed a spot of light in the east.

The light kept approaching the ship and, as the bishop gazed in wonder, he saw three figures walking on the water. The captain stopped the boat and everyone leaned over the rails to see this sight.

When they were within speaking distance, the bishop recognised his three friends. "Bishop!" they exclaimed. "We hear your boat go past island and come hurry hurry meet you."

"What is it you want?" asked the awe-stricken bishop.

"Bishop," they said, "we so, so sorry. We forget lovely prayer. We say, Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come....' Then we forget. Please tell us prayer again."

The bishop felt humbled. "Go back to your homes, my friends." He said "and each time you pray, say, 'We are three, you are three, have mercy on us!'"

This story expands on something I read somewhere recently that the Trinity is not to be explained but to be experienced. To dare to explain who God is, is surely futile and it would be to be confronted by God who addresses Job and declares:

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" Job 38 v 16

Then God points to creation and confronts Job with all the majesty of our world and its vast galaxies. Incidentally, it was only in College that I discovered the origin of the oft quoted text of my grandmother, encouraging us that in God's time he would bring an end to apartheid, but it was really about the sea:

(God said) "Thus shall you come and no farther and here shall your proud waves be stopped." v 11

What our celebration of this feast seeks to do is to acknowledge the mystery of the Godhead revealed through the experience of the Church. It is not an attempt to define God but rather to preserve the corporate experience of the Church as we have encountered God in Jesus Christ. St John writes:

"No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the father's heart, who has made him known."

So rightly the Church brings to a close the liturgical expression of that revelation which starts in Advent and leads us to Pentecost. It is through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we come to know who God is and by the love that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts that we give expression to that relationship. It is thus more particularly when we open our hearts to God's love in prayer that we experience the power of that love which is ours in Christ Jesus or as we heard in the second lesson St John puts it:

"From the fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." 1 v 18

And how hard it is for us to accept that grace which is God's favour toward us, unearned and underserved. So many of us still want to live under the law, seeking to justify ourselves before God but in Jesus Christ, St Paul reminds us:

"There is therefore now no condemnation. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh, could not do ..." Romans 8 v 1

In one of his letters, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes of how he came to appreciate, when staying in a monastery in England, making the sign of the cross when he began to pray. He said, "in signing myself, I place myself at that moment consciously in the presence of God." Try it as you allow the Holy Spirit to fill you anew with that generous, transforming love of God.

"from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." v 16

The three fisherman prayed their simple prayer: "We are three, you are three, have mercy on us."

The celebration of God's revelation to us calls us not only into the mystery of the divine grace but also into community with God and one another. It was to reveal God's love for the world that

"... the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory." v 14

Through His life, death and resurrection of Our Lord revealed the Father's love for us and thus on the Cross, that work was completed and he could say triumphantly "tetelestai – it is accomplished." John 19 v 30

His life's purpose was fulfilled and so at Ascension we celebrate his triumph. But for us today, living in the power of the Holy Spirit, together with all God's people, we are to extend the experience of God's love for our wounded and broken world. As God's love is expressed in community, an image associated with the icon by Rublev, so also we cannot but accomplish God's purposes today except by living as neighbour to each other. That is how we are to be as Church, the place where we are welcomed, accepted and renewed and empowered for the sake of all God's people, for the sake of the world. Like the prophet Isaiah we too have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, may we who have received grace upon grace, say in answer to God's call:

"... Here am I, send me." Isaiah 6 v 8

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