27 May 2007

Trinity Sunday 2005

02/06/07 23:05

Trinity Sunday – May 22, 2005

How to Invest Spiritually

I heard a story recently about a missionary priest who traveled to Japan to convert the natives to Christianity back in the 19th century. He was trying to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity, that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To explain God as Father, he of course use the image of a father. And to explain God the Son, he obviously used the imagery of a son. But for the Spirit, that was more difficult, so he used the image of a bird – of the dove descending on Jesus at his baptism. One of the Japanese men who was listening finally said to the missionary priest, “Father, I understand when you talk about the Honorable Father. And I understand when you talk about the Honorable Son. But you really confuse me when you talk about Honorable Big Bird!”

Understanding God, understanding the Holy Trinity, understanding especially this idea of the Holy Spirit – can be a real challenge. Last week, we celebrated the feast of the Spirit, the feast of Pentecost – and there is a tendency to think of the Spirit as simply a cosmic force – like “the Force” in the new Star Wars movie that just came out on Wednesday. The Spirit is much more than just “the Force.” The Spirit is the very life and presence of God that surrounds us, like the air we breathe, and that fills us. It is God’s love and God’s presence with us always – God in us who is guiding us, instructing us, speaking to us, changing and transforming and converting us, from the inside out.

Understanding the Trinity is even more difficult, and ultimately, it is really a great mystery. How can God be one, yet also three distinct and separate “persons” at the same time? But the best way to understand the Trinity is in terms of one simple word: RELATIONSHIP. Everyone, repeat that word after me: RELATIONSHIP.

All of us understand relationships, because all of us are in them – husbands and wives, parents and children, co-workers and friends and neighbors. Think of God as a cosmic family of three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – connected so tightly together by the power and the bonds of love that they are one, almost like husband and wife become united as one flesh in marriage. But that relationship and that power of love within God, which glues together the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is so powerful that it extends beyond itself and produces fruit, just as the love of a husband and wife extends beyond itself and produces the fruit of a family, of children. God’s love produces us. We are God’s children! That’s why our gospel reading today begins, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…”

Today, if you will look with me on your homily notes. It says, “How to Invest Spiritually.” If God loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us, God also wants us to love Him back and to reciprocate in that relationship. Now today, we are going to look at five ways to invest in relationships – our relationship with God, our relationship with other people, even our relationship with ourselves. We are going to use some imagery from the banking world. There is a saying: “You can’t take it with you.” And that is true. When we die, we can’t take our TV or our car or our stereo, or our CD collection or our clothes with us. However, we can send things on ahead. We can invest in God’s eternal and heavenly bank, so that when we die, we already have accumulated some wealth in heaven. And today, we are going to look at five ways to do that.

Let’s begin by reading together the first verse on your homily notes: Tell people to use their riches to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven--it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well. -- 1 Timothy 6:18-19 (Living)

Notice that Saint Paul is urging us here to invest in eternity –to store up treasure in heaven. It is the only save investment – everything else will pass away. Now we’re going to begin by looking quickly at five very simple basic beginning principles:

1. Principle 1 – Use riches and love people, not vice versa. Lots of people love riches and just use other people selfishly so they can get richer and richer for themselves. But God says, “Love people and use riches to show that love.”
2. Principle 2 builds on the first: Riches are a tool, an instrument only – not the final goal or the end.
3. Principle 3: When we are generous, we receive back more than we give. God is generous. He gives us everything we have. Our gospel tells us he even sacrificed his only Son on the cross. And God wants us to imitate him by also showing generosity to others: “Like father, like son.” And to teach us how to be generous, God has built into the system that when we are generous, when we do imitate Him, we get back more than we gave in the first place. In other words, God blesses us when we are generous.
4. The final principle – and this comes from the banking world: Diversify! We’ve all heard that before – the saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Banks tell you to diversity – invest a little in gold, a little in stocks, some in a Roth IRA, some in a mutual fund. We’re going to see that the same applies spiritually – that God wants us to diversity our spiritual investments.

On your homily notes are five boxes – and each box contains one of the five main purposes that God has for each of our lives. You might want to take these homily notes home and save them, re-read them, teach them to someone else – because they provide a good summary of what God wants for each and every one of us in our lives. In fact, our five mini-retreats are based on these five life purposes that God has for each of us. Each mini-retreat focuses on these five foundational purposes, which are:

1. Love God.
2. Love and become an active part of God’s family.
3. Grow spiritually.
4. Serve.
5. Fulfill your life mission by becoming a witness and a missionary for Jesus, sharing the good news of Christ with others.

Today, we are going to look at those five purposes, and how God invites us to invest in each of them so that we are investing in heavenly riches and making deposits in heaven in God’s heavenly bank.

Purpose No. 1: We were made to LOVE GOD. We show that love by worshiping God, praising him, and that’s why we come to church each weekend, so that we can worship God and show Him how much we love him. That means God wants us to invest in his TREASURY FUND – God wants us to invest in worship, which means investing in church.

This is the one spiritual investment that all of us knows about. Put simply, it is this: Support your church. The
other four investments probably are going to be new to most of you – but not this one.

Jesus commands us, and please read this along with me: Honor the Lord by giving him the LAST PART OF ALL YOUR
INCOME Did I read that wrong? Let’s try again: Honor the Lord by giving him the LEFTOVERS of all your income. Oops!
Did I mess up again? Let’s try it one last time: Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income. – Proverbs 3:9
(LB)

Why does God give us this commandment? It’s not because God needs our money, or our time or our talents.
All those things come from him in the first place. But the Bible tells us why:

• For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6:21
• The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives. -- Deuteronomy 14:23

God wants to be first in our lives. God wants us to show we love him, and this is the most concrete way we can show God that He is No. 1 in our lives. They say that if you want to know a person’s real priorities in life, just look in two places – in their calendar book (how they use their time) and in their bank book (how they use their money). God wants our hearts!

So how do we invest in God’s treasury fund? The next verse in your notes tells us how, in three easy steps: On every Lord's Day – that’s every Sunday, 52 weeks a year, not just on occasion when you go to Mass, but even when you miss and even when you are on vacation -- each of you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for this offering – that means we should plan, not just pull out what happens to be in our purse or wallet at the moment, but plan and put aside something, plan what we can realistically afford and be faithful to that promise -- The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn. – 1 Corinthians 16:2 (LB) – in other words, it is NOT about the amount, it is about the heart. Are you giving to God at the best of your ability? Are you sacrificing to show that you love Him? He is No. 1 in charge of your finances? If you make very little in a week, you give very little. If you make a lot, you should give a lot. God wants us to love him – that’s the first and primary purpose God has for our lives – and we show that love by investing in God’s treasury fund.

The second purpose that God has for us in our lives: We were made to participate in God’s family. That means that God wants us to invest some of our riches in his MUTUAL FUND. And this fund is not just about money – it’s about how we use our time and talent. Our second reading today tells us to love one another and treat one another with honor and respect. Investing in God’s mutual fund means we help one another out, because we are a family. We smile. We shake one another’s hands. We introduce ourselves. We welcome someone who is visiting our church for the first time. We prepare a meal for a neighbor who is sick. We baby sit the kids for our brother or sister or friend or neighbor, so they can have a night out. We give someone a ride to the doctor or to the hospital or to church on Sunday. That’s investing in God’s mutual fund – and participating in God’s family. The Bible tells us:

• Love one another with mutual affection. – Romans 12:10 (RSV)
• Share what you have with God’s people who are in need. Show hospitality. -- Romans 12:13 (GW)
• Think of ways to encourage one another with outbursts of love and good deeds. – Hebrews 10:24 (NLT)

God’s third purpose for our life is this: We were made to become like Christ, to imitate God. That means that God wants us to grow. God wants us to mature. God wants us to love Him, and he wants us to love our brothers and sisters who are in the family of God – but God also wants us to love ourselves. Unless we love ourselves, we can never really love anyone else! So we should invest in what I will call God’s GROWTH FUND.

Lots of people invest in themselves, but in wrong ways. They invest in their comfort – a vacation, a new car, a big screen TV, clothes, jewelry, makeup, a new toy or gadget. God wants us to invest not in our comfort – which we can’t take to heaven with us – but in our character, which we will take into eternity with us – what kind of person am I? What are my values? What are my convictions? Investing in the growth fund means I invest in my spiritual growth – attending a retreat or workshop or conference, buying and reading some spiritual books, listening to uplifting music, educating myself. The Bible tells us:
• Grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 3:18
• The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin. -- Proverbs 23:23
• It is better – much better – to have wisdom and knowledge than gold and silver. – Proverbs 16:16
• Why spend your money on food that does not give strength… and does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul! – Isaiah 55:2

God’s fourth purpose for our live is this: We were made to serve God. That means we must invest in the SERVICE FUND by using our gifts – our riches, our time, our talents – to serve others, especially the poor and needy. God does not want us to simply take up space on this earth, like spiritual couch potatoes. God does not want us to be selfish little clods – spectators who just sit and squander the gifts that God has given to us.

What happens if we pile a bunch of fertilizer in our back yard, piling it up into a big mound? Right! It starts to stink. But if we spread the fertilizer around, it causes the grass to grow! In the same way, if we hoard the gifts God has given us, we start to stink, spiritually. But if we use those gifts and spread them around, our lives become fruitful and we start to produce an abundant harvest. And God especially wants us to serve the downtrodden, the hurting, the suffering, the poor and oppressed. Listen to what God’s Word tells us:
• The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. – Proverbs 11:24
• The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. – Proverbs 11:25
• When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord, and the Lord will pay you back. – Proverbs 19:17
• We must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ – Acts 20:35

God’s final purpose for our lives is this: We were made to share the good news of Jesus with others. In other words, we are called to be missionaries and witnesses and evangelizers for Jesus in the world. We are called to become enthusiastic and contagious Christians.

If I suddenly discovered the cure for cancer or AIDS, how many here think that I should share that secret? If I didn’t, I would be an extremely selfish person. Right? In the same way, God has entrusted us with the very secret of eternal life, and the very secret of a fulfilled and joyful life here on this earth – and that secret is a living relationship with Jesus Christ! Ought we not share that good news with others – with our children, our spouses, our family members, our co-workers. And shouldn’t we also seek to spread the gospel not just to our family, not just to those who live here in Coachella, not just to our own ethnic group – but to all parts of the world. So lastly, we are to invest in the GLOBAL FUND. In the Bible, God tells us: The Lord said ‘…I’m setting you up as a light for the nations so that my salvation becomes global!’ – Isaiah 49:6

That’s why we at this church give away 10 percent of our collection every week to help spread the good news of Jesus somewhere in the world – helping missionaries in Africa, Asia and Latin America; giving relief assistance when there is an earthquake or tsunami; reaching out to the poor and hurting even right here, in our own back yards. That’s why we encourage the members of our church to read the newspapers, listen to the news on the radio or watch it on TV, become informed of events in our world – so that we can have an impact and become global Christians and help spread the Good News of Jesus to all the corners of our world.

So Purpose No. 1: We are called to love God – and so we are asked to invest in God’s Treasury Fund.
Purpose No. 2: We are called to be part of God’s family, and so we are asked to invest in God’s Mutual Fund.
Purpose No. 3: We are called to imitate God, to mature and grow spiritually by investing in the Growth Fund.
Purpose No. 4: We are called to serve, especially the poor and hurting – by investing in God’s Service Fund.
Finally, Purpose No. 5: We are called to be witnesses of the Good News of Jesus and to spread the gospel to all the corners of the world – which means we are called to invest in God’s Global Fund.

Look at the last few verses on your handout:

"Don't store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen. Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value and are safe from thieves. If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there too. – Matthew 6:19-20-21 (Living)

Lord… don’t let me become too poor or too rich. Give me just what I need. For if I have too much, I might forget about you; and if I don’t have enough, I might steal and disgrace your name. – Proverbs 30:7-9 (Prayer of Agur)
This is God’s principle of balance – God never loves suffering and poverty, and in fact, wants us to wage war to destroy it. But God also doesn’t want us to become so consumed by our wealth, or for the pursuit of wealth, that wealth becomes our god and we forget to serve the one true God.

If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done. – Ecclesiastes 11:4 (Living)
Now is the time to be generous, not tomorrow. Now is the time to put into practice the five purposes that God has for us in our lives. Now is the time to begin investing in eternity and in God’s special funds: the Treasury Fund, the Mutual Fund, the Growth Fund, the Service Fund and the Global Fund.

God gives seed to the farmer to plant. He will also give you ‘seed’ and multiply what you generously plant. In your lives he will increase the things you do that have his approval. - 2 Corinthians 9:10
When we are faithful, when we are generous, when we seek to imitate God our Father in His lavish generosity, then God promises us that our lives will be fruitful, that our lives will produce an abundant harvest in us and through us.

I now want to show a short video of how we as a church have been investing our treasure in the last year. [Show video]

[At end of video, explain that these “investments” cost money. Invite parishioners to contribute to the church Treasury Fund in a more faithful manner, or in a special way that has been determined previously by the parish. In our parish, we launched the 500 Club – a drive to get 500 families to donate $100 each as a one-time special donation to help the parish pay off its bills and begin the new fiscal year on a sound financial footing]

Trinity Sunday 2006

02/06/07 23:03

Trinity Sunday 2006

Opening Story

Little girl in kindergarten, drawing. Teacher asks, “What are you drawing?” Girl responds, “I’m drawing God.” Teacher says, “That’s impossible. Nobody knows what God looks like.” Responds the little girl, “Don’t worry, teacher. In a few moments, they will!”

Message

Does anyone know what God looks like? Can we draw God?

In the incarnation, in Jesus Christ, we Christians believe that Jesus helps us see the invisible God. But in many ways, God remains mysterious. Today, the feast of the Trinity, some priests shy away from preaching on the Trinity because it is so difficult. They hope that Trinity Sunday coincides with another holiday – say, Father’s Day – so they can evade the topic!

But while I can’t promise you a way to understand the mystery of the Trinity, Trinity Sunday does offer us an opportunity to deepen our understanding and knowledge of God – and that is a positive and good step! How many here love God? How many want to know God better? Then this is a great Sunday for you, because that is exactly what we are going to do.

On your handout, it says, “True God or False Gods?” As Christians, we need to know if the God whom we follow is the true God, because there are lots of counterfeit gods out there to lure us away.

First, let’s look at some ways others in the past have tried to understand the Trinity.

• Shamrock. Saint Patrick and the Irish.
• Apple. Skin, fruit, core.
• H 2 O – water. Gas, liquid, solid (ice).
• Three Musketeers bar – left on car of priest. “Happy Trinity Day!”
• Family. Dad, mom, child. God is a family.
• Other examples: Sun – rays, orb, heat.
• Lover, beloved, love.

None is completely adequate because God is a mystery.

• Isaiah 55:8 – “My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways.”
• Story of St. Augustine and child on beach. Augustine had been preoccupied with trying to understand the mystery of the Trinity and was walking along the beach, thinking about this, when he encountered a little girl with a cup, trying to fill a hole in the sand with water from the sea. St. Augustine asks child what she is doing and she replies, “I am trying to put all the water from the ocean into this hole.” Augustine asked, “How do you think you can fit this immense ocean into this tiny hole, and especially with only that tiny cup?” The girl responded, “And how do you suppose that with your small head, you can comprehend the immensity of God.” Then the child vanished.

Beware of two extremes:

1. Becoming puffed up with self importance and knowledge, thinking we can comprehend God, thinking that we are God. All of us do this at times – we want to be in control of our destiny and play God, instead of letting God be in control.
• Joke: Four people on a plane – pilot, scientist, boy scout and priest. Engine trouble. Only three parachutes. Pilot grabs one, says “I have a wife and kids, I can’t die!” and takes one of the parachutes and jumps. Scientist says, “I’m the smartest man in the world. I can’t die – what would the world do without me?” and grabs a 2nd parachute and jumps. The priest says to the boy, “Don’t worry. You’re young, a future ahead of you, and I am old – you take the last parachute and save yourself!” But the boy scout replies, “Father, don’t worry. The smartest man in the world just jumped out of the plane with my backpack.” Don’t be a spiritual smarty pants!

2. Second extreme: Apathy. Some people just don’t care about God. They never ponder their future, or the meaning of life. They just live and exist for the moment, Maybe they’ll get around to studying the deeper questions of life later, when they are older.
a. Little boy, very timid, in 2nd grade, learning the computer. But no luck. Teacher says, “You need to tell the computer your name.” She of course wanted the boy to type in his name and password onto the keyboard so he could start using the computer. But she came back a short time later and saw the boy still struggling with the computer. He was whispering to it in a soft voice, “My name is David. My name is David.” Be bold. Be courageous. Don’t cave in to fear or apathy or sloth.

3. Both extremes are bad. Read with me James 4:8: “Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.” We take a first step, and God will take 10 additional steps towards us – because God loves us!

Let’s also look at two mistakes people make about the Trinity.

1. First, some say belief in the Trinity means we Christians really believe in 3 Gods, not one. That’s why Jews and Muslims reject the doctrine of the Trinity – they believe in one God, not three. The Jehovah’s Witnesses do the same – they believe in one God, Jehovah, so they deny that Jesus or the Holy Spirit is God. They say the 4th century Christian bishops invented the doctrine of the Trinity.

• True, the word “Trinity” is NOT used in the Bible.
• True, the 4th century bishops developed the Creed, which we recite every Sunday, which proclaims our belief in the Trinity – “We believe in God the Father almighty, in Jesus…”
• But: The Trinity is all throughout the Bible – in our gospel today, “Baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” In our 2nd reading, Paul to the Romans…
• JUST BECAUSE IT IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, DON’T REJECT THE DOCTRINE. God is a mystery. We can’t understand fully this doctrine of the Trinity, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
i. Christians believe in ONE GOD.
ii. Christians also believe the ONE GOD exists in THREE distinct and independent persons and personalities – the Father, the Son (Jesus), the Holy Spirit.

2. A second error or heresy: Modalism. One God who only appears at times to be the Father, at other times to be the Son, at other times to be the Spirit.
• Anyone here a father? This man is – how many people? Right, one! He is a father. But are you also a son to someone, to your parents? Are you also a husband? This man is one person, but in one sense he is a father to his kids, in another sense he is the son of his mom and dad, and in another sense he is husband to his wife. Three modes, manifestations.
• The Apostolic Christian Church is modalistic – they deny the Trinity. For them, there is but one God, Jesus. He sometimes acts as Father, sometimes as Spirit – but only one God, who is Jesus. That’s why they call themselves “Jesus Only Christians” and baptize only in the name of Jesus, but not in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
i. We Christians are NOT modalistic. We believe the ONE GOD exists in THREE DISTINCT AND SEPARATE PERSONS.
ii. It’s a mystery. We can’t fully understand it.
iii. But when Jesus prayed to his Father in heaven, who was he praying to? Himself? If he and the Father are the same, as the Apostolic Church teaches, then Jesus liked to pray and talk to himself a lot!

The Bible says, Leviticus 26:1: “Don’t worship false gods or idols.”

So how do we find the true God instead of a false God? Read with me the next verse: “God created us in his image.” (Genesis 1:27). Do you want to know something about God? Just look at your neighbor, and we start to get a picture of God.

Stand up. Look at a neighbor. What do you see?

• How many have noses? Eyes? Ears? Mouths? Hair? (Most of us) We are all similar. In some ways, we are all one – united in a common bond as members of the human family. From this, we can discern – since we are created in God’s image – that God is one, too.
• But are there any differences? Of course! Men, women. Tall, short, Thin, heavy. Old, young. Brown hair, no hair. Handsome and handsome! God likes diversity. God is one, but God also is Three – diversity.

Sit down. Let’s look at three other aspects of God – reflected in our three readings today.

From our first reading:

1. God is powerful.
a. Deuteronomy 4:39-40. God is God of the heavens and the earth. God wants us to be obedient to his laws. This is the pathway to life.
b. How many people in a crisis, but because they are living in disobedience to God’s laws. No blessings if we are disobeying God!

2. God is relational.
a. Our second reading: Romans 8:15-17. We are children of God. Inheritors. We can call God “daddy.” Don’t live in fear of God. Live in hope. Live in trust. Live in the light, as worthy children of the Lord!

3. God is compassionate.
a. Gospel: The great commission. Go, baptize, in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
b. Again, we see God’s power: All authority has been given to me.
c. We see God’s love – I will not abandon you or leave you. I am with you always. You will not be left as orphans!
i. Why does God send the disciples out? Compassion. A heart of love.
ii. God loves us – but not just us! Everyone. He wants no one to get lost or to go to hell.
1. We all have family, friends, co-workers who do not yet know the Lord.
2. We know people who are spiritually lost and far from God.
3. Go! Teach! Throw them a life raft. Ours is a God of love and compassion and uses us to rescue the lost.

Finally, some homework:

1. First, draw close to God. Take the first step, if you have not already done so, to invite Jesus into your heart and to begin a relationship with Him.
2. Second, obey God – follow His way, His commandments. We’ll never experience the fullness of God’s life if we are living a life of contradiction and disobeying God’s precepts and commandments.
3. Finally, imitate God – develop a heart of love and compassion for others.

Read with me again from James 4:8: “Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.”

Trinity June 3, 2007

02/06/07 23:01

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity
June 3, 2007

Living in the Power of God’s Truth

Anyone here like movies? One of my favorite pastimes is to go watch a movie at the theater. And there are lots of great movies coming out in the next few weeks and months. Here’s a preview for one of them. See if you can identify it. [Show preview for “The Fantastic Four”]

When I was a little kid, I used to read comic books and watch super hero TV shows and movies like Batman, or Superman, or Spiderman, or the Fantastic Four. It’s great fun watching our super heroes beat up on the Joker or Lex Luther or other bad guys. When you were little, did anyone here ever dream of being a super hero? Wouldn’t it be fun becoming the Human Torch, or zipping off in the Bat-Mobile, or flying away to Planet Krypton, or swinging from building to building like Spiderman?

Who was your favorite super hero? Why do people like super hero movies? Maybe it’s because of all the action and excitement and special effects. But also, I think we yearn for the Good Guys to win, to defeat the tyrants and dictators. We want good to triumph over evil. And we also want our lives to count and to make a difference, to be like the super heroes. We dream that if only we had super human powers, we, too, could make the world a safer and a better place, like the super heroes in the movies or the comic books.

Last week, we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost – the feast of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by fire. We talked about the word “Power.” We talked about how we are to live using God’s power, not our own – and that, with God’s power in our lives, we can be like super heroes and start to make a difference in the world. Nothing is impossible, with God.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Let’s begin by looking at this picture… [show a child, making the sign of the cross]. Everyone: Make the Sign of the Cross together! “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That’s a pretty familiar gesture for most Catholics. We do it automatically, almost in our sleep. But it is meant to remind us of today’s feast – the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.

This is the only Sunday in the church calendar dedicated to a church doctrine. The Trinity is not an easy doctrine to understand. It’s tempting just to skip over it, or to trivialize it – God is like a three-leaf clover, or God is like an apple – core, skin and fruit – or God is like water – liquid, solid, gas, but still H2O, molecularly. One theologian likened God the Father to the Sun, Jesus to the rays of the sun that go out and reach the earth, and the heat of the sun as the Holy Spirit. Yet it is a core doctrine of all Christians, that there is only one God, but the one God exists as three distinct “persons” or “personalities” – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

What does this feast mean to us? How does it impact and affect our lives? Let me propose, first, that all three Sundays – last Sunday, the Feast of Pentecost, and this Sunday, the Feast of the Trinity, and next Sunday, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ – are all connected:

• Last Sunday, Pentecost, was about the Spirit, God’s power with us and in us, and that we are not to live under our own power, but under God’s power.
• Today, the Feast of the Trinity, is about living in truth, God’s truth, and rejecting all falsehoods and distractions that would pull us away from God.
• Next Sunday is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Feast of Corpus Christi, and is about how God nourishes and feeds us and strengthens us, so that we can go out and nourish and feed and strengthen others.

Repeat with me the word “Truth.” Say it again: “Truth.” Now, read with me from our gospel today: “When the Holy Spirit, who is truth, comes, he shall guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13, NLT)

The first truth of the Trinity is that God is a mystery. God is bigger than us, bigger and larger and beyond our capacity to fully understand Him. And we are not God! Lots of time, we like to play God, pretend we are in control. But Truth tells us that we are not in control – that, ultimately, our fate and our destiny is in God’s hands, not ours. Learning to let go of control and to allow God to be really in charge of our lives is absolutely exhilarating and freeing. Allowing God to be in charge reduces our stress and the tension in our lives.

The story is told of St Augustine of Hippo, a great philosopher and theologian. He was preoccupied with the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. He wanted so much to understand the doctrine of one God in three persons and to be able to explain it logically. One day he was walking along the sea shore and reflecting on this matter. Suddenly, he saw a little child all alone on the shore. The child made a whole in the sand, ran to the sea with a little cup, filled her cup with sea water, ran up and emptied the cup into the hole she had made in the sand. Back and forth she went to the sea, filled her cup and came and poured it into the hole. Augustine drew up and said to her, “Little child, what are you doing?” She replied, “I am trying to empty the sea into this hole.” “How do you think,” Augustine asked her, “that you can empty this immense sea into this tiny hole and with this hole and with this tiny cup?” She answered back, “And you, how do you suppose that with your small head you can comprehend the immensity of God?” With that the child disappeared.

The second truth of the Trinity is that God is a Person, not a Force. Last week, we talked about the Power of God in our lives and the Power of the Holy Spirit. I like that image of God, but I also realize that there is a danger in it. The danger is that we can start to think of God a bit like in Star Wars – “The Force be with you.” But Christianity is vastly different from the religions of the East, like Buddhism and Hinduism, where God is an impersonal force, not a person. Let’s re-read our passage from today’s gospel: “When the Holy Spirit, who is truth, comes, HE” – NOT “IT” – “HE shall guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13, NLT) This second truth means that God can know us, care about us, love us, and that we can know and love and care about God, because God is personal, not just a cold, impersonal cosmic force.

That leads directly to our third truth of the Trinity: God is a relationship -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They form a unity and a trinity, three in one and one in three. What this means exactly is a mystery. But for us, who are created in God’s image, it means that we, too, are created to live in healthy relationships – in a healthy relationship with God, and in healthy relationships with other people. Without those relationships, we die. That’s why Jesus founded the church, and why last Sunday at Pentecost, we celebrated the birthday of the church: because the church is our family, that web of relationships and connections with other people, where we encourage and help one another to grow deeper in our faith. You’ve probably heard the famous quote by John Donne: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” God made us for relationships, not to be alone.

Our final truth of the Trinity today is that God is love. The glue that holds the relationship between God as Father, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit is the power of love. We are the fruit of God’s love. We are God’s children, born out of the love that flows within Godself, within and between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us in the 1st Letter of John, “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8, TEV) God loves us, God wants to fill us with His love, God wants us to go forth and send out His love to others!

The real question for each of us, then, is this: Am I living in God’s truth? Am I living as a person who loves God and loves others, with all of my heart, soul, mind and being? Jesus told his disciples – and let’s read this together: “You are truly my disciples IF you live as I tell to you, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, LB)

How do we live in God’s truth?

• First, we don’t believe the lies and the falsehoods that are out there, ever eager to pull us away from God’s truth. Last week, I came across a humorous story about a kid in middle school, Nathan Zohner, age 14, who won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair just by showing how gullible people were in falling for a falsehood. He convinced people to sign a petition to ban “dihydrogen monoxide” because it was a dangerous chemical. Dihydrogen monoxide, he told people, causes excessive sweating and vomiting; is a major component of acid rain; can cause severe burns in its gaseous state; can kill you if accidentally inhaled; contributes to erosion of our natural landscape; decreases the effectiveness of automobile brakes; and is found in tumors of terminal cancer patients. He asked 50 people if they would support the ban – 43 said yes, 6 were undecided, and only one knew that dihydrogen monoxide was just another name for water, H2O!

This is Graduation Sunday here at our church, and today, we are honoring our high school graduates. Many will be heading off to college or to the military or into careers in the world. And the world sometimes will try to suck them in. I read a sad statistic just last week: Young men, ages 18 to 35, are the one population group that is most absent from churches. Why? Work, school, sports, nightclubs, girlfriends – and God just doesn’t rank in the list of priorities -- too busy with “other” things – but what, really, should be more important than our relationship with God? Many years ago, I taught a Confirmation class for teens here in our church, and one of the kids was really active. But as soon as he was confirmed, I never saw him again at church, except on rare occasions, once or twice a year. One day, I saw him at Palm Desert Mall and asked what had happened, why he had just vanished, and he told me, “I’m just too busy! I’m in school full time at COD, working two jobs to pay for the car and school bills, and barely have time even to sleep.” A month later, I ran into him again, this time at a restaurant with his girlfriend. And I thought: “He’s too busy for God, too busy for church – but somehow, I bet he always finds time for a girlfriend. What gives?” And the answer, of course, is simple: He had time for God, if he wanted to make time. He had time for other things, too – sports, school, work, a girlfriend. It’s really NOT about us not having enough time. It’s about what is important to us, what are our priorities. Lots of people believe the lies and falsehoods in our society that tell us that God just isn’t that important of a priority for our lives.

• Second, the world is full of superficiality, shallowness, self-centeredness, greed. A few weeks ago, the following Zits cartoon appeared in the newspaper: Jeremy, a teenager, is talking to his friend, Hector. Jeremy says: “I can’t seem to get motivated to study anymore. Maybe I’m not cut out for school.” Hector tells him, “Well – college is basically four years of fully funded, unsupervised independent living.” The final scene shows Jeremy jumping up, arms loaded with books, suddenly motivated and ready to study. What motivates you? Is it God? Is it trying to live your life for a higher purpose? Or is it just for selfish or shallow reasons, for yourself and your own pleasure, as in this cartoon?

• Third, the world is fully of stupidity. Watch this movie clip, from the upcoming film, “Hot Rod.” (Show movie trailer of trying to jump over a car with a motorcycle). “Stupid is as stupid does” – isn’t that what Forrest Gump said? You’ve heard some of the expressions: “He’s a few fries short of a Happy Meal;” “He’s all foam, no beer;” “His or her chimney is clogged;” “She’s dumber than a pile of bricks.”

Sometimes, stupidity is tragic. Just a few days ago, this was the headline in our newspaper: “A School in Shock.” Perris High School seniors were on their way in a school bus to the beach, celebrating their upcoming graduation. But four of the kids didn’t go on the bus. They went in their own car. The story says they were speeding down Interstate 15, weaving in and out of traffic, waving at the other kids in the bus and hoisting beer out the windows of their car, when they lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree on the side of the freeway. Four teens, graduating seniors, all killed. Stupid. Tragic.

Don’t waste your life. Don’t be stupid, and don’t settle for shallow, and don’t fall for the world’s falsehoods and lies. Live in God’s truth and in God’s power. That means making God No. 1. It means living in a right relationship with God and with other people. And it means living in God’s love – not just the world’s mushy version of self centered love, but God’s agape love, which is god-like love, heroic love, sacrificial love, courageous love – love for others who are poor, weak, vulnerable, suffering, for those who are scorned, rejected, unpopular, and even for those who are our enemies, for those we find ugly and unlovable.

Last week, I came across a short fable. Four men were hiking in a woods, when they discovered a huge wall. Grabbing a ladder, they climbed up to look over the wall. The first man saw such a wonderful sight that he instantly jumped over the wall and found himself in a paradise, a lush Garden of Eden of sorts, with all of his needs and wants met. The second man also jumped over the wall and into the paradise, as did the third man. But the fourth fellow paused. Instead of greedily jumping over the wall to enjoy this paradise just for himself, he resisted the temptation to be selfish and returned to his village to tell all the people about the paradise, so that all could enjoy its beauty. This last fellow, you see, understood what it means to live in the power of God’s truth and in the power of God’s love.

I want to give you a short homework assignment, even though I know you hate homework: Take your handout home with you today and write one goal for yourself. It doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just one goal. Did you know that 95 percent of Americans have never, ever written down a goal for themselves. We need goals to direct our lives.

But don’t just write any goal. Some goals are selfish – “I want to get rich;” “I want a new Jaguar.” Pray, ask God to guide you – and write out a Godly Goal – what God wants you to do, tomorrow, next week, next month.

Maybe you need to start spending some time each day in quiet and prayer with God, to rebuild and strengthen your relationship with the Lord. Maybe you need to read the Bible or join a Bible study group, or start attending church more regularly. Maybe you need to ask someone to forgive you, or reach out and help someone you know who is struggling. Kids, maybe you need to give your parents a hug and tell them that you appreciate them. Maybe you need to dedicate your studies and your future to God and let him take the lead in your life, instead of you trying to remain in control.

Living in the power of God’s truth means recognizing that life is not about me, it’s about living for God and living for others.

There are three kinds of persons in the world: Those who make things happen; those who watch things happen; and those who have no idea what is happening. Which one are you? Don’t let life just pass you by! Choose God’s power and choose God’s truth for your life.

One final video – from “Surf’s Up.” This, too, is a movie that will be out this summer. Think of God as the ocean, God as the source of power, the source of waves. Our job is not to be God, not to make the waves. Our job is just to find the right wave that God is sending our way, and faithfully riding that wave, as God would want.

Let’s close by reading this final verse from the Bible, from the book of the prophet Jeremiah – it’s God’s faithful promise to you: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NAB)

God wants all of us to live in the power of his truth. This is the only way to truly live.