1. ‘God is a relational God’ ICEL Leuven June 11th 2017 Pieter Boersema
The Trinity Sunday
‘God is a relational God’ ICEL Leuven June 11th Pieter Boersema

2. ICEL COMMON LECTIONARY 2016 – 2017
Between Pentecost and Advent:
“In this period, the Church recalls its faith in the Holy Trinity. It seeks to relate its faith as a people of God to Christ’s mission in the world. It commences with Trinity Sunday and concludes with the feast of Christ the King”.
Trinity Sunday as an attempt to understand why the God of the Bible is unique in the past, the present and the future.
Trinity’ as the apostolic confession.

3. Trinity Sunday as conclusion
Today a church feast based on a doctrine and not on a historical event, why is this important?
The struggle with the concept of the ‘Trinity’ through the ages.
Even the disciples did not understand Jesus sayings: John 15
vs. 5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”.
vs. 26: “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me”.
John 16:17-33: The disciples asked Jesus: ‘what do you mean by saying I am going to the Father?’
John 17:21: ‘Me (Jesus) and the Father are one’.

4. The heart of Trinity: God the Father
Gen. 1 and Psalm 8: The almighty God, creator of heaven and earth. He lives in Heaven and gave the Earth to the people, His creation.
God cannot be understand from the perspective of humans: see Job 38 verse 4:
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Ex. 20: The 10 Commandments: the 2 times 5 ‘Words’: Men relation with God and with the people.
John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son”.

5. The heart of Trinity: God the Son
God the Son, our Savior. He came to earth and became human to bring us together with the Father.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem as a baby.
Simeon in the temple: Luke 2: “my eyes has seen your salvation” (Christmas).
Jesus is more than a teacher or a prophet: He is the Son of God and he forgives human sins.
His love for this world is the crucifixion followed by his Ascension to heaven (Easter).

6. The heart of Trinity: God the Holy Ghost
Jesus promised his disciples the Spirit of Truth “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1 vs 5).
Acts 2 vs 4: “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Pentecost).
1 Cor. 2 vs 12: “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us”.
Eph. 1 vs 13: “And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”. Cont.: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”.
Salvation for all believers, Jews and gentiles!

7. ‘One in three and three in one’
Explaining the meaning of the Bible (Hermeneutics) in our life is the work of the Holy Spirit (Trinity).
This is an ongoing process in time and place, starting with the book of Acts.
Sometimes Christians belief in three different Gods, or only in Jesus, or do not know the Holy Ghost (Acts 19: Did you received the Holy Spirit? .. No they have not heard of the H. Spirit).
Matth. 28 vs 19: “…baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.
The apostolic creed as our belief in a nutshell formulated by the old Patristic church.

8. Athanasian Creed (333 AC)
Article 3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
In today language: God is a relational God.

9. Trinitiy in ‘stain glass’.

10. Trinity: By Andrei Rublev, Trettyakov Gallary Moscow (1411)
Three angels who visited Abraham at the Oak of Mamre (Gen. 18:1-15)
This icon can be seen as the symbolic transfiguration of the Trinity.
The house
Oak tree
A mountain
A theology in colour:
Blue, purple, red and green.

11. Christianity in the midst of religions
But what do we communicate when we speak about the Gospel?
For a long time Christianity was the strongest religion of the world, but now has serious adversaries like Secularization in the West, Islam and Asian Religions.
Difficult questions: why did the almighty God let his son died at the cross? Why is there so much misery?
God can only be understand as a spiritual experience: this mystery is illogical / irrational in human argumentation because we are creation and no creator.
Christian faith is to follow Jesus, our Savior who sets us free from worldly powers. That is the love of God triune.

12. Understanding the Gospel for today
Trinity Sunday as an attempt to understand why the God of the Bible is different than all other religions and mighty powers.
Atheism is believing in the power of man himself.
Islam is ‘easy’ in her doctrine: just follow the rules.
Hinduism and Buddhism: you have to free yourselves.
Our God is a relational God: Justice and reconciliation.
Jesus Christ sacrifice as symbol of ultimate love.
Trinity is about community and relationship.
Relation = Fellowship and not Dictatorship.
Understanding the Trinity is believing together.

13. Closing
Understanding God by seeing the three as one God: Our God is a relational God to show us His justice and mercy, truth and grace, faithfulness and love.
This relation is symbolised and experienced in the Communion, Baptism and the Fellowship.
God became human as said in John 1 verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. Jesus is God and is Man.
2 Cor. 13 vs 4: “Christ was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power.
2 Cor. 13 vs 14: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”.