The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Gospel reading from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, June 11th: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20)

TRINITY SUNDAY AND THE GREAT COMMISSION

This week is Trinity Sunday, the day on the Church calendar when we celebrate the all-important Christian doctrine which no one quite comprehends: the Holy Trinity.

People down through the centuries have tried to explain the concept that there is one God who exists in three persons. (I’ve even given it a feeble shot. See: http://www.boomertrek.com/archives/fa301.htm )

At best, all we can do to grasp Trinitarian doctrine is to use imperfect analogies. As long as we’re on this side of eternity—in our fallen, time-constrained natural world—I suspect we’ll never be able to fully understand the Trinity. For now we have to take it as an article of faith, a profound divine mystery, that it is true. I also suspect once we get on the other side of eternity, once we get to Heaven, we’ll slap our celestial foreheads and exclaim, “Oh, now I get it! That wasn’t so complicated after all.”

In this week’s second reading, from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, the three persons of the Trinity are mentioned within a few short verses. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God….through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’….we are children of God…and joint heirs with Christ…”

And in this week’s gospel reading, the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives his followers what is known as The Great Commission. This passage is chosen for this week because it contains the most clear Trinitarian statement in all of Scripture. Jesus says, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Although it is difficult to comprehend the concept of the Holy Trinity, it is not difficult to comprehend what Jesus is telling us to do in this Great Commission. He wants us to make the whole world Christian.

OK, I’ll pause for a moment here to let that sink in. As we discussed a few weeks ago, these words by Jesus are the most intolerant, politically incorrect, offensive words anyone can possibly say in our modern, non-judgmental, relativistic world.

In this blockbuster statement, Jesus is saying He wants “all nations,” that is, all people, to become His disciples, and to be baptized using the Trinitarian formula. Also, He wants all these people to observe everything He previously taught to His disciples.

Jesus’ previous teachings, of course, are extensive. He offered many awesome lessons for living in harmony with our fellow man (the entire Sermon on the Mount, for example). But let’s focus for now on Jesus’ teachings about Himself. A short list includes:

• “I have not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17)
• “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18)
• “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
• “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).
• “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
• “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live” (John 11:25).
• “The Son of Man will be betrayed…and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life” (Matthew 20:18-19).

Once again it all boils down to the identity of Jesus. His teachings about Himself are as clear as a bell: He is proclaiming that He is God, and that He is the only way for sinful mankind to be reconciled with God and enter into Heaven.

In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus explains why He can make such bold statements: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

If this statement is not true, then Jesus was a nut-case and we should flee from Christianity at warp speed. (Either that, or we should write a best-selling novel claiming that Jesus was just a man who had children with Mary Magdalene—oops, already been done.) But if this statement is true, then it’s the most wonderful news a desperate world has ever heard.

Also, in this week’s gospel reading, Jesus explains how we can possibly fulfill the Great Commission and bring the whole world into a proper relationship with God. He says, “I am with you always.”

We can’t do it through our own power. We’re too weak. We can only fulfill our commission if we use Jesus’ supernatural power working through us.

Now, at this point, some people are probably saying, “Yeah, we already tried that Great Commission thing. It was called The Inquisition, and burnings at the stake, and bloody warfare, etc.”

Good point. Throughout history some have tried to convert the world to Christianity with swords and guns and terror and death. And this is exactly what relativistic secularists fear when they hear Christians say, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

But conversion to Christ occurs through the heart and free will. It is not accomplished by force; it is accomplished by love. That’s why it is so important that Jesus is with us always. Only when Jesus is with us can we possibly muster enough love to attract the world to the truth of the Gospel. Only when we “love our neighbors as ourselves,” and “lay down our lives for a friend,” and “pray for our enemies” can we show the world that Jesus is the only path to Heaven.

Just as no one can quite comprehend the Holy Trinity, no one can quite comprehend how the world will be converted by love rather than force. But the power of God, and the love of Christ, and the truth of the Holy Spirit are greater than anything we can imagine. I suspect once we get on the other side of eternity, once we get to Heaven and see that love and peace truly conquer hatred and violence, we’ll slap our celestial foreheads and exclaim, “Oh, now I get it! That wasn’t so complicated after all.”

©2006