Scripture Readings: 2 Kings 2:1–2, 6–14 | Psalm 77:1–2, 11–20 | Galatians 5:1, 13–25 | ​Luke 9:51–62

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25).
 
The wind is a wild force in our world.   

Think about a time when you felt a strong wind blowing. It can be a pretty powerful experience. Maybe you remember the energy in the atmosphere before a big summer storm arrives. Maybe you recall something a bit more fierce… like the fury of the hurricanes we Maritimers have to face at times. Wind can be harnessed to generate electricity through giant turbines, and put to good use. And wind can also be a constant source of pressure… pushing us around, especially in places like the prairies, or out on the open waters.
 
Now, I know absolutely nothing about sailing… but I do have a bit of experience with canoes. And being out on open water while having to face heavy winds is no joke at all.
 
And sometimes, when the winds are raging, the only way to get home and not be capsized or pushed far off course, is to head straight into the headwinds… to face the storm straight on… like a plow pushing through the waves… resisting its influence, and putting our muscles to work to activate a very different kind of power.
 
Why am I talking about wind?
 
Well, the words for wind in both Hebrew and Greek, the languages of the Bible, are interconnected with the ideas of breath, and spirit… the lifeforce animating us, and also influencing us… driving us in certain directions, and empowering us to take action.
 
And this morning, our Scripture readings invite us to think about the ways that we are moved by the Spirit of God… in contrast to the influence of the ‘spirit of the age’… the ‘zeitgeist’… the ‘winds of the world’, so to speak… the cultural, political, social, and spiritual pressures that motivate and move us, as individuals and as larger groups.
 
All too often, we Christians have tried to simply harness the ‘winds of the word’, seeing in them a source of power that we want to put to good use… but in doing so, we often forget about the great power that God has already shared with us, graciously giving us all that we need to be His faithful people today.
 
Please note that this morning’s message is not meant to be a critique of this or that political party, or policy, or social movement, but rather an invitation and even a challenge to help us all reflect on what is really driving us in our daily lives… shedding light on the near constant temptation that we all face to simply be blown along in all sorts of directions by the ways of the world around us. And this message is also meant to be an encouragement for us all to seek to be faithful to our great Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to put His power into practice.
 
In our Gospel reading today, from the ninth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, we hear about what happened when Jesus travelled through the region of Samaria, and instead of a welcome, faced rejection.
 
Luke 9:51-53, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.”
 
Now many of us know of Samaritans largely from the famous parable that Jesus tells about a man who was attacked by robbers, and who was saved, not by the leaders of his own community, but by a merciful stranger, a Samaritan, who goes to great lengths to care for him. It’s a powerful image of what it means to love our neighbours, but the message hits home even more when we remember that the people of Judah and Jerusalem were not on good terms with Samaritans.
 
These were two very similar, but deeply divided communities… who had little to no dealings with each other, and saw each other as backward, compromised, and spiritually corrupt. Picture the deep divides between Protestants and Catholics a few generations ago… or perhaps some of the more polarized tensions between the political parties in North America today. For Jews in Galilee and Judea, like Jesus and His disciples, Samaritans would have been seen as the despised rivals next door, and vice versa.

Which all begs the question: Why was Jesus rejected by the Samaritans? Because, unlike many of His contemporaries, Jesus chose not to avoid them. He chose to journey through their land! He made Himself vulnerable and available to a sincerely hostile community, seeking to share time and lodgings with them on His journey to Jerusalem. On its own, this is a strange step: rejecting the widespread prejudice and suspicions at work around them, Jesus steps into their world… but is turned away.
 
And two of His disciples are quick to turn against these Samaritans. Luke 9:54, “When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
 
Now that’s a bit extreme, right? Where did this response come from? Where did they get this strange idea about calling down fire from heaven? Well… from reading the Bible.  But even though James and John certainly knew some of the stories of Scripture well, it seems that they had really misunderstood the point… both of this specific episode from the life of Elijah, and of God’s great mission as a whole.

The story that James and John are recalling is found in the Second Book of Kings… and it centres on what happened when the Prophet Elijah encountered some fierce opposition from those in power.
 
As you may remember, Elijah was chosen by God to serve as a prophet, proclaiming God’s word in the Northern Kingdom of Israel… lands which were, in Jesus’ day, largely populated by Samaritans. And early on in Elijah’s story, he was sent to confront Israel’s unfaithful King, Ahab, who with his wife Jezebel, had steered God’s people away from faithfulness to the Covenant, and tried to seize some of the power that comes with blending in with, and cozying up to, the nations around them: worshiping their idols and gods, adopting their ways of life, and ruling over their own people as tyrants.
 
In time, King Ahab dies, and his son Ahaziah takes over the throne… and follows in his father’s unfaithful footsteps. In 1 Kings 22:52-53, we’re told that that Ahaziah “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and mother, and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He served Baal and worshiped him; he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.”
 
But Elijah was called as a prophet to stand out as one who resisted this spiritual, cultural, and political movement… empowered by God’s spirit to stand up against the Kings, and to perform signs and wonders… not for their own sake, but to shake up and wake up God’s people so that they would turn back to the Lord and faithfully follow His ways.
 
At some point, King Ahaziah injures himself in an accident, and then he seeks assurance from the prophets of Baal-zebub… but then Elijah steps in and sends word from the Living God that Ahaziah will never again recover, but will die of his injuries.
 
Furious, the King does what many Kings do… he tries to silence all those who oppose him. The King sends and armed escort to summon Elijah, hauling him before the King through intimidation and force.
 
But what follows is a word of warning against those who claim just to be following orders when they do what is evil.
1 Kings 1:9-10, “Then the king sent to [Elijah] a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ‘O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ’ But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.’ Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.”
 
Fire from heaven comes down and consumes those who came against God’s chosen prophet. But the story isn’t over yet. 1 Kings 1:11-12, “Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up and said to him, ‘O man of God, this is the king’s order: Come down quickly!’ But Elijah answered them, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.’ Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
 
Still leaning on the authority of the unfaithful King, the second group of armed guards gets burned up. But still, the story’s not done! 1 Kings 1:13-14, “Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. So the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and entreated him, ‘O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Look, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight.”
 
This third time, the guards get the message. They can see where the real power resides. Instead of trusting in their military might, or even in the authority of their own King, they humbly beg Elijah to come with them, and the LORD God tells Elijah to goes with them.
 
Of course, there’s more to this story, but it is clearly driving home the point that even in the face of strong and dangerous opposition, it’s better by far to be on God’s side. Elijah was outnumbered, and by all worldly accounts, the King’s men could easily arrest him… but God’s power is not measured like human power, and it is His faithful ones who will be vindicated in the end.
 
This is the story James and John call to mind when their Master was rejected by the Samaritans. But it’s worth asking: how did the disciples see themselves in this story? Why did this story come to mind? What connections did they see with their own circumstances?

We’re not told directly, but it seems likely that they saw Jesus their Rabbi as a prophet like Elijah… and that they saw themselves as faithful servants of the Living God… as those fully in line with God’s ways… while outnumbered by hostile, unfaithful, and dangerous people in need of being taught a lesson.
 
They seemed to see themselves as those in close contact with God’s power… not just as victims, but as those empowered to act boldly and dramatically to make God’s ways and will known in the world… by burning up all those who stand in their way. “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54).
 
Do we sometimes see ourselves in this same light? As Christians, do we sometimes feel outnumbered, and surrounded by strangers and neighbours who, for whatever reason, are turning against us?
 
And when we feel threatened, or slighted, or put upon, how are we likely to respond?
 
Sadly, some Christians still seem eager to try to call down fire… assuming that if someone oppose us, they must be God’s enemies… and that the LORD obviously would want us to win some sort of dramatic victory at their expense.
 
This is the wind behind the growing movement sometimes called Christian Nationalism… people driven to seizing as much political power as they can in the name of Jesus, enforcing their vision of the world on their neighbours, and writing off all those who oppose us as expendable enemies.
 
But when James and John start moving in this direction, Jesus does not support it… He turns and rebukes them! He takes the wind out of their sails, and shows that they were deeply mistaken about what the Living God is like, and what God wants, and what God is up to in our world. James and John may have been moved by stories from Scripture, but they were just being blown about by the winds of the world… the violent and vengeful spirit of the age… and in this, they were not being motivated or empowered by the Spirit of God.
 
And rather than calling down fire from heaven to consume those who oppose and threaten Him, Jesus allows Himself to be rejected, misunderstood, and simply continues on His way. He puts Himself out there… offering Himself to these Samaritans, but He was not received. And so, He goes on, continuing to Jerusalem… and ultimately to the cross.
 
After all, what Jesus experienced among these Samaritan strangers was not all that different from His reception by His own people. Though some would believe in Him, and receive the gift of the Kingdom He came to bring them… many completely rejected Him too. And these were moved by the spiritual, cultural, and political leaders of the day, who saw Jesus as a threat… and were especially afraid that He would rock the boat and upset the Romans… the seemingly all powerful pagan Gentile Empire who really seemed to run the show. They were worried that Jesus would upset their precious but fragile stability and so-called peace, and so to save themselves, they were convinced that they needed to get rid of this dangerous wandering preacher who would not go along with the flow.
 
And so they sent armed guards to arrest Jesus… just like with Elijah… but this time, He goes without a fight! With no fire called down from heaven. With no legion of angels at His side to stop it from happening. With all His friends scattering in the night, Jesus is left alone, and He lets Himself be arrested… falsely accused, beaten, publicly humiliated, and executed on a cross.
 
What drove Him to do this? What motivation was at work behind His actions? It was of course the Spirit of God that led Jesus to the cross.
 
The same Spirit that has been at work all throughout the story of the Bible… bringing new life to birth, leading broken people back to the LORD, and empowering them to stand against the winds of the world… to live faithfully in times of great danger and uncertainty, as living signs anchored firmly in God’s own character, and will… walking in His holy ways… even when it’s really hard.
 
The Spirit led Jesus to the cross to embody God’s true power in the face of the world’s complete rejection of Him. To reveal what God’s saving might really looks like: not violent and vengeful outbursts, but patient endurance… and humility, and love… offering up His life as a gift to set free and save even His enemies… forgiving them and reconciling those who turned against Him back to God.
 
This is what Jesus did for us all: He let the fire from heaven fall down on Himself to bring God’s new life to a sinful world. He suffered and died as the faithful one, while we all were being blown about by the winds of the world… motivated by our sin: our greed, our fear, our selfish desires, our prejudice, and pride.
 
Rather than turning against us, Jesus died to save us, and to save our world. And He was raised again to fill us with this same life-giving Spirit Who was always at work in Him. To empower us to be made like Him, and like Him, to do God’s good will in all we do.
 
We can claim to be Christians all we want, but what is it that’s actually moving us, personally, and as a community?
 
Like James and John, and many others… we can be trying to follow our Lord, but be totally mistaken about the character of His mission, and the direction it calls us to move in.
 
Like the leaders in Jerusalem, and so many today, we can be caught up in our concerns about how the world around us will react… allowing ourselves to be blown off course by outside influences, and also by internal temptations.
 
What’s really moving us? As we prepare to approach the Lord’s Table together, humbly receiving the new life Christ Jesus offers us all in His name, we’re going to wrap up this time by returning to our passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians… not simply as a list of dos and don’ts… or virtues and vices we achieve or resist on our own. But as a humble invitation for the Holy Spirit to be at work in us… to guide us in His holy ways… and to understand the Good News of Jesus, and what it looks like in our lives… to be filled by His love for one another, and all those around us… and to be empowered to resist the winds of our world that would push us away from the side of our Saviour.
​
Galatians 5:13-25, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
 
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
 
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
 
May we be filled and moved by this Spirit. May we, with God’s help, turn away from the powerful and tempting voices all around and inside us that would blow us off course.
 
May we follow Jesus our Lord, and with Him embody God’s life and saving love in our day to day lives… even if our neighbours, strangers, and loved ones turn their backs on us for doing so… trusting that the Spirit’s saving love can still work through us to bring our world His new life. Amen.

Scripture Readings: 1 Kings 19:1-15 | Psalms 42 & 43 | Galatians 3:23–29 | ​Luke 8:26–39

“The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:38-39).
 
There’s no two ways about it: our Gospel passage this morning is a strange story. There are strange characters, and sinister spiritual forces at work… there’s frightened villagers, and a herd of pigs rushing to drown themselves en masse in the lake’s deep waters. On their own, these elements might seem much more at home in some kind of thriller, or horror story… but here we are, Sunday morning, and they are handed to us as part of God’s Good News for us.
 
And it really is Good News, because… as strange as this story may be… it’s a story of salvation. It’s a story of the Living God revealing His rescuing power at work in Jesus Christ in ways that defy our familiar ideas of what’s possible… and shaking up our comfortable impressions about the Person we’re really dealing with.
 
This strange story doesn’t come to us in a vacuum, of course. It’s part of St. Luke’s overall account of Jesus Christ, the Son of God… and it fits into the flow of Luke’s narrative… revealing bit by bit who this Jesus is, and what He is all about.
 
Just before the passage we read this morning, St. Luke tells another incredible and eerie story about our Lord. While they were crossing the lake by boat, a fierce storm descended upon Jesus and His disciples, threatening to drown them all. The disciples, several of them experienced fishermen… were panicking… but Jesus was fast asleep. But when they finally woke Him up, the disciples were in for an even bigger shock.
 
Jesus, their Teacher and Master, did not just comfort them, or try to calm them down… no, instead He stood up and calmed the storm itself with a word… mastering these deadly forces of nature… the wind and the waves, with ease… and without fear. And then He chides His dumbfounded students for their lack of faith, and their response says it all.
 
Luke 8:25, “They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” That’s a good question!
 
But this question is just left hanging… and we are left with an image of Jesus that is deeply unsettling, to those around Him. Even to those closest to Him. And this is because St. Luke wants us to see something truly surprising and special going on here. Namely, that in Jesus, we come face to face with someone far more powerful than we have categories for. Someone whose authority and mastery is frightening, and beyond compare. And yet, His amazing power is being put to work for a clear purpose: to rescue and redeem us… to become our Saviour… setting us free from the forces we cannot control… and filling our lives with His life-changing love.
 
And this is where our Gospel reading today picks up. The storm has been put in its place, and our Lord’s boat reaches the far side of the lake, and lands in the country of the Gerasenes… Gentile territory… the land of the “strangers”.
 
And there they receive a strange welcome indeed! Right away, they are met by a man with many demons: naked and homeless… living among the tombs. The image that might easily come to mind are the people we sometimes encounter who are not in control of themselves… those whose erratic behaviour comes across as frightening… unpredictable… and dangerous. But St. Luke makes it clear that there is some serious spiritual darkness at work in this man’s life.  
 
Whatever led him to this desperate place, the man’s story was tragic. He was broken… cut off from his own community… living like a wild animal… enslaved by forces far outside of his own control, and cast off by society as hopeless.
 
But as fierce, and uncontrollable, and overpowering as these demons may have been… they are far from the masters in this story. These dark spiritual forces at work in the man recognized Jesus right away… and they’re terrified! They know they’re no match for the Son of God, and they fall down before Him, begging Jesus not to torment them.
 
And to make a long, strange story short… Jesus sets the man free. He drives the demons out of the man, and releases him from their power. Just as He mastered the winds and the waves, Jesus masters the spiritual rebels bent on ruining people’s lives, in order to bring a stranger healing and wholeness.
 
As I said before, this is a story of salvation… it’s the story of our powerful Saviour. But the twist is God’s salvation is now being brought to light well beyond the borders of Israel… in the land of the Gentiles! Those who knew little to nothing about the Living God were being set free by His love. And so, here we catch a glimpse of what Christ came here to do: to bring light to those burdened by darkness… and healing and help to the hopeless… to seek out and save those who are lost, and turn their lives around by His love.
 
But then comes yet another twist: once Jesus casts out the legion of demons, and sets the man free, the word gets out, unsettling and frightening the locals, who beg Jesus to get back into His boat and leave them alone. They want nothing to do with someone so powerful, and so disruptive of the status quo. They would rather be left in the dark, and so Christ and His disciples pack up and leave again.
 
Kind of an anti-climactic end, isn’t it? I mean, Jesus had travelled all that way, rescued one desperate, demon-possessed man as soon as He stepped foot on land, and was then sent packing. This hardly seems like the most efficient, or productive use of our Lord’s energy and time, does it? But then again, the story of God’s great salvation at work rarely goes how we expect it to… and our great Saviour didn’t come to maximize productivity… but to seek and to save the lost.
 
To this one man, Jesus’ short and strange boat trip meant the world… it changed his whole life forever! He had been set free from the nightmare he had been living, and wanted to join Jesus’ band of disciples. But as it turns out, the Lord had some other plans in mind for him.
 
Luke 8:38-39, “Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.”
The freed man was to be a witness of God’s saving work among his own people: to serve as a living sign, showing those in his life what Christ was capable of, and eager to do… bringing God’s light and life to those in darkness, through the power of His saving love.
 
Many of us here today have also experienced the powerful, saving love of Jesus Christ in our lives… maybe not in the same way as this man… but in other amazing, and equally life-changing ways of our own. We have experienced the gift of His forgiveness. Or His guidance. Or His comfort and peace… even in the midst of seasons of terrible pain and loss. Or perhaps we also have been rescued from forces that were beyond our own control… receiving His healing touch in body, mind, and spirit… and finding in Him the love that truly sets us free.
 
We know that following Jesus doesn’t mean that we won’t face times of suffering… but it does mean that when we do, we can trust that His power is far greater than everything that might oppress us… and that His saving love will one day set us free completely! That because of Jesus Christ, and what He has done for us at the cross, God’s New Creation has already begun, and that everything that stands in His way will finally fade, while we’ll share in His good Kingdom forever.
 
And as strange as our own stories may be… in Jesus, our stories are stories of salvation too! Each with their own strange cast of characters… unpredictable events and encounters… and serious threats and dark forces at work that somehow need to be overcome.
 
And the Good News is that, no matter who we are, or where we come from… Jesus has come to where we are to be our Saviour. And He is not at all afraid of the messiness, the brokenness, and even the darkness of our stories. He is the One who has conquered death, and dealt with our sins through His own blood, and rose again to set us free forever… not only in eternity, but beginning even now.
 
But one question for us this morning is: What will we do with the freedom that Jesus has already brought into our lives? The freedom that comes from the faith, and the love, and hope that we have already received in Him?
After all, the stories of God’s saving love are not over yet. Many in our world today… many of our friends and neighbours… are still longing to be set free, and are trapped by dark forces far beyond their control, and don’t know where to turn for help.
 
Jesus sent the man He set free back to his home, to share with his neighbours what God had done for him… and those of us who have also come to know God’s saving love in Jesus Christ have the same opportunity to go home and tell those in our lives  about what Jesus our Saviour has done for us… not only with our lips, as the Prayer Book says, but with our lives as well.
 
In Jesus, the Living God is still at work bringing His salvation to bear in our lives, and our world. And we His people are able to take part in His saving work by bearing witness to what He’s done… both for us personally, and for us all at the cross… inviting those around us to draw near to Him in faith, and experience His saving love for themselves.
 
We might find this prospect a bit strange… or frightening at times. And our neighbours might not be interested in what we have to say, or in letting Jesus unsettle or disrupt their lives. But as Christ’s people today, we are called to let His saving love shine through all we say and do… and with the Holy Spirit’s help, and guidance, and power at work in us… Jesus our Saviour really can work through us to bring His salvation to light… and against Him, the darkness doesn’t stand a chance! Amen. 

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon this week can be found here:

(NOTE: For today's sermon, the Book of Common Prayer is repeatedly referenced. If you do not have access to one, an online digital copy of the Book of Common Prayer can be found by clicking the link below.)

Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:12–13).
 
Today is Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, when we take time to contemplate the Trinity together… a core teaching of the Christian Faith that has been passed down for generations.
 
And seeing as how today is also Father’s Day… it seems kind of timely as we take a closer look at this particular understanding of the Living God, that we do so by attending to the expression of the faith of our spiritual forefathers and foremothers in the Anglican Church… listening to what has been cherished and handed down to us by them as our spiritual inheritance.
 
And so, today’s sermon will also be a bit more interactive than usual. Please pick up a Book of Common Prayer, and turn with me to page 669, to the Articles of Faith.

These articles are statements developed within the Anglican tradition early on in its history, to help guide them towards a faithful expression of the Christian life. And what do we see is the first Article? What did they see as the most important place to start?
 
Article I: “Of Faith in the Holy Trinity. THERE is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
 
This is the God we Christians believe in. There are all sorts of other ideas out there about the identity and nature of the Divine, but this is ours. This is what the Christian Church believes and teaches. And where did we get this distinct understanding from? We got it from the Holy Scriptures… the Bible.
 
Let’s turn now to Article VI, found on page 700:
 
“Of the Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures for salvation. HOLY Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.” In other words, unless it is found in or proved by Scripture, it’s not considered essential for Christians.
 
Article VI goes on to explicitly spell out which books are considered Scripture: that is, both the Old and New Testaments as we know them. And they also affirm the books sometimes known as the Apocrypha or Deuterocanon as worthwhile reading for Christians, but not on the same authoritative level as the Old and New Testaments.
 
But to get to the point: Anglicans teach that the story of Holy Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation. There’s no essential secret out there waiting to be revealed by some obscure spiritual guru, or charismatic leader, or best-selling author. The story of Scripture truthfully points us to all we need in order to receive God’s gift of salvation.
 
But that raises an interesting problem for us, because the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible itself. If our Christian faith is to be based on the witness of the Holy Scriptures, what is found in or proved by it… how can we claim that the Trinity is so essential if it is never mentioned in it?
 
Of course, this is not a new question. It was also important to our forefathers and foremothers in the faith as well. And they were convinced that, although the word “Trinity” may not be explicitly used in the Bible, the story of the Bible is the story of the God who is Three-in-One, and One-in-Three. That is, the Bible itself points us towards a specifically Trinitarian picture of the Living God. And this conviction can be seen in the Trinitarian shape of the ancient statements of the Church’s faith that we call the Creeds.
 
Let’s turn now to Article VIII in the BCP, on page 701:
 
“Of the Three Creeds. THE Three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius’s Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture.”

Again, although the Creeds are not direct quotations from the Bible, they are based on and flow from what the Bible tells us of the Living God. Both the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed uphold this Trinitarian form, and are framed around belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit… but do not specifically use the word Trinity.
 
These Creeds were meant to be authoritative articulations of the Christian faith, as found in the Holy Scriptures, affirmed by the early Church, to establish the boundaries of our faith. They came to form and affirm these Creeds, these statements of faith, through the careful reading of the Scriptures in their entirety… the Old and New Testaments… out of the desire to help present and future generations to stay faithful to the story that the Scriptures are telling us.
 
Why is this guidance needed? Think for a moment about how many people in our world today take this or that passage from the Bible, and twist it around to say what they want it to say, completely ignoring its intended meaning, or how it fits into the larger story of the Bible.
 
Never mind those who do this intentionally… think about how easy it can be for us to simply misunderstand the meaning of a passage, or lose our way when it comes to reading the Scriptures on our own. Think of how much easier it is to put a puzzle together if you have the picture on the cover of the box to work from!
 
There’s one more image used by early Christians to make this point that I find really helpful:
 
Imagine a beautiful mosaic… an intricate picture of a King, made up of hundreds, or even thousands of coloured stones arranged just so. Each in their proper place.
 
Then imagine that someone takes those same stones and rearranges them to depict, not a King, but a fox, or some other creature that bears no resemblance to the King at all. Just so, we can take apart the story of the Bible… taking the pieces and passages we want, and re-arranging them the way we want to, in order to come up with a picture of God that we prefer… worshipping our own creation, rather than honouring the Creator, who has revealed Himself to us.

In order to make sure the mosaic offers the picture that it was originally intended to display, some kind of guidance is needed. Early Christians called this guidance the “rule of faith”, the traditions passed down to help us read the Bible rightly, so we can recognize the glorious face of Jesus, our Saviour King, and turn to Him in faith… instead of picking and choosing the parts of the Bible that we like, and end up missing the whole point.
 
So then, the Creeds are a gift from our forefathers and foremothers in the faith to help us read the Bible faithfully… guiding us away from error, and towards the One who is Himself the Truth.
 
And because they appear in our Sunday worship, many of us are kind of familiar with the Apostles’ Creed, and the Nicene Creed. But what about that other one mentioned in Article XIII? What about the Creed of St. Athanasius, as it is called? What’s that Creed about?
 
Well, St. Athanasius was an early Christian cleric and theologian who had a huge impact on the way Jesus’ identity came to be understood by the Church. But he didn’t write this Creed. It seems to have been formulated in the Western, Latin speaking part of the Church decades after St. Athanasius died, and far from his home in Egypt. Even so, this statement of faith became an authorized articulation of the Christian teaching about the Trinity… spelling out what Christians mean when we speak of God as Triune.
 
Turn back to in your Book of Common Prayer to page 695.
 
This document is kind of a long read, and I will take it slow. And as today is Trinity Sunday, we’ll just read the first portion dealing with the Trinity together. But now you know where to find it so you can keep on reading it on your own, which I highly encourage you to do.
 
But before we do, just a quick word about the word “Catholic”, which is used here, and in the other Creeds. The word literally means “universal”, as in “the whole Church.” This is not the same thing as the Roman Catholic Church, which is one branch of the one universal Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world, and across the ages.
 
With that said, let’s turn to the Athanasian Creed… specifically, the first 28 stanzas.
 
“WHOSOEVER would be saved needeth before all things to hold fast the Catholic Faith.
2 Which Faith except a man keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he will perish eternally.
3 Now the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity;
4 Neither confusing the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.
5 For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Ghost;
6 But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
 
7 Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost;
8 The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Ghost uncreated;
9 The Father infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Ghost infinite;
10 The Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Ghost eternal;
11 And yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal;
12 As also there are not three uncreated, nor three infinites, but one infinite, and one un-created.
 
13 So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Ghost almighty;
14 And yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty.
15 So the Father is God, the Son God, the Holy Ghost God;
16 And yet there are not three Gods, but one God.
17 So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, the Holy Ghost Lord;
18 And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.
 
19 For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to confess each Person by himself to be both God and Lord;
20 So are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to speak of three Gods or three Lords.
 
21 The Father is made of none, nor created, nor begotten.
22 The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten.
23 The Holy Ghost is of the Father and the Son; not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
24 There is therefore one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.
25 And in this Trinity there is no before or after, no greater or less;
26 But all three Persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal.
27 So that in all ways, as is aforesaid, both the Trinity is to be worshipped in Unity, and the Unity in Trinity.
28 He therefore that would be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity.”
 
Don’t worry, there won’t be a pop quiz on this later on. But I hope you do get the sense that those who wrote this Creed were seeking to be precise, because precision matters. Not because we humans can figure God out somehow, but because we want to be as careful as possible not to mess up the picture of God that He has shared with us through the Scriptures. We want to be careful to recognize and pass on the true face of our Saviour King.
 
Think of the doctrine of the Trinity, not so much as an explanation of the Living God… but as some clear boundaries around how we are to speak truthfully about the One who is far beyond our ability to comprehend, or master with our understanding.
 
As our Christian ancestors faithfully told the story of the Bible, they found themselves speaking of the Living God in this Trinitarian way. When they went outside of these bounds… for instance, when some claimed that Jesus was not equally God, but merely a creature like you and I… they quickly found themselves telling a very different kind of story than the Gospel, the Good News that they had received, and had been entrusted to share with the world.
 
The Trinity is not some obscure, outdated teaching from the past with no connection to our context today. It is a gift to us… offering guidance and guardrails to help us tell the story of the Good News… the story the whole Bible is telling… the story of the saving love of God… of the Merciful Father in Heaven sending His eternal Son to rescue us and our world… and filling us with the Holy Spirit so we can share in God's own blessed life, now and forever.

That’s a lot for today. So I’ll close now with a very different exploration of the truth of the Trinity in the form of an All-Ages song. It’s not even close to a perfect picture… after all, all of our metaphors break down and miss the mark when faced with the unique mystery of the Living God who reveals Himself to us in the Holy Scriptures. But even so, I hope that this song might stir up our imaginations a bit, and point us in the right direction… that is, towards the God of the Gospel: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This song’s called All Three One.
 
All Three One
 
The Sun we see
   above us shares
Its life from day to day
It holds our whole
   world in its place
Forever and always
 
The Sun’s Light opens
   up our eyes
To help us find our way
To help us see
   and be the truth
In all we do and say
 
The Sun’s Heat warms us
   through and through
Keeps frozen nights at bay
So we can share
   with those around
A welcoming embrace
 
As Sun, and Light,
  and Heat all share
One life, but not the same
So Father, Son,
   and Spirit all
Three share
   God’s holy Name
 

Today is also Father's Day in Canada, and so many will mark this day by remembering and honouring their fathers who have loved, cared for, guided, and raised them up. For many of us, this is a day of deep gratitude, and it is right that we give thanks along with them for those who truly embodied the gift of fatherhood.

For some of us today is less straightforward, and perhaps more of a struggle... perhaps due to difficulties or losses in one's parental relationships, or for those whom the experience of pursuing fatherhood has been one of sorrow and disappointment. Along with them, we do well to acknowledge that family life is often a challenging road, and to listen to and honour their sufferings, which are also known and shared by our loving God. 

Whether today is a day of celebration for you, or a day of difficulty, or some mixture of both: may you receive God's blessing today exactly as it is needed. May God surround you and those you love, as well as all those who have loved and supported you, with peace, hope, fellowship, kindness, and understanding. 

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Genesis 11:1–9 | Psalm 104:27-35 | Acts 2:1–21 | John 14:8–17, 25–27

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” (John 14:25-26).
 
What are we trying to build?
 
This past week, our new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, met with the Premiers of Canada’s Provinces and Territories, the First Ministers, to discuss how they can best work together moving forward to build up our country’s unity and resilience… especially amid the recent tensions and turbulence rocking our world right now. Here’s a few takeaways from their meeting, from the Prime Minister’s own website:
 
“First Ministers discussed the federal government’s plan to remove trade barriers and advance major projects of national interest, including by tabling their One Canadian Economy legislation, so Canada can be stronger at home and abroad.
 
First Ministers agreed to work together to accelerate major projects in support of building a strong, resilient, and united Canada…”[1]
 
And to that end, our nations leaders see the pressing need to invest in building up Canada’s capabilities through large-scale “Nation Building” projects: “Nation-building infrastructure and corridors, such as highways, railways, ports, airports, pipelines, nuclear projects, clean and conventional energy projects, and electricity transmission systems, are crucial for driving Canadian productivity growth, energy security, and economic competitiveness.”[2]
 
Time will tell if these projects will produce the big results that many of us are hoping for. But given the challenges and uncertainty Canada is facing, it certainly seems wise to attempt to do what we can to make ourselves stronger, and more united moving forward.
 
That said, it’s also interesting that this is the same kind of story at work in our first reading today from the Book of Genesis: the story of the Tower of Babel.
 
This ancient story takes us way back to the days soon after the great Flood, where the Living God washed His world clean from the extreme violence and bloodshed that we humans had filled the earth with… while sparing one family, Noah and his relatives, so that all of humanity would not be completely wiped out.  
 
But unfortunately, after the Flood, humanity had not learned its lesson. The Scriptures tells us that people were still just as messed up as they were before: prone to pride, injustice, and violence… with so-called ‘great men’ rising themselves up and building cities as monuments for their own glory. And so, in Genesis Chapter 11, we hear that the people had gathered together to build something special: a tower that would rise up to the heavens. Ascending from the earth to the dwellings of the Divine.
 
Genesis 11:4, they said to themselves, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
 
They sought to ascend together… to assert their own greatness, and to make a lasting name for themselves… in order to protect themselves from being scattered. This was humanity’s first ‘Nation Building’ project, seeking to build up their sense of unity.
 
On the surface, this might sound great. I mean, aren’t we supposed to seek unity? Isn’t it better to work together? Well, that all depends on what we are trying to build.
 
Tyrants and totalitarian regimes thrive on unity. Oppressive and unjust social systems, and abusive organizations can do what they do because they have so many people working together to prop them up.
 
And in this case, what the people in Genesis 11 were doing wasn’t good. They were not just building a tower. They were building a rebellion. Actively resisting God’s intentions for His human image-bearers.
 
After all, we humans were created with a clear purpose: to reflect God’s goodness and love out into His creation. Genesis 1:27-28 tells us,
 
“So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
 
God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
 
As God’s image-bearers, humans were to represent God’s rule by ordering God’s world God’s way. But as the story goes, we humans chose to try and rule on our own terms… and now, here they were… instead of obeying God’s will to disperse and fill the earth with God’s goodness, they were attempting to bind themselves together in one place… to make a great name for themselves… and to raise themselves from the earth up to heaven as rivals to the Living God.
 
And this all seems a bit ludicrous… doesn’t it…

That is, until we consider the rest of our human history, and think about so many of the kinds of things that we have continued to build:
 
Devastating weapons of war… planet-threatening levels of waste and pollution… political and economic systems that thrive on greed and wickedness… lifting up a few, at the great expense of so many. And think of our most recent attempts to stay connected, through things like social media, which can be used benignly, but has also played a huge role in tearing communities apart, and isolating us from one another. And think about the marvels of artificial intelligence… and how this tool promises, and has already begun to unlock all sorts of wonderful, potentially life-saving achievements… while also eroding human creativity, dignity, and integrity, and threatening to put millions of people out of work.
 
These are the kings of things that we humans keep building. They may seem so promising at times, and may even be intended to lift us up… but so often, the works of our hands can end up turning our hearts and lives away from God’s ways… unlocking the door not to abundant life, but to all sorts of destruction instead.
 
And yet, God created us to reflect His image… to be like Him, and even to be creative like Him. To bring about order, and beauty, and justice in His good world. So the question for us is not if we will create… but what are we trying to create? What are we trying to build? Or better yet, what is the Living God wanting to build in, with, and through us?
 
What does all this have to do with Pentecost?
Well, at Pentecost we get to see what the Living God has been building up to all along.
 
Turning back to the story of the Tower of Babel, we see that God doesn’t simply allow humanity’s rebellious building project to go on unanswered, and so God steps in to keep things from getting out of hand. In an act of both judgment and mercy, the LORD confuses their language… their ability to understand one another… resulting in this once-united uprising being scattered throughout the world. Regardless of our plans, this story reminds us that God’s never going to give up on His plans… which is what the rest of Scripture is all about.
 
The very next story in the Bible after the tower of Babel is about God choosing to work with and build up the family of one human couple, Abraham and Sarah… and through their descendants, God would one day bless all of the scattered families of the earth.
 
Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
 
God promises to make Abraham’s family great… and to make his name great. Not just for themselves, but so that through them, all the families of the earth will be blessed. The rebels tried to make a tower. God chooses to make a blessed and blessing community.
 
Of course, the story is far from simple. Abraham’s descendants keep on making the same mistakes… trying to build their own identity, and security, and story, instead of faithfully following God’s ways. And eventually, they end up cut off from one another by civil war, and then Jerusalem, the Holy City is conquered, and its people, the Jews, were scattered… by who? By the Babylonians… an Empire built in the land of Babel! God’s people end up right back where they started, and now it seems like everything that God had been building towards had come to a tragic and terrible end.
 
But the Good News is, God was not done with His world, or with His chosen people… and so He does something no one expected… and steps into the story in a brand new way.
 
While God’s people were facing the terrible realities of Exile, they had also been offered a word of hope: the prophets of God pointed forward to a time when God would send the Chosen One, the Messiah, to restart God’s good Kingdom on earth, return God’s scattered people, and finally set the world right.  
 
And the Good News is, the Messiah has come! Not as some great military or political leader, but as Jesus of Nazareth… God’s own divine Son, who took on our human existence. Who is Himself the eternal Word of God, who was then made flesh and dwelt among us… breaking down the great barriers and rebellious towers we had built up between ourselves and God, and between one another.
 
The towers of our guilt and sin… all the self-centered and self-destructive choices we keep on making. The towers of our fear and enmity… the prejudices, and divisions we keep on creating. The towers of our pride… insisting on living our own way, no matter the cost.
 
Jesus took all these on, and He tore them down when He died on the cross, and rose again. Now, instead of building our lives around trying to handle our own sin and guilt, Jesus made the way for us to truly receive forgiveness… and to extend it to others.
 
Instead of being trapped by our fears and enmity, Jesus made the way for us to be embraced by His saving love, and to begin living in peace.

Instead of lifting ourselves up in pride, Jesus made the way for us to walk humbly with the One who loves us graciously, and created us to reflect His goodness out into His world.
 
Jesus did all this, not by lifting Himself up, but by making Himself low. As St. Paul puts in in Philippians Chapter 2:
 
“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
 
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
 
The Good News is that, we don’t need to build any towers to raise ourselves up… because the Living God Himself can raise us up along with Jesus. He is the way that we can ascend. He is the source of our true unity. He is the One through whom God will reconcile the whole world to Himself, and make everything new.
 
And St. Paul’s point in this passage, is that God wants to make us like Jesus! He wants us to have our minds, and our hearts, and our lives remade by Him. He wants us to embrace Christ’s way, and share in the good work of His Kingdom. But how can we possibly do all this?
 
We humans… we Christians have so often, made such a mess of things. We too have kept on making all the same mistakes as those who have come before us. How can we… how can people like you and I actually become more like Jesus, and meaningfully share in His work in the world?
 
This is where we turn to Pentecost.
 
Right before His death, our Lord Jesus promised that His Father in heaven would soon send His disciples the Holy Spirit, filling them with His own Divine presence and power, so that they could share in His life, and to take part in the New Creation that the Living God was making possible.
 
John 14:25-26, “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

The Spirit was being given to help Christ’s followers continue to share in His story. To bind us together, and to our Saviour. To work within us, to make us more and more like our Lord. And to empowers us to live Christ’s way in the world… working through us to do more than we could ever imagine doing on our own… to be God’s hands and feet as He lifts up and draws His shattered world back to Himself in love.
 
What does the Spirit build? Not a tower… not even an institution… but a new community. He builds the Church! A family made up of people from every corner of creation, in order to bring the blessed Good News of Jesus Christ to everyone!
 
And this is what we see happening in Acts Chapter 2: God’s Spirit creating the Church… the community of Jesus Christ here on earth, serving His good Kingdom.
 
Now there’s so much going on in this passage from Acts that will have to wait for another day. (If you’re wanting to dig a bit deeper, check out our St. Luke’s blog entry for today with some links to some more resources).

But a big part of what is going on at Pentecost is a reversal of what happened in Genesis 11: when God’s Holy Spirit is poured out on His people at Pentecost, He is undoing the divisions brought on at Babel, and is now re-uniting those who were once scattered around what God has done for the world in His Son, Jesus Christ… turning our whole story around, so we can share in His New Life together.
 
The Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples, with a rushing wind and flames of fire… and God’s own holy presence and power dwells among them… empowering them to speaking in languages they did not understand before… and to boldly to preach the Gospel… the Good News of Jesus the Risen Lord… first of all, to Jewish pilgrims… those whose ancestors have been scattered by the Babylonian Exile… telling them all of God’s mighty works through Jesus the Messiah, who was killed, and has been raised again to New Life.
 
This Good News invites them to repent… to turn around and believe what God has done for them in Jesus… and to be baptized into the New Creation God is making because of what Christ did at the cross.

And Pentecost itself is just the beginning! Thousands respond that first day to this Good News, and begin to form a community we now call the Church… the worldwide family of believers that God is building up… a re-created people shaped by the forgiveness, generous love, and humble, self-giving service we have seen in Jesus Christ… seeking to live His way through the power of His Spirit at work among us.
 
Beginning with Jesus Christ, and then His first disciples, this family grew… embracing once-scattered peoples first from Jerusalem, then to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the world.
 
At Pentecost, we see how God is building His Church, uniting us by the Spirit to Jesus His Son, in order to draw His whole world back together, to Himself, and to one another. And now we are bound together with our brothers and sisters from every corner of creation… and every people and nation… united by the saving love of God, given to us through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and empowered to share in His New Life even now, through His Holy Spirit.

This doesn’t mean that we Christians haven’t returned to building our own rebellious towers at times. We certainly have. The Church is not yet perfect, and it still has a long way to go.
 
But God’s Spirit is at work in us. And He can create something truly beautiful, and blessed through us… teaching us to live faithfully to Jesus Christ, and to share His goodness and love with all those around us.
 
The question for you and I today is this: How will we here in Gondola Point respond to the Good News of what God has done for us all in Jesus Christ?
 
Will we keep on building up our own towers? Trying to create our own sense of security, and purpose, and hope based on what we can create?
 
Or, with the Holy Spirit’s help, will we draw near to Jesus, our great Saviour King, and take up our part in the New Creation that He is building to bless everyone? Amen.


[1] “First Ministers’ statement on building a strong Canadian economy and advancing major projects”, June 2, 2025, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2025/06/02/first-ministers-statement-building-strong-canadian-economy-and-advancing-major-projects

 
[2] Ibid.
​​

​​And for an even deeper conversation, here is a link to their Podcast episode exploring the story of Pentecost:

​And our Songs for this week can be found here: