The first Sunday after Pentecost commemorates the doctrine of the Trinity. Unlike any other Sunday in the church year, it invites us to consider the role Christian doctrine plays in our lives.

Our recently confirmed youth know well how difficult it can prove to say that God is three and one at the same time. The word Trinity, as they learned, does not come from the New Testament. It appears first in the second and third centuries, and received its definitive expression in the fourth-in the Nicene Creed that we recited this weekend.

The history of the church provides one answer to why we should trouble over doctrine in the first place. Christians in the fourth and fifth centuries debated fiercely over the Trinity. Some were exiled and punished for their views. It united some-but certainly not all-in these centuries.

The fruits of these theological efforts became apparent in many ways. One came when Christians first encountered Muslims in the early centuries after the rise of Islam. The doctrine of the Trinity helped these Christians explain how Christianity was a monotheistic faith, while they prayed to the three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The debates of the previous centuries gave them-and us-a vocabulary to describe their faith and to enter into discourse about it with others.

This one example, among many, teaches us something of the nature of doctrine in the life of the church. Doctrine is not just for us. Seeking God does involve thinking and learning about God. But knowing something about our own faith enables us to enter into dialogue with people from different backgrounds. When we know our own tradition, we can understand how it differs from others. By learning to love God through doctrine, we are better equipped to love our neighbor.

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
(Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Trinity Sunday)

Contributed by Philip
Monday May 27, 2013
Liturgical Year C: Week 26
Liturgical Color: White
Sunday Gospel reading:
Trinity Sunday