Relationships

I am working on the sermon for this Sunday and it is turning out to be about relationships. Especially about the primary relationship--The Relationship--of our life: the Trinity. Now before you stop reading, give me a moment of your time, especially if you are preparing to be confirmed. The Trinity, as we express so regularly, is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But how does this work? How can God be One yet be three? The basic answer is: well it is one of the mysteries of faith. But that is wholly unsatisfactory to inquiring minds. So, you inquiring minded folks, try this on for size:
God so loved the world, that God needed to be with us in flesh and blood, because God knew that we needed to see, hear and touch God in the flesh to really understand. That taking on flesh, that God made in human form, is Jesus. It took Jesus to explain to us that even when he was no longer walking upon the earth he would still be with us, because God is always with us. Being human beings though, we need more assurance than that. We need some proof! So, as Jesus explains in the Gospel of John: In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. John 14:19-20.
What is Jesus talking about here? What does he mean?The Holy Spirit--the Holy Spirit is in me, it is in you, it runs between us, it is relationship. When you and your best friend have an excellent time together, that's the Holy Spirit. When you and your Dad or Mom really connect, that is the Holy Spirit. When we laugh and laugh and laugh together that is the Holy Spirit. The good stuff in life is almost always stuff which happens between two people, or in a group of people, a family, a bunch of friends. The really good stuff in life is experienced in relationship. And relationship---connecting---is God---God as Creator (Father); God as Son (Jesus), God as Holy Spirit (grace). On Sunday when we were working at Friends of the Night People and we were laughing and saying hi to all of the guests and helping them get a hot meal God was there--with every "Hi, how are you?" and every, "Thank you" and "you're welcome" and every smile we were exchanging grace, we were instruments of God's love, we were, through our connecting with one another, expressions of the Holy Trinity, expressions of God as Creator, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit. God is huge, so God needs a variety of ways to get our attention.
See you Sunday!
PS check out www.npr.org and look up StoryCorps on the Morning Edition tab. StoryCorps is all about relationships!