Sermon for Trinity Sunday 2025: Balance

Trinity Sunday: Balance

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

The Reverend Paul D. Allick, Church of the Advent, June 15, 2025

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah or

one of the prophets.”

Jesus pressed them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Logos, the second person of

the Holy Trinity being coequal with every other member, and

each acting inseparably with every other member, with only

an economic subordination within God, but causing no

division which would make the substance no longer simple.”

Jesus said to Peter, “What?”

Today Christian preachers across the globe, will attempt to

rationally and/or metaphorically explain God as One in Three

Persons.

We will try to distill this Great Mystery into a concept. My

guess is that no matter how imaginative or learned the

preacher, in some ways, we will ultimately fail.

Our Christian Faith is full of Holy Mysteries. This is not a way

to avoid explaining our doctrines. But these teachings come

through revelation. They are constantly unfolding for us. Not

that they change but our understanding deepens. Our

Christian Discipleship is a process. It is not another object or

concept to be manipulated and solved.

My understanding of God as One in Three Persons has

evolved over time. Currently, my understanding is that The

Holy Trinity points us toward harmony. God in Three Persons

points us toward Balance.

Life is a balancing act. In our working years we balance our

careers, our families and personal time. In retirement we are

balancing our time making sure we have enough things to

keep us busy but not too much.

When our lives get out of balance, we a need to find it again.

We find ourselves doing nothing but work and decide to take

time off. We find ourselves sitting around too much and

decide to get out and do something. Or maybe we’ve been

obsessed with a project and just have to step away for a

while.

Life can get significantly out of balance when we neglect our

spiritual life. When we start putting prayer, study, worship

aside for other things, we will soon begin to get lost in self-

centeredness or living only for others.

We also get out balance in our minds. When we think that

our opinions are the truth we fall out of harmony with others.

We lose the ability to compromise, to grow, and to get things

done. (Thank goodness we never see this in our government

and in our churches.)

In college I took a year away to live with a community of

Benedictine Monks. It saved my spiritual life.

The Benedictine motto is, “Prayer, Work, Study.” These three

are kept in balance. You are instructed to not do any one of

them for too long.

The daily life of Benedictines is scheduled around just

enough prayer, work, study and recreation to keep a

balanced life.

I will always remember spending time with one of my

mentors there. We would sit and discuss the Church and the

world for an hour or two. When it had gone on a bit too long,

he would stand up and say, “Let’s go clear some brush,” or

“Let’s go paint those chairs.”

We tend to focus our existence on doing. God is pure being.

In God’s being we find a perfected Harmony. We find

Creation, Redemption and Sanctification in perfect balance.

Jesus tells us, “I still have many things to say to you, but you

cannot bear them now. When the Spirit comes, he will guide

you into all truth.”

Our relationship with God in Christ through the power of the

Holy Spirit unfolds for us overtime. We begin to comprehend

the nature of God’s Being when we learn how to find

harmony in our lives. If we are not seeking reconciliation in

this life, we will miss many opportunities to experience

harmony. We will miss opportunities to experience the love

of God through the Trinitarian Mystery.

God is Love. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a completely

reconciled relationship. We cannot fully comprehend this

now. But we can get glimpses when we follow our mission to

reconcile all people to each other and God through Jesus

Christ.

We are in the right Christian Tradition to learn about the ins

and outs of seeking balance. Anglicanism has always been

about finding balance. We are a Reformed Catholicism.

The Anglican motto is, “Via Media”, the Middle Way. In our

Tradition we seek the middle way, not as a compromise for

the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of

truth.” (Collect for Richard Hooker, Lesser Feasts and Fasts 1997, p. 415)

A life of balance leads to a life of wisdom. Wisdom is of God.

And as we hear from the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom has

always been. She waits for us on the heights, beside the

way, at the gates and at the crossroads.

When we seek balance, we find harmony, which introduces

us to wisdom. This is when we are able to praise God not

only with our lips but with our lives. (The General Thanksgiving, BCP, P. 125)

Our call to the mission of reconciliation is clear. What we

learn as we go about our mission can be a gift to our

neighbors. The World needs balance. The World needs

Wisdom. Let us go from here today and do the work God

has given us to do. (Postcommunion Prayer, BCP. p. 366)

Reference: The Trinity Joke was found on the internet. No attribution provided.