Trinity: Becoming Ambassadors of God (Love)
Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18
Growing up in rural Nigeria, education was a powerful tool for inclusivity, globalization and universalism. We were taught the power of relationships and the respect of the other. Seniors or old people were given priority because of their past contributions to society. We were encouraged to reach out to peoples all around the world through “pen pals”: we wrote letters to people we never knew, but were convinced they are humans just like ourselves. All complexes had no place, only humanity mattered. So many years later, one wonders where those good days and education have gone! Thanks to Trinity Sunday, all is coming back again—the power of love and relationships to build inclusivity, globalization and universalism!
The God who comes down to his people in the form of a Cloud, in our first reading, and the God that comes as a Son, in our gospel reading, both connect with the proclamation of our second reading: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (1 Corinthians 13:13). The connecting word is “grace”. “Grace” means a gift received gratuitously and unmerited. God comes down in the form of a Cloud to a people, in our first reading, suffocating from years of slavery in Egypt leading them to a Promised Land. The Son of God comes to a world, in our gospel reading, asphyxiated by sin and evil, needing oxygen and a new lease of life and freedom from iniquities. On the one hand, our first reading announces the victory of God over human slavery by liberation from servitude and the enthronement of the Law of God that guarantees freedom, on the other, our gospel reading provides the formula of liberation—the power of LOVE—and our second reading proclaims the new dawn of salvation—GRACE!
Every single one of our readings shows God’s initiative (LOVE) at establishing a relationship (GRACE) with his creatures, with humanity. God’s revelation of himself to human beings is to become involved in human lives, especially in contexts of needs from the threat of extermination and injustice, either from other human beings (first reading) or metaphysical forces (gospel reading)—the power of evil. God does all these without charge, pure grace (gratuitously). Whether as Father (first reading), Son (gospel reading) or Holy Spirit (second reading), our God is a relational (loving) God and cares about human lives and protects it always.
“Trinity” is the human experience of God, as he reveals himself in human history. The absence of the definition of the Trinity in our three readings today orients our minds and celebration of Trinity Sunday away from academic discourse to life encounters and experiences. Our gospel situates it so well by emphasizing the power of love: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). This statement puts three realities in perspective: God, Jesus and human beings. It is about how humanity gets involved in the life of God; it is about love and relationship. The same situation is evident in the first reading with God’s intervention out of love, to liberate his children from slavery in Egypt—a God who is loving and caring!
God gets involved in human life through love—our first reading calls him the God of love, fidelity, compassion and grace. Each time the human world was in chaos through sin and injustices, he intervenes. The need for redemption of humanity conjures God’s love. “Mission” is the response of love—God sends his Son into the world to liberate the world from sin and evil (gospel), he comes down in a Cloud to liberate his people from slavery and be with them (first reading). God is the first neighbor we have—he reaches out to us in our needs for physical liberation and salvation. Anyone who reaches out to another in need is the visible God among us—the image of the Trinity. The experience of the Son of God with God and human beings with God begins a triangle of love: the love of the Father for his Son, the love of the Son for his Father and their joint love for humanity is revealed by the mission of the Son to redeem humanity.
“Love” gets concretized by the death of the Son of God for human redemption. The manifestation of the meaning of the joint love of the Father and his Son is in the death of Jesus for the salvation of the world. The introduction of humanity into the life of and relationship with God is through the power of love. “Love” is the vehicle of redemption and sacrifice. “Love” is concrete action and not empty words. “Love” takes its source from God (who initiates it) and comes to human beings through Jesus Christ (grace), the one who represents God. Love is engaged in a journey from invisibility to visibility. The invisible God embarks on a journey of visibility in Jesus Christ. This is the mission of Jesus Christ to make God visible and dwell among human beings. Jesus Christ comes as the ambassador of God in the world: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). In other words, to be trinitarian in action, there must be the three components of LOVE: initiator of love, the concretization of love and the relationship created by love.
Human society today is challenged by the question of relationships. The problems of divorce, racism, exploitation and injustices are manifestations of this challenge of relationships. In its core, it is the inability of transition from self to others that causes this strain in relationships. Human needs and wants color the vision we have of the other. In reality, the needs and freedom of the other are secondary to our desires and expectations of them; consequently, many lives are asphyxiated. Yet, no one is an island—we need each other. Trinity Sunday teaches us how to reach out to the other to create relationships by initiating acts of love and concretizing love.
Trinity Sunday sends us out to be trinitarian ambassadors of God—to replicate what we have experienced in God. Human life must transcend theories and become praxis. Every human being must love until it hurts; that is, we must love others to the point of giving up our lives in the defense of their dignity and humanity, as Jesus Christ did. In Christianity, we die for the other, we never kill the other! Jesus shows us that love that is not ready for death is simply commerce and trade offs. The arrival of every human being on the planet earth is an additional ambassadorial instrument of love, just as Christ exemplifies and wills it. The willingness with which Jesus, God’s Son, took flesh and died for human salvation must be the spontaneity with which our human love must reach out to the other, especially those discriminated against, because we are the “Ambassadors of God (Love)”.
Happy Trinity Sunday!