The Life of the Holy Trinity and RevMo Crystal’s Farewell
A sermon by The Rev. Shearon Sykes Williams on the First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday; June 4, 2023
Genesis 1:1-2:4a, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, Matthew 28:16-20
“Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness”…
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them.”
It is wonderful to be back with you this morning! All sorts of great things went on while I was away this past month, thanks to RevMo Crystal, our amazing staff and our extraordinary lay leaders. We really are especially blessed that everyone at Saint George’s is so invested in their ministries. God has graced us with a special charism, a particular gift for people working together for the good of the whole. And it all comes down to relationships.
Today is Trinity Sunday, the day when we think about what it means to worship a God who is “one in three” and “three in one”. The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity was formulated in the 4th century at it has been the very heart of Christian worship ever since. It can sound pretty esoteric, but it has profound implications for how we understand God and how we understand ourselves, so hang in there with me while I nerd out on one of my favorite theological topis for a few minutes.
The Holy Trinity is comprised of three distinct “persons”, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And together they are one unified whole. They share one nature, one essence. In other words, God is a community of individuals living in perfect harmony and we are meant to be a reflection of that Divine Community.
In our reading from Genesis today, God says, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” After every act of creation God says that it is “good” and after the final act of creating human beings, God looks at everything that God has made and declares it “very good”. So what does it mean to say that we are created in God’s own image, the image of a Divine Community comprised of three unique and co-equal ‘persons’? It means that we strive to see and appreciate each member of our faith community for who they truly are with all of their particular gifts. And it means that we strive to be one unified community that reflects the divine love that is shared by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We can never fully attain that perfect love, but we can do our best to emulate it. Being created in God’s image means that that is our sacred call to have our faith community look more like the Divine Community. Each member of the Holy Trinity has a particular way of being. The Father is the Source of Life and Creator of the universe. The Son has been with the Father from before time and forever. He came into the world to share our life and show us how to model God’s life. We knew him as Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the conduit for the love that flows between the Father and the Son and between God’s life and our life. The Holy Spirit infuses and animates the universe and inspires us to strive for our highest ideals, to love others as Christ loved us, to work for justice and peace, and to see the image of God in everyone we meet.
It is very fitting that we should be reflecting on the nature of God and its implications for community today as we celebrate the Reverend Mother Crystal Hardin and her ministry as our Associate Rector for the past (almost) 3 years. Just as the Son was pre-existent with the Father, from before time and forever, Crystal was pre-existent at Saint George’s long before she came back as our Associate Rector. She and her husband Bradford began attending Saint George’s about 13 years ago. Their children Lev and Eliot were baptized here. Crystal was confirmed here, served on the vestry, became Senior Warden and then discerned a call to the priesthood. After seminary she served at Christ Church Georgetown and then was called back here to serve as our Associate Rector. It has been such a joy and privilege for all of us to journey with her and to witness her response to God’s call on her life.
RevMo Crystal has done a wonderful job as our Associate Rector. She came back to us in this new leadership role in September of 2020, during the height of the pandemic when our services and all of our ministries were completely on-line. That was a challenging time to begin a new ministry , but she rejoined us so gracefully and everyone was very gracious in return. We had just completed our work with Ministry Architects consultants. They had worked with us to develop a long-term plan for our children and youth ministry. RevMo Crystal got right to work with the children and youth leaders to implement the plan. They have all worked in such creative and thoughtful ways to bring that ministry from strength to strength. She has also worked with our social justice ministers, supporting our very important advocacy work with VOICE, the refugee ministry and our race and reconciliation ministry. She has touched all of ministries in one way or the other. All of this in addition to providing excellent pastoral care, celebrating the Eucharist, offering inspiring, thoughtful and creative sermons, leading our first youth service trip to Appalachia, teaching youth confirmation, supporting our LGBTQ+ group, being a fun, highly collegial staff member and a wonderful ministry partner for me. And I could name so much more. We are very thankful for all of your contributions to our life together, RevMo, and your gift for seeing and appreciating everyone’s gifts, and we send you forth today with our heartfelt gratitude.
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not just a doctrine. The Holy Trinity is a lived experience of faith. To say that God is a Divine Community and that we are created in God’s image is a wondrous thing. It helps us to see that our life is sacred. It helps us to recognize that community-building is holy work and that each of us has an important role to play. Our individual lives are “good” and our life together is “very good.”
“Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness”…
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them.”